Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars)

Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars: The Dark Lord Trilogy #1)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75  ·  rating details  ·  2,290 ratings  ·  80 reviews
The war that erupted in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones is nearing its boiling point, as the dauntless Separatist forces continue their assault on the teetering Republic–and the diabolical triumvirate of Count Dooku, General Grievous, and their Master, Darth Sidious, fine-tune their strategy for conquest. In Episode III Revenge of the Sith the fates of key playe...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published September 27th 2005 by LucasBooks (first published January 1st 2005)
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Ron
As a run up to (movie) Episode Three, Labyrinth of Evil succeeds. As a standalone novel it was nearly unintelligible. All the usual suspects go through all the usual motions, but what about the hapless reader who wanders into the Star War universe at this book?

That said, Luceno also flunks astrophysics. On one page (326) he uses the phrases "closing rapidly on the rim of the gravity well" and "punching through Corusacant's sheath of gases." (outward bound) Similar statements throughout the book...more
Jenny
As per usual, after I saw Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith for the first time, I wanted more. This novel is the prequel to the movie, occurring between episodes II and III. It fills in nicely a lot of plot-data, but it doesn't do much else. Luceno seemed afraid to explore the Obi-Wan/Anakin dynamics of this time period, something which, thankfully, did not hamper Matthew Stover when he wrote the novelization of Episode III. Obi-Wan and Anakin are the reason I love Star Wars, and I...more
Jason
Aug 04, 2011 Jason added it
This book is another example of an exciting Star Wars adventure (not great science fiction, but wonderful space opera). It was hard to put the book down. The pacing is fast and pushes events along that lead directly into the opening scene of Episode III. You get background info Grievous and Sidious and it explains the how and why of the events of Episode III. Sadly, some of the events in LoE (Labyrinth of Evil) conflict with Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars microseries cartoon, mainly the details...more
Ploy [SU]
I remembered reading this book a year or so ago, when I was eleven, and I liked it then. I recently read it again, and I think I better understand it now. If this book is a stand alone, it won't be very good, but since it is all part of the star wars saga and I understand the galaxy pretty well now, this book is entertaining for me. James Luceno's style of writing is strongly shown here, and that is probably part of why I liked the book. I recommend huge Star Wars fans for this book, mostly beca...more
Crystal Starr Light
While this book is most certainly not an easy read (typical James Luceno), it is none-the-less fun and informative. Many of the Clone Wars novels (most notably The Cestus Deception and Jedi Trial) have been lacking or not very cohesive. Attack of the Clones movie only shows the beginning of the Clone Wars. And Revenge of the Sith ends the Clone Wars, leaving us, the audience, yearning for answers as to how we get from AotC to RotS.
This is where Labyrinth of Evil comes in.

Plot:
Anakin and Obi-Wan...more
Andrew
I read Labyrinth of Evil a couple years ago, and I remember being excited about it, but I couldn’t remember any of the details. I wanted to re-read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith so I thought I’d go through this again to set the stage. After completing the book It seems that’s what sets it apart from the star wars pack for me: it sets the stage for Revenge of the Sith. RoTS the film had some issues with acting and dialogue (etc, etc) but I recall really enjoying the novelized version,...more
Chad Warner
Dec 12, 2009 Chad Warner rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Star Wars fans
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Patrick
From my limited experience, it is rather difficult for the Star Wars "expanded universe" novels to rise above overt hokey-ness. Luceno does a better job than most, though he occasionally recycles well-known Star Wars dialog and builds meaningless dramatic tension. If nothing else, Labyrinth of Evil highlights a fundamental flaw of George Lucas' prequel trilogy: that Anakin is essentially a flat character with nowhere to go except the Dark Side of the Force.

