Shatterpoint (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) [Hardcover]

MATTHEW STOVER (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003 | Series: Star Wars

“The Jedi are keepers of the peace. We are not soldiers.”
—MACE WINDU
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Mace Windu is a living legend: Jedi Master, senior member of the Jedi Council, skilled diplomat, devastating fighter. Some say he is the deadliest man alive. But he is a man of peace—and for the first time in a thousand years, the galaxy is at war.

Now, following the momentous events climaxing in the Battle of Geonosis, Master Mace Windu must undertake a perilous homecoming to his native world—to defuse a potentially catastrophic crisis for the Republic . . . and to confront a terrifying mystery with dire personal consequences.

The jungle planet of Haruun Kal, the homeworld Mace barely remembers, has become a battleground in the increasing hostilities between the Republic and the renegade Separatist movement. The Jedi Council has sent Depa Billaba—Mace’s former Padawan and fellow Council member—to Haruun Kal to train the local tribesmen as a guerilla resistance force, to fight against the Separatists who control the planet and its strategic star system with their droid armies. But now the Separatists have pulled back, and Depa has not returned. The only clue to her disappearance is a cryptic recording left at the scene of a brutal massacre: a recording that hints of madness and murder, and the darkness in the jungle . . . a recording in Depa’s own voice.

Mace Windu trained her. Only he can find her. Only he can learn what has changed her. Only he can stop her.

Jedi were never intended to be soldiers. But now they have no choice. Mace must journey alone into the most treacherous jungle in the galaxy—and into his own heritage. He will leave behind the Republic he serves, the civilization he believes in, everything but his passion for peace and his devotion to his former Padawan. And he will learn the terrible price that must be paid, when keepers of the peace are forced to make war. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

?The Jedi are keepers of the peace. We are not soldiers.?
?MACE WINDU
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Mace Windu is a living legend: Jedi Master, senior member of the Jedi Council, skilled diplomat, devastating fighter. Some say he is the deadliest man alive. But he is a man of peace?and for the first time in a thousand years, the galaxy is at war.

Now, following the momentous events climaxing in the Battle of Geonosis, Master Mace Windu must undertake a perilous homecoming to his native world?to defuse a potentially catastrophic crisis for the Republic . . . and to confront a terrifying mystery with dire personal consequences.

The jungle planet of Haruun Kal, the homeworld Mace barely remembers, has become a battleground in the increasing hostilities between the Republic and the renegade Separatist movement. The Jedi Council has sent Depa Billaba?Mace?s former Padawan and fellow Council member?to Haruun Kal to train the local tribesmen as a guerilla resistance force, to fight against the Separatists who control the planet and its strategic star system with their droid armies. But now the Separatists have pulled back, and Depa has not returned. The only clue to her disappearance is a cryptic recording left at the scene of a brutal massacre: a recording that hints of madness and murder, and the darkness in the jungle . . . a recording in Depa?s own voice.

Mace Windu trained her. Only he can find her. Only he can learn what has changed her. Only he can stop her.

Jedi were never intended to be soldiers. But now they have no choice. Mace must journey alone into the most treacherous jungle in the galaxy?and into his own heritage. He will leave behind the Republic he serves, the civilization he believes in, everything but his passion for peace and his devotion to his former Padawan. And he will learn the terrible price that must be paid, when keepers of the peace are forced to make war. . . .


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Matthew Stover is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: The New Jedi Order Traitor, as well as The Blade of Tyshalle, Heroes Die, Iron Dawn, and Jericho Moon. He is a student of the Degerberg Blend. This jeet kune do concept is a mixture of approximately twenty-five different fighting arts from around the world. He lives in Chicago with artist and writer Robyn Fielder

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: LucasBooks; 1St Edition edition (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345455738
• ISBN-13: 978-0345455734
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reevaluate everything, August 13, 2003

By 

Nom de Guerre "miraxterrick" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shatterpoint (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) (Hardcover)

This novel blew me away. I was reluctant to read it at first, since I usually rely on my pre-existing emotional attachment to the classic or NJO-era characters to buoy my interest in Star Wars books. I'm not a big fan of the prequels, and I had always thought of Mace Windu as basically a cameo role for Samuel L. Jackson in the movies.

