If you haven't read the book yet, and don't want it to be spoiled you probably shouldn't read this

So I just read Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn today, and overall it was just as good as I expected. As always, Darth Bane kicks plenty of ass, though he does manage to take more than his own share of abuse throughout the book. Zannah starts off fairly strong as well, but in my opinion she starts to show signs of weakness midway through the novel (kind of funny considering she isn't the one having her body deteriorate and getting herself kidnapped). One random thing I noticed is that Darth Andeddu has seemed to pop up in a lot of the Star Wars literature that I have read recently, despite never actually having been a particularly important personage in the E.U. (Dynasty of Evil, the Legacy comics, and also the Fate of the Jedi series if I remember correctly).

Anyways, I liked seeing some interesting force users that were non jedi/sith. The Huntress is particularly interesting, though she seems to have some pretty darn ridiculous powers considering she has no formal training. She has precognition that allows her to see the future in the short term and the long term with some impressive reliability, as well as looking into the past and intentionally calling up visions allowing her to track anyone down anywhere in the galaxy. She can also interfere with other force users' ability to draw on the force (only Bane was able to completely overcome it of those we see it used against.) Aside from that she is already very proficient in combat, having stood toe to toe with Bane and lived to tell the tale, even if she had help and Bane was significantly weakened, we still see her kill a Jedi and fight a Dark Jedi to a stalemate without having a lightsaber. Remembering that she has had zero training makes this is a pretty impressive resume.

Back to the important stuff, I liked the new characters that were introduced, while Bane and Zannah (to a lesser extent) have obviously grown since Rule of Two. Bane has become less reliant on his brute strength and has a much more balanced approach to solving problems in and out of combat. We don't really see much of Zannah's improvement until the end of the book in the final confrontation between her and Bane however.

Speaking of the ending this is the one part of the book that I have mixed feelings about. I love Bane as a character so I was happy to see him win. At least, my interpretation is that he won. If you haven't read it yet the ending is somewhat ambiguous but there is enough evidence for me to decide that Bane did indeed win. As I was saying, if I am right and Bane succeeded in taking over Zannah's body then that brings up a few issues for me. While I don't mind Bane winning this fight, being my favorite character of these books, some points that have been brought up by others about the ending have me worrying. If Bane can just jump from body to body then there is no way of knowing as of yet just how long he actually lives. One theory I read now has his last incarnation being Darth Pelagious or even Darth Sidious himself. Bane is an awesome character and I don't mind him staying around for a while longer, but it would take a lot away from the mystique that the Sith during their thousand years in hiding hold for me. It is too early to say either way, and there is no point in me worrying too much until I know for sure if Bane is alive, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Overall I'd give this book a 9 out of 10. Path of Destruction was easily a 10 in my opinion and still remains my favorite single Star Wars novel, but Dynasty of Evil was definitely a strong showing by Drew Karpyshyn.



Sorry for rambling, but I just finished reading an hour and a half ago and am still mulling it all over.