Dark Disciple

I wish it would have been turned into an animated story arc in Clone Wars. It would have been epic. The romance part in the book is not so my cup of tea. The rest is great.

my new favorite star wars book or my new favorite star wars book?

Ventress deserved better

Just finished and I'm still wiping tears from my face, wow that was a ride. Vos + Ventress had such a fun dynamic and I loved watching them grow. Pacing and dialogue are TOP notch. What a beautiful story for these two characters. I'm happy I got to be a part of this love story for Asajj and Quinlan ❤️ a true star wars adventure that you should not miss.

WHY: Following from [b:Kindred Spirits 26147458 Kindred Spirits Christie Golden https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479639588l/26147458.SX50.jpg 46102280] and supplementing my Clone Wars TV show experience, Dark Disciple was one of the parts I was really looking forward to - 8 abridged episodes spanning a massive arc featuring a Jedi and Sith working together.STORY: This opens with a massacre by Dooku, and with the war dragging on the Jedi council make a dark decision against the Jedi code - sending Quinlan Vos, a Jedi, to assassinate the Count with the support of ex-apprentice Asajj Ventress. As he attempts to win her trust, acting as a bounty hunter and going on shared missions, he finds himself falling in love with the changed villain. This was unfortunately the weakest part of the plot for me, as I found it hard to believe how quickly things happened - although this led to two great twists, at the midpoint and conclusion of the book. I also found myself in disbelief at certain actions made during other key confrontations of the story, but from a bigger picture perspective the writers could not kill characters who need to appear later in the saga. On the other hand, the dark side is also explored more deeply here but in a newly-depicted restrained manner which was liked.WRITING: I loved the seamless integration of TV series characters and locations, which made it easy to read and visualise these as a set of actual 22-minute episodes. The writing was minimal in this sense, as the reader should know a lot about these characters and story archetypes before beginning the book. However, I enjoyed how Golden was able to uncover more about Vos and Ventress's individual personalities through their perspectives, with the latter especially becoming one of my favourite characters from the Star Wars saga.WHO: This is really for the die-hard Clone Wars TV show fan who wants to know absolutely everything about the series cut short due to cancellation. It is harder to recommend for even broader Star Wars fans, as it relies a lot upon knowledge of the show and characters established in it. I'm now keen for the Son of Dathomir graphic novel, and plan on reading The High Republic: Light of the Jedi after finishing the Clone Wars, but am unsure of my Star Wars reading media plans beyond that...

This is a good Start Wars novel. The story flows well and the main characters develop and grow. The story kept me hurting as to what would happen next.

From this book, I come away with the concepts that our biases can blind us. Biases about others, biases about ourselves. I also see that it is easy to lose one's true self when pretending to be someone you are not.

I truly enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure I'll ever come back to it. This has more of a dark side perspective than I typically care for.

I read that this was based on some unfinished scripts from the Clone Wars TV series and it fits right in the time frame and with the characters of the series. But, based on the story of the novel, it seems like a whole season of show, there is so much to the book. The only thing is that some of the events might have been a little mature for a cartoon.

The audiobook performance that I listened to from Audible was fantastic, the different voices brought me back to the Clone Wars characters. I also appreciated the use of the Duel of the Fates music behind the battle scenes, it seemed even more justified than in Episode I.

I enjoyed the story, some was intense, some things I didn't expect, but if you liked the Clone Wars like I did, I think it is a safe bet that you'd like this book as much as I did. Plus, it featured Asajj Ventress, one of my favorite characters from the Clone Wars and one of the best villains in all of Star Wars.

(spoiler) One thing I expected during the later part of the book was that it would lead right into the first scene of Revenge of the Sith, alas it did not, it ended more like a Clone Wars arc, with nothing really changed at the galactic level.

So, about 2 weeks ago I decided to read all the books in the Star Wars Universe canon - because why not, right?

And then I figured out the my library had almost all of them, so I actually could read through them. So here goes!

Dark Disciple is set during the Clone Wars, and features Obi-Wan and Anakin as Jedi trying to take down Count Dooku. Vos is the hapless Jedi sent to do the dirty work, and Ventress the kickass female assassin selected unwillingly to be his partner. Naturally, romance and highjinks ensue. This was fun and quick, with enough familiar characters to draw readers in, but strong enough protagonists to keep them engaged throughout. Great start to this particular reading journey!

The absolute best Star Wars book I've read so far. If you watched The Clone Wars and didn't read this yet, shame on you. Literally took me less than half a week to read it. I couldn't put it down.

An interesting and very apt end to one of the better female characters in the SW Universe.

I'm in mourning now.

Dark Disciple is one of the new media released, the other being comics and story reels, that contain stories that would have normally appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series if not for its cancellation. This was the last one out of those I had to consume, but I think this was my favorite.

The novel focuses on Quinlan Vos, a quite unusual Jedi Master (he was known to bend the rules every once and a while) and with the ability to see and feel the memories of certain objects when he touched them. The Jedi Order feels the war has gone on long enough and feel Dooku needs to die by assassination, so they send Vos out to find Asajj Ventress so they can take him on together. However, the two form a connection, and things don't turn out as planned.

Once I got about halfway through the story, I didn't stop. It's quite an addictive read, and it was never dull. I took me a while though to see Ventress as someone who was able to love, be selfless, to care. All relatively quickly. But I guess this was because I wasn't used to seeing that from her. In the end I cared though, and I was somewhat rooting for her and Vos.
I also really loved the Jedi parts of it - I loved that Obi-Wan had an important role, and Anakin and Windu and Yoda. A lot of the new canon so far has been in the A New Hope/OT era, so it was refreshing to get to read about those characters again.

