Thousands of years before the rise of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, the Old Republic was rife with the evil Sith, who were a constant thorn in the side of the Jedi. But, greed and hunger for power were eating away at the Sith Order, destroying it from within. In the midst of this rose a new Sith, Darth Bane, who recognized that the Sith Order would fall if nothing was done. Thus, it was he who, learning to cultivate patience and cunning, hid from the strife until it was over, and then rose to become the most powerful Sith Lord ever. This is the story of the transformation of Des, a young miner, into the legendary Sith Lord Darth Bane. Des - like many of the disenfranchised who live on the Outer Rim - is disillusioned with the stagnancy of the Old Republic. When the Sith unite to bring the Republic down, Des is one of many to join their cause. His heroism and skill in battle - along with his remarkable connection to the Force - draw the notice of the Sith Masters, and Des eventually finds himself studying at the Sith Academy on Korriban. He takes the name of Bane and, amidst the deception and back-stabbing of the other students, he learns to unlock his latent dark-side talents.
As his power grows, Bane realizes the Sith have lost their way. Under the leadership of Lord Kaan and his Brotherhood of Darkness, the Sith have turned their back on the true nature of the dark side. Through manipulation, cunning and strength, Bane destroys Kaan's Brotherhood and wipes out all the other Sith so he can found a new Order based on the rule of two: one Master, one apprentice.
First off this is only the second Star Wars novel I've ever read but I am quite familiar with the rather large universe, it's plots, and it's creatures. From a overall stand point this was a fairly decent novel. The writing style isn't overly informative or formal and it flows smoothly. The plot as a whole is pretty interesting and at times fairly gripping. The main character is a bit predictable but then again most Star Wars characters are in a way. In a personal stand point I really liked this book. I found it really cool to read about a large group of Sith instead of just two like most are familiar with. Also if you are not familiar with the Rule of Two comes from then this book is a good way to understand it. Bane (Des) is a fairly interesting character, he's the normal Sith-y type really; he's constantly trying to push himself, he is arrogant at times, the mood swings happen, the want of total power is there...so Sith-y. I was actually fairly surprised at how easy it was to read, I was expecting something drawn out or over explained but it was a fairly relaxed read. The author helped to develop the storyline for the video game Knights of the Old Republic so it is appropriate that he was chosen to write the Darth Bane books, it's clear he knows what's he's talking about and isn't just pulling words from no where. I'm looking forward to the other two books, I just have to go buy them.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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4 November, 2010:
Finished reading
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4 November, 2010:
Reviewed