Review: Deceived by Paul Kemp (Star Wars: The Old Republic, Book Two)

Synopsis: A Sith warrior to rival the most sinister of the Order’s Dark Lords, Darth Malgus brought down the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in a brutal assault that shocked the galaxy. But if war crowned him the darkest of Sith heroes, peace will transform him into something far more heinous—something Malgus would never want to be but cannot stop becoming, any more than he can stop the rogue Jedi fast approaching. Her name is Aryn Leneer—and the lone Jedi Knight that Malgus cut down in the fierce battle for the Jedi Temple was her Master. Now she’s going to find out what happened to him, even if it means breaking every rule in the book. (from the back of the book)

Review: This is a novelization of event from the online MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Darth Malgus razed the Jedi Temple on Coruscant about three years before the game begins. There is a video of the fight between Malgus and Zarrow here. It's called Deceived, same as the novel.
This was an okay book. It's my first Star Wars novel (dispite living with a man who owns all of them - and yes, I do mean ALL of them). I picked it up, along with Revan and Fatal Alliance, because I play SW:TOR and it's my favorite MMORPG of all that I've played. I was hoping this book would flesh-out the bare bones story of this event in the game. It did, kind of. I'm not sure if that was the author's doing or the constraints he was placed under by the game makers. For this reason, I won't blame the author, being that I should read his original work and how it compares to this before passing judgement on his abilities. That beings said, I'd rather they'd gotten some of the other Star Wars writers - like Zahn - to write this story. It was a good story, but it lacked humor, depth, connection to the characters - I'm not sure. I have no particular complaint, just a vague "meh" about the story. I appreciated how the author brought the four classes into the story (if you play SWTOR, you understand this, if not....sorry).
This book will appeal to any Star Wars fan, but I know there are better Star Wars stories out there.

Bookmarks: 6 of 10

Awards: None

Date Finished: 3-2-2013
Pages: 352