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Star Wars Backstories
Darth Vader: Sith Lord
Who is Darth Vader? How did the once great Jedi become a fearsome villain? Who are the allies and foes Darth Vader has faced? In this biography -- complete with black-and-white illustrations, timelines, and character profiles -- young readers will delight in learning the complete history of the Sith Lord.
- GenresStar WarsScience Fiction
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2017
5 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Jason Fry
123 books297 followersI am the author of The Jupiter Pirates series published by HarperCollins -- visit the official site at http://jupiterpirates.com.
In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.
I spent more than 12 years at The Wall Street Journal Online, where I wrote or co-wrote the Real Time and Daily Fix columns. My non-fiction work has appeared on ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Poynter.org, Deadspin and Baseball Prospectus. I blog about the New York Mets at Faith and Fear in Flushing and live in Brooklyn with my wife and son.
In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.
I spent more than 12 years at The Wall Street Journal Online, where I wrote or co-wrote the Real Time and Daily Fix columns. My non-fiction work has appeared on ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Poynter.org, Deadspin and Baseball Prospectus. I blog about the New York Mets at Faith and Fear in Flushing and live in Brooklyn with my wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 4, 2018
This book began with a prologue, written by Darth Vader himself, talking about how better he, and the galaxy, are now that Anakin is "dead" and Darth Vader has lived. It really sums up the tone of the character, but also in a way makes you feel sorry that he fell so far.
The majority of the book covers the prequel era, with little information added for the benefit of the book. Once the chapters chronicling "Revenge of the Sith" are concluded there are two or three very vague and very uninformative pages meant, with little information or plot, to cover the point from the end of that film to "A New Hope." The final, perhaps 10% covers the original trilogy.
The illustrations, though black and white, are very well done and they enhance the story. The additional information including Character Profiles and Timelines add an additional dimension to the story. I will say though, I find it very irritating, and not very well thought out, that the Timelines do not have any dates on them.
I read these books firstly, because I am a huge Star Wars fan, secondly, to see if anything intriguing or new is added to a character's story. I found it to be well written, and enjoyable, I also think that if you are the age intended, you will enjoy it immensely.
The majority of the book covers the prequel era, with little information added for the benefit of the book. Once the chapters chronicling "Revenge of the Sith" are concluded there are two or three very vague and very uninformative pages meant, with little information or plot, to cover the point from the end of that film to "A New Hope." The final, perhaps 10% covers the original trilogy.
The illustrations, though black and white, are very well done and they enhance the story. The additional information including Character Profiles and Timelines add an additional dimension to the story. I will say though, I find it very irritating, and not very well thought out, that the Timelines do not have any dates on them.
I read these books firstly, because I am a huge Star Wars fan, secondly, to see if anything intriguing or new is added to a character's story. I found it to be well written, and enjoyable, I also think that if you are the age intended, you will enjoy it immensely.
May 19, 2017
This is written for a younger audience, but it's actually a great overview with wonderful illustrations. It's presented as an in-world biography starting at Anakin's birth and ending at the death of Darth Vader. The story is told in full with information from animated series and comics as well as the movies.
November 11, 2025
Borrowing liberally from my review of Princess Leia: Royal Rebel, since the two are nearly identical in all but the character they're focusing on:
I'd probably give this 3 or 4 stars if I was a kid. But even grading it on a bit of a curve as an adult, Darth Vader: Sith Lord is a mediocre look at Vader's life.
Unlike the Leia book, I was able to enter this one with accurate expectations. After a brief in-character introduction from Vader (as a holographic log recovered by the New Republic), this is mostly a straightforward retelling of Vader's involvement in the first six Star Wars films. Vader's forward, unfortunately, is not nearly as interesting. He feels aggrieved for all the reasons you'll soon read about, and that's about it.
Most of the book focuses on Anakin Skywalker as a child. Episode 1 gets the most depth, and it seems like each subsequent episode is told more and more quickly. All of this is told from the perspective of a non-specific third-person narrator, and only very occasionally do they contain anything about Anakin or Vader's thoughts or feelings that wasn't already obvious from the movies. The illustrations aren't quite as interesting as in the Leia book, either, with only a map of the pod race from Episode 1 catching my eye.
This book is the second and final part of the short-lived "Backstories" series, but unlike with the Leia book, you wouldn't know it here. There's practically no backstory here that you wouldn't get from other sources. However, there is a bit of background beyond the movies due to the inclusion of some information from other media that released prior to this book -- Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars gets a respectable role in the proceedings, and it's always cool to see how naturally her story is accepted into the larger Star Wars canon. There's also a quick recap of the Mortis arc from the show (which feels like an odd inclusion of a somewhat odd arc, just to hammer home the chosen one stuff) and Vader and Ahsoka's role in the Star Wars Rebels TV show (although it almost implies that ). It was nice to see these included, since it makes everything feel more cohesive -- and, unlike Leia, it includes events from the comics too! Granted, it's just a few beats, but we get mentions of the showdown on Cymoon 1 and Vader reporting to Tagge and making discoveries about Luke.
If your child enjoyed Princess Leia: Royal Rebel, you might as well pick this up. Or if they want a quick-read summary of Vader's life, you could probably do worse. But it's probably not worth the time of anyone but your young child.
I'd probably give this 3 or 4 stars if I was a kid. But even grading it on a bit of a curve as an adult, Darth Vader: Sith Lord is a mediocre look at Vader's life.
Unlike the Leia book, I was able to enter this one with accurate expectations. After a brief in-character introduction from Vader (as a holographic log recovered by the New Republic), this is mostly a straightforward retelling of Vader's involvement in the first six Star Wars films. Vader's forward, unfortunately, is not nearly as interesting. He feels aggrieved for all the reasons you'll soon read about, and that's about it.
Most of the book focuses on Anakin Skywalker as a child. Episode 1 gets the most depth, and it seems like each subsequent episode is told more and more quickly. All of this is told from the perspective of a non-specific third-person narrator, and only very occasionally do they contain anything about Anakin or Vader's thoughts or feelings that wasn't already obvious from the movies. The illustrations aren't quite as interesting as in the Leia book, either, with only a map of the pod race from Episode 1 catching my eye.
This book is the second and final part of the short-lived "Backstories" series, but unlike with the Leia book, you wouldn't know it here. There's practically no backstory here that you wouldn't get from other sources. However, there is a bit of background beyond the movies due to the inclusion of some information from other media that released prior to this book -- Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars gets a respectable role in the proceedings, and it's always cool to see how naturally her story is accepted into the larger Star Wars canon. There's also a quick recap of the Mortis arc from the show (which feels like an odd inclusion of a somewhat odd arc, just to hammer home the chosen one stuff) and Vader and Ahsoka's role in the Star Wars Rebels TV show (although it almost implies that ). It was nice to see these included, since it makes everything feel more cohesive -- and, unlike Leia, it includes events from the comics too! Granted, it's just a few beats, but we get mentions of the showdown on Cymoon 1 and Vader reporting to Tagge and making discoveries about Luke.
If your child enjoyed Princess Leia: Royal Rebel, you might as well pick this up. Or if they want a quick-read summary of Vader's life, you could probably do worse. But it's probably not worth the time of anyone but your young child.
August 5, 2017
A high level summary of the life and times of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. The illustrations are great but there's no new story information that I could spot. It was mostly just a long synopsis of the prequel and original trilogies, with a side of Clone Wars, and a tiny amount from the Marvel comics.
December 25, 2020
Interesting up to date information on our favorite Dark Lord of the Sith. Consistent with Canon as well . Plus, bonus poster inside.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews