A few months into the infamous Clone Wars, Mace Windu travels to his home planet of Haruun Kal after hearing disturbing evidence that his former Padawan, Jedi Master Depa Billaba, has gone insane after being stationed on the planet. After he arrives, however, Mace soon discovers that what is really happening on the planet is far worse than he could ever have imagined…

Does Matthew Stover deliver with this Mace-centric novel? Read after the break to see my review of Shatterpoint!

Shatterpoint definitely doesn’t waste time in getting to the main plot; literally in the second chapter (with the first chapter basically consisting of Mace, Yoda and Palpatine listening to a recording in Depa’s own voice hinting at the madness she was suffering from) Mace is at Haruun Kal, seeking out his former Padawan. Things take awhile to kick in, and during the city-time in the beginning of the book there were times when I was a bit bored with it all; however, once Mace and the rest of his group (consisting of entertaining characters such as Nick Rostu and Liane “Chalk” Trevval”) venture into the wild forest of Haruun Kal, things really kick in.

The book has a nice, dark atmosphere, much darker than many Star Wars books out there. With Stover writing it, though, that doesn’t come as a surprise, and I mean that in a positive way - Shatterpoint shows the intensity of Jedi Master Mace Windu, a character Stover does fantastically. My only complaint with his characterization (and it’s a minor complaint) is that Mace might sometimes be a little too intense and/or aggressive (though I applaud Stover’s use of the phrase “uncomplicated buttwhipping” as Mace looks forward to an inevitable fight). However, this does contribute to the overall development of the character, and it does add some realism to Mace; being the creator of the lightsaber form Vaapad, a technique which focuses on one’s anger and darkness, he would have to have a certain dark quality to him, as shown in Shatterpoint.

Another thing that shines in the novel is the combat; it was done magnificently, especially the unarmed duel that Mace and Kar Vastor have roughly in the middle of the book. It’s fast paced but usually easy to follow (though sometimes it gets a bit confusing, but for the most part it’s fine). The battle in the skies above Haruun Kal near the end of the book is just marvelous, as well.

There were some parts that were extremely dark; for example, when Terrel, a thirteen year old Balawai, stabs Chalk and Besh nearly to death while they’re in a deep healing trance, and Kar Vastor, the Korunnai Lor Pelek, goes on to murder him for this. The actual stabbing of Chalk and Besh isn’t even shown; Mace comes in after the deed is done to see Terrel’s arms covered with blood, the knife on the ground, ect. It’s even a bit creepy, considering a thirteen year old boy committed this act.

Another thing I liked about Shatterpoint were Mace’s occasional journals throughout the novel. Carrying around a data pad whose only working function is its recorder, Mace uses it at times to document his thoughts on current events in the novel. Every chapter with the journal entries I enjoyed reading, though if you don’t like 1st person writing (like I,Jedi used) you might get annoyed with these after awhile. Even the last chapter was one of these very journal entries, though I almost feel like they could’ve done more with the ending than what they did, but that’s not a big complaint.

Shatterpoint also has a rich variety of characters other than Mace Windu; the intimidating Kar Vastor, the complex Depa Billaba, the humorous Nick Rostu, and other various, more minor characters. I really enjoyed Nick; he was the source of a lot of humor in the book and a fun character all around to read about. The emotion the characters felt throughout the book was very well written, especially near the end when a pretty important character died; I actually got pretty sad reading this whole passage, because it’s very emotional.

So overall, Shatterpoint is an action-packed, dark, and very enjoyable read; I highly recommend it to any EU reader, but for the major Mace fans out there, this is a must-read.