Labyrinth of Evil is fun, albeit unnece...more
Alex
One of the most frustrating things about Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy is the time-hopping that leaves big gaps in the story of the Clone Wars and left me, as a viewer very disconnected with the characters whose story he was trying to tell. Even more annoyingly, the planetary and political backdrop to this entire period in Star Wars Universe had clearly been discussed, debated and worked through in quite some detail and there's nothing more that this reviewer likes than an epic story that tak...more
Luke Baldock
I've always enjoyed the Star Wars prequels. But I also enjoy Sharktopus and the Anaconda movies. The prequels were never up there with the original trilogy. They don't even come close. Despite this, I decided to give this book a read. The prequel to Revenge of the Sith. One plus about reading Star Wars novels is that I'm familiar with characters and places. It's never too taxing on the imagination and I'm able to breeze through the books. In many ways this book is about as good as, if not better...more
Mike Smith
This book relates the events immediately preceding the movie Revenge of the Sith. If you've seen the movie, you recall it opens with the Supreme Chancellor having been kidnapped by the Separatists. The book covers the actual kidnapping and the machinations of the factions leading up to the kidnapping.

The book covers a lot of territory and has some good action scenes, but falls a little flat overall. Also, some of the plot details are different from those presented in other media, such as the Clo...more
Linda Jaejoong
Die Geschichte hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Sie zeigt deutlich den inneren Konflikt der in Anakin tobt!! Wir tauchen tief in seine Gefühlswelt ein und man merkt das die Brücke zwichen Gut und Böse nicht sehr lang ist!! Das Böse zieht ihn immer mehr und mehr auf seine Seite und man merkt das er dem Bösen in seinem Inneren nicht entkommen kann. Würden Obi Wan und Anakin doch nur mal wirklich miteinander reden und sich gegenseitig sagen was sie wirklich fühlen und denken. Das Buch ist düsterer als se...more
Ethan I. Solomon
Labyrinth of Evil is part of a trilogy to me, comprised of this book, the novelization of Ep.III and then The Rise of Darth Vader. Of the three, Labyrinth is second favorite and acts as an incredibly perfect lead-in to Revenge of the Sith. The story never feels forced, as many "prequel" novels do, the story develops organically and does much to help us understand the psyche of Anakin Skywalker and his descent to the dark side. Four stars is the highest I can really give a Star Wars book, other t...more
David Dalton
I am amazed this novel is not more popular. It is the setup novel to Star Wars III movie (Revenge of the Sith). The book takes you into the world of the Jedi and we get to see how closely Anakin and Obi-wan work together. You did the friendship and trust the two will share. It also sets up General Griveous as a serious villian as opposed to the movie or tv show. This guy is really a major league villain.....but even he pales when compared to the Dark Lord of the Sith. The book ENDS just where th...more
Yves
Dans ce tome de la Guerre des Clones, Anakin et Obi-Wan partent à la recherche de Nute Gunray, un des leaders des Séparatistes. D'après eux, c'est la meilleure façon de découvrir Darth Sidious, le Sith Lord qui manipule les séparatistes. Lors de poursuite contre Gunray, les deux Jedi vont découvrir des faits de plus en plus troublant sur l'origine de l'armée de clones.

J'ai bien aimé ce roman car les héros commencent découvrir la vérité sur la guerre des Clones. Ils se rendent compte que le compl...more
Jemiah Jefferson
Read as part of the Dark Lord Trilogy omnibus. Luceno's bracketing novels (Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord) are well-written but suffer by comparison to Matthew Stover's excellent novelization of Revenge of the Sith. That said, Luceno creates rich and interesting original characters, and gives Obi-wan Kenobi a welcome level of depth and humor in a couple of very dark stories.
Chris Hawks
I was fully prepared to give this book 2.5 stars, as I was only reading it to lead in to Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith. But the gripping, action-packed final third of the book mostly makes up for the clunky, boring first two-thirds. It works well as prequel, building right up to the beginning of RotS, though it's not really worth reading for its own sake.
Danny René
An average addition to the lore of the SW universe. Great insight to Grievous' back story, and Luceno does a great job at describing many of Coruscant's varying locations. The book REALLY picked up in the final act, and set up Episode III quite well. I loved all the mentioning of Qui-Gon Jinn throughout the story, proving just how important that character was, and how much more pivotal he would have been were he to survive against Maul. A fun, simple read.
Dan
Book is a prequel to Revenge of the Sith.

