My first spoiler-free review of the (hopefully still) ongoing Darth Bane: A Novel of the Old Republic series is here! For those of you like me who hear “spoiler” and run as far in the other direction as possible, you can finally find out if Drew Karpyshyn’s Dynasty of Evil- his third Star Wars novel and 5th Sith-related project- is any good.

Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith, is growing impatient as he awaits his apprentice, Darth Zannah, and her attempt to fulfill the Rule of Two. Zannah herself is growing equally restless, a restlessness that is matched only by her certainty that she must find an apprentice before assuming Bane’s mantle herself. In the midst of this silent struggle, new players emerge: an old enemy, an old friend, and the two beings with the potential to become the next Sith Lords.

What more could you ask for from a novel (other than it being long enough not to be read in one day, of course)? Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil, is a novel very much in the mold of its predecessors, Path of Destruction and Rule of Two. There are good and bad things about that, which I’ll get to later, but overall it’s an excellent experience.

The first thing that hit me when I sat down to Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil was the realism. This is something I had forgotten from Path of Destruction. Drew Karpyshyn is intimately familiar with the daily aches and pains of human muscles, and the way he communicates this through Darth Bane is a great anchor to the world we all know. This intimacy gives a much-needed connection to the daily world of aching necks and chiropractors, an important element that offsets the fantasy element of the novel and keeps it within our sphere of recognition (and therefore, keeps us giving a hoot).

The characters are very few, but each one gets a good deal of focus. As compared to, say, a Zahn novel, with its tons of characters who are defined by their similarities and differences, or a James Luceno novel, with its medium amount of characters that each gain a bit of extra development, Dynasty of Evil is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with a very minimal number of characters that are developed to their fullest. Every one has a distinct personality. While physical appearances for some are sort of hit or miss- I suppose there’s only so many ways for most male authors to describe a human female- every character is three dimensional, with wants, needs, and their own reasons for feeling the way they do. Two thirds of the cast is female, a definite plus for the pro-feminist minded fantasy reader (which seems to be popular among the genre, interestingly enough).

You know these characters so well it’s almost as if you’re in control, as if, perhaps, these are the characters in a video game that have the choice between purely characteristic actions and the completely unpredictable. That analogy carries as far as the ending, which is extremely open to interpretation and reminds me of a video game with multiple endings- endings that hopefully will keep discussion boards around the world abuzz until the 4th novel is announced.

Like the previous novels, the Dark Side is very strong here. Almost too strong, in fact, as it almost ceases to be “just enough” and starts to become over-obvious, almost to the point of the well-known “Mando/Jedi bias” allegations made against another author. When Bane is involved, good hearts become tainted. Those who are good to be tainted, are destroyed. We saw it in the past, but here, it just takes a couple of extra steps. The way the Light Side of a person’s heart creeps in, after the damage is done… well, I’m a huge fan of the Dark Side and quick to believe people will follow the darkest side of their desires, and even to me, this novel seems a little much. This is not a novel set in a galaxy in which the Rebel Alliance would have had a ghost of a chance. Darth Bane and his followers, therefore, win not through their cunning or power (despite having plenty of both). No, it often seems they win because the very fabric of the universe as portrayed in the Darth Bane novels wishes them to succeed. It detracts somewhat from the characters, unfortunately.

The main draw of these novels, for many readers, is the lightsaber duels. Like its predecessors, Dynasty of Evil does not disappoint. Everybody has a unique style, and the new characters are certainly more varied in their technique than the Sith that we know. For those who’ve read both previous novels, the obligatory descriptions of the known start to get repetitive. I was entertained, however, watching these styles clash with the new ones, as well as watching them evolve. The climax is certainly one of the most unique duels I’ve ever seen, varied and definitely worth owning the novel for.

While there are some flaws, Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil is right up my alley. As most of the issues I had with it are shared with the first two novels (suffering only because “three’s a crowd”), this definitely places this as possibly the best of the three. Even if it’s not, that still places it among my favorite Star Wars novels. Give this one a look!

Advance Reader Copy courtesy of Del Rey Publishing