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A very easy read, and one of the best
representations of the Dark Side point of view I've read. The evil
character was unapologetic, but recognizes his own weakness, while I
wondered how far the light-side character would go down the dark path. A
very enjoyable character story.
Full spoiler review:
I
must admit that I have not really enjoyed the stories dealing with a
Sith-controlled part of the galaxy, nor stories where the main
characters spiral down the dark path, usually knowing what they are
doing and not caring. The only story I can recall enjoying from a Dark
Side perspective is the first Darth Bane novel,
Path of Destruction.
Compared with other Old Republic novels, like
Knight Errant and
Fatal Alliance, very little actually occurs in this book, but what does
occur has great significance. There are only three main characters, who
seem to know each other (either from Revan or a short story published
somewhere else). Unfortunately, this makes the story seem to exist in a
void, as I have not read about the Battle of Alderaan (I'll learn more
if this takes place in Revan), and Darth Malgus isn't mentioned in Fatal
Alliance, which doesn't take place too much later. Does this mean that
he failed in his mission to rise to the top of the Empire? The story is
missing some closure, if so. But maybe he's still plotting during that
future story, and we'll learn more in the fourth story. This story
revolves around the concept of revenge, and the existence of the Sith.
As with the previous books, however, the main focus is of a Jedi who
flirts with the Dark Side as well as attachment, and a Sith who
recognizes that love is necessary to his existence -but he also
recognizes that wanting love means also wanting a peace of sorts, and
that goes counter to his beliefs as a Sith.
The other Sith don't
have a problem with the dichotomy in their society. While Malgus
believes the Sith must have war, in order to remain sharp and maintain
their skills, the other Sith enjoy waging war, then returning to their
grand palaces, hoarding their possessions, and living their luxury -
without being disturbed (in other words, in peace).
So Malgus
approves of what he thinks of as a ruse of a treaty, sending a
delegation to Alderaan to negotiate peace with the Republic, which
presumably divides the galaxy into pieces, Republic and Empire, in which
Kerra Holt finds herself even 3500 years later. He thinks Coruscant is
going to burn, but they only destroy the Jedi Temple and scorch a small
amount of the surface, before trying to restore order. He suddenly
realizes that the Empire plans to give back Coruscant, and just invaded
to give themselves more leverage during the negotiations. This is where
his part of the book title comes in. The opening scenes, where Malgus
strides into the Temple, then has a drop ship smash into the main atrium
and unleash dozens more Sith, was impressive, but it also characteristic
of these books, in which the characters seem to be able to do anything
at the beginning, but are more limited near the end, just to make an
impression on the readers or viewers. Malgus kills Jedi Master Zallow
after the Jedi makes a fatal error.
I don't think Alderaan is
too far away, but Aryn Leener feels her master's death, as I guess any
Padawan would. Having fought in the battle of Alderaan and taken in the
pain of so many soldiers (being some sort of empath), she seems to be
more likely to have trouble controlling her temper. She flies into a
rage against the Sith of the peace delegation, but is fortunately
stopped (by future leader of the Jedi Council, Setele) before killing
anyone. The outcome of the talks will end up in the Treaty of Coruscant,
referred to often in Fatal Alliance.
Aryn decides that she can't
contain her rage, and thinks the only thing that can sate it is revenge
for her master, by killing the Sith who killed him. So she leaves
Alderaan, and makes her way to Coruscant by way of a friend she knew who
had been in the Republic army years ago.
It's fortunate for her
(or the will of the Force) that Zeerid is back on his home planet, or
that he decided to settle there at all. When Zeerid left the army, he
tried to provide for his young daughter Arra (this novel uses characters
from the two ends of the alphabet), but he couldn't make ends meet, as
she lost her legs in an accident that also killed her mother. So he
joined The Exchange, but with the medical bills, he still couldn't make
ends meet. The jobs are pretty much all illegal, and very dangerous. He
is nearly killed in the opening chapter of the book, and makes his way
home after that, further in debt because some of his shipment was
destroyed when he was ambushed. His next shipment is engspice,
engineered for addiction, and the Hutts don't want it to arrive, so they
send the ex-Imperial military man Vrath to ensure it doesn't get there.
Aryn helps Zeerid get away, and they go to Coruscant together,
but Vrath arrives before they do, and tells Darth Malgus of their
impending arrival, so his blockade spends more time inspecting arriving
vessels, and he finds them hiding as the Millennium Falcon did in
The
Empire Strikes Back. The ship is destroyed, but Aryn uses the Force to
slow her and Zeerid's rate of descent from fifty kilometers up, so they
can land safely (pretty cool, I think). They make their way to the Jedi
Temple, where they view the security recordings of the attack, and Aryn
recognizes the face of Darth Malgus. As Zeerid searches for a way
off-planet again, Aryn returns to the Temple in a less secret way, and
battles Malgus, until Zeerid realizes where she's gone, and goes back to
take her away.
Malgus, in the meantime, has been frowned upon
by his fellow Darths. One his own rank (Darth Adraas) and his superior
(Darth Angral) don't think his philosophy is correct, and especially
mock him for being lover to his slave Eleena, the Twi'lek who is very
proficient with her blasters. His rage builds throughout the book, and
he disobeys orders to go and fight Aryn at the Temple.
But he
does realize that his love for Eleena is a weakness, and chases after
Aryn when he realizes she will go search out his companion and make her
suffer to get back at him. I wasn't sure how Aryn was going to get out
of this, because she had that intent, at first. But when she actually
encountered Eleena, stood over her with lightsaber drawn in anger, she
felt pity, and started to feel the light side of the Force again within
her.
Zeerid escapes on Vrath's ship, not realizing that Vrath
was on board, fights him, and eventually throws him out the airlock,
because he knows the secret of Zeerid's daughter, and knows Zeerid is
still alive, when The Exchange must believe his ship was shot down
trying to get to the surface of Coruscant. I didn't expect this,
but he is prepared to live with that murder, if it keeps his family
safe.
Aryn, for her part, faces off against Darth Malgus again,
in a fierce battle where she uses the Light instead of her anger. But
Malgus is stronger, and knocks her down. I have trouble believing that
the Dark Side is stronger, as the battles in this book seem to imply. In
this case, I am content to believe that Malgus trains more, so he has
sharper reflexes. But he doesn't kill Aryn, because she didn't kill
Eleena, then lets her go.
I wondered what this would do to Malgus;
it seemed strange, but he was in a strange mood. He realized his
dependence on love, so he killed Eleena himself, both to save her from
more pain at his side, and to eliminate his weakness. I really liked the
way he recognized that the Dark Side has a price, but that he was
willing to pay it. Then he vows to
destroy the Jedi, because they present the same kind of weakness to the
Sith. His last part in the book is an infiltration of Adraas' estate to
kill the Sith. I would expect a follow-up story to show how he worked
his way up the Darths, to become Emperor himself, but as I mentioned,
the next story in the series doesn't even mention him...
And as
for Aryn and Zeener, she finds him because of a comment he made about
becoming a farmer on Dantooine, and she shows up on his farm. Due to the
experiences they shared, or his concern for her, or both, they've been
drawn to each other, and have inadvertently fallen in love. Arra, who
has received new legs in the time since, likes the idea. |
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by Warren Dunn, all rights reserved.
