Customer Reviews

Path of Destruction: A Novel of the Old Republic (Star Wars: Darth Bane)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Star Wars Expanded Universe contains events dating back at least 25,000 years before the films, but until the publication of Drew Karpyshyn's Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, these millennia have been the province of videogames and comics. The books have kept a tighter focus, starting right before The Phantom Menace and moving out to just shy of forty years past Return of the Jedi. It is a delight to finally have fiction set in another time, and this era in particular (1,000 years before the Battle of Yavin) has not been fleshed out. To my knowledge, only one comic book series (Jedi vs. Sith) has been set during this time, as the Knights of the Old Republic games and comics take place several thousand years earlier.

Karpyshyn was the lead writer for the Knights of the Old Republic videogame, which had a plot I would rank right there with the films themselves and the very best of the novels. By the midpoint of the game, the storyline was absolutely riveting as your character worked out his or her past and started to understand the underlying drift of the tale. With this game as a credential, I eagerly anticipated Karpyshyn's first foray into Star Wars novels.

I wasn't disappointed. Darth Bane's origin tale is well thought-out and deftly written. Many elements of this story were clearly inspired by Revenge of the Sith. In some places, this story mirrors that film, as we see some similar events in Bane's path as we experienced in Anakin's, including a vaguely-defined notion of a Chosen One, an exploration of passion as strength, a need to wipe out other Force users (Light or Dark in this case), and some serious peril for children who get in his way.

However, the storyline differs sharply in many ways. Bane had a horrible childhood, abused by an alcoholic father and condemned to work in cortosis mines on the barren planet Apatros to pay off his father's accumulated debts. Despite being a slave, Anakin's childhood doesn't look that bad in the movies; his mother clearly loves him and Watto doesn't come off as a very harsh taskmaster. Bane forges his path to the Sith through hatred and anger; Anakin finds his through attachment and love.

I enjoyed the time spent on Korriban at the training facility for the Brotherhood of Darkness. Karpyshyn gives a strong sense of how the Sith have lost their way, and indeed, they come across as somewhat bad but not truly evil. There's too much pretense of honor and equality in the Brotherhood to jive with the Sith we know such as Palpatine or Anakin. This segment of the story is a superb set-up to Bane's determination to enforce his newly-conceived doctrine of the Rule of Two (no more, no less).

One aspect that sometimes holds the book back from being completely engaging is the sense of inevitability in the story. Anyone who has seen the films has an excellent idea of who will prevail in the Bane vs. the Brotherhood of Darkness with its hundreds of Dark Side users. Bane's path to power and embrace of the Dark Side are also very carefully mapped out with no real surprises along the way. At points, the story reads more like a history than a ripping adventure yarn.

I'm thrilled to see Del Rey take the chance of publishing a book set in an entirely different era from usual. I hope it will pay off and more stories set further out (in both past and future) from the movies will follow. There is plenty of room at the end of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction for sequels, and it'd be great to give Karpyshyn the chance to tell us more of Darth Bane's story.

I found this book very enjoyable. A number of people have expressed disappointment, and were expecting more on Sith tradition, ritual, etc. All that is probably going to occur in future books. I liken this book very much to the Episode 1: The Phantom Menace film. It lays the groundwork for a lot to follow. The author keeps the novel fast-paced and I found it hard to put down.

I have been a Star Wars fan since I was 13 and waited in line with my Dad for four (4) hours to see Star Wars (A New Hope). I have read everything as it has come out since then and frankly this book just about made me forget to go to work!! I was spellbound by the detail in which the author used to describe the Dark Side of the Force. The character development was excellent. The battle scenes were written very well and I could visualize in my mind the darkness of the Brotherhood of the Sith and even more the mission that Darth Bane embarked on. I could feel his anger! We need more dark side novels like this!

I finished it last night, and I'm fascinated with it. The story of Darth Bane and the dogma of 2 sith "one to embody the power, and another to crave it" is amazingly explained. You can also see that the Jedi Order was much different (arrogant) from the one we know (Yoda's Order).
Also, you can clearly see why the Sith were doomed. I really like the writer's descriptive style, without falling in boredom at all (like happened with others books like Rogue Planet and the first half of Shatterpoint).

Bane is an interesting character and the depths of it are trully intriguing. Also, the contrast between the Sith Academy and the Jedi Temple are not only emphasized in the teachings themselves but also in the style and decoration (gloomy).

I haven't played KOTOR, but according to what people told me about its content, you will find in the book a lot of refferences from the games (Force-shield, battle meditation...)

It's a really entertaining book that will give you (for those who never read the comics of the Old Republic and Sith Era) a lot of insights regarding the old Sith way, before the "always 2 there are, no more, nor less, a Master and an apprentice" dogma.

