Shadow Hunter: Star Wars Legends (Darth Maul)

I received the wrong book

I was a little hesitant to pick up this novel. Like many others, I was afraid this would be a cheap attempt to cash in on the "coolest" character from Episode One. I was also afraid that we would get something that expanded the myth and legend of Darth Maul that would be contradictory to George Lucas's vision. In addition, while others found the cover catchy, in comparison to covers for other Star Wars novels, I thought this was a bit cheap, and I was afraid the story would be the same. Fortunately, none of my fears were realized.Before I get too much further into the review, I think it is worth noting that when I judge Star Wars novels, I am generally holding them up to the standard of the movie. Do they capture the same feel? Could you see the scenes on the big screen? Is it fun? Or is it overburdened with obscure characters and cheap solutions to critical plot points?To quickly summarize the plot: Darth Maul is dispatched by Lord Sidious to eliminate a Neimodian that is attempting to sell information about the impending blockade of Naboo. The hunt expands to include a Jedi Padawan, a rogue, and his sidekick.I felt that the treatment of Maul was ideal in this novel. First, Reaves gives us some background knowledge of Maul that fills in some of the gaps, but leaves out enough detail that Maul can maintain his mysteriousness that other characters have lost (take Boba Fett for example, he has gone from being mysterious to confusing as too many authors have tried to give him a history). I've heard others compare him to an alien Terminator, which is a fairly good description. Add a warrior's honor (like a Klingon from Star Trek?) and a hatred of Jedi, and you have Maul.However, Maul isn't always the central character of this book. The protagonists are Lorn Pavan (the rogue), his droid partner I-Five, and the Jedi Padawan Darsha Assant. The book mainly follows these three, who unknowlingly fell into Maul's hunt for the Neimodian, and their attempt to find safety. The human droid pairing of Pavan and I-Five is especially satisfying and adds the majority of the humor to the novel.While Maul doesn't change much over the course of the novel, the doomed protagonists, with the exception of I-five, do. Darsha comes to realize what it means to be a Jedi, while Pavan comes to grips with his extreme dislike of the Jedi (which is explained over the course of the novel and not re-iterated her so as not to spoil it for others).The novel moves at a fairly quick pace. Most of the first half of the novel centers around Maul's pursuit of the Neimodian and then a chase of Pavan. The action is crisp and uncomplicated. Reaves has a definite knack for writing action sequences that are both vivid and concise, which is a trait many other action writers would be wise to learn.The second half and end of the novel has a few surprises that twist the narrative to the inevitable conclusion and the events of Episode One: The Phantom Menace. The second half c

I picked up this book not quite knowing what to expect. Could this just be a story slopped together to cash in on one of the most popular villians in recent memory? A possibility. To me, Maul seemed in the Phantom Menace to be Darth Sidious' personal killing machine, and not a lot more. He didn't have the great characterization or presence of, say, Vader. But dang was he cool when he went about being that killing machine, and that fact, along with an uncontrollable urge to pick up every Star Wars novel that comes along, made me pick it up.Fortunatly, this book is chock full of characters and the adventures they go through made me forget that most of the action takes place on Coruscant. Usually SW books hop from planet to planet. We get to know Lorn Pavan, a character I grew to really like, even though his dislike of the Jedi was annoying at first. But, like it has been pointed out, he had his reasons, and he grew a bit by the end of the story. This book also introduces us to the coolest droid since R2 and 3PO, the sarcastic, quick witted I-Five. His scenes with Lorn are great, up there in SW lore with duos such as R2/3PO, Han/Chewie and Luke/Mara. Also, we find ourselves on a journey to Jedi Knighthood with Padawan Darsha Assant, who has her troubles, moments of doubts, and times when she really shines as a Jedi. As her path leads her to Lorn and co, the story really gets interesting, for this is where our friendly neighborhood Dark Lord of the Sith comes in. I've heard him compared to a Star Wars Terminator in this book, and that description ain't that far off. Like the movie, our anti-hero doesn't have a lot to say, but his actions always speaks louder than what he would say. He is truly a figure to be feared here, and anytime a character I began to care for in the story crossed his path, I feared for them.Some would say that knowing the events of The Phantom Menace takes away any suspense from this book, but I say nay. There's plenty of suspense here, you don't know exactly what's going to happen to these characters; what twists and turns may come into play, so don't let that deter you.The pages fly fast and the pacing is perfect. Never a dull moment, and I finished the book faster than anything in recent memory, but I give this book 5 stars for being a fast, vastly entertaining read with some laughs and tears. If that seems your cup of tea, it probably won't disappoint.

