Review: Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil (2005)

'I think you know in your heart that you’re meant for something extraordinary.'

★★★½

I really enjoyed this book, a lot. James Luceno knows how to write prequel novels. Much like how Cloak of Deception is a prequel novel to Phantom Menace, this one is the prequel to Revenge of the Sith. This was a novel that I really wanted to get into, and was excited when I finally got myself a copy of this.

What I enjoyed from this novel was the mystery aspect of this novel. In this novel, Anakin and Obi-Wan start off by hunting down the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, then their next assignment is the hunt down Darth Sidious, this takes them to many places to search for clues. And finally with the climax, is the infamous Battle of Coruscant. Despite me knowing the outcome, having seen Revenge of the Sith countless times, and even the 2003 Clone Wars show, I still felt the suspense.

I also liked the moments between Anakin and Obi-Wan. They like to joke around with each other like actually brothers and it's heartwarming. I love that Luceno wrote in the incident on Cato Neimoidia when Anakin rescued "high Obi-Wan" in which Obi-Wan tells Anakin that saving his life on Cato Neimoidia does not count in the running tally of Anakin's rescues. I laughed out loud when I read that. The other characters that feature in this novel, like Bail Organa, Palpatine, Yoda, and others despite some being very minor, I really enjoyed. Luceno gave a lot of character development with them, and it was fun to read.

With all the things I praised, I did dislike something in this novel. I felt the climax of this novel was very weak. The Battle of Coruscant wasn't as exciting as in the 2003 Clone Wars show. I don't know why I felt that way, but maybe i'm more of a visual person rather than a book person, if that makes sense.

The events of Labyrinth of Evil are mentioned in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, when Obi-Wan informs Anakin that saving his life on Cato Neimoidia does not count toward Anakin's rescue total. James Luceno was inspired to write the novel after reading a passage from the script and discussing it with George Lucas. Lucas gave him facts and thoughts concerning the Battle of Coruscant and other events mentioned in the story. General Grevious' backstory is included in this novel based on information from George Lucas, as well. Lucas also permitted him to go into Sifo-Dyas' past and the mystery of Kamino's removal from the Jedi Archives, both of which he had planned to explain in Revenge of the Sith.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel which is how I feel when reading all of Luceno's SW novels.