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Drew Karpyshyn2007 – Del ReyApproximately 1000-990 Years Before The Battle of YavinSite Rating =
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SPOILER ALERT: This Will Spoil The Plot of the Book!
On Ruusan, the young Darovit, or Tomcat as he is known, walks amidst the bodies of Jedi and Sith that were overcome by the thought bomb that was unleashed. He is confused as to why he survived when all other Force sensitives did not. He enters the cave and finds the a glowing orb hovering and after touching it for a mere instant realizes that the minds of the dead are trapped inside it forever.
Darth Bane, the lone remaining Sith, and his new found apprentice, Zannah, are heading back to the Sith camp for supplies. The young girl is trying to keep up, but Bane is too fast. He stops and begins her Sith teachings in subtle ways using the Sith Code. Through her words and actions he knows he has chosen a worthy apprentice.
In orbit, Jedi Padawan Johun Othone is packed into Lord Valenthyne Farfalla’s flagship. He is desperate to return to the surface as his guilt over leaving General Hoth’s side is haunting him. Farfalla has decided only to send non Force users to the surface to avoid any possible aftershocks of the thought bomb. Nevertheless, Johun uses a gentle Force push to convince the pilot, Irtanna, that he should go along on the Star Wake.
As Bane and Zannah return to the Sith camp, Bane easily kills several looters, but allows a few to escape and explains to her that their tales will not be believed and will help hide the truth of the Sith’s survival. Still plagued by massive headaches from the thought bomb, Bane swears he’s seeing glimpse of Lord Kaan. He finds a manuscript left by Qordis and realizes it contains the location of the lost tomb of the legendary Sith Freedon Nadd!
After leaving the remains of the thought bomb, Darovit gets lost in the caverns but follows voices back to the bomb and finds to his astonishment that Rain (now using her real name, Zannah) is alive! Bane has been adding more knowledge to her eager mind, and in attempts to save Darovit’s life she uses the Force to destroy his lightsaber hand and leaves him behind. Bane is impressed that even though she feels compassion for him she did what was necessary and never looked backed as they left him on the ground.
Once on the surface, Johun stops some of the others from killing two mercenaries surrendering to them. They tell him of their encounter with Bane and Johun is eager to pass the news back to Farfalla.
Bane and Zannah reach the Valcyn, but Bane tells her he’s leaving her behind to fend for herself. The dark side is about the power of self and she must learn it if she hopes to one day take his mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. He is secretly heading to Dxun to find Freedon Nadd’s tomb, and tells her to meet him on Onderon in ten days.
Back on Farfalla’s ship, Johun gets his meeting with the general who does not believe the story of the mercenaries is credible. After much convincing, Johun comes around to that side as well. He quickly forgets his mistake when Farfalla suggests he return to Coruscant with him to meet with Chancellor Valorum about some important legislation that will affect the Republic and Jedi Order.
Still on the surface, Zannah encounters the Star Wake and they take her onboard. She is nearly swayed to stay with them, but instead she finds a blaster and kills everyone on board and turns the ship towards Onderon.
Throughout Bane’s flight to Dxun, he is plagued by visions of Qordis and Kaan who ridicule him for his actions. He is forced to crash land on the planet and receives several injuries to go along with his mangled ship. After defeating one of the indigenous creatures, he eventually arrives at the tomb. After many fruitless passageways, he finds a hidden doorway that has yet to be disturbed. Inside he finds a Sith Holocron, but as he grabs it he is attacked by parasitic organisms and he barely escapes the chamber.
On Coruscant, Farfalla and Johun meet with Chancellor Valorum to discuss his proposal to disband the Jedi Army of Light since the war is won. He proposes a new beginning to the crumbling Republic with the Jedi as advisors to the light rather than warriors. Johun is incensed when Farfalla agrees, but Farfalla explains his position and persuades the Padawan.
From the Holocron, Bane learns that the two parasites attached to him are impossible to remove, but they will provide a protective shell for him as well as feed his dark side energy. He gains control over a flying beast and rides it out of the atmosphere of Dxun towards the nearby Onderon.
Zannah’s trip was fitful as she could not contain her guilt over the deaths of the ship’s passengers, but she manages to set the ship down in a secluded area. She is greeted by a rough group of beast riders, but Bane comes to her rescue! A ferocious aerial battle ensues that leaves Bane covered in blood and his enemies even worse off. Zannah’s faith is renewed as Bane tells her he is proud of her actions to reach the planet.
After summoning Johun to his quarters, Farfalla tells him that they have located the Star Wake and all aboard have been killed and that the Ruusan Reformations have been passed. He assigns Johun to Valorum’s personal guard, and although disappointed, Johun accepts the duty. Farfalla then stuns him by telling him that his is no longer a Padawan but a full Jedi Knight!
