Summary:
Since childhood, Dessel has known only the abuse of his hateful father and the dangerous, soul-crushing labor of a cortosis miner. Deep in the tunnels of the desolate planet Apatros, endlessly excavating the rare mineral valued throughout the galaxy, Dessel dreams of the day he can escape—a day he fears may never come. But when a high-stakes card game ends in deadly violence, Dessel suddenly finds himself a wanted man.
On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army, and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel’s brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, he is destined for a far greater role in the ultimate Sith plan for the galaxy—if he can prove himself truly worthy.
As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side at the feet of its greatest masters, Dessel embraces his new Sith identity: Bane. However the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness one must fully surrender to the dark side through a trial by fire that Bane, for all his unquenchable fury and lust for power, may not be strong enough to endure . . . especially since deception, treachery, and murder run rampant among the Sith disciples, and utter ruthlessness alone is the key to survival. Only by defying the most sacred traditions, rejecting all he has been taught, and drawing upon the long-forgotten wisdom of the very first Sith can Bane hope to triumph–and forge from the ashes of that which he must destroy a new era of absolute dark power.
The Review:
I picked up this book on a whim, mainly because I always wanted to read more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, especially from the Old Republic because it always fascinated me especially within the Star Wars lore.
This book sort of gives the origin story of Darth Bane, who started off as a miner named Dressel from one of the Outer Rim planets in which he works long hours and has to pay off a debt to gangsters. As he becomes a wanted man from the Republic and sneaks aboard a Sith ship and joins the Sith army and starts to become force sensitive.
What I like about the book, is that it really taps into the Dark side of the force and how the Sith operates.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me
Seeing a lot of how the Sith operates really makes them more complex. From their point of they see that the Jedi are evil, and it could be true from a certain point of view. You also see how the Sith Academy at Korriban operates. They believe in competition among their students and Bane has to sort of outwit and outmatch all of the other students in order to rise through the ranks.
A lot of his strength comes with his anger at the past. He was basically abused for most of his life and that’s where the strength of his power comes from. His anger basically becomes a gift through the dark side. As he rises through the ranks he wants to know more about the Sith, and the history how it ties in with Darth Revan.
Darth Bane is also an extremely complex character. His story arc and why he turns to the dark side makes sense. His turn was brought on my at first a need for survival and then for a lust for power, and he even turns on the Sith lords in order to get his goal.
As he is in the Sith Academy he deals with a lot of betrayal, and his relationship with Githany, a former Jedi who turns to the Dark Side. Her character was also very complex and really give how both sides of the war.
As this was written by Drew Karpyshan, he was the senior writer for Knight of the Old Republic and it really shows. There was a lot of references to the game and with it being one of my favorite Star Wars games that showed a lot of complexities with the force and how it is not always black and white.
In the end, Path of Destruction was a great introduction to the story of Darth Bane. It was dark, twisted and I loved everything about it. If you are a fan of Star Wars, I would highly recommend that you pick it up.
Grade: 4.5/5
darnellouis 