I've recently started working my through the vast catalog of Star Wars Novels. Starting in chronological order. The first in the series is called "Star Wars: Cloak of Deception". This book is written my James Luceno, and read by Alexander Adams. In audio form it is only available abridged. The main point of both of these books is to setup the movie Episode I. And in hindsight it really might have made seeing Episode I better (maybe) had I read these before seeing it. In "Star Wars: Cloak of Deception" , it's really a high political drama. Pretty light on the action. This is really where Senator Palpatine begins his undermining of Supreme Chancellor Valorum. It's also where Palpatine/Darth Sidious begins his manipulation of the Trade Federation. In addition it explains why in Episode I , the Trade Federation sets up it's Blockade of the Planet Naboo. Which is what kick starts the whole building of the Evil Galactic Empire.
In terms of the story, it's just ok. It is nice to get to know Qui-Gon Jinn a little more, as well as some of the more lesser known characters from the Jedi Council. But that still doesn't help that this book is just all about political maneuvering, which really isn't that exciting for me.
Alexander Adams did a nice job reading the book. Here's the thing about listening to Star Wars books though. They're layered with sound effects and music. This can sometimes help the book, and sometimes hurt it. I think most of the time however it can hurt it because there are times it's difficult to hear the reader over the sound of a light saber or an explosion. For me the whole point of listening to a book is to hear the story, not to hear some over produced sound effects.
Rating: I'd give "Cloak of Deception" a 3 out of 5. It's a nice read for some of the history bits, but you can find some pretty good summaries online for that info if that's all you want.
Star Wars - Darth Maul Shadow Hunter:
Written by Michael Reeves
Read by Michael Cumpsty
This book is also only available in abridged audio format. But at just over 6 hours long it, doesn't feel like they've cut a bunch out. I always like it when an Abridged book gives you that feeling that you're still getting the whole story.
I liked this story alot more than "Cloak of Deception". Primarily because it's mostly all about one of the most intriguing characters in the Star Wars universe, Darth Maul. If you're like me, when you first got a look at Darth Maul in Episode I, you instantly wanted to know more about him. But in Episode I, you get literally no information about him, except that he's the Sith Masters apprentice. I also thought that he died a little too easily in Episode I.
I don't want to get into the story much in this review. Suffice it to say, I think this story might have made a better movie than Episode I did. And I flew through this book in a day. Maybe Lucas can go back and make Episode 1/2 .
Michael Cumpsty was a good reader, he was very good at portraying the different Character voices. But yet again the Music and Sound Effects layered on the narration was a little bit too much. There is one scene where an alarm is going off, and for almost a full minute you're trying to hear the reader over this really loud and annoying alarm sound.
Rating: In spite of the effects, I still give this book a 4.5 out of 5. It's that good of a story line.
-B