When I heard a novel about Darth Maul was in the works, I got a little worried. I too am a Maulaholic, and I became concerned on what kind of story can possibly be told about him. Will it upset the events of Episode I in any way?Shadow Hunter was a success. Mr. Reaves did a fantastic job of setting the stage up for Episode I. It was a fast-paced, action packed, lightsaber galore, of a novel. What makes this story very interesting is we learn how Maul thinks, the way he see's life, his views towards everyone he encounters (along with the Jedi and his Master), and we even get a peek at his training.As the book came to a conclusion, there came the grand ending; possibly the best part. I won't spoil it for any potential readers, but the ending was amazing. Just like many scenes in the book, the end was something you would wish to see with your own eyes.The only thing I didn't like from the book was the Obi-Wan scenes. Nothing new was learned about him and it probably wouldn't have made a difference if he was left out. But that still wasn't enough to hurt the story.Great book and a job well done by Mr. Reaves.

I found Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter to be an interesting, exciting and fun change of pace from the more run-of-the-mill Star Wars novels. It obviously takes place in the Prequel Era, and covers the events immediately before the start of The Phantom Menace. Basically the plot is that a Neimoidian with news of the Naboo blockade tries to sell the information on Coruscant, so Darth Maul is sent to hunt the guy down and kill him, as well as anyone he has told about the blockade.Michael Reaves is by no stretch of the imagination a fantastic author; his writing style and mechanics just weren't that great. However, this minor lapse is more than made up for by all the great elements to this book. Reaves introduces several new and interesting characters, which is a boon since because they aren't "main" characters, there are no assurances that they will survive, and the suspense is therefore much greater than in most of the Star Wars stories.The author also explores a lot of hitherto underexplained and -explored elements of the Star Wars universe. For example, the fighting style known as tëras käsi has been referenced and mentioned a lot in previous novels, but here for the first time we see what it really is. Also, we get more insight into the Sith culture -- why they want "revenge" on the Jedi, why Darth Maul in particular is so obssessed with killing Jedi, and things that make the Sith's motivations in the films much more clear. The book goes more into the actual role of the Jedi in the galaxy, and how much influence they have, and it explores some of the problems with Jedi policy. Also, though Reaves is a newcomer to the Star Wars universe, there are enough small references to other works to please fans especially.In terms of action, of which there is certainly plenty to be found here, the author had a lot of fun. New and innovative ways of killing and dying in the Star Wars universe, cool weapons and capabilities. And instead of giving us a blow-by-blow breakdown of lightsaber duels, Reaves instead opts to go more into the mindset of the fighters, how the Force helps and influences their actions and decisions, which gives us a unique view in that regard. In fact, for a novel more oriented towards adventure, I think that this book has an outstanding amount of introspection and thought regarding the ways, the use, and the limits of the Force, and the differences between the Light Side and the Dark Side.There were really only a few small downfalls in terms of plot. First of all, the Obi-Wan subplot was really unnecessary. It didn't really go anywhere, and it didn't really establish anything new about the character anyway. Also, in this book it seems that Holocrons are also able to be used as simple recording devices -- I had thought from previous sources that they were something different. And finally, there was really no reason to introduce the "Crimson Corridor." There are already plenty of bad places that we know about on Coruscant, an e

This book was great! Lots of action, a great cast, and a solid story. The references to Exar Kun as well as Wild Space, Bothans, and other known EU names and places showed Reaves' eye for detail. The characters were very well written, and I actually felt for all the ones who didn't make it out alive. Reaves' work on "Batman" shows as Maul tracks his prey as a kind of anti-Batman set on destruction. The insight into Maul's mind and how it works made you look at his character in a whole new way, and made you understand why he did what he did in TPM.The story was very straight-forward and didn't get bogged down by subplots. This was a pure action/adventure story. The ending was brilliantly pulled off. It was hard to determine which characters were going to survive Maul's rampage, and which would end up as Banth Fodder. Great work!