Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Darth Maul: Saboteur (Short Story)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Darth Maul: Saboteur is an eBook, or rather an eStory, which was publicized as a digital prelude of sorts to Michael Reaves' novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. In fact, though, it takes place more than six months and probably close to a year before the novel, shortly before the Darth Maul comic, and it chronicles Maul's first solo assignment. Written by James Luceno, the author of a duology set in the New Jedi Order series, as well as a forthcoming prequel-era novel, 'Cloak of Deception,' Luceno continues his high standards of writing and delivers a piece of quality entertainment.

In this story, which in terms of length is worth approximately fifty printed pages, Darth Maul is sent to disrupt a couple of corporations mining lommite ore, a substance needed for the production of transparisteel. With these corporations devastated, the Neimoidian Trade Federation will pick up the pieces, and the profits, helping to cement their trust in Darth Sidious.

This story shows us a more restrained side of Maul than we have seen before. In the comic, he was a killing machine, plain and simple. In the novel, he was a ruthless hunter. This story was able to show us his ability to be patient when necessary, to cover his tracks, to deceive rather than simply all-out attack. Of course, there is a cool lightsaber fight, but the appeal of this story is in his other abilities. In addition, in this book we meet Lieutenant Governor Tarkin of Eriadu. Yes, the same Tarkin who later dies in the movie, and the same Tarkin who will be a main character in 'Cloak of Deception.' I love the way Luceno is able to tie things together.

Overall, this is a very fun story. Is it worth two dollars? Yes. Unfortunately, without the ability to print the eBook format means staring at a computer screen for around an hour, which really detracted from the experience for me. Nevertheless, if you like Star Wars, or are a 'Mauloholic,' this book is worth the buying.

This was the first e-book that I bought, and I didn't know what to expect from this only e-book release. But the story really caught me, and once I got started, I couldn't finish until it was over. But, as with James Luceno's other Star Wars books, there are plenty of "big words." I had to use the built-in dictionary on an average of at least 1-2 times on each page. That was really annoying. But the story was great and honestly, it was better than Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, to which this is a prequel. And at this price, it is well worth it.

.... I introduces Darth Maul's first mission, roughly a year prior to the events of Episode I.

I will speak truth: the plot is extremely straightforward, and there is little, if anything, that complicates Maul's mission. Even the death scenes are spartan and sterile. For now, it seems that LucasFilm is just playing around with the e-book format, having a little fun before they get serious.

All Darth Maul really has to do is sabotage (hint-hint) a couple of mining corporations. As a hardcore SW fan, I fail to see how a lommite ore mining guild poses a threat to Darth Sidious' plans to take over the galaxy. Nevertheless, that is the plot, and who am I to argue with history? In the end, Maul pits the mining guilds against a group of mercenaries in a classic strategy: he only stands off to the side, waits for each group to exhaust themselves to death, and then he cleans up the mess. Seriously, this novella could have been expanded a LOT more, and for once, adding some details and stretching out the plot of this book would actually make the story better.

An allright book. Only 50 pages long though. Some parts get boring but overall, a good read.

This is a readable short story which holds the distinction of being, in Star Wars universe chronological terms and excluding the comic books, the very first piece of Star Wars literature. This makes it a must read if you are a die hard Star Wars fan, but if you are not, $$$ are not worth the effort of download. ( I am a fan, by the way. )
The story sets the stage for the movie series by presenting the beginnings of the relationship between Darth Sidious and the Trade Federation which become central in Episodes I and II, answering some important questions and generally beefing up the back story. The story is not really a Darth Maul story in the sense that there is the barest minimum of character development. At 85 pages, the story can easily be read in one sitting and is more a narrative of events occasionally given from Darth Mauls perspective.
James Luceno does an acceptable job in setting up the overall Star Wars atmosphere. However, the characters are very stereotypical, requiring the reader to fill in the blanks from their own knowlege of the Star Wars universe.
...particularly weak on action prose. ...

