Star Wars: Cloak of Deception

This book adds a lot of interesting background for Episode I, which made re-watching it (more) enjoyable. A must for any Star Wars fan.

I found this to be a very fun listen. I'm a bit of a Star Wars geek, so I'm a little biased, but I thought it was fun and well thought out. I wish Ep. 1 had incorporated some of the political info found in this book.

A lot of SW audio books are abridged. So, the print versions give you more details, but the audio books allow me to listen in the car, and so get through the story faster. The sound effects on the audio add to the story. This book was not as abridged as some others, so it still had good details.

This story gave some good background to Episode 1, from a different angle than Darth Plageuis did. I liked seeing Qui Gon and Obi Wan in another story. The plot was intriguing, so you needed to pay attention. The story showed how the Trade Federation came to be under Darth Sidious' influence and why it blockaded Naboo. It also showed more of how Palpatine manipulated his way to the Chancellorship, and how the Republic was becoming corrupt.

The sound effects, plus the voice characteristics add to the story.

The Trade Federation Falls into Darthness.

I love SW anyway, but this was actually one of the more well-written books. It was less science fiction and more political intrigue, so it was more believable. The movies were written this way as well. The science should support the story, not be it. The better SW writers, like Timothy Zahn, know how to use the science at the service of the story. This book falls into that category.

That's what I get for reading a prequel to the infamous Star Wars prequel trilogy. I usually like James Luceno, which is why I gave this book a shot, but it didn't pay off. I can't remember the last time I've been so bored while reading listening to a novel.

I was expecting some deep exploration of characters like Palpatine and Qui-Gon, but this book spent about as much time investing in characters as The Phantom Menace. Other than character development, I really just wanted a fun romp through the Star Wars universe, but I couldn't even get that. This book is bogged down in page after page of politics and at no point does it really feel like a Star Wars story.

I can't recommend this book to anybody. It isn't good science fiction or fantasy and it really isn't much of a Star Wars novel. If Star Wars is what you crave, you can do much better than this.