Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

This novel is absolutely fantastic.

Quite possibly the greatest characterisation of Yoda that I have ever seen, he is wise, he is kind, he is wonderful with children, and he is as mysterious as ever.

His growing disillusion with the current Jedi Order is apparent as he disagrees with various masters on various occasions, and shows noticeable distaste as to the treatment of certain padawans from particular masters such as Mace Windu.

Scout and Whie are a great duo, there is a small romance between them, yet they are quite opposite, whilst similar in many ways too. They have a great rapport, with Scout easily being the most interesting character.

Scout is determined, clever, and always thinks outside the box, whilst being very weak in the force, having to be taught among some of the youngest students which is both humiliating for her, and puts her at an enormous disadvantage as even masters look down on her (like Mace Windu). However, she is thorough, hard-working, and righteous.

Of course, Yoda sees the potential in her, and gives her a new master (her previous one died on Geonosis).

There is great tragedy in this novel, and I'll admit, it got me emotional at various points, the first novel so far to do that for me.

The way it is written is just incredible, with some of the most effective lines I've ever seen in a Star Wars novel.

“No greater gift there is, than a generous heart.”

“Life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.”

We learn a lot about when Yoda taught Dooku, and get to see a different side to him. You discover the humility he previously had, how inferior he feels to Sidious, and how he often dreads his own actions, and feels as if he is betraying those he cares about.

There is a flicker of hope for a moment, which is spoiled by Sidious. I truly believe for one second, Dooku considered joining Yoda again, but it is ruined as he feels betrayed when Anakin and Obi-Wan show up - which Yoda had no knowledge of - which was cleverly constructed by Sidious who, as Palpatine, demanded Windu send the two to assist Yoda.

No doubt, did he foresee something like this happening, and know that sending the two would break up this moment.

Overall, it's an extremely gripping narrative, with lots of fight scenes which are written really well and are thoroughly entertaining, never feeling repetitive. There are high stakes and there is plenty of character drama, with grave consequences and lots of tragedy. It is a near perfect novel in my books.