Ricky Church reviews Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher…
Return to Darth Vader’s earliest days in Adam Christopher’s Star Wars: Master of Evil, a new novel exploring Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into the fearsome Darth Vader set shortly after Revenge of the Sith. The book gives a layered portrayal of Vader mostly through the eyes of its characters in this compelling tale.
The story takes place specifically after the first arc of Charles Soule’s 2017 Darth Vader comic series, which itself began immediately after Vader took his first steps in the suit and cried out ‘Noooooooo!’ in Revenge of the Sith. The arc saw Vader gain his new lightsaber by ‘bleeding’ a kyber crystal to turn it red, seeing a vision where Vader redeems himself by killing Palpatine and locating Obi-Wan just to beg for death. Intrigued by the vision and the power he felt, Vader sets out on a personal mission to harness the power for himself while he’s reluctantly paired with the captain of Palpatine’s royal guard Halland Goth, who in turn is ordered to spy on Vader.
At this point, Vader and his history is so well known even to most casual viewers that one could wonder what else there is to explore this early in Vader’s career, especially after Soule’s memorable comic run. Christopher does well answering this as Vader is still fresh off his defeat on Mustafar and feeling the loss of Padmé, showing the embers of Anakin Skywalker that remain within him, but the real intriguing aspect is how Christopher explores Vader through the perspective of others, mostly through Halland and his faithful droid TC-99. It succeeds in giving Vader an otherworldly feel for the characters who don’t know him (which is nearly everyone at this moment in the Empire’s infancy) and creates a sense of mystery in wondering what he’s really up to and thinking as we follow Halland along in his investigation.
Halland is an interesting protagonist to centre most of the novel around. A dedicated true believer of both the Empire and Emperor, yet he’s unlike many other Imperial officers as he’s not outwardly evil or ruthless. Though he views the Jedi as corrupt long before the Clone Wars and their extinction, he has some honourable qualities that helped him rise through the ranks to be among Palpatine’s personal guard with a secret of his own that increases his interest in Vader’s mission. Having a character like him view icons like Vader and Palpatine or getting his thoughts on the Force through his perspective gives fresh insight into them and the world, much like Andor has recently done. He is a compelling character through Christopher’s narrative as someone who doesn’t quite understand how in-over-his-head he’s in. As with any Star Wars tale, the friendship between the human and droid is important. His relationship with TC-99 (or Nines as Halland often refers him as) has humourous moments and great chemistry as Nines provides both friendship and comfort for Halland’s medical needs.
The pacing is fast-moving as Vader and Halland’s team follow one clue after another in their mission. Christopher crafts a good and captivating story which comes to feature several interested and conflicting parties that all merge well together for the final act. It doesn’t feel like it is too much going on nor does Christopher lose sight of the character development as Vader tries harnessing a deeper power to himself while Halland’s physical and mental struggles become more serious. Christopher’s use of subtlety when it comes to Vader is well done, showing us in small but significant ways Anakin is still in there somewhere, such as how Vader is unusually attentive to the clones he commands at this point in his evolution.
Star Wars: Master of Evil is an entertaining page-turner delving into Darth Vader’s image and further descent into the dark side. Christopher’s writing is compelling and the new characters he introduces are explored and utilized well in how they mirror Vader’s path. Fans of the iconic villain and this particular time period in Star Wars will enjoy Christopher’s story.
Rating: 8/10
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