Wow, this was one of my favorite books in a long time. Granted I’m a pretty big Star Wars fan from back as long I can remember (I do recall faintly seeing Empire Strikes Back when it was first released), so I might be slightly biased on this one.
This book takes places over several decades before Episdoe I The Phantom Menace (such a disappointing movie for me still). This book is told from the Sith’s point of view and really explains so much of what will eventually unfold in all of the movies.
Darth Plagueis is Palpatine’s (Darth Sidious, aka The Emporer) master. So all is explained how Palpatine turned to the dark side. Since this doesn’t get touched on in the films, I was really excited like a Trekkie meeting Shatner to hear all about it. So much of it sets up so much of what happens down the road.
Also introduced are Darth Maul and his training and rise in power, an up and coming Hutt named Jabba, and countless others. Oh yeah, how the Jedi’s believed that Anakin was conceived by the Force? That was a side effect of crazy midi-chlorian experiments gone wrong by Plagueis and Palpatine.
If any of this makes even remote sense to you then you must read this book and get a much better understanding of so many events that you’ve seen unravel over the films. Amazingly interesting nerdy stuff!