If you want to know how Sidious got fake kidnapped then this is the book for you.

Otherwise not worth your time. That's pretty much the entire plot. Skywalker and Obi-Wan go looking for clues as to where Sidious is and then we get the kidnapping. Nothing important or insightful is revealed.
Eric
Nov 29, 2008 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone interested in the Star wars series
This is the first one of these novels I have read. Since I didn't start with the first one things were a little confusing at first as I tried to understand where this novel was taking place in a timeline as compared with the movies.

Overall it was pretty good and it was an easy to read book since I was already familiar with most of the characters.

Michael
I really enjoyed "Labrynth of Evil." The teams of technicians which blend all of this Star Wars history together really did an excellent job this time. We all know what happened in "Revenge of the Sith," which opens with Obi Wan and Anikan battling their way onto the Seperatist battle-cruiser to save Chancellor Palpatine. "Labrynth of Evil" is a sequel to "Revenge" and fills us in on all the events of the weeks leading up to that point. It really highlights the deep freindship of the two Jedi Kn...more
Kevin
Best prequel-era Star Wars book out there. It is an official lead-in to "Revenge of the Sith," ending seconds before the movie starts, and captures the feel, cadence, and adventure of everything that Star Wars should be. This was my second read; I may have to make a point of re-reading it every year....
Patrick
I disagree with the blurb on here, but can see this one is more for Star Wars nerds like myself.

This one to me just makes Episode III make sense and more poignant as they ALMOST catch Palpatine in the act before he can pull all the stuff he does in Episode III. It is a fascinating whodunit as they track and hone in on the mysterious Sith Lord, completely unaware they're getting closer to Palpatine. If just like one thing at any of various points had gone better, maybe they expose Palpatine befo...more
Philip
Non Star Wars nuts won't be able to follow this book. It was written strictly in mind of the big Star Wars fans. Even with that in mind, the story was predictable and a bit dissapointing.

If you're interested in knowing what happens before the beggining of Episode III then this book is what you want. This isn't a spoiler, but the events include how Palpatine was kidnapped and the book ends with Kenobi and Skywalker getting in their ships to start what will be Palpatine's rescue.
Audrey
i thought this was a great book! if your a big fan or just like it this book is a great lead in for episode 3. i loved how it gave grievous's backstory but i still wish there was more. some parts were boring but once you get reading it it's hard to stop!
Gord
Much like the prequels I absolutely loved specific elements to it for instance the origin story of General Grievous but as a whole the book fell short. For those who know me know Im as geeky about Star Wars as they come.. ert ert schneeegle.
Ricky Ganci
It had all of the information about Master Syfo-Dyas that we’ve been wanting since Attack of the Clones – that alone made it worth reading, but it’s a Luceno and it felt a lot like SW all the way through. Shaak Ti rocks my face off.
Walt
Set during the Clone Wars, this is one of the better Star Wars novels. There is not too much detail except to orient readers to the changing environments. The plot line fits very well with the movies.
Ian
I wish I could give it 4.5 stars. Very well written and absorbing. The real tragedy of the new trilogy is that nobody will read the books, which is where the story itself really shines.
Souvik
Jul 13, 2012 Souvik added it
this book fills the gap between the movies episode 2 and 3,awesome book,tells about the events of the clone wars and also gives details about general grievous and others,cool book :)
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Star Wars   Labyrinth of Evil (Hardcover)
Labyrinth of Evil (Hardcover)
Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars: The Dark Lord Trilogy, #1)
Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars: The Dark Lord Trilogy, #1)
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James Luceno co-wrote a lot of books with Brian Daley as Jack McKinney.

He is a New York Times Best-Selling author currently living in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and youngest child.
More about James Luceno...
The Unifying Force (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #19) Hero's Trial (Agents of Chaos, #1) (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #4) Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars) Jedi Eclipse (Agents of Chaos, #2) (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #5) Darth Plagueis (Star Wars)

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