Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two

Star Wars
Darth Bane
Rule of Two
by Drew Karpyshyn

This is the second book written by the author about Darth Bane, the Sith Lord who made the Rule of Two. In the first book you saw the downfall of the Sith from a large group down to just one. This book picks up where the previous book left off. Darth Bane is now training his Apprentice to one day replace him as the Dark Lord of the Sith. On top of this he is trying to collect all information on the Dark Side of the force that he can and is starting to meddle in the affairs of the Republic so that one day down the road the Sith will take over. Meanwhile, the Jedi are asked to step down now that the war with the Sith is over by the first non-Jedi Chancellor. So the book covers the beginning of Bane's education of his apprentice and also sets up the changes in the Jedi that we see later in the timeline.


Expand review to include spoiler information

I really enjoyed powering through this book. It was fast pace, probably more so due to the authors limited writing time on it, and had some decent intrigue. Bane's young apprentice is a young girl named Rain that he finds in the midst of some Jedi she killed. But she gives up the name of her youth for Zannah. In her journey which covers a decade in this book you see her go from a reluctant apprentice into a most willing and deceitful apprentice. You see this in how she treats her cousin, Darovit (Tomcat). In the fist meeting after her apprenticeship begins she cuts off her cousin's hand to save his life as Bane would have killed him. By the end of the book in order to save Bane she makes her cousin insane and enraged so that the Jedi would no choice but to kill him. By doing this she also makes the Jedi believe they have killed the last Sith Lord thus keeping herself and Bane hidden once again.

This book also chronicles the life and death of some Jedi. Leave it to happen in a book about a Sith Lord to put a lot of time and background in on some Jedi only to have them slaughtered the Bane and Zannah. With such a setup I won't delve into them too much.

Bane during this book first starts out by testing his new found apprentice by abandoning her on the planet he found her and giving her the task of making it in 10 days to another place where he would meet up with her. He did this one to test but also so she wouldn't be around while he went looking for the Holocron of a dead Sith Lord. In his attempt to find the Holocron he becomes infected by these parasites, Orbalisks. He soon discovers that these creatures feed on his Dark Side energy but in return he gains more strength, healing abilities, armor and a greater strength in the Dark Side. However, as the story progresses his apprentice gets him to start doubting that the trade off is all good. Because for some unknown reason Bane cannot construct a Holocron of his own. Each attempt ends in failure. That is until his apprentice stumbles upon an unlikely source for information of the Dark Side. A noble, Hetton, of a minor house is trying to start a movement to overthrow the Republic but when Zannah meets him he knows what she is and wants to become her apprentice. She as any good Sith Apprentice would do gets him to attack Darth Bane with his Force Assassins. She figures either Bane goes down or Hetton does either way she wins.

Bane of course is the victor and with this new information gained from Hettons resources they find where a Holocron exists that may have information on creating Holocrons. So Bane goes after that and sends his Zannah to the Jedi Temple to do research on removing the Orbalisks.

All in all it's a decent book with a great story line, I mean who doesn't want to read about the Sith doing their thing. I hope he writes more in the Darth Bane series.

I'm still not feeling I'm doing that great of a job in my reviews so feedback is welcomed.

Next Up: Star Wars: Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight

Star Wars: Death Star

I got to thinking and figured I should start posting reviews of books as I finish them. I greatly enjoy reading so figure I should share that joy. Being this is my first book review in awhile it will be a bit short and hopefully outside what is already known from the movies doesn't spoil any of the book. Any feedback on the review is greatly appreciated so I can get better as I do these.

The latest book I just finished is Star Wars: Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. This is the third Star Wars book they have collaborated on and they have also collaborated on a few other books. One of those other books is one I need to put on my reading list, along with suggesting it to my friend Bar, just based on the name "Thong the Barbarian Meets the Cycle Sluts of Saturn". With a name like that you know it's got to be funny or at least you'd hope so! Both authors have also authored alone one Star Wars book as well both of which I've read. Steve Perry is currently a book reviewer for The Oregonian, so those of you in Oregon may have heard of him that way.

This book covers the Construction, Shakedown and Destruction of the first Death Star as seen in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. The story is told from the point of view of the Empire and people 'working' for the Empire in the Death Star. Along the way you meet a group of characters who's lives seem so very disconnected but through the telling story they meet up for an interesting take on what happened inside the Death Star right before the end. You get to meet the man who actually pulled the switch on Alderaan. Everyone's favorite villain Darth Vader is of course a re-occurring character throughout the book.

Normally knowing the outcome of a book before you even start reading it is not a good thing. However, for me knowing the outcome of what happens with the Death Star seemed to enhance the entire reading experience with this book.

"That's no moon. It's a space station."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

For anyone who is a fan of the Star Wars movies, even if it's just the classic Episodes, this book is a must read.

Next up: Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two

First Week Of Stay At Home Dad

Well the first "week" of being a Stay At Home Dad has come to a close. Well guess it was more like three days really versus five. Anyway, semantics aside let's get into how the week went.

The Wife returned to work for the first time in about 4 months this last Tuesday. So it was to be my first time being alone with my son for more then just a few hours. Heck it was the first time either of us has. Anyway, currently our sun is sleeping through the night most nights. He goes to bed between 8:30pm and 10:30pm and getting up around 4:30am and 7:30am most days. However, sometimes he gets up a bit earlier. He's also only napping most times between feedings for about 45 minutes to 2 hours. His daytime sleeping is still mostly in our arms as he doesn't always go down in his bassinet during the day without waking up within 10-15 minutes. He eats about every 2 to 3 hours during the day and he lets you know when it's time with that good set of lungs he got! Well that's the background on where things are with him now.

The first day for me was more an issue with it being in my head that "oh know it's my first time alone all day without any help". That made me a bit antsy and worrisome to start out with which made me a bit tired very quickly. However, my son was so good that day for the most part that it all went rather smoothly with the exception where I scared him into a blood curling scream. I figured out in the middle of the day that you tend to take on the temperament of your kid. I was changing him when he had been crying for the last 10 minutes or so when I went to "shh" him. Unfortunately due to being amped up it came out about 20x the volume I would have like to have used. D'oh! Well that scream just made me feel like such an ass for doing it that I got a wee bit depressed. Not quite as bad as the day I nipped him with the finger nail clippers but still it was a big bummer that on my first day I caused my kid to scream bloody murder. The Wife came home around 3pm which is way earlier then her normal time used to be.

The next two days went really well other then some minor crying, which was usually over being tired or hungry which is understandable, things went real smoothly. The Wife came home around 4pm each day so it was better then I thought as she used to not come home until around 7pm most days. As it was also her first "week" being away from her child I think she came home not only to make it easier on me but also she was missing him.

On Friday she decided to work from home which made the day a real breeze as there were two of us there again for the day. So for things that come up if I needed it she was there to help. I'm grateful for her taking that day off as it gave me a rather easy first "week"

We'll see how the next week goes!