Darth Pony

Dark Disciple is one of those stories birthed by a Really Bad Idea. Tired of all the atrocities the Separatists are committing, the Jedi Council decides the only way to return peace to the Galaxy is to eliminate Count Dooku. And they're going to send one of their own Jedi to do it. And team him up with Dooku's former apprentice. Hear that? Alarms bells. But we'll just ignore those or we won't have a story.

On the one hand, this drastically un-Jedi-like decision serves to demonstrate just how corrupt the order as a whole has become at this point. When the members of the Council decide murder is the way to go, you've officially strayed way off the path to the light side. On the other hand, because it's so drastically un-Jedi-like, the whole chain of events from the Really Bad Idea to the Predictably Disastrous Consequences felt horribly contrived to me, especially the romance.

Story-wise, I enjoyed the classic fall/redemption theme, but because the outcome was so predictable I found the book very put-downable after the first 100 or so pages and it felt like it took me ages to get through it. Writing-wise, Christie Golden is good, but I had a tiny issue with all the repetition. For instance, I don't need umpteen reminders that Ventress has short, pale blond hair. But that's just me nit-picking, as usual. All in all it's a solid read, and a way better love story than Twilight. ;)