Star Wars Novel: Labyrinth of Evil
Posted by Donna Dolezal Zelzer on May 14th, 2006
One of the books I’m currently reading is the Star Wars novel, Labyrinth of Evil, by James Luceno.
The story takes place shortly before Episode III, and this book has been billed as the first of a trilogy, followed by the Revenge of the Sith novelization and Dark Lord (which takes during and shortly after Episode III.)
Labyrinth is an entertaining and compelling book, giving insights into characters we know and events yet to come. However, as I read, I’m filled with a sense of sadness, for even as I watch Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi search for the mysterious Sith lord, I know they won’t find him in time. I know what will ultimately happen….
This doesn’t stop the book from being entertaining along the way. There’s one brief exchange when Anakin and Obi-Wan are in a bar in pursuit of a pilot who is the next link in the chain leading to Darth Sideous. They start talking about Zam Wessel, the shapeshifter from Episode II, and Obi-Wan tells Anakin he knew she would follow him. Anakin: “Implying that shapeshifters have a special fondness for me?” Obi Wan: “The way you were strutting around, what female could help herself?”
And I particularly enjoy the scene where Obi-Wan and another character disable a tractor beam. Obi-Wan makes a flicking motion with his fingers; this creates a noise which distracts the guards — sound familiar? Obi-Wan watches carefully as the other character disables the tractor beam. He obviously commits the procedure to memory, which serves him in good stread many years later on the Death Star. I chuckled when, a bit later, Anakin mentions disabling the beam and Obi-Wan says, “Not a skill I expect to draw on again.”
One of the most compelling aspects of the book is how it tells us something of the background of General Grievous. We learn who he was before he became a tool of the Sith, why he hates the Jedi and what really caused the accident that resulted in his half-mechanical existence. All-in all, it makes me much more sympathetic to him, although I still enjoy his demise at the hands of Obi-Wan in Episode III.
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