As I have mentioned before I don't read EVERY EU book out there and don't know a LOT of the history that many fans do when it comes to stories set in the early days of the Republic etc.

But I had heard great things about the book "Darth Bane: Path Of Destruction" by Drew Karpyshyn and decided to give it a read.

I'm glad I did.

From the get go this novel takes you in, setting up a character that is essentially a "Bad Guy" by showing us just HOW Bane's upbringing, environment and influences led to his becoming a natural for becoming a Sith.

It's so easy to simply label a character as "The Bad Guy" but Karpyshyn makes him far more interesting by making him sympathetic and identifiable. As I read I could see myself reacting in the same way Bane did to the events that shaped his life.

Bane doesn't simply set OUT to be "Evil" and from HIS point of view he's NOT.

It's a fascinating look into just how the Dark Side slowly corrupts the thought processes, taking one from the natural guilt and sorrow over doing things one knows is wrong to justifying hate, revenge and MURDER as natural and necessary.

The novel is fairly straight forward, which I like. Unlike many EU stories that attempt to follow the events of several or more characters at once, "Path Of Destruction" follows a linear form and focuses almost entirely on Bane himself, which makes it easy to follow and remember where one left off after a break in reading.

Karpyshyn also does a wonderful job of tying up loose ends and questions about the ancient Sith...why the "Rule of Two" was established, how the "Darth" title came to be used and what it really MEANS...and while there are of course references to other EU works there is no need for one to have READ them to follow this story, it is a standalone work in itself.

I was worried that with it being so far set in the past that Mr. Karpyshn may go to extremes to show how "ancient" his story truly was by inventing HIS own take on the SW Universe, but the author is VERY loyal to the ground works established by other EU Authors and of course George Lucas himself. Hence reading about the alien planets & species isn't a chore, and many mentioned and used as characters are already quite familiar to SW fans.

I am a little late to the party so I'm just NOW finding out Mr. Karpyshyn has a sequel planned but after reading "Path Of Destruction" I now eagerly look forward to finding out where it goes from here.