Given that Star Wars Episode Three provided us with what we knew was to be a foregone conclusion - the epitomisation of good
turning evil - with regard to Anakin's betrayal of the Jedi, 'Dark Lord' seems at times to be purely an elaboration of this scenario. It does however, introduce a number of interesting characters in the form of surviving jedi and also gives us an excellently portrayed insight to the inner workings of the clone troopers mind at the time of 'Order 66'. I also thought it very wise of George Lucas to allow for expansion of some of the movies subordinate characters, particularly those of Bail Organa and Moff Tarkin - any fan of the saga would be very glad to see this as there was initially very little written about both in the '70's.
From the opening of the Outer Rim Sieges to the epilogue, Luceno manages to keep the reader interested, even when we are faced with
details that should be boring, such as those which merely elaborate on what we already know from the movies or details that Lucas has been giving hints of for more than twenty years. We get to 'see' and 'feel' things from Vader's point of view; how he has to relearn all the things that an average person takes for granted, and also have a chance to sweat while other characters interact with him and finally put two and two together...
All in all, this is an excellent stop-gap for anyone awaiting the proposed TV series in 2008 (see any Star Wars site for details...) and invaluable for any avid fans! It is a great read in my
opinion (the opinion of one who has read all of the related novels - the good and the 'not-so-good') and I can honestly say, well done Mr. Luceno, well done!