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A review by donkbrown
Cloak of Deception by James Luceno
2.0
"Cloak of Deception" get two out of five stars from me. It was a chore for me to "Force" (pun intended) my way through this book. I actually got halfway through it and gave up on my first read. But, I wanted to see what it adds to the Legends side of Star Wars and see how it ultimately ended.
Sadly, like "The Phantom Menace" movie, this book gets bogged down in boring pseudo-political minutia. Trade disputes are front-and-center. The machinations of the various and corrupt Galactic Senate players was banal and mind-numbing to me. I appreciate the author's efforts to try to make Corusant's political intrigue compelling, but it just did not work. I think taxation of free trade zones and allowing the Trade Federation should have been a minor side note of this story, not the main treatise. The author eventually did this with "Darth Plagueis," and I wonder if "Darth Plagueis" was a fix for the dullness that "Cloak of Deception" is.
I give "Cloak of Deception" one star for Mr. Luceno's great descriptions about everything in this book. From the descriptions of Trade Federation ships to the descriptions of the myriad sentient beings in the story. Most of the value in this book, for me, was reading detailed descriptions of the people and species throughout. While there are too many different species in this book to note here, they are well described.
I give a second star for the treatment of one of the books main characters - Captain Arwen Cohl. He's the perfect Star Wars gray area bad/good guy. I really liked him as a character and hated him as a character, which is great writing. Captain Cohl's tale is a tragic one and Mr. Luceno nailed him in this book.
If you are going to read "Cloak of Deception," I would recommend reading two short stories about Darth Maul that take place before the events in this book. First, read "Darth Maul: Restraint," then "Darth Maul: Saboteur." Then read "Cloak of Deception," then "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter." Last, to tie this all together, read "Darth Plagueis." The latter is the best discourse on events before "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" motion picure. Then you are fully prepared to re-watch "The Phantom Menace," perhaps with a new sense of what's happening and why.
Sadly, like "The Phantom Menace" movie, this book gets bogged down in boring pseudo-political minutia. Trade disputes are front-and-center. The machinations of the various and corrupt Galactic Senate players was banal and mind-numbing to me. I appreciate the author's efforts to try to make Corusant's political intrigue compelling, but it just did not work. I think taxation of free trade zones and allowing the Trade Federation should have been a minor side note of this story, not the main treatise. The author eventually did this with "Darth Plagueis," and I wonder if "Darth Plagueis" was a fix for the dullness that "Cloak of Deception" is.
I give "Cloak of Deception" one star for Mr. Luceno's great descriptions about everything in this book. From the descriptions of Trade Federation ships to the descriptions of the myriad sentient beings in the story. Most of the value in this book, for me, was reading detailed descriptions of the people and species throughout. While there are too many different species in this book to note here, they are well described.
I give a second star for the treatment of one of the books main characters - Captain Arwen Cohl. He's the perfect Star Wars gray area bad/good guy. I really liked him as a character and hated him as a character, which is great writing. Captain Cohl's tale is a tragic one and Mr. Luceno nailed him in this book.
If you are going to read "Cloak of Deception," I would recommend reading two short stories about Darth Maul that take place before the events in this book. First, read "Darth Maul: Restraint," then "Darth Maul: Saboteur." Then read "Cloak of Deception," then "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter." Last, to tie this all together, read "Darth Plagueis." The latter is the best discourse on events before "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" motion picure. Then you are fully prepared to re-watch "The Phantom Menace," perhaps with a new sense of what's happening and why.