Star Wars Homing Beacon wrote:
This week marks the release of Star Wars: Dark Lord -- The Rise of Darth Vader, the hardcover novel that tells the events that follow immediately after Episode III. Discover the first assignments that Lord Vader had to undertake for his dark master, and how he cemented his reputation early as the ultimate enforcer of the Emperor's will. To introduce this major book release, Editorial Director Shelly Shapiro of Del Rey Books penned this special message for Homing Beacon readers...
In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, we all finally got to see the creation of Darth Vader, one of the baddest baddies in cinematic history. But, y'know, the Darth Vader we saw in that movie was a pale imitation of the full-powered, walking evil icon we knew from Episodes IV, V, and VI. As soon as I read the script for Episode III, I had a feeling that it might not slake fans' thirst for Vader action, despite the thrill of seeing him rise in that black armor for the first time. Fortunately, James Luceno, who had done such a terrific job filling in the backstory to Revenge with his prequel, Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil, had the idea of making his next Star Wars novel a sequel to the movie, an action-adventure showcasing the true rise of Darth Vader -- how he went from being the essentially broken Anakin Skywalker to the extraordinarily powerful right arm of the Emperor.
Thus, Star Wars: Dark Lord. Together, Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord form a pair of bookends around Revenge of the Sith -- necessary bookends, to my mind, filling out and completing the story of the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader. Read all three back to back, and you'll see what I mean.
Dark Lord is great fun, besides. Didn't you ever wonder how Anakin Skywalker felt wearing that suit all the time? It didn't look very comfortable. And what about that breathing? Speaking of which, check out your bookstores and listen for the sound of that breathing to guide you straight to the book. If you don't hear the breathing, look around outside: Don't be surprised if Darth Vader himself is hanging about, eager to get "his" book into your eager hands! And if you see him, give him a big hug for me!
Shelly Shapiro
Editorial Director, Del Rey Books
Wonder if this is any good. I have the Zahn books in my hardback library, and I have a few others... but for the most part I am not crazy about most Star Wars Books. I just cant take another amazing story about Luke, Han, and Leia. Personally I like the spin off characters. I think that is what drew me to SWG in the first place, “be a Star Wars spin off character”.
However I do like Vader and his place as an iconic fictional villain. So a good book about him interests me, I just can't see myself buying another crap Star Wars book. I spent a few hundred bucks on a Vader statue but I be damned if I drop $16 on another cheese book.
Do you guys know anything about this author or this book?