Tag Archives: Books

Book Review: Star Wars: Darth Bane – Path of Destruction

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I guess should begin by saying this is the first Star Wars novel I’ve ever read. I remember being at Borders book store about a month ago browsing through their collection of Manga and Graphic novels. I remember thinking about having to find a new author to read since David Gemmell had tragically died a couple of weeks earlier he was an author who’s works I had been reading since I was about 13.

Darth Bane – Path of Destruction, by Drew Karpyshyn

Anyway during the course of my deliberations I remember glancing over at the shelf and seeing the cover to this novel and feeling intrigued … I read the cover and inlay to get a feel for what it was about … it seemed interesting … promising to recount the tale of the rise to power of the first dark lord, from his slave-like upbringing as a miner to the moment in which he changes the future of the Sith forever.

I have to admit I really enjoyed it. It was fun! It’s kind of cool to cheer for the bad guys every now and again. I guess for a long time, with series such as Star Wars and Star Trek, there’s been this condescending notion that everyone is pretty much polarised into either being good or being evil. I know that’s a gross generalisation but it does often feel like that, particularly in the clean cut universe of Star Wars. I guess what I liked about this novel was it didn’t try to treat the differences between the Sith and Jedi as a battle between good and evil. Rather it treated them as diametrically opposed philosophies, basically, about how to attain and use great power.

The story focuses on how a young miner, Dessel, is recruited into the Sith army as a foot soldier to help in the battle against the Jedi. His exploits in battle are noticed by his superiors who realise that he is unusually strong in his control of the force, but his power is latent and reveals itself at times of great stress or when he is in danger. They send him to a Sith academy where he is taught to master his powers, and in doing so transforms into Darth Bane. He realises that the Sith brotherhood has betrayed its own founding principles by trying to re-invent themselves and their structure as a mirror of the Jedi. On realising this Bane realises that the only way to ensure the future of the Sith is by destroying the Sith Brotherhood competely and then re-creating it based on the founding principle of the true Sith… the Rule of Two, “two there shall be. no more, no less; One to embody the power and the other to crave it”.

I wont reveal any more of the story, but what I will say is that it is a well written and fast paced story that surprisingly engrossing. I hope the author, Drew Karpyshyn, does follow this novel up with a sequel. Bane is a very well realised character and even though you know he represents the very “evil” that everyone who is good is “supposed” to oppose, you cant help but think that like all of us he is the sum of his experiences and the pain he endured. I guess theres a little of Bane in each of us and perhaps that’s why were drawn to him.

The end of faith?

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A few months back I listened to this podcast over at IT Conversations and was curious enough to buy Sam Harris’ book, The End of Faith – Religion, Terror and the Future Reason to learn a bit more about his views.

Wikipedia: Harris’s basic theme is that he considers the time has come to speak openly and unambiguously about what he sees as the dangers posed to society by religious belief. While highlighting what he regards as a particular problem being posed by Islam at this moment in respect of international terrorism, Harris has made an outspoken attack on religion of all styles and persuasions. He is especially critical of the stance of religious moderation, which he sees as essentially providing cover to religious extremism, while at the same time acting as an obstacle to progress in terms of pursuing what he considers to be more enlightened approaches towards spirituality and ethics.

Harris’ views center around what he perceives to be the evils of religious belief, that religious belief has no place in a modern secular society because religions foster intolerance of others. Unfortunatly for Harris he advocates, as I interpret it to be, the violent intolerance of intolerance. Oxymoron anyone?

Whilst he is critical of all faiths he’s particularly critical of Islam and at a time when relations between the west and the islamic world are strained, I dont find it overly suprising that hes becoming a poster child for many islamaphobes.

What frightens me most about this guy is that he actually advocates that society as a whole should consider the culling of those who are so deluded as to believe in something that cannot be scientifically proven … the example he cites is the immaculate conception.

The sad thing is that he truly fails to understand that he isn’t unique in considering such solutions ( Hitler, Stalin, etc. )… Harris’ intolerance of faith is as damaging as the religious fanatacism that he believes hes fighting against. In fact I’d go as far as to describe him as a fascist … since he himself exhibits the same irrational intolerance that he claims to be fighting against.

Fundamentally I believe that to lay the blame entirely on religion is disingenuous. Religious belief alone is rarely motivation enough for someone to kill, religious fanaticism exploited by politics and social and economic difficulties however is.