I’m only a few chapters in and I already love this book. I miss Asajj Ventress. To me, she was a great character with a great character development; however, I do feel that her story was rushed, but what do you expect from a show (The Clone Wars) that’s anchored towards kids and teenagers. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the show and as an adult, I enjoy it greatly. I even enjoy Star Wars: Rebels (which is one of the main reasons I agreed on getting cable television in the first place). Before I get too side tracked here, let me continue with Dark Disciple. From the Foreword of the book, it had me in its grasp of mesmerization.
“For as long as I live, I will never forget the times when my dad and I would sneak into the back of a darkened movie theater just as John Williams’s unforgettable theme trumpeted from the speakers, holding hands while the crowd roared, raising their lightsabers into the air as the Star Wars logo flashed across the screen. I’ve never seen my dad happier.
May the Force always be with you.” – portion of the foreword by Katie Lucas.
How can you not already love this book? It reminded me of all those times watching Star Wars in theaters, or even private showings with other fans. It made me reminisce of the old days and my love for the series. There truly is nothing like it, nor could there be and the entire foreword rejuvinated that feeling of love and passion for Star Wars.
I will not be writing a review of the books just yet, since I’m still reading it (I will upon completion); however, I’ve come to a conclusion that as I read through books, comics, watch television episodes, movies, and anything in-between, I’ll point some things out in the excerpts I choose and will discuss them and offer my thoughts as I go on.
One thing I’ve seen in many Star Wars forums and social media, is fans discussing Asajj Ventress not being a Sith. This is completely false. In Dark Disciple, Vos states, “The Jedi Council wants me to work with a Sith?” in-which, Kenobi corrects him, “Failed Sith.” Thus implying that the Jedi consider Ventress to be a Sith.
Yes, it could be argued that in the story, it’s the Jedis who consider her Sith, but in the reality of it all, she really isn’t. A few chapters later, the author (Christie Golden) refers to her as “The former Sith acolyte…”, which is stated through the authors point-of-view, rather than a characters point of view and since the book is canon and it’s blatantly stating her to once be a Sith, then there we have it. Confirmation.
Another thing I’d also like to point out is through the same media, I’ve seen people consider Yoda and Sidious to be the strongest Force users of that time, but once again, Christie Golden states “Few were stronger in the Force than Yoda…”, which pretty much states that there are definitely other more powerful Force users out there during this time frame.
An occurance that made me quite happy was that Dark Disciple brought the reader back to Coruscants Level 1313, which was only canonly seen in Star Wars the Clone Wars before this (Yes, there were quite a few mentions and occurances with Level 1313 in the old EU, but it’s no longer canon). Here is the description of Level 1313 in Dark Disciple: Level 1313 was so named because it was one thousand, three hundred, and thirteen levels from the core of the planet. Vos suspected it was easier to think of it that way rather than focusing on the weight of almost four thousand other levels between oneself and the surface. The difference between Coruscant’s literal and figurative “underworld” and the one that saw the sun was sufficiently stark that they might as well be located in two different systems. Crimes that would be viewed as appalling above were everyday occurrences here.
And guess who Vos encounters in Level 1313? I won’t spoil it for you, so you’ll just have to read the book yourself, but here’s a hint: You’ve read about him in Level 1313 in the old EU. If that’s not enough, then here’s another: He has a jetpack.
As I’ve stated earlier, I’m really enjoying this book and I can’t wait to get into it more. So far, it’s got action, adventure, drama, and a great plot! Since I’m not done with the book, I can’t suggest it just yet, but I am having a blast with it. And with that being said, I’m out.
May the Force be with you always.
– Ehpik.