The author certainly gives us an amazing reading to unravel the mystery of the Sith.

I highly recommend this book.

I am highly critical, and haven't liked most of the Star Wars books, but I must say that this one is awesome. My only criticism is that it doesn't seem right that Darth Bane learns the Force Lightning power while still a student (it seems that should have been a more advanced power to me). Other than that, this book was perfect. Very nice!!

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction takes us back to a thousand years before Emperor Palpatine and the collapse of the Republic. At that time the Sith were legion, and the deadly battles between the Sith and the Jedi were constant. The Sith had leaders, they had an academy to train new followers, and they had vicious infighting. However, they were not as powerful as they thought they should be.

This is then the time when Bane is introduced to the Sith. Originally Bane was known as Dessel. He was raised on the desolate planet Apatros, suffered under the abuse of a hateful father, and eventually scratched out a living as a miner under extreme conditions. Dessel had always known that he had unusual powers, but he had no real understanding of the Force. Through a chain of bad luck, he is forced to flee from Apatros and ends up in the Sith academy learning the ways of the dark side and going by the name of Bane. He proves to be an unusually apt student, and he learns to have no hesitation in using whatever devious and treacherous methods he needs to advance.

As Bane becomes ever more powerful in the use of the Force, he delves deeply into the history of the Sith and becomes convinced that the Sith will never overcome the Jedi until they limit themselves only to two - a leader and an apprentice. Those two can work together in secrecy to undermine the existing government and the Jedi. Darth Bane becomes powerful enough by the end of the book to deal with all of the other Sith, wipe out a number of Jedi, and disappear to begin the evil machinations of the Sith. A thousand years later and after many generations of Sith, we find in Revenge of the Sith that Darth Bane's methods were effective.

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction offers a fascinating look at the early development of the Sith and lays the groundwork for much of what is to come in the world of Star Wars that is so familiar to millions of people. Read the book. Learn about Darth Bane.

"Star Wars: Darth Bane --- Path of Destruction (A Novel of the Old Republic)" is the most thrilling "Star Wars" novel I've read in a good while. Definitely the best since Matthew Stover's novelization of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."


Darth Bane --- if you're familiar with "Star Wars" lore, than you probably have a good idea about who Darth Bane is. But what it is his past? Where did he come from? How did he rise to power? What were the challenges he faced? These are the questions answered in "Path of Destruction."

Like "Episode III," Karpyshyn's narrative draws you into a story that you already in some ways know the outcome to. You find yourself wanting and learning new details and intricacies, as you marvel at Bane's path to power. Such is the strength of the storytelling that may even find yourself subconsciously rooting for Bane in a way.

This book spares no punches and has no mercy. If you want to read a truly amazing tale of the destructive, deceptive and duplicitous nature of the Sith, pick up "Darth Bane --- Path of the Destruction" now.

I've been counting down to this book and wasn't disappointed. Darth Bane is a legend in the Sith History it was exciting to read how he began, where he was from, how he joined the Sith returning to the anicent Sith, Rule of Two and set the Sith on a course that would lead to the Empire. The real surprise was Bane was written in a way you could sympathize with him and even root for him. I enjoyed learning more about the Sith masters and its Academy. The same about seeing the Jedi and a full fledged Sith-Jedi war. I hope we'll be seeing more stories from this era.

All I can say is "what took it so long?" I forget that impatience leads to the Dark Side, and to this book. Very good. Like the prequels this ties up a lot of lose ends. It would be nice for Lucas to put this into a movie format along with all the Old Republic story lines. Whole new stories with a whole new cast. It can show that Star Wars goes beyond Luke, Leia, Han Solo. Dart Vader et al.

For those that wish to know more about this time period (1,000 years before the Battle of Yavin - Star Wars A New Hope) be sure to read the Dark Horse comic seris "Jedi vs. Sith."

Four stars.

This is a very good SW novel. I have always wanted some old, old republic novels, since all my favorite stories are stuck in comics (tales of the jedi, sith war etc.) and video games (KOTOR I and II). Thankfully the author ties in a LOT of that material here.

I really appreciate that the author and publisher didn't back out on any of the "violence." The novel overlaps with a comic (Jedi vs sith) that took a lot of heat for "senseless" violence. It wasn't senseless then, and it's not now. Although it IS unlike other SW books but hey....thats a good thing.

Only downside is that the best parts of this book mirror jedi vs sith too much, so some of the best "i cant believe they did that!" moments are spoiled from the comic book. If I had not read the comic, this would be hands down the best SW book I have ever read, and would have scored 5/5 stars.