Star Wars: Darth Plagueis Review (Mild Spoilers)

January 10, 2012 at 12:02 am | Posted in Reviews, Star Wars Books | 1 Comment
Tags: darth plagueis

‘Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?’ That simple line started so much speculation six and a half years ago that it actually managed to change thoughts and views on the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Today you will be able to read the novel that will change the way you see the Prequel Trilogy. After the break, you can read my review of one of the most eagerly anticipated novels from the Expanded Universe.

I’m one of the few fans of the entire story of the Prequel Trilogy. Midi-chlorians? I see no problem with those. Padawans? No problem. Yoda not being Obi-Wan’s Master? It makes sense, from a certain point of view. A child created by the Force? Yeah, I don’t have a problem with that either. But that is where a lot of the speculation about Darth Plagueis lies. Did he create Anakin? Was it all a Sith trap to begin with? Well thankfully this novel answers all those questions.  Oh did I mention that it ties in to The Clone Wars cartoon as well? Yeah, it does.

I also realize that there was/is some fear surrounding this novel. Will it weaken Palpatine? Will it reveal too much of Palpatine’s back story? If anything Darth Plagueis adds to the mystique of Palpatine. To say that there is a lot going on in this novel is an understatement. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a novel that ties in so much into the main story, whether it’s existing work or the movies themselves. It’s all here.

Throughout the entire novel, I got the sense that this book is insanely important to the Saga as a whole. Do you have to read it to enjoy the movies? No.  Should you? Without a doubt. Darth Plagueis answers so many questions that by the end of it I wanted to re-watch the Prequel Trilogy again just to see all the new layers added in by this novel (which by the way my wife and I did.)

This novel has it all: How Plagueis killed his Master, Darth Tenebrous. How he found Palpatine, and how Palpatine found Maul on Dathomir. The other thing that James Luceno does incredibly well is tie in all the existing fiction to the novel. You are given the exact points of where you should read the Darth Maul comics, novel, and short stories. You don’t have to read them concurrently with the novel, but you easily could.

Maybe I shouldn’t say that all the questions are answered in this novel. I say that because after reading though the novel I’m pretty sure the Rule of Two is dead. But in a roundabout way that ties in with later Expanded Universe work. The reason why I believe that is because Maul was being trained by Palpatine during his apprenticeship with Plagueis. But it’s not like this was done in secret, Plagueis is fully aware of Darth Maul and approves of it.

We also get to see how the plan for the clones comes about and the downfall of Dooku. All the ground work is laid out in this novel and things that were cloudy become clear. One of the cloudiest speculations is the creation of Anakin. Was it Plagueis who made him? Could he actually create life? The answer is quite simple. Plagueis could manipulate midi-chlorians to create life, but he clearly didn’t create Anakin. The Force did. But from a certain point of view Plagueis did create him. It was through Plagueis’s actions with the Force that the Force created Anakin in response to Plagueis. I don’t think Obi-Wan could argue with that logic.

All in all Darth Plagueis was a killer read and it really brings a lot of new dimensions to the Prequel Trilogy. This is a novel that I could re-read once a month and still come away with something new from it. At the time when I read this novel, it was easily my second favorite novel of 2011. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis is a definite must buy for 2012.

Reviewed By: Corax