Leeanna's Reviews > Dynasty of Evil

Star Wars: Darth Bane #3: Dynasty of Evil, by Drew Karpyshyn

"Dynasty of Evil" is, in my opinion, the best book in the Darth Bane series. This book picks up the story of Bane and his apprentice, Zannah, about a decade after the previous book. Bane is highly disappointed in Zannah because she has not yet followed his Rule of Two by challenging and beating him for the role of Sith Master. He believes that she is biding her time until he weakens from age, and this goes against his beliefs - if Zannah ousts him from his position by waiting, she will not be strong enough to continue the Sith order. And then everything Bane has worked for will fall.

But what is Bane to do? He is aging faster than normal due to his use of the Dark Side and his ordeal with orbalisk armor, and doesn't have the time left in his life to train another apprentice. Then, in an ancient scroll, he finds mention of Darth Andeddu, a Sith who discovered a way to extend his life indefinitely. This is Bane's answer - if he can find Andeddu's Holocron, his Sith Order will survive.

However, Bane can't set off to find the Holocron without sending Zannah away as well, to divert her attention from him. Although Zannah hasn't yet challenged him, Bane isn't sure who would survive in a fight between the two; he can't risk dying before finding the secret of immortality. So he sends his apprentice to Doan, an insignificant mining planet, and also the site of a Jedi's murder. On Doan Zannah finds the trail of a Dark Jedi, one who she believes could have the potential to be her own apprentice.

It's best to read the other two Darth Bane novels before "Dynasty of Evil," as Karpyshyn brings back characters from the first novel, "Path of Destruction," and winds them into a twisting plot. His writing is the best it's been yet, with the exception of a few passages that needed better proofreading. At first I couldn't believe the coincidences of so many characters meeting again, but as the novel went on, I understood how it all worked in a bigger context, and I wasn't in disbelief anymore.

I rushed through this book, eager to see how everything would end, and continued until I finished it (even though I had a pretty bad headache). "Dynasty of Evil" kept my attention from beginning to end, and as I said in the beginning, I think this is the best Darth Bane book. Karpyshyn keeps the plot just unpredictable enough that you're unsure who will be victorious, and the ending is a surprise.

5/5.