Amazingly, Darovit has survived the tunnels with the help of the creatures known as bouncers. They allow him to heal and help soothe his thoughts of revenge. He realizes that Rain was actually trying to save him from the Sith that would have killed him. He knows he will no longer be a Sith or Jedi, but the bouncers offer a third option – a man.
Ten years later…..
On Serenno, Zannah is looking for a young man named Kelad’den who is a freedom fighter against the Republic as well as her lover. She, of course, is pretending to work in the Republic embassy to gain his trust. Bane rarely leaves their camp on Ambria as the orbalisks now cover everything but his head, feet, and hands. As Kel is running late, she thinks back to her early lessons on patience. Kel eventually arrives to take her to his group’s meeting place.
Back on Ambria, Bane is making his fourth attempt at constructing his own Holocron. His earlier attempts proved futile and the orbalisks are making this fourth one equally difficult. Failure eventually wins out and Bane releases his fury.
Kel and Zannah arrive at the meeting room of the Anti-Republic Liberation Front which is headed by a mysterious man named Hetton. Kel tells them they will kidnap Valorum, the former Chancellor who will be at a secret meeting on Serenno, information Bane had gotten from his network of secret informants. She has bent Kel’s will to her own and he is able to convince them all to carry out this plan. Afterwards they split up and she knows she will likely never see him again.
Back at their camp, Zannah sees the remnants of Bane’s rage of failure. He tells her he expects the rebels to fail, but they are yet another distraction for the Republic and Jedi, further splintering their energy and resources. She wonders aloud if the orbalisks are poisoning his mind, but he denies it. She knows she’s planted the seeds of doubt and hopes he will rid himself of the orbalisks. If she ever has plans to overthrow him, the armor the orbalisks provide will need to be out of the way.
Johun and Tarsus Valorum, the now former Chancellor arrive at Serenno in hopes of persuading the wealthy families to cut off funding to anti-Republic groups. Johun’s respect for the man has only grown during his decade of service. As they depart the ship, it is destroyed by an explosion and they are attacked by four assalaints. Johun is able to skillfully fend off the attacks, but when several flee he enters a fearsome battle with a Twi’lek…Kel. Kel bests him in combat, but Johun grabs him and throws both of them off a cliff. Only Johun survives the fall to the waters below.
Zannah learns of the failed attack and the reaction of the Counts of Serenno to hunt down all anti-Republic factions. Cyndra, one of the survivors of the attack, catches her at gun point and marches her to Hetton, the group’s leader, who is actually a member of one of the great houses of Sereeno. Zannah is immediately taken by his strength in the Dark Side! Looking over her situation, she thinks back to her early training when Bane first revealed her tendencies to be a Sith Sorceress and the power she could learn even without Bane’s help. She used this power to drive Cyndra insane with horrific visions lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. After a dazzling lightsaber display leaving the other terrorist dead, Hetton comes forward and greets her on bended knee!
Back on Coruscant, Farfalla questions Johun about Valorum’s recent request to have a memorial built on Ruusan for Hoth and those that gave their life. The Jedi Council does not support of the vane act, but agrees not to keep Johun from helping to oversee its construction.
Hetton tells Zannah that he always had a talent with the Force. His mother hired a Force sensitive bounty hunter to help him, but he soon surpassed him and killed him. He had now amassed a sizable collection of Sith artifacts and manuscripts. His mother wanted him to ally with the Brotherhood, but he thought they were counter to all his studies and thus killed her as well. He tells her the tale of Belia Darzu, a Sith that ruled centuries earlier with an army of techno-beats, who had hidden her knowledge in a Holocron on the hidden Deep Core world of Tython. Hetton has the coordinates and pledges his allegiance as well as eight Sith trained assassins to her if she accepts him as an apprentice. She agrees.
On Ambria, as Bane contemplates his future with the orbalisks, he is set upon by the assasins and his rage at Zannah’s betrayal spurs his energy and he kills them all with little difficulty. Zannah does not assist as Bane cuts Hetton down as well. He then attacks her full force, but she is able to convince him it was all so she could give him the information on constructing a Holocron. He is pleased with her deception.
On Ruusan, Darovit has taken on a hermit existance. Having been taught to heal others by the bouncers he is frequently visited by those in need who repay him with small gifts. On this night he is incensed to see that the Jedi have returned to the planet. He sabotages all their equipment and returns unnoticed.
Bane is able to authenticate much of Hetton’s information. As he prepares to leave for Tython, Zannah is heading to Coruscant to infiltrate the Jedi Temple and look for information to rid him of the orbalisks. She planned to go in posing as a Padawan looking for information for her reclusive Master. She will need to use a Sith spell to mask her power and her dark side prescense or else the secret of Sith will be revealed.