Not exceedingly long, but worth the read. The events that lead up to Darth Maul : Shadow Hunter. Worth the money to download and read! Maul is a great character, bound to be the Boba Fett of the first trilogy and worth reading about! If you're a Star Wars fan this is a must, and if you're not it's still a great sci fi read!!!

This is a short story about one of Darth Maul's first missions, at least without being guided by Darth Sidious. In general, you really do not "get into" the character of Darth Maul all that much in this story. Given its short length, there was not a lot of time for great characterization. Also, some of Darth Maul's actions seem a little odd in the normal context of Jedi activities. For example, when he "twirls" himself rapidly enough to bury himself in a snow bank. However, other scenes of Darth Maul in action are pretty cool and indicative of what a Jedi could probably do. (Then again, who am I to say what a Jedi can and cannot do. I just think you have to be careful with "super-power beings" because you run the risk of making their actions seem almost comical rather than scary or awe-inspiring.)

Although very short (probably necessary right now for digital books), I liked the story and, if nothing else, it did fill in some of the pre-Phantom Menace storyline to see the machinations of Darth Sidious as he begins his plans for galactic subjugation.

This story in style and plotting was, to me, somewhat like the "Jedi Apprentice" series - which is by no means a bad thing. This is probably not a necessary buy for you unless you are a die-hard Star Wars fan that must own everything about it - or if you are someone who just likes to have as many gaps filled in as possible. I fall into that latter category and, in that context, I could recommend Saboteur. Having said that, however, there is really nothing galaxy-shattering that you learn about the Star Wars universe, per se.

This book was well worth the light price tag. In my opinion James Luceno does a fabulous job setting up The Phantom Menace. The story reveals important insight into the Sith's hidden rebirth and their involvement in the trade blockade that starts the prequel trilogy. A quick and captivatiing read!

at 94 pages, i fear my review may be longer than the book. still, this book marks an interesting beginning to the star wars e-book era. i, personally, had hoped that they would have flexed the muscles of the e-book format. simply put, i would have liked to have seen the ability to click on a word (such as weequay) and have an image appear with a brief explanation to reinforce the uninitiated reader's sense of wonderment. alas, it IS a new format, sigh. the story itself is a simple "out and back" tale of darth maul being sent on his first solo mission for his master. i had heard it was to be the tale of maul's assault on the black sun (as referred to in shadow hunter) and was dissappointed to find otherwise. still, the tale was pleasureable. for those of you who have read the jedi apprentice series by scholastic, it reminded me of the evil version of those. i was even impressed that maul used the force to choke someone (my largest complaint of shadow hunter was that he never used anything other that his lightsaber to dispatch someone). the tale is well worth the price of admission.

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with James Luceno's SW novels. Cloak of Deception was okay, but Saboteur just lacks anything interesting. Heck, it's 54 pages long, and only focuses on everyones favorite villainous killer Darth Maul for less than half the novel, if it even can be called a novel. And the author didn't need to go into so much detail about the production of lommite. That was pretty boring.

It's about Darth Maul and his hooded, menacing master Darth Sidious. Sidious orders Maul to sabotage the lommite companies Lommite Limited and its nemesis InterGalactic Ore, sending them both into disarray. That's an example of go home and think up a different plot. However, I really did like reading about Darth Maul's spy motives, like recording that meeting with Patch Bruit and his gang. I thought Luceno was creative about that.

DO NOT buy this in eBook format; it'll get you nothing but trouble. Do what I did: Buy Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter in paperback edition, turn to page 332, then turn the page. Now you can read Darth Maul: Saboteur. (If you want to read the SW books in order, then read Saboteur first. After, you can go ahead to Shadow Hunter, which you'll have right in front of you. Pretty convenient.)

It is definitely not a downright terrible book, but it is somewhat boring, still worth reading if you're a major SW fan, though.