Star Wars: Cloak of Deception download epub

This novel, set shortly before the events of Episode 1, fleshes out a lot of the things that were hinted at in the Darth Plagueis novel and ultimately set up the downfall of Chancellor Velorum in The Phantom Menace. The Jedi are present in the book, still unaware of the Sith threat, only aware of some dark force in the background controlling events. The novel also introduces Qui Gon and Obi-Wan in their master/apprentice relationship and is also the first EU introduction of a young Governor Tarkin. There is however very little action in the book. Some at the beginning and then again at the end. It is mostly about political maneuvering by Palpatine/Darth Sidious playing his dual role and setting up his eventual power grab.

The book will definitely not appeal to everyone. If you hated Episode 1, mainly because of the political story then chances are this book is not going to do much for you, because it is the total set up to that story. If you did not mind that part of The Phantom Menace then this probably will not bother you as much, because it is written much better than Lucas' screenplay and does not fall victim to many of the things that made people run the gamut of emotions about the prequel trilogy from being underwhelmed to reviled. It is of course, one of the novels that is not considered canon (not that it ever really was, because Lucasfilm only considered the movies and tv series cannon prior to Disney's acquiring the rights), but unless Disney ever decides to do anything set before The Phantom Menace, it should not be an issue. On the whole, I would say I liked the Darth Plagueis novel that was partly set in the same time frame as this one better, but it is overall a good story and fairly easy read.

Having read only a few books in Star Wars' EU in the past, I recently decided it was time to do a lot more reading to see if I could more thoroughly enjoy the Prequel Trilogy and the Clone Wars cartoon. I really hadn't been hooked in to those nearly as much as I had the original trilogy, and most of my EU experience was with the Thrawn novles and that timeline anyway. While I started with James Luceno's Darth Plagueis -- an okay book with some great insights into Palpatine's character and the Dark Side of the Force, but otherwise a seemingly random series of scenes held together by the thinnest of plots -- it's been my second foray with Cloak of Deception that's truly changed the game in every possible way.

Cloak follows a few plot threads that merge beautifully by the end: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan pursuing a mercenary smuggler named Cohl, who has joined up with a terrorist cell led by the enigmatic Havac; the manipulation of the Nemoidians by Darth Sidious, leading to them gaining significant control of the Trade Federation; and lastly, the expert diplomacy of Senator Palpatine as he makes the last bold move to undermine Supreme Chancellor Valorum, and cast light on the depths of corruption throughout the Republic.

What makes Cloak so much better than Darth Plagueis, even though it's from the same author, is that the plot is strong, all of the characters are portrayed well, and the convergence of the plot elements sets up more than just the over-arching story of Episode I's political elements, but also nearly every move the key secondary characters make -- Valorum, the Trade Federation, the other Senators of the Republic. Whereas the Plagueis novel gave us everything we need to know from Darth Sidious' side of the story through several snippets of events, with no other characters besides the novel's name sake being at all portrayed with any depth, Cloak's characters -- new and old -- all have personality and add to the story. For the "old" characters, you have the entire Jedi Council, several galactic Senators, Wilhuff (soon-to-be-Grand Moff) Tarkin, the Trade Federation's Nemoidian leaders, and of course Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. In every case, the dialogue of each character reads just as if it had been said by the actors from the movies, almost eerily so. The new characters include mercenaries Cohl, Boiny, Rella, and Lope, plus a terrorist cell led by Havac. Though some of these characters have a short part in the book -- specifically Lope -- all are important, and each feels very different from the others, easily being able to carry a spin-off novel if necessary.

There's little else I can say, beyond the fact that this book would have been a better starting place for me than Darth Plagueis. Cloak of Deception is a necessary lead-in to Episode I: The Phantom Menace (whose novel I've just started, and already like better than the movie!), and provides an entertaining stand-alone story in addition to the excellent insights that will lead Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to head out to that Trade Federation flagship, only to kick off what will soon become the fall of the Old Republic, and the rise of the Galactic Empire.

As an aside, I found having the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia very helpful during my reading of the novel, or -- if a computer is handy -- using Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki. It helps me remember some of the less-well known Jedi council members, senators and so on. None of these are critical to enjoying the story -- Luceno does an expert job of describing all of the characters -- but it was useful for reminding me who Oppo Rancisis, Sei Taria, and folks like that were. A shining omission, I might add, was that Vergere shows up in this book with little description and only a small part, but I've since learned he's important later in the EU. It's not worthy of losing a star, but it's notable that this character shows up with little or no fanfare and shares an important scene or two with other characters, but otherwise is pretty much just "there."

For many Star Wars fans, Cloak of Deception will probably come off about as exciting as watching CSPANN. However, I'm also a political junkie and as such enjoyed seeing some of the political intrigue behind Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace. Luceno's effort in this regard is somewhat of a mixed success, but still enjoyable if you like political intrigue novels.

First, the good. I thought Luceno does a good job showing Palpatine's political maneuverings without exposing him as Darth Sidious. Remember, when the book was published, that connection hadn't been revealed. Palpatine comes across as modest in public but incisive in private. He often has the best scenes and lays the best traps. Luceno portrays Palpatine as a politician with firm convictions about the need for a strong central government, which makes him a more subtly interesting character than just an evil Sith lord.

The plot device is also fairly simple but effective for a political novel. Valorum is convinced (by Palpatine!) to tax the Trade Federation in return for allowing it to arm itself against terrorist attacks. The rest of the book follows the Jedi as they attempt to thwart the terrorists and various assassination plots. The events clearly leads to the blockade of Naboo at the beginning of the film and also explain how Naboo fit into Sidious' larger plan.

I also thought Qui-Gon Jinn was more enjoyable than he was in the movies. We get to see a bit more of his "roguish" traits, which the movies hinted at but never really explored. Qui-Gon comes across as someone more at ease in the underworld of life and willing to push the Jedi beyond their norm of non-interference.

Unfortunately, the book is marred by Luceno's sometimes clunky, overly descriptive writing style. There is a lot of telling rather than showing. Also, the other characters in the book don't come across well. I constantly felt as if the narrator was trying to convince the reader that Valorum is a good, dignified leader, but ironically too often Valorum seems to pathetically malleable to Palpatine's suggestions. Meanwhile, all the Jedi besides Qui-Gon come across as a bunch of bumbling idiots. None of them seem to realize that that should do more than just sit around the Jedi Temple and that there might actually be a threat that they should counter. The Nebula Front terrorists also seemed pretty shallow. They kept repeating the same few lines (essentially, "boy, I should retire soon"), and the book spends far too much time on these bit characters that make no other appearance in the Star Wars universe.

Overall, the book merits 3.5 stars. It's a decent setup for the film and has some fun political intrigue, but aside from Palpatine and Qui-Gon none of the characters are worth our time.