Jefferson N. (Jefferson) reviewed Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane, Bk 2) on + 170 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This second book in the Darth Bane series is not quite as good as the first, but it's still a good read. In this second part of the trilogy, Bane has tricked the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness into destroying itself...and every member of the Sith, other than himself. He takes a young girl he finds that is strong in the force as he makes his escape and makes her his pupil. The story then skips a considerable amount of time and we find Bane and his young adult pupil on a quest to create a holocron...a device that will allow Bane to put down all of his knowledge so that his pupil can learn from him after the day she must destroy him. Bane has decided the Sith should only be comprised of one master and a pupil who must one day destroy her master so she can become the dark master herself. But to do this, they will have to brave areas of the galaxy few have travelled to and avoid the Jedi council, which thinks all Sith were destroyed in the final battle. I guess what I didn't like about this book as much as the first is that the author tends to just tell the story in a standoffish manner. We don't really get any insights to the characters like we did in the first book. Darth Bane is bordering on being a cardboard character in this book...almost a bit player. I could overlook this if we could get some insight into his apprentice, Zannah. But we don't really get any deep look into her character, either. The last few chapters of the previous book where she first appeared were deeper. And the Jedi that are the foils for Bane in this book are just characters that are there to be opponents to either annoy or be crushed by Bane. Once again, the surviving Jedi from the story were fleshed-out more in the previous book and are just shadows of themselves in this one. The best way I can describe this one to Star Wars fans who might want to check this out is that this second part of the trilogy is more like Attack of the Clones than The Empire Strikes Back. You'll know what I mean.
