Star Wars: Maul Lockdown Book Review

Star Wars: Maul – Lockdown Book Review

Star Wars: Maul – Lockdown is written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Joe Schreiber. This novel is the sixteenth event on the Legends novel timeline. The tale takes place during the Rise of the Empire Era. It takes place 33 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY

Darth Sidious sends his apprentice Darth Maul, to the prison colony, Cog Hive Seven. In this facility, prisoners are forced to fight each other, largely for gambling purposes. Maul is to seek out an individual known as Iram Radique, a dangerous and mysterious arms dealer, who somehow manages to run his crime ring behind bars.

Maul is given a false identity, a mercenary called Jagganath. He is to find this secretive individual, who no one really knows, and secure a nuclear device to place in the hands of a terrorist organization. The only other order Maul has from Darth Sidious, is to not use the force whatsoever.

Can Maul conquer the enemies placed before him? Will he find Radique? Will he get the weapon? Will he manage without the force? Darth Maul has quite the burden to bear.

CHARACTERS

While there are a ton of characters in this book, I’m only going to talk about one.

Darth Maul: He’s ferocious yet controlled. He’s a superior warrior and tested to the limit, he pretty much doesn’t have one. He is forbidden to use the force and he does a great job without it. I can’t imagine what damage he could do if he was allowed to use it. He’s focused and confident.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

This book is dark and gritty. Like I said about Maul, he’s ferocious and controlled, which is what I hoped he would be. I liked the surprise appearance of Sidious and a certain someone who I won’t mention. Joe Schreiber brings in some gory moments, which is expected in a Schreiber book, he does it so well. The book could be categorized as a horror/thriller.

Honestly, I thought the book was kind of boring. It drags a bit and was a little repetitive. Even though the book felt really long and never ending, I was left irritated with the climax and abrupt ending. I think this story could have wrapped up a little better.

The concept of Cog Hive Seven was pretty neat though. Pitting the prisoners against each other in a gladiatorial fashion was cool.

So, do I recommend that you read Star Wars: Darth Maul – Lockdownt? Well, if you are someone who wants to explore Darth Maul as a character, yes. If you could care less about Darth Maul, no.

RATING

I will give this book a C. It was somewhat repetitive and felt like it took forever to get through.

Star Wars: Death Troopers Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: Death Troopers, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Joe Schreiber

This novel is the forty-first event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale takes place during the Rise of the Empire Era. It takes place one year before A New Hope.

SUMMARY: The Purge, an imperial prison barge in route to a detention moon loses engine power. Unlucky for them, they are right next to the imperial Star Destroyer, Vector. The Destroyer’s tractor beam keeps a tight grip on to the prison barge. The crew of the Purge have trouble contacting anyone aboard the Destroyer. After running a bio-scan, they discover only a handful of survivors are on the ship.

A team sets out to investigate and find parts on the Vector, but return with a hacking cough that escalates rapidly into much worse symptoms. Until death consumes them and then… reawaken. Only a handful seem to be immune to the spreading sickness.

In this haunting tale of zombies in space, we follow a few inmates, two young brothers and their father. They fight for survival among other inmates, and zombies.

CHARACTERS: There were just a few characters in the novel, a nice surprise character as well, but I won’t spoil that for you.

Zahara Cody: She’s the doctor aboard the Purge. She’s fed up with her job and is ready to end her service to the Empire. She’s strong willed and determined. I’d say most importantly, she’s trustworthy and intelligent. If I found myself in a space horror, I’d want her on my team.

Trig Longo: He’s just a boy, an inmate along with his brother and father. This kid isn’t annoying. He’s smart because he listens, doesn’t whine or argue. He’s frustrated but he’s curious, which makes since. He’s a kid and they like to learn the hard way.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I absolutely loved this book! It’s a terrifying horror story and it’s Star Wars! The book was surprisingly extremely gruesome and gory! It’s like the show Walking Dead meets Star Wars. A haunting read for sure.

The characters were all written so very well. The surprise character was spot on. The best part was that I didn’t even see it coming when this character was revealed. Joe Schreiber told a great story with a creepy backdrop. Everything was set up really well. Descriptions were detailed, the words became a bloody painted picture in my brain.

Do I recommend you pick up Star Wars Death Troopers? I sure do! It would be great to start reading this around Halloween!

RATING: I give this book a B+ While it was awesome, there was still a little cheese… what horror story doesn’t?