I’ve reviewed three previous volumes of these digests of stories from The Clone Wars, two of which were excellent, and one of which I found lacking. After the last two did such a great job of convincing me this series could be something really fun – I was hopeful Colossus of Destiny would continue that trend. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations – it’s not bad, but it’s not as strong as the previous two entries (though still better than Shipyards of Doom, in my opinion). For more on why this book featuring Mace Windu didn’t really win me over, click on the link.

This story starts like all the other digests – right in the heat of battle. I was expecting this, and it works fine – and in this case it even gets turned slightly on it’s head because the opening battle is over the world where the rest of the story will take place. So the ‘slow-down’ in between is less of a break in the story in this case than there’s been in any previous volume.

What we have here is Mace Windu returning to a planet he once protected from an invasion fleet when he was just a young Jedi. He befriended the people of this world, is seen as their hero – but now their planet is under threat again – but this time, from the Republic itself. You see, this planet has a rare gem used in weapons building – and the Republic is strip mining the planet to get it. And the Separatists want it as well, so now the war has also come to this world. And Mace finds himself caught in the middle.

Which all sounds like a good set up, but then it falls a little flat. Mace acts very hot headed – like a much younger Jedi than he is. The prince who is Mace’s friend has decided to unleash a doomsday weapon on his own planet – thinking if he destroys the mineral then both sides will leave – but the gap in logic (doomsday weapon, perhaps that won’t work out so well…) leaves a lot to be desired. We get little snippets of Mace’s previous time on this world, and it’s supposed to show the reader the juxtaposition between when he was their hero and what he has become – and it ends on a melancholy note – yet for all that, I never really felt invested in this world or it’s people, so ultimately all the potential inherent in this story seemed a little wasted. I suppose it could be the author’s intent to show how the war has changed Mace, but the character just seemed off to me. But feel free to decide for yourself – Mace has never been one of my favorite characters, and there is no doubt – this is a Mace-centric story, so if that’s something that sounds like it might be right up your alley, this is the Clone Wars digest for you. As for me, I’ll be looking forward to checking out Slaves of the Republic next and hopeful it swings the pendulum back into more positive territory.