After several nights of sabotage, Johun decides to stay behind and is reward by seeing Davorit in action and chases him back to his home in the forest. Darovit tells him he wants the Jedi to leave and the two argue over who was at fault for Ruusan’s destruction. Daravit shocks Johun by revealing that the Sith are still active and his cousin was taken as Darth Bane’s apprentice. He wants to take Darovit with him to Coruscant to tell the Council, but he refuses until Johun convinces him it may help prevent another Jedi/Sith War.
Bane successfully arrives on Tython and finds Belia’s fortress intact. When he finally reaches her inner sanctum, he discovers her technobeast army is still there! The organic material had vanished away, but the mindless mechanics had them still moving around the room. As he grabbed the Holocron, they attacked him. The centuries were to their disadvantage as Bane cut them all down in an exhausting hour long battle.
Farfalla is in disbelief over Johun’s renewed claims of a surviving Sith Lord, but he agrees to meet with Darovit who is studying healing techniques in the Jedi Archives
After days of searching the Jedi Archives in disguise, Zannah finally discovers a document that details how to rid a host of the orbalisks without killing the host in the process! As she celebrates Darovit approaches her from behind. She turns and grabs him as he explains how he got to be there. She pulls him from the Archives, but not before copying some data she’ll need to help warn Bane that their secret may be exposed.
When Farfalla and Johun are unable to find Darovit in the archives, they find a droid that informs them he left with someone named Rain. Johun recognizes the name and they follow their tracks and learn they have accessed records regarding the location of Tython, the birthplace of the Jedi. Farfalla tells Johun to find two other Masters and they head to find the Sith.
On Hetton’s ship, Darovit tries to convice Zannah that being a Sith is not in her nature. She is unmoved and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t find a way to remove the orbalisks from Bane by the time they arrive at Tython. Secretly, though, she begins to wonder whether Bane will think the same thing.
After several days of studying the Holocron, Bane finally comes across the information he had been desperately seeking over the years. The secret of Holocron construction was finally revealed. As he leaves the fortress, Zannah and Darovit arrive and although Zannah says she’s learned how to remove the orbalisks, Bane is having second thoughts about it now. Suddenly, a Jedi craft appears and heads towards them!
Master Raskta, one of the greatest duelists of all time, pilots the ship in and they enter the fortress when Darovit is hiding with the Holocron. Four Jedi split up and attack Zannah and Bane with one, and Ithorian, staying behind to lead through meditation. Raskta and Farfalla take Bane and are surprised by his aggressive style and his impenetrable armor. Knowing they were outmatched, Farfalla calls for Johun to reinforce them. Sarro, a more advanced fighter focuses on Zannah. When the Ithorian’s meditation is broken, Sarro falters and she cuts him down. As Bane prepares to unleash lightening on the last Jedi, the fallen Ithorian grabs his leg and the lightening encases Bane in an orb of pain. Bane falls the ground and Zannah finishes the final Jedi on her own.
Amazingly Bane is alive and she takes him, with Darovit, to the ship for medical attention. Unfortunately the orbalisks were dead and had already released toxins inside his body. She commands Darovit to keep him alive while she makes a course for Ambria and Caleb, the healer who had saved Bane before.
When she finally reaches Caleb, who was hiding in a secret cellar, he refuses to help and has sent his daughter away to ensure she cannot be held against him as Bane did last time. As she looks over Bane’s body , Darovit again tries to lure her away from her Sith teachings and says he’s convinced Caleb to heal Bane but only if she calls the Jedi to come and arrest him. After weighing her options she decides to agree to the demands.
After several days, Bane awakes and is disgusted with Zannah’s decision. He orders her to kill him and flee into the desert before the Jedi arrive.
When a team of Jedi arrive they find Caleb hacked to pieces outside the tent. As they approach Darovit charges out and attacks them only to be easily killed. They find the lightsabers of Farfalla’s team and determine that Darovit must have been the Sith Lord and had gone mad from injury. They prepare to leave not knowing the Bane and Zannah are hiding in the secret cellar beneath their feet.
On board their repaired ship, Bane awakes with a jolt and Zannah reveals her plan. Bane is pleased and she tells him that she will indeed kill Bane, but not until he has taught her all she needs to know. He approves.
Comments
This book was not as memorable as the first Bane novel, but still enjoyable.
Major Characters |
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Darth Bane
Darovit Valenthyne Farfalla Hetton |
Kelad’den
Johun Othone Tarsus Valorum Darth Zannah |
Why Should You Read This Book? |
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| If you are a fan of the first, the second may not live up to it, but it is still a worthy sequel. | |
Good Moments |
Bad Moment |
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The technobeast army |
The Jedi don’t get their just due in the fortress.
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Previous Novel |
Next Novel |
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Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
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