I think when starting this, I would have preferred (or just generally would have liked) to have seen this as one big arc in the The Clone Wars series, but as it went on, I don't think they would have been able to go into as much depth as they did here. The psychology of the characters and their relationship probably wouldn't have worked quite as well.

If you've just finished The Clone Wars series and are looking for more surrounding that era, this is a really great read. It gives you closure, and more characterization for Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos, both of whom are really interesting characters. I especially like that Vos was featured in this, since there's not much information on him yet in this canon.

A retcon of Quinlan Vos that's really a vehicle to conclude Ventress' Clone Wars arc.

When I was just a few chapters into this book, I was worried. The premise is a dark one, and I wasn't sure it was being handled with the awareness it required. Without giving away too much, in this book, the Jedi Order essentially assigns one of its members to assassinate someone. In the initial chapters of the book, this is handled pretty lightly, without anyone conscientiously objecting or even being really horrified by what's happening all around them. I decided to reserve judgement and keep reading before I let that artificially color my perception of the book into the negative, and I'm glad I did.

The plot of this book is like a whirlwind. It's not trying to branch out into multiple different directions – Christie Golden makes the wise choice of not trying to be Timothy Zahn, though she takes obvious inspiration from him with every mention of the snap-hiss noise lightsabers make – and the plot is fairly linear. However, the book is totally aware of how one person's actions affect everyone in a galaxy far, far away, and it never shies away from that. The galaxy is at war, and this book looks at the affect that has on people, and their principals. Again and again the book reinforces the theme that you can never really realize how far you've come until it's too late. Can you come back from the edge? That's what this book is about.

This book is also about two rather minor characters in the grand scheme of things, especially now that the old EU has been discontinued and Quinlan Vos' old backstory has been erased. This book seeks to reinvigorate the character, who in the new Disney canon only really has one canonical appearance in The Clone Wars cartoon series (and, yeah, that bit where he's technically a background extra in The Phantom Menace, but he doesn't actually have any lines there, okay?). The book also serves to explain Ventress' actions, look at her motivations, and really look at them in the context of the war and the events who made her who she is. Do our actions, even under duress, define us? What does it mean to give up our principals in a time of war and stress? Can you remake yourself after that? Can you heal? The book asks the characters all of these questions to great effect, and more besides. I think it serves as excellent development for everyone involved.

So, if you like Quinlan Vos (or want to know more about him, the new Disney canon him), this is a book you should read. If you like Asajj Ventress, this is a book you should read. It does a brilliant job by both characters, keeping their actions believable within the context of their previous appearances while expanding them in new and interesting ways that nonetheless feel consistent and earned. It also does well by other characters, especially Obi-Wan Kenobi, whose roll in the novel isn't small. It's a bit harsh on Mace Windu, but I think that characterization is fair with how we see him in Revenge of the Sith, and even serves to display how someone so peaceful in the early Clone Wars could become so aggressive and emotionally shut off. Shatterpoint is no longer canon, but it doesn't have to be, when a long, drawn-out war can have a similar affect on a soldier's psyche. Yoda is, in my opinion, let off a little light compared to Windu, but then, I'm not a big fan of Yoda, so I'm probably biased. Boba Fett makes a surprising and delightful appearance as well, but I won't spoil it more than that.

Overall, I think the book is overwhelmingly successful in what it sets out to do. It wants to talk about how far the Jedi Order has come, and if it's ultimately done so in the right direction. It uses Vos' journey through the book to do that, and mirrors it with Ventress' past, and her potential for change in an equal but opposite direction. I'm trying not to spoil too much, but suffice to say the book makes all their fates intertwined in a fascinating and thought-provoking way. Ultimately, I think the ending of this book will be controversial among fans, but I don't really think that's a bad thing. If this book stimulates discussion, all the better.

The book isn't perfect, of course. The issues it deals with are things that require a deft hand and a fair amount of subtlety, though that subtlety is never really felt in the novel itself. As a result, some of the parallels and themes, as well as motivations and actions of characters, can feel a bit thudding and rushed. I think this is due to the fact that the book has a rushed pace in general. It's no secret that this book was based off unused scripts for unfinished episodes of the prematurely canceled Clone Wars series, and I think that caused a slight strain that shows in places. This book was supposed to have eight episodes of action and character development, all compressed into a single book that likely had page length restrictions imposed upon it from its editors. It's a good novel, and does the best it can within those limitations. The pace feels a bit breakneck at times, but it's a matter of opinion whether that's an exciting feature or a dizzying bug.

In the end, though, the book is a great success, and a must-read for fans of the series. I'm not sure how someone who isn't already invested in Vos, Ventress, or the Star Wars universe (as specifically presented in the Clone Wars cartoon series) will feel about the book. It's not interested in getting people up to speed with unfamiliar concepts, characters and events. That's not necessarily a bad thing; a Star Wars tie-in novel marketed toward adults based around the actions of two minor characters was never going to have wide-ranging appeal beyond a very select target audience. With that in mind, it's almost surprising the book was published at all, but I'm glad it was. It does an excellent job accomplishing what it sets out to do: flesh out its two main characters, give a fascinating moral and emotional backdrop to a setting torn apart by war, and provide an entertaining and exciting adventure. I highly recommend it for fans of the series.

I was sent a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.