by Ron Marz

Just before he’s sent on assignment, Darth Sidious presents Darth Maul with the Sith Infiltrator, a state-of-the-art spaceship complete with hyperdrive, cloaking device, and speederbike stored aboard. Maul is sent to cripple the Black Sun criminal organization, which Sidious warns is a powerful and dangerous operation that stands in the way of his larger designs. Maul proposes annihilating its master and nine vigos, but Sidious disagrees, as Black Sun may prove useful in the future.

The word “vigo,” which Darth Sidious uses to describe Black Sun’s lieutenants (issue 1), is incongruous in the Star Wars universe. “Vigo” conjures images of men in suits with guns, not a number of alien species wielding just as many different weapons. Further, Sidious calls Maul his “tool” (issue 1), and that’s exactly what his apprentice is in this story arc — merely a killing tool, presumably so Sidious doesn’t have to get his own hands dirty.

But despite Sidious’s description of Black Sun as dangerous, composed of one master, nine lieutenants, their bodyguards and other soldiers, as well as his express order not to destroy the entire organization, that’s what Maul does. There are, however, a couple of opponents Maul fights that are surprising in a good way, particularly the Black Sun master and his bodyguard.

The most impressive part of the 4-issue series is the artwork. Well, admittedly, Jan Duursema is my favorite Star Wars comic book artist, so no surprise there.

by James Luceno

James Luceno’s Cloak of Deception is the first novel in the Star Wars canon that takes place during Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum’s reign. As the title implies, the story is filled with intrigue, mainly political, and the author includes descriptions of the characters’ cloaks whether or not they are the deceptive type, which is a nice touch. Indeed, unless the reader is familiar with the characters in The Phantom Menace (novel or movie), s/he may have a difficult time keeping track of everyone involved in the story, as there are many central characters, some more so than others.

Although it has its share of Jedi wisdom; blaster and lightsaber fights; and other staples of Star Wars lore, Cloak of Deception is mainly a political novel, and in that, will appeal to those who aren’t necessarily Star Wars fans through and through, so long as they are able to follow who’s who: there are, after all, 1,024 senatorial delegates representing at least that number of planets in the Old Republic rather than a mere 100 senators representing 50 states.

by James Luceno

Originally published as an ebook, James Luceno’s short story, “Saboteur,” introduces Darths Sidious and Maul to the Star Wars Expanded Universe canon. Though it is unrequired reading, it serves as an excellent introduction to Luceno’s novel, Cloak of Deception, and is now available as bonus material in Michael Reaves’s paperback novel, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, which follows Cloak of Deception chronologically on the EU timeline.

Darth Sidious does not play a large role, but the essence of the Sith Master’s relationship with his apprentice, Darth Maul, is revealed. Indeed, the story centers around Maul’s first solo mission to the Outer Rim planet, Dorvalla.

Dorvalla’s main resource is lommite ore, one of the substances employed in the creation of transparisteel, used for windows, ground vehicle windscreens, air- and spaceship canopies, and the like. Maul barely interacts with any characters on Dorvalla, but “Saboteur” exemplifies Sith cunning and subterfuge in orchestrating events, both on local and galactic scales. Luceno not only describes Maul’s peak physical condition and swordsmanship through his actions, but brings readers into his mind — his very thought processes. Because of Maul’s intense focus on discipline, his brief display of sensitivity (from which he quickly recovers) and sense of humor are nice surprises, as is his deference to Sidious. Darth Maul is so often portrayed as the face of evil and ruthlessness, a man of few words, that it is easy to view him as two-dimensional, which Luceno overcomes by imbuing him with these other qualities. Maul is eager to be on his own and to please his Master: he is so confident in his physical abilities and intelligence that failure seems not to be a part of Darth Maul’s worldview.

by Randy Stradley

The Jedi Council we first encounter in The Phantom Menace are introduced in Acts of War. We also meet Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who along with other Council members and Padawans, pay a visit to the Yinchorri, a violent species admitted to the Republic a mere 20 or so years before this story takes place. They’ve taken advantage of the Republic’s technology: ships, blasters, and especially cortosis ore, fashioning them into shields that can burn out a lightsaber. It’s a suicide mission not just to Yinchorr, but to two other nearby planets in search of the Yinchorri’s command base.

Meanwhile, an army of Yinchorri barge into the Jedi Temple to obliterate the Jedi. This is a nice foreshadowing of what happens in Revenge of the Sith, as Darth Sidious has a background role in the Yinchorri’s attacks, something Yoda senses but not clearly. Thus, readers are introduced not just to the Dark Lord, but to his apprentice, Darth Maul and best of all, to Vilmarh “Villie” Grarhk, a Devaronian who fancies himself a bounty hunter, but will take on any shady mission. Those who only read the novels or watch the movies won’t encounter him again unless they read the Republic comic series.

Mace Windu, coolest Jedi ever, leads the mission to Yinchorr, which isn’t the success he would have liked, but ends as he expected. Strangely, it’s Saesee Tiin who sports the purple lightsaber rather than Windu — weird, especially because this series was released after The Phantom Menace.

Aside from the mix-up in lightsaber colors, the artwork is phenomenal. What else is there to say?

I’m not going to review every single Jedi Apprentice book, but I do recommend this series to anyone who’s a fan of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s. I’m a sucker for backstories, so of course I was sucked in.

The series begins when Obi-Wan’s 13, the age at which most young Jedi have already been chosen to be a Padawan. Although the Jedi Apprentice series is for young readers (ages 9 – 12), Jude Watson well conveys young Obi-Wan’s insecurities: about whether or not he’ll become an apprentice; if Qui-Gon Jinn, who we all know chooses him, approves of him; if he’s doing well enough — emotions most teenagers feel, including teenage crushes(!), which is something all adults can relate to and makes this series worth reading.

This last volume ends with a 17-year-old Obi-Wan about to graduate from “Jedi high school” and to embark on his journey, still with Qui-Gon, to “Jedi college,” where he’ll go through his trials and if successful, become a Jedi Knight.