I'd be lying if I said I had planned out the entire arc of Bane and the Sith when I sat down to write Path of Destruction back in 2006.

Honestly, I had no idea if there would be a sequel, but I did leave the door open just a crack by having Bane find Zannah in the prologue. (Of course, this was previously established in the Jedi vs Sith comic series, but by mentioning it in the novel I gave it a little extra prominence.)

So when I sat down to write Rule of Two, I figured it would be the story of how Zannah learned the ways of the Sith, then challenged Bane for the title of Dark Lord. But then a funny thing happened as I was planning the book out... I found I didn't want to pit the two characters against each other. Not yet, at least.

I knew that when I had them fight, one of them would have to lose. Anyone who's read my previous novels knows I'm not afraid to kill characters off. But I genuinely liked both Bane and Zannah too much to have one of their stories end. (And when I say like, I mean I found them interesting as an author. Obviously, they're both driven by the dark side and, in my opinion, very, very evil. It may be justifiable evil, or understandable evil, but it's still evil.)

However, when I sat down to write Dynasty of Evil, I knew I couldn't put it off any longer. I owed it to the fans to deliver the battle that had been brewing throughout Rule of Two.

Of course, I couldn't just write a 300 page novel about this one (albeit epic) confrontation. Maybe a better author could pull that off, but I needed something more. I had to find a way to pit Zannah and Bane against each other that was somehow bigger than just the two of them. After all, we're talking about the Sith lineage that will eventually make it's way down to Sidious and Vader. From a Star Wars mythos perspective, this is important stuff.

So I decided to focus on more than just the actual fight. I realized what made the Zannah vs Bane encounter so interesting was the paradoxical nature of their relationship. Bane trained Zannah so she could defeat him; it's a core tenet of the philosphy he created that the Sith line can only continue if the apprentice defeats the Master and proves the stronger of the two. But Bane isn't just going to hand it to her. He's going to use every trick in the book to try and survive for as long as possible. When Zannah finally does challenge him, he's not going to hold back - he's going to try and destroy her. Of course, if he is victorious, then it also means he failed, because he hasn't trained a suitable apprentice.

Once I had worked all this out, I understood that Bane would need a contigency plan in case Zannah couldn't deliver the goods. I won't go into the details here, but setting up this contingency plan plays an important part in the novel.

And Zannah is in the same boat, though on the flip side of the coin. (Wow -that is one butt-ugly mixed metaphor.) Bane has constantly taught her that her destiny is to destroy him, but she understands that he will do everything in his power to defeat her when she challenges him - he has to, in order to be true to the Rule of Two.

But here's where things get tricky for Zannah. If she defeats Bane, then what? What's her next step? Well, the most obvious thing is to find an apprentice. But she has to be careful. If she kills Bane before finding an apprentice, then there is only one Sith. If something happens to her, the line could die out. So in addition to trying to figure out how to defeat one of the most powerful dark side users in the history of the galaxy, she's also got to be looking for someone who could become her apprentice before she goes after him.

But even if she finds the perfect candidate, what's to say Bane won't decide this individual is more suitable to follow in his footsteps than she is? Zannah is in a very awkward and dangerous position, and finding someone with the potential to take her place after she defeats (or is defeated by) Bane became another key element of the book.

Ultimately, though, it all has to come down to the one-on-one showdown. I knew this from day one, but I still didn't know who was going to win. Happily for me, my editor and (I hope) the fans, I figured it out... but if you want to see what happens you'll have to buy the book.

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully you found this meandering wall of text at least mildly interesting for the glimpses it gives into my creative process, and it's made you even more excited for the book. If you didn't like this blog, all I can do is assure you that the end result (Dynasty of Evil) is much more interesting than the description of the process.

Either way, just go buy the book when it hits shelves December 8.

And don't forget to check out the NEWS section on my website - it's all Drew, all the time!

Embrace the dark side.