By Arik Espinosa, staff writer
Before the reign of the Empire there was Darth Plagieus, the Sith Lord responsible for providing the foundation to the grand master plan which involved the downfall of the old republic and the Jedi order.
This 496-page novel takes place before and during Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace.
It starts off with Darth Sidious, (who in the Star Wars movies is Chancellor Palpatine, and the emperor) celebrating his victory over killing Darth Plagieus, his master, while he was sleeping.
Then the author takes the reader back in time before his death to explain how Darth Plagieus kills his master, Tenorbrace, and his declaration of his plot to destroy the Jedi and the Republic.
First he finds the secret to immortality and to keep people from dying.
Then he goes around the galaxy trying to find information about the state of the Republic and the Jedi to see how he can make manipulate them to destroy themselves.
It was during this search that Plagieus finds Palpatine on Naboo. After Palpatine swears his life to his master, they go on to enact a massive deception that involves creation of the clones, the trade federation blockade of Naboo, and Palpatine’s rise to power.
Also there is an explanation of how Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader, aka the Chosen One, came to be.
The story of Darth Plagieus is an interesting story because it gets right into the characters’ thoughts and reveals the deeper meaning behind how the stage was set for the Clone Wars.
There was also an extraordinary amount of information about the Force and midi-chorines and how they affect each other.
It’s a recommendation to anyone that loves Star Wars and the sci-fi fantasy world should read this book.
I would give this a four out of five stars.