David's Review of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

4/5 Rancors - Darth Bane: Path of Destruction takes us back to a thousand years before Emperor Palpatine and the collapse of the Republic. At that time the Sith were legion, and the deadly battles between the Sith and the Jedi were constant. The Sith had leaders, they had an academy to train new followers, and they had vicious infighting. However, they were not as powerful as they thought they should be.

This is then the time when Bane is introduced to the Sith. Originally Bane was known as Dessel. He was raised on the desolate planet Apatros, suffered under the abuse of a hateful father, and eventually scratched out a living as a miner under extreme conditions. Dessel had always known that he had unusual powers, but he had no real understanding of the Force. Through a chain of bad luck, he is forced to flee from Apatros and ends up in the Sith academy learning the ways of the dark side and going by the name of Bane. He proves to be an unusually apt student, and he learns to have no hesitation in using whatever devious and treacherous methods he needs to advance.

As Bane becomes ever more powerful in the use of the Force, he delves deeply into the history of the Sith and becomes convinced that the Sith will never overcome the Jedi until they limit themselves only to two - a leader and an apprentice. Those two can work together in secrecy to undermine the existing government and the Jedi. Darth Bane becomes powerful enough by the end of the book to deal with all of the other Sith, wipe out a number of Jedi, and disappear to begin the evil machinations of the Sith. A thousand years later and after many generations of Sith, we find in Revenge of the Sith that Darth Bane's methods were effective.

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction offers a fascinating look at the early development of the Sith and lays the groundwork for much of what is to come in the world of Star Wars that is so familiar to millions of people. Read the book. Learn about Darth Bane.