Star Wars: Cloak of Deception (Mass Market Paperback)

Other than that, if u want a character driven story look somewhere else. The only interesting characters in this book to follow are Palpetine, for his subtle scheming and Captain Cohl who is a hard nosed mercenary working against the Republic. All the jedi are quite one dimensional even though they take up 1/2 the book. The main Jedi here is Qui Gon who is intent to catch Cohl. The author does touch on why Qui Gon is a sort of mavrick in Jedi circles, but would have been interesting to see more of this and less Yoda/Windu babble.

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This book answers many questions posed in "The Phantom Menace." I read somewhere that it ends two years before, but I don't see how this could be the case. It seems to me that te book ends right before the events of TPM ... maybe three to six months before.

There are new characters in this book that I loved--a band of mercenaries who I would love to see in other books. My biggest obstacle in giving this book a higher rating is that it was difficult for me to keep up with all the political ramifications of events happening in the story. There are a *lot* of characters in this novel, and keeping them all straight was a chore at times ... particularly regarding all the different alien races. Still, having said that, the book held my interest and made me want to reread the novelization of Phantom Menace, and other books in the SW saga.

One thing I'm confused about ... and I don't know if I've just missed something obvious or not ... there's a cahracter named Bail Antilees who is a senator, and we know Leia's father is Bail Organa who was also a senator. It almost seems like these have to be te same person ... but how will/did/does the name-change occur? It's very odd...

All told, this book is definitely a worthwhile read, particularly if you like Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and want a book that feels a lot like The Phantom Menace--sans everyone's favorite Gungan (sarcasm there, folks.).

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In Cloak of Deception, author Luceno blends humans, humanoids, and aliens, along with reader's knowledge of some locations but adding new ones as well... a cast of characters, some already known to STAR WARS fans, revolving around Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master; Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan; Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi; Senator Palpatine; Yoda, Jedi Master; Jedi Master Mace Windu; Darth Sidious, evil source; Senator Bail Antilles, and other familiar beings, along with new characters, specifically - Captain Cohl, Rella, Boiny and Havac - revealed to be an Eriaduan, a.k.a. Eru Matalis.

The Senate is housed at Coruscant, with its fantastic cityscape, and named the center of "civilized space". The dominion of the Trade Federation, their "tyrannical practices", along with practices of the Nebula Front,compete and clash for dominance. The Trade Force and Nebula Front terrorists are at odds with their missions, each group has their own agenda of gaining fame and glory for their own causes. There are demands astir to disband the Trade Federation; demands for the reduction of taxation for free trade zones are amiss. Evil factions are at work striving to cancel the trade summit scheduled to take place at spheroid "Eriadu", a summit called for by Senate presiding, Supreme Chancellor Valorum.

At this time in STAR WARS history, the student Jedi Knights, Masters, and Padawans are housed in a pyramid-shaped structure on Coruscant. The Jedi Knights continue to rally in pursuit of injustice, up against dark beings, including Darth Sidious. Chancellor Valorum, surrounded by Senate guards, battles his way through a crowd of anti and pro-demonstrators, is faced with an attempt to assassinate him involving a Twi'lek and two Rodians. Valorum is transported to the Galactic Senate Medcenter. With the use of senses in the Force, Master Qui-Gon and Jedi Knight Adi Gallia wend their way through the crowd to deflect the attempted assassination. The assassination attempt is believed to be a ruse for something bigger. However, evidence is to be investigated as to which group or faction is really underlying the attempt. Questions arise as to Captain Cohl's role behind the assassination attempts... also considered is House Vandron.

Senator Palpatine's face changes in line with whatever purpose he is serves - the requests of Chancellor Valorum or the secretive plans of betrayal for the benefit of his own purposes. Valuable Aurodium Ingots, obtained by thievery, are a threat to ill-use for power and domination, useful in a plot to destroy factions that get in the way of evil-doers.

This reader finds the following quotes from Cloak of Deception noteworthy:

"Unrevealed sources at work..."says Yoda...."...deeper and darker and murkier, this becomes".

"Nothing was before Yoda's time..." Qui-Gon's (with a smile) response to Obi-Wan.

"Our fears regarding taxation revolve around the potential for increased corruption, as is ever the case when additional layers of bureaucracy are positioned between those with power and those without." -- Lieutenant Governor Tarkin.

"There are many paths to take, Obi-Wan. Not all of us are fortunate enough to find the one with heart, the path the Force has set before us. What do you find when you search your feelings about the choices you have made?" -- Qui-Gon to Obi-Wan... Obi-Wan's response--"I feel that I've found the right path, Master."

James Luceno, has a eloquent "way with words", philosophical observations with in-depth bureaucratic policies, descriptive action, characters, locations and scenes allowing readers to image in their mind's eye activity in place, counting Luceno as one of the most reputable STAR WARS writers. Author Luceno adds many twists to the Cloak of Deception story. Luceno has also done film adaptations for "Mark of Zorro" and "The Shadow".

Don't miss James Luceno's November 2003 book: STAR WARS The Unifying Force, ending "The New Jedi Order" series and an outstanding read of the continuing fight against a prominent evil force - the Yuuzhan Vong.

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