• Star Wars: Maul

  • Lockdown
  • By: Joe Schreiber
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
  • Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (5,480 ratings)

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Star Wars: Maul  By  cover art

Star Wars: Maul

By: Joe Schreiber
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Set before the events of
Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, this new novel is a thrilling follow-up to Star Wars: Darth Plagueis.

It's kill or be killed in the space penitentiary that houses the galaxy’s worst criminals, where convicts face off in gladiatorial combat while an underworld gambling empire reaps the profits of the illicit blood sport. But the newest contender in this savage arena, as demonic to behold as he is deadly to challenge, is fighting for more than just survival. His do-or-die mission, for the dark masters he serves, is to capture the ultimate weapon: an object that will enable the Sith to conquer the galaxy.

Sith lords Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious are determined to possess the prize. And one of the power-hungry duo has his own treacherous plans for it. But first, their fearsome apprentice must take on a bloodthirsty prison warden, a cannibal gang, cutthroat crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and an unspeakable alien horror. No one else could brave such a gauntlet of death and live. But no one else is the dreaded dark-side disciple known as Darth Maul.

Praise for Lockdown

“Schreiber . . . was a great choice for this novel, imbuing the story with a dark, foreboding tone while never quite stepping into the horror territories that Death Troopers and Red Harvest took us.”Jedi News

“Fans of the dark side should rejoice. Lockdown delivers a can’t-put-this-down tale of scum and villainy.”Club Jade

“[Lockdown is] an action-packed ride that spins one entertaining chapter after another. The multiple layers of story keeps readers guessing what will happen next and just who will live and who will die. . . . It certainly adds to the character of Darth Maul while matching [Darth] Plagueis’s complexity with sheer fun. . . . Five out of five metal bikinis.”Roqoo Depot

“Somehow, Schreiber is able to skate the line between hard-hitting prison story and the adventure and excitement I love from Star Wars in a way that doesn’t betray either genre. It’s really quite masterful.”Big Shiny Robot

Lockdown is an exciting, engaging read. . . . It actually lines up beautifully for a sequel, which I, for one, would love to read.”Coffee with Kenobi

“The novel makes The Clone Wars better. It also illuminates The Phantom Menace. I think it’s the hallmark of the best tie-in fiction to resonate throughout other parts of the expanded universe in that way.”Knights’ Archive

“By the fiftieth page, I was hooked. . . . Lockdown is a wonderful ‘antihero’ novel, where it’s just fine to root for the villain, because there are even worse things out there. This book was so fun and entertaining. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more Star Wars books from Schreiber.”Seattle Geekly

©2014 Joe Schreiber (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Lockdown is] an action-packed ride that spins one entertaining chapter after another. The multiple layers of story keeps readers guessing what will happen next and just who will live and who will die. . . . It certainly adds to the character of Darth Maul while matching [Darth] Plagueis’s complexity with sheer fun. . . . Five out of five metal bikinis.” (Roqoo Depot)

“Schreiber . . . was a great choice for this novel, imbuing the story with a dark, foreboding tone while never quite stepping into the horror territories that Death Troopers and Red Harvest took us.” (Jedi News)

Lockdown is an exciting, engaging read. . . . It actually lines up beautifully for a sequel, which I, for one, would love to read.” (Coffee with Kenobi)

Featured Article: Bright Suns! On Star Wars, Fandom, and a Trip to the Galaxy's Edge


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What listeners say about Star Wars: Maul

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Maul + Prison = Too Much Fun

Joe Schreiber proved on Death Troopers that he can write for very specific subgenres. With Maul: Lockdown, the prison subgenre is given the Star Wars treatment. The first half of the book plays through every stereotype and expected classic bit imaginable in a way that's too much fun to just skip over. As Darth Sidious observes, any situation is rendered unstable when Maul is present, and Schreiber goes out of his way to show us exactly what that means. The second half, however, spends some time showing us the superior workings of Maul's mind and his worthiness to be a Sith apprentice. Being an amazing fighter isn't enough to be a classic villain, after all.

Taking place during the events of Darth Plagueis, shortly before The Phantom Menace, this book is NOT the sequel you might expect. Where it's placed in the timeline is the necessary due to Maul's limited operation periods in the Star Wars timeline, but Lockdown doesn't use Plagueis as a crutch. Instead, this is a standalone story that has but one objective: to let Maul loose to wreak havoc. Ironically, unleashing Maul means putting restraints on him, and that only seems to make him even more dangerous.

As with Death Troopers, Schreiber's incredibly descriptive prose brings a heightened sense of action and grit to the story. The inevitable fight scenes play out vividly.

Veteran Star Wars narrator Jonathan Davis is once again in top form, bringing the characters and situations to life as few others seem to be able to do. Mix in sound effects and a handful of classic John Williams musical cues, and the movie in your mind is complete.

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39 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Unleash the Dark Side

If you could sum up Star Wars: Maul in three words, what would they be?

