Dynasty of Evil: Star Wars: Darth Bane, Book 3 Audiobook (Unabridged)

" Took me no time to read this(which made me a tad upset it was so short) however. I think it got to the point. It was the closure we all needed. I still think Path of Destruction is the best of the series,however this was a fantastic book. Drew delivers again! "

" This is definetly the best of the 3 Darth Bane books. I think this (whole booke series) is definetly worth reading for everyone who wants to either know more about Star Wars (the sith in particular)or just read a good/intersting sci-fi story. "

" The storyline of this concluding book is much more focused than Rule of Two. In this book, the focus is very much on the inevitable duel between Darth Bane and Darth Zannah and the question of who will emerge the victor, a question which overarches the entire book and provides the connecting plot point. However, this greater focus brings with it its own problems and downsides. The reader knows that this is going to be the climactic ending of the book, and as a result, quite a lot of the preceding build up feels like unnecessary window dressing, kinda like the author has sat down and said to themselves "okay, I gotta write this story about this final duel but I gotta get a whole book out of this material... what can I do to fill up the rest of these 300 pages?" The answer to that is send Zannah off on a pointless side trip (view spoiler)[(Set never becomes her apprentice and Bane admits that the mission is just to get her out of the way) (hide spoiler)], then send Bane off to get the macguffin which happens to solve the problems in the plot and waste time, and finally throw in a pointless side plot with Serra which means that people have to run all over the galaxy for a bit on a wild goose chase, and voila, 300 pages filled! The other problem is that the Rule of Two, as Bane explains it, means that the Sith Order is perpetuated because every apprentice is destined to kill their master and take up the mantle. This means essentially that the Sith Order, under the Rule of Two, can only function if the apprentice defeats the master and renews the cycle (or at the least, the master has more than one apprentice and is defeated by the final challenger). Therefore the reader almost knows well before the actual deciding duel that (view spoiler)[Zannah must win and defeat Bane. (hide spoiler)] There’s also the issue that the book is 300 pages, which is usually considered the minimum for a decent novel. Just short of 300 pages, to be exact, and it’s no surprise that other books that short in the Star Wars series have come under criticism because they could easily have been made more concise and merged with another book in order to create one solid and meatier story instead of two separate, rather sparse stories. I definitely think that this book and Rule of Two could have been condensed into one book; cutting out the unnecessary chaff from both, producing a novel meatier and grander in scope than a rather sparse 300-page offering. Lots of the action felt engineered by the author, particularly with Bane’s macguffin hunting, but also the side plot with Serra which didn’t really affect the outcome of the overall plot at all – notice how the plot with Serra is only sparked off when by pure chance, Serra learns of her father’s death and that Bane is still alive, a random discovery so unlikely that you can definitely see the author’s hand in it. My last criticism is that the characters in this, and also in Rule of Two as well, were too vague and not fleshed out enough. Rule of Two pretty much only had four main characters. Dynasty of Evil expands upon this to a grand total of six significant characters – Bane, Zannah, Serra, Lucia, Set Harth and the Iktotchi – and the other characters are barely more than references. Even these six feel lacking somehow. We’re often shown what they do, but their motivations and reasons for doing so are hard to fathom, and in some cases as a result, this must be explained in an expositional scene delving into the thoughts of the character. This is a far cry from the Bane we met in Path of Destruction. Path of Destruction Bane was fleshed out, his situation and background clear to us and permeating his choices in the present, his feelings and motivations stark and desperate, creating an anti-hero that you could understand and empathise with even as he trod ever darker paths on the journey to becoming a Sith Lord. He doesn’t do terribly much in either the previous book or this, and it feels a little bit like Bane sits on his hands whilst sending Zannah out to do all the dirty work. This is a far cry from the Bane of Path of Destruction, gripping his destiny with both hands and pursuing in relentlessly. Bane just doesn’t feel quite active enough after cutting a swathe of destruction through Path. Of all three books in the trilogy, I have to say Path of Destruction is my personal choice. That said, the story was logical and trotted along at a fair pace, enough to make me keep wanting to turn the page, and I finished the book in an afternoon, although that might be due to the book being so short. But there was a certain eagerness to finish it and read just one more chapter. The writing was competent, although it felt rather sparse and some parts felt like padded filler, it was more a sense of competent writing not reaching its potential and instead striving to spread out a thin story, rather than truly terrible writing. A competent read, certainly not atrocious and will provide decent enough entertainment, but you could miss it without any real problems. 6 out of 10. "

" I find these books very interesting because the main character is the "Bad Guy" yet I find myself hoping that he will overcome his "enemies". Weird to root against the Jedi and more importantly for the Sith. "

" Pretty good, but the story was a little weak. Too many things tied together from the previous book. The ending was good but not great. I think they are setting the series up for another book. Still a Darth Bane book though, so it was good. "

" This was a great final addition to the "Darth Bane" Trilogy. These are the first star wars books I've read. Although these seem to move along the current "Dark Side" trend, I believe they adequately frame why only two sith exist at one time. Maybe it is just the crazy fan that I am of this story series but I think that this wet my pallet for future books. "

" A very good ending to a creative trilogy. It is always interesting to me when an author decides to use a villain as his main character. This was a good, exciting story. "

" The last of the trilogy. I wish there were more of such books! Excellent read! "

" Really good conclusion. "

" The entire Darth Bane trilogy rocks from start to finish! "

" Decent brain candy if you are a Star Wars fan. "

" brainless fun. "

" I enjoyed this book, but the Rule of Two was better. I look forward to the continuation of this story. "

" It was not as good as the first one but the end was very surprising. "

" Great story, it is nice not having to deal with the over used characters. "

" Great conclusion to the Darth Bane trilogy. The final third of the book was very engaging, although the end was sort of confusing. Would love to see more books in this time period by Karpyshyn. "

" A good ending to a Exellent Trilogy. I did not want it to be over. "

" The ending I didn't care for, but I enjoyed this tale overall. How could it end like this?? "