After only the first chapter of Shatterpoint, I found myself revising a lot of my opinions and preconceptions--about the book, the main character, the Jedi, the Force, and the Star Wars universe as a whole. Stover's stream-of-consciousness writing style grabbed my attention right away and pulled me emotionally into the plot. I often forgot that I was even reading--the narrative was so frank and immediate that I felt like I was there, in the story. The style alone could have kept me turning pages chapter after chapter. The plot and the details through which it plays out, however, are at least as engrossing and fresh. This is an unflinching tale of war that has more in common with the hellishness of Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) or The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien) than with other Star Wars books. Through its gruesome reality and constant sense of nervous anticipation, the novel examines the behavior of people under extreme stress and pressure. In the process, it forces a reevaluation of the psychology and purpose of the Jedi. The implications of this reevaluation beautifully weave together the events of the prequels, classic trilogy, and New Jedi Order.

In the end, this is the most satisfying Star Wars book I have yet read. I would recommend it to fans of any eraof Star Wars, and equally to those who read the books for the action, the characters, or to better understand the Force and/or the morality of being a Jedi. Personally, I'll be looking for more Matthew Stover books.

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This ain't your daddy's Rebellion. . ., June 6, 2003

By 

Nathan (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shatterpoint (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) (Hardcover)

My review in one word: superb. Shatterpoint is an excellent Star Wars novel, and an excellent start to the Clone Wars novel campaign. Although the book is significantly longer than Traitor, it's all from the POV of one character: in this instance, Mace. I wasn't sure how that would go when I started the book, because Mace, as far as I was concerned, didn't really have a character. He had a couple of lines in the films, but for most of the comics he was just kind of there, without a whole lot of personality. So I didn't really have a clear mental image of the guy. But it turned out well. He turned out to be a compelling character.

I guess the Star Wars novel that this most reminds me of in terms of content is a much darker Courtship of Princess Leia. Just a thought.

It was good seeing a Jedi actually using the Force. Too often, but not always, the Force is used in pretty unimaginative ways, when it's used at all -- it seems that some authors forget that it's there until they come up with a scene specifically designed to use it in some neat way. But it's used frequently and often quite imaginatively here.

I also really enjoyed the action. Nothing as powerful as the Ganner sequence, but it wasn't as abstract, either. There were lightsaber fights, Force-fights without sabers, ground battles, dogfights, everything, all done very well. Some of my favorite Star Wars fights are contained in this novel. Pretty action packed. All done very well. Those of you who liked seeing Luke in action with two sabers . . . just wait till you see Mace. Wow.

Also, this book has a great deal of the humor that didn't make it into Traitor. A few of the jokes were groaners, but there were quite a few good chuckles in there as well. Some of the characters seemed pretty stock, but most were well-done, and I'd like to see more of Geptun down the line.

So as a Star Wars novel it's a good, thoughtful, action-packed adventure. But it's also a Clone Wars novel. And it also works on that level.

Though the events of this book probably don't have a huge impact on the Clone War itself, this book was a good introduction. It really defines the role of the Jedi in the war, which is essential because, for better or worse, it seems that all of the upcoming CW novels are about the Jedi participants, and it also really serves to underscore the difference between the Jedi and the fundaments of the Jedi Order in the time of the Republic, as opposed to the Jedi we're used to seeing in the NR/NJO days. This book really helps to underscore both the differences and similarities between how the two orders operated and trained and thought and functioned.

Of course, take this out of the GFFA, and it also serves as a war novel in its own right, going over territory familiar and less so about the rules of war, and the way war is waged, and the terror of war, and how no one really wins in a war, and all that kind of stuff.

As far as I'm concerned, this book works on just about every level. Shatterpoint is a great read. Not Stover's best, and it's too early to tell yet how long it will stay with me, or whether it'll be my favorite Star Wars novel - it may be, though - but a very good effort.

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stover makes Star Wars his Own, June 10, 2003

By 

Andrew P. Lawler (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shatterpoint (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) (Hardcover)

Want to save the franchise? Give it over to Matthew Woodring Stover, who takes a character heretofore only distinguished by the fact that Sam Jackson portrays him, and brings him to gritty, determined life, as a Jedi forced to confront all his assumptions as he enters his own Heart of Darkness.

Mace Windu, Jedi Master, returns to the planet of his birth to unconver the connection between his old apprentice and some massacres during a bloody (is there any other kind?) civil war. He finds that nothing, including himself, is as it seems. Well enough plot...

Stover creates a haunting, wholly believable view of what it means to be a Jedi in a world gradually devolving towards empire. His characters are vivid, filled with humanity and humor, and a maturity that makes this so much more than just a 'Star Wars' book.

Stover does a brilliant job of showing us both the steel that makes Windu one of the most powerful Jedi Masters, as well as the humanity which in the end, will be the temporary downfall of the Jedi and the Old Republic.

And it's hellishly entertaining. An unbelievable ride.