Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane) (Hardcover)

by Drew Karpyshyn (Author)
Key Phrases: shadow assassins, orbalisk armor, green lightsaber, Army of Light, Sith Master, Sith Lord (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the New York Times bestseller Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn painted a gripping portrait of a young man’s journey from innocence to evil. That man was Darth Bane, a twisted genius whose iron will, fierce ambition, and strength in the dark side of the Force made him a natural leader among the Sith–until his radical embrace of an all-but-forgotten wisdom drove him to destroy his own order . . . and create it anew from the ashes. As the last surviving Sith, Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive: the Rule of Two.

Two there should be; no more, no less.
One to embody the power, the other to crave it.

Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action, and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete: a student to train in the ways of the dark side. Though she is young, Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. With his guidance, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy.

But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane: Johun Othone, Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth, who died at Bane’s hands in the last great Sith War. Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him, Joshua’s belief that there are surviving Sith on the loose is unshakeable.

As Johun continues his dogged pursuit of the man who killed his master, Zannah, faced unexpectedly with a figure from her past, begins to question her embrace of the dark side. And Darth Bane is led by Force-induced visions to a moon where he will acquire astonishing new knowledge and power–power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined. . . .

About the Author
Drew Karpyshyn is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and Mass Effect: Revelation, as well as several other fantasy and science fiction novels. He is also an award-winning writer/designer for the computer game company BioWare, where he was lead writer on Mass Effect and the blockbuster Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game. He lives in Canada’s hinterlands with his wife, Jen, and their cat.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345477480
• ISBN-13: 978-0345477484
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read; leaves me anxious for a third Bane novel, February 1, 2008

By	Andrew Pruette "Rancors Love to Read" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The second Star Wars novel by Drew Karpyshyn set in the Old Republic, Darth Bane: Rule of Two picks up immediately after the climactic events of the first book Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. The detonation of former Sith leader Lord Kaan's thought bomb has devastated the Jedi and Sith remaining on the planet of Ruusan. Darth Bane has survived and has just chosen a new apprentice, a girl named Rain who has recently killed two Jedi in a fit of rage. Her cousin Tomcat, who was brought to Ruusan with her originally to help the Jedi war effort, is also still around; turns out his Force powers were too weak for him to be greatly affected by the thought bomb.

These events were originally told in the Dark Horse comics series Jedi vs. Sith. In the first book, Karpyshyn retold part of that comic series, giving it a more realistic and grittier feeling (i.e., unlike the comics, Lord Valenthyne Farfalla wasn't literally a satyr in the novel and his ship, while described as like an ancient sailing vessel, still didn't sound as ridiculous as the actual imagery of it in Jedi vs. Sith was.) Apart from altering the feel of the comic series, though, Karpyshyn stayed largely faithful to its events. He completes the re-telling of the comics in Rule of Two, quickly sweeps in his own version of the older short story Bane of the Sith, and around one-third of the way into this novel finally has the opportunity to cleanly tell a brand new story of his own.

After some setup, the story takes a ten-year leap forward, so that Rain, now known as Darth Zannah, can become the young adult apprentice of Darth Bane and we can see how his plans for the new Sith Order of two individuals are progressing. Karpyshyn does not linger over Zannah's training; some is told in flashbacks but from those short sections, I believe he made a wise decision to jump forward. The few flashbacks he does include are powerful and give a potent sense of what Zannah's training has encompassed.

I find it interesting with Bane's character that as power-hungry as he clearly is, he is willing to sublimate his immediate desires for a longer-term view of building a Sith legacy. Instead of scheming to rule the galaxy a la Darth Sidious, Bane focuses on building holocrons, acquiring forgotten Sith lore, and training Zannah in the ways of the Sith. I'm unsure as to whether Palpatine represents the culmination of the order Bane was trying to build or not; he certainly metes out revenge to the Jedi Order, but Palpatine was consumed by his own power and ambition, showing little concern for empowering the Sith that should come after him.

Rule of Two may be the goriest and most violent Star Wars novel published to date. Telling a tale focused on a Sith Lord and his apprentice will naturally require a certain amount of this, but there are some scenes that may surprise readers who are used to the heroic tales of Luke Skywalker and his friends. The orbalisks covering Bane, taken from the Bane of the Sith short story, are a grotesque but fascinating concept, and Zannah's scheming to convince her master to remove them and the protection they grant is quite interesting.

