Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction Review

Darth Bane #1: Path of Destruction
Release date: June 6, 2006


Excerpt: 

Once the Sith order teemed with followers. But their rivalries divided them in endless battles for supremacy. Until one dark lord at last united the Sith in the quest to enslave the galaxy–and exterminate the Jedi. Yet it would fall to another, far more powerful than the entire Brotherhood of Darkness, to ultimately realize the full potential of the Sith, and wield the awesome power of the dark side as never before. 


Since childhood, Dessel has known only the abuse of his hateful father and the dangerous, soul-crushing labor of a cortosis miner. Deep in the tunnels of the desolate planet Apatros, endlessly excavating the rare mineral valued throughout the galaxy, Dessel dreams of the day he can escape–a day he fears may never come. But when a high-stakes card game ends in deadly violence, Dessel suddenly finds himself a wanted man. 

On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army, and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel’s brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, he is destined for a far greater role in the ultimate Sith plan for the galaxy–if he can prove himself truly worthy. 

As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side at the feet of its greatest masters, Dessel embraces his new Sith identity: Bane. However the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness one must fully surrender to the dark side through a trial by fire that Bane, for all his unquenchable fury and lust for power, may not be strong enough to endure . . . especially since deception, treachery, and murder run rampant among the Sith disciples, and utter ruthlessness alone is the key to survival. Only by defying the most sacred traditions, rejecting all he has been taught, and drawing upon the long-forgotten wisdom of the very first Sith can Bane hope to triumph–and forge from the ashes of that which he must destroy a new era of absolute dark power. 



REVIEW: 

Wow. That was my initial reaction when i finished reading the book. It's been so long since i've read a 5 star book that i've almost forgotten what one was. Seriously, if your a scifi fan this book had everything. 

Now before reading this book my favorite sith of all time was Darth Vader with Darth Maul following close behind. After this book it's Darth Bane all the way. Darth Bane would look at Vader. laugh. And then proceed to force choke the life out of him. Afterwards he would take a walk by the pond causally sipping corellian whiskey acting like nothing happened. The dude is that bad ass. 

Seriously i love the jedi. Always have and always will, but in this book i was rooting for the sith. I really applaud the author in expanding on the sith from just "their evil dark side users". Karpyshyn really devolves into their Psyche and their reasons for doing things. You also get their view on things. Bane starts out the book as poor miner with no hope of getting of the mining planet Apatros. Luck comes his way and along with a dead republic officer he gets off the planet and joins the sith army. In his squad the "Gloom Walkers" he quickly distinguishes himself. After a particularly hard battle he gets invited by Dark Lord Kopecz to become a sith apprentice at the top academy on Korriban. There he goes through a series of trials and starts to become disillusioned with the "Brotherhood of the Sith". Eventually leaving to go find answers from the "true sith". He goes Lehon, the lost planet of the sith, and discovers a sith holocron from Darth Revan. From it he becomes the ultimate bad ass. And i was squealing like only a fan girl could from it. 

I'm not going to give away the ending since it was so good you have to read it for yourself. It just leads you thinking thinking "wow". 

Another thing i have to point out before i close is that this book really gives you another perspective on the jedi. We're so used to seeing them as good and righteous, but in this book you get to see them as a bit pompous and arrogant as the sith. Seriously the jedi changed a lot from the days of the sith. Jedi Master Farfalla in the book wears golded armor encrusted with rubies. The jedi masters also go by "Lord". A long way from the plain brown cloth jedi of the prequels and sequels. 

Final rating: 5 Bunnies. Awesome characters, amazing and gripping storyline, new insights to character groups, and all around general enjoyment. 


 

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