Comments

"Cloak of Deception" was also the first EU novel I ever read, so I suppose my rating my be higher than others.

The book's central story is strong. It has direct ties to the films, and for someone new to the novels as I was when I initially read the book, that was a big selling point (and still is).

Darth Sidious is clearly my favorite character, not only in the books, but in the films as well. He appears here mostly as Palpatine, but he has several key moments that are shadowed with hidden agendas that are excellent. The book itself sets up numerous events of The Phantom Menace, including the militarization of the Trade Federation, the blockade of Naboo, and Palpatine's eventual appointment as Supreme Chancellor.

Simply put, the Sidious mastery of manipulation is full on in the novel. It makes me wish even more that at some point the tale of young Sidious is told to us.

Poor Finis Valorum. I didn't particularly care for the character in TPM. He seemed so weak and listless that I could never understand how he came to power in the first place. Cloak does a good job of showing how he went from respected leader to the mere puppet we see later on. Some of his many conversations with Palpatine, who unfortunately is his closest confidant, set up his demise later on. There is also a interesting segment about his attempts to live his life as Jedi despite not having any Force abilities in his family line.

When Qui-Gon Jinn dies in TPM, in many ways, the fate of the galaxy went with him. Qui-Gon was ahead of his time. Yoda demonstrates this in Empire as his teachings sound very similar to what Qui-Gon way of thinking. The Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan relationship is fleshed out nicely here. The dynamic of their interaction as Master and Padawan is probably much more the tradition model than we saw in the films with Obi-Wan and Anakin. We learn about their initial meeting and how Obi-Wan came to be under Qui-Gon's guidance. I'm still disappointed that Qui-Gon's ghost didn't appear to Yoda onscreen in Revenge of the Sith. Great character all around, and this book only expands on his personality.

There are some nice cameos and bit parts here. The inclusion of Tarkin was a pleasant surprise. He certainly plays more than a passing importance to the story. On my first read through I had yet to read Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, but during my reread for this review it certainly made me smile to read the brief cameo by Jorus C'baoth. Several well known Jedi also have supporting roles.

Overall, I couldn't recommend this book more for those that are fans of the Prequel storyline particularly seeing some of the early groundwork laid for the events in Episode 1.

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