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berenikeasteria 's review for:
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
by Michael Reaves
The events of this book take place immediately before The Phantom Menace, and our trilogy of dark and ominous prequels that depict the tragic downfall of the Old Republic, so it’s not too surprising to see another foreboding book where evil wins out and good is thwarted. Of course, nothing truly disastrous and appalling can happen yet, as the Sith are waiting on the right moment in Sidious’ plan to reveal themselves, but as far as there can be, a dark foreboding hangs over the whole novel. It is another example of the kind of Star Wars book that starts with a number of disparate individual characters and ends up having them all run into each other and play out events as a group – Maul, Darsha, Lorn and I-Five. Unlike this book’s prequel, Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter is looser in what it is trying to be, even though we already know the conclusion must be that . Essentially however, it is a hunt and chase story.
The writing is competent, but the problem is that it is not outstanding. One of the main problems is that the restrictions of what must follow really hampers the scope of this book. All the characters that appear next must survive, and the Sith’s plans cannot be revealed. This limits how much drama can actually occur, and forces the author to use entirely new characters to kill off simply to inject some drama. Reaves does his best to make our characters, Lorn, I-Five and Darsha, sympathetic so the readers care about their fate. He does a good job with what he has, but it is a difficult ask. If there was more page space to explore the past and personalities of the characters, it would create more sympathy. I really would have liked to know a lot more about Darsha and Lorn as people, and how Lorn and I-Five’s partnership came about. It’s also difficult for the reader to connect deeply with the new characters, no matter how Reaves creates sympathy for them, knowing the outcome as we do. There are some moments of comedy, although they are dry witticisms rather than laugh-out-loud hilarity – the banter between Lorn and I-Five for example, and an amusing scene where Maul takes on the Coruscant police forces.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is the only real returning character here, not counting extremely brief cameos by Qui-Gon Jinn and Jedi Council members. I kind of got the feeling that his appearance served only as a familiar touchstone for readers – any other Jedi could have quite easily been assigned to the task he is given, which is to investigate the disappearance of Darsha and Anoon Bondara. The fact that he has a bit of a mutual attraction with Darsha feels entirely forced, inserted to make her more important, with a connection to an established character. One useful purpose Obi-Wan did serve was to provide a contrast to Darsha. As a Padawan, he comes across as a lot more confident, street-wise and overall more skilled than her. The book, as the title suggests, features Darth Maul heavily. I liked the exploration of his origins, his past, how he trained under Sidious as a Sith apprentice to get to the point he is at in the book, but there just isn’t enough of it, it’s really just a taster. We learn that he’s taken as a child by Sidious to be his apprentice, taught to obey without question, perform to perfection, and embrace pain as a punishment. Despite the glimpse into his past, Maul is a closed book. He thinks only of his immediate mission and the wider goal of the destruction of the Jedi Order. We don’t learn much about him as a person, his personality, his aspirations. You kind of get the sense that all of that has just been completely scrubbed out of him by Sidious. I almost began to wonder if Sidious never intended to make Maul his successor. Maul is an astounding warrior, truly, his battle prowess and skill in combat is almost faultless... but he obeys Sidious unquestioningly, he never plots against him to bring him down, he has no ambition or notions of betrayal in him, unlike other Sith. I almost wonder if Sidious intended to use Maul as his perfect warrior during this phase of the plan, then get rid of him and replace him.
5 out of 10.
Spoiler
the information about the blockade is stifled and the Sith escape undetectedThe writing is competent, but the problem is that it is not outstanding. One of the main problems is that the restrictions of what must follow really hampers the scope of this book. All the characters that appear next must survive, and the Sith’s plans cannot be revealed. This limits how much drama can actually occur, and forces the author to use entirely new characters to kill off simply to inject some drama. Reaves does his best to make our characters, Lorn, I-Five and Darsha, sympathetic so the readers care about their fate. He does a good job with what he has, but it is a difficult ask. If there was more page space to explore the past and personalities of the characters, it would create more sympathy. I really would have liked to know a lot more about Darsha and Lorn as people, and how Lorn and I-Five’s partnership came about. It’s also difficult for the reader to connect deeply with the new characters, no matter how Reaves creates sympathy for them, knowing the outcome as we do. There are some moments of comedy, although they are dry witticisms rather than laugh-out-loud hilarity – the banter between Lorn and I-Five for example, and an amusing scene where Maul takes on the Coruscant police forces.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is the only real returning character here, not counting extremely brief cameos by Qui-Gon Jinn and Jedi Council members. I kind of got the feeling that his appearance served only as a familiar touchstone for readers – any other Jedi could have quite easily been assigned to the task he is given, which is to investigate the disappearance of Darsha and Anoon Bondara. The fact that he has a bit of a mutual attraction with Darsha feels entirely forced, inserted to make her more important, with a connection to an established character. One useful purpose Obi-Wan did serve was to provide a contrast to Darsha. As a Padawan, he comes across as a lot more confident, street-wise and overall more skilled than her. The book, as the title suggests, features Darth Maul heavily. I liked the exploration of his origins, his past, how he trained under Sidious as a Sith apprentice to get to the point he is at in the book, but there just isn’t enough of it, it’s really just a taster. We learn that he’s taken as a child by Sidious to be his apprentice, taught to obey without question, perform to perfection, and embrace pain as a punishment. Despite the glimpse into his past, Maul is a closed book. He thinks only of his immediate mission and the wider goal of the destruction of the Jedi Order. We don’t learn much about him as a person, his personality, his aspirations. You kind of get the sense that all of that has just been completely scrubbed out of him by Sidious. I almost began to wonder if Sidious never intended to make Maul his successor. Maul is an astounding warrior, truly, his battle prowess and skill in combat is almost faultless... but he obeys Sidious unquestioningly, he never plots against him to bring him down, he has no ambition or notions of betrayal in him, unlike other Sith. I almost wonder if Sidious intended to use Maul as his perfect warrior during this phase of the plan, then get rid of him and replace him.
5 out of 10.