The Jedi characters in this novel are a bit enigmatic. I felt there was a bit of an uneasy balance in trying to make Johun Othone into a fully-realized character while focusing on the story of Bane and Zannah. He and his allies acquire some distinguishing characteristics as the story progresses, but in the end Bane and Zannah are the memorable characters here.

The worlds featured in this novel are largely unused in other Expanded Universe stories and make a welcome change from the norm. The devastation on Ruusan underscores the impact of the Jedi and Sith battles waged there; we briefly visit Dxun and Onderon, introduced in the comic series Tales of the Jedi; there's a stop at Serenno, future home of Count Dooku; and there's a fascinating and intense sequence on Tython, a Deep Core world legendary for being the supposed birthplace of the Jedi Order.

My concern with Rule of Two is it feels like the middle novel in a trilogy. There is less resolution than I had hoped for, and while the characters evolve some, there's not nearly the progression that we saw in Bane in Path of Destruction. If Karpyshyn gets the chance to write a third Darth Bane novel, it may make me view this one a little more favorably as a transition; however, if this is the conclusion of Bane's saga, I had expected to learn more about him and the eventual handoff of his power to his successor. Rule of Two is an entertaining novel but I hope there is more to come.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid continuation of the Darth Bane tale, December 28, 2007

By	L. Weinberg (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most EU books of late, this is a quick read...but it is definitely enjoyable. The first Darth Bane book was one of the better EU books to come out in recent years, so I was hoping that this would follow suit. For the most part, it does.

Rule of Two continues the tale of Darth Bane and Zannah, starting mere hours after Path of Destruction's end. The book follows several different storylines, all of which come together in the last 50-60 pages with a great finale. The new characters are all well-developed and interesting, compared to some other recent EU books (e.g., Death Star).

On the negative, this definitely has the feel of being a bit rushed, as the author notes in his forward -- there were a few minor spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Additionally, some plot devices seemed contrived and repetitive (e.g., yet another Sith holocron).

Still, the characters continue to develop well, the action is exciting and fast-paced, and I look forward to a third book in this series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars - spoilers may follow, February 15, 2008

By	Andromeda (USA) - See all my reviews

Rule of Two is the much anticipated sequel to Path to Destruction featuring Darth Bane and his apprentice Zannah. Its hard to believe reading about two people forging a path of death and destruction in the name of the Sith could be so exciting. Their usually the people you want to see defeated (like a certain new Sith in Legacy of the Force). Darth Bane despite being the only Sith Lord left still has much to learn about the Sith and Dark Side of the Force as he travels to Dxun and Typho in search of Sith secrets and Holograms. At the same time Bane's training his own apprentice Zannah who he found in the previous book after she killed to Jedi. Zannah's a very interesting charactor. She's drawn more into the Dark Side of Force and becoming a Sith but she still has some doubts mainly the normal human reactions to killing remorse, guilt and a conscience but its clear she wants to become a Sith she also has one attachment her cousin Darovit who in the beginning she spares his life. She also goes through creative ways as she contiunes her path as a Sith. From finding her way to Onderon to managing after all who would suspect a ten year old girl of anything bad to getting into the Jedi Temple to raid the Archives. That part I admitt creeped me out the most. A Sith apprentice inside the Jedi Temple for three whole days without anyone getting suspicious.
On the Jedi front we have Johun who's master died in the thought bomb and is the first one to suspect the Sith are still around. When he meets merecenaries who witnessed Darth Bane and Zannah first hand he immediately believes them. Unfortunately Jedi Master Farfalla does not because the witnesses are paid for hire soldiers with many motives to lie. Perhaps the weakest link in the story is Farfalla's belief the Sith are extinct. Why would the Jedi think the Sith put all of their resources into the Ruusan battle if the Jedi didn't? Its not to hard to believe at least one or two might have survived or may not have been at the Battle. But when he does finally believe Johun, Farfalla does move fast to face the Sith.
Its also possible Farfalla was too distracted by Chancellor Valorum's decisions to place the Jedi in a position to answer to the Senate and have them removed from the military all together that might be distracting him as well as the Jedi's image which is some what tainted in light of all the Sith-Jedi battles that have left planets and people deveastated. Decisions that will leave both the decendents of the Jedi and Valurom to regret.
Another interesting part was Bane and Zannah's use of Serenno the home planet of the future Dooku in order to further their plans and their efforts to keep the Jedi from learning the Sith are alive. The eventual lightsabre battle between the Sith and Jedi was very exciting. I only hope that their will be more.