Intense, dark, action.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Darth Maul of course takes the cake. This story really brings out the wide array of talents he possesses and really drives home why he is the most dangerous being in the galaxy.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

An excellent performance. He really evokes the dark nature of the story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Parts of Schreiber's story are very...disturbing. He really evokes fear and darkness.

Any additional comments?

Schreiber's stories are what I would expect from the EU. Something fun to read without feeling like this is the main story and where does it fit into cannon.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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This is what I'm talking about

If you could sum up Star Wars: Maul in three words, what would they be?

Adult, SW, Finally!

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

Excellent, loved him in Snow Crash also

Any additional comments?

Man on man, this book rocks, its the first maybe second that has what I feel is more of an adult slant to it and i could not have been better in my mind. More like this please. After Red Harvest I was kinda like eh but it was an interesting twist in the SW univierse, after this book, I'm realing for more Dark side stories from this guy (Joe Schreiber) Seems telling SW stories with a dark side bent is his niche in this universe.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Prison+Aliens+Sith Lords=Amazing.

I was sold the second I saw that Jonathan Davis was the narrator. His ability to switch between characters seamlessly, giving each a unique attitude and voice of their own, is really what shines in his works. But given the addition of the ambient noise and additional sound effects in Maul: Lockdown, I think this is now one of my all-time favorite audiobooks, with or without Mr. Davis. And plus, who doesn't love Darth Maul? Props to Joe Schreiber for creating such a wonderfully dark and rocksteady story!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Reminds me of that TV show Oz.

What did you love best about Star Wars: Maul?

The overall story. An interesting one.

What did you like best about this story?

Everything about it really.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Davis – was your favorite?

Darth Maul himself. A Sith can survive even in a prison.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Maul taking out a Vong warrior in the first chapter proved how powerful he was.

Any additional comments?

A great book for any Darth Maul fans.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

You Can't Lockup The Dark Side!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Very much so. Aside from having an amazing plot with loads of fast-paced tension, Jonathan Davis managed to translate those expertly crafted pages, the distinctive voices of the characters and the different tones of voice remarkably well for the audiobook version. It was an excellent production.

What did you like best about this story?
That there was never a dull moment and I am not one to use that description often when it comes to books because in my mind, that means that there were exciting highlights in every single chapter. Which makes this book even more impressive as far as I am concerned because while most chapters were short, it was still the longest Star Wars book in terms of quantity of chapters I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Never a dull moment in 76 chapters? By the Force, this SW book had me hooked in the way only my all time favorite pieces of Star Wars literature ever got me and I have listen to well over 60 SW audiobooks in my life. As a result. I have to rank this book within the best of the best of my personal list in terms of constant delight.

Which scene was your favorite?
Oh, this book was full of many enjoyable scenes that could have made the cut. But I am gonna have to pick the scene that ended up becoming the "turning point" scene to me, the one that convinced me to keep watching for more hours without stopping until I finished this amazing tale.



Spoiler Alert




Last Warning




The moment where the "first" inmate that went by the name of Zero is unmasked. I was almost sure that Iram Radique was going to end up being the man that Zero turned out to be. And then, to top my shock, this important behind the scenes character gets shot on the orders of the true arms dealer despite the fact he created and runs the incredibly precise program of the unique prison. This scene had me at the edge of my seat wondering who the Holy Force was this mysterious Iram Radique. As soon as finished that tense chapter, I refused to let go of my audiobook until I was done and true to my word I finished the book that day.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When a father dies right after having just seen his son do something to make him very proud of his son and tells him so, before passing away.

Any additional comments?
If Disney ever decides to make an R-ated anthology film with content adapted from a Legends book, this one would definitely be a crowd-pleaser.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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WTF is going on in this story??

Narrator is great but the story is all over the place and spend way too much time wasted on secondary characters when it should focus on Maul. In the end it was such a brief and inconsequential mission in Maul’s life that it did not need to be written. One comic book would’ve been enough!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Definately worth a listen

As with many of the newer star wars audiobooks, (e.g. plaguis) the production amd performance were masterful. A great book that fills in a lot of the character developement on maul and his motivations and desires. Explains quite a few of the questions and inconsistencies of mauls existence and actions.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

great story and narrator

this is a really good and really cool story. the narration by Jonathan David is excellent. The story and seemed true to Maul's character. a little long and drawn out in places - this one could really have been abridged. if it didn't have these flat spots, I would have rated it s 5.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Star Wars meets HBO’s OZ

If you like Star Wars and HBO’s series Oz you will love this book. Thankfully Disney had no influence in this book so there is much violence and no PC messages hidden behind it. Maul goes on a mission that leads him to a space penitentiary with there is nothing but corruption and thugs. You get to see Mauls interaction with the good and bad that gives you an idea of his thought process. Strongly suggest you read Darth Plagueis first because these events are during the end of that book.

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