Saturday, March 30, 2013

Revan (Drew Karpyshyn)


A New York Times Bestseller (which suggests, but does not mandate, quality), Revan is a sequel of sorts to the Knights of the Old Republic video game series.  In the game (apparently- I never played), Revan begins as a Jedi, falls to the Dark Side, and is redeemed at the end, though with the cost of the Jedi Council wiping his memory.  In Revan, we see the title character haunted by flashes of confusing images- presumably from his forgotten past- which he believes speak of a grave threat to the Republic.  He enlists old friends to help investigate these visions, and his queries lead him on a quest across the galaxy, deep into realms unknown by the Republic.  In the end, his fears are confirmed, and he does what he can to prevent catastrophe.

The story was good; the execution was left lacking in some places.  The main problem was the ability of several characters to make implausible connections and unerringly know what to do/where to go next.  These "plot leaps," as I call them, enable the author to move the story along quickly, but take away from an otherwise enjoyable tale.  The ending, especially, was satisfying- this is not your typical "happy ending" story- at least, not in a traditional sense.  This was the rare book that I feel could benefit from being longer- taking more time to develop the story, and avoid the plot leaps.  Those who have played the video game(s) may enjoy the story even more, as they will see many familiar races (Sith, Mandalorian, Human) and characters (Revan, Canderous Ordo, Bastila Shan, T3-M4, even HK-47) crop up here.  Overall, this is a decent Star Wars read, and if you're a fan of "KOTOR," you may like this quite a bit.

Rating: B

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