Shatterpoint: Star Wars Legends

Star Wars: A Clone Wars Novel #1

by Matthew Woodring Stover

In this essential Star Wars Legends novel, Mace Windu must journey to his long-forgotten homeworld to confront a terrifying mystery with dire personal consequences.

The jungle planet of Haruun Kal, homeworld of the legendary Jedi Master Mace Windu, has become a battleground in the increasing hostilities between the Republic and the renegade Separatist movement. The Jedi Council has sent Depa Billaba--Mace's former Padawan and fellow Council member--to Haruun Kal to train the local tribesmen as a guerrilla resistance force. But now the Separatists have pulled back, and Depa has not returned. The only clue to her disappearance is a cryptic recording left at the scene of a brutal massacre: a recording that hints of madness and murder, and the darkness in the jungle . . . a recording in Depa's own voice.

Mace Windu trained Depa. Only he can find her. Only he can learn what has changed her. Only he can stop her. He will leave behind the Republic he serves, the civilization he believes in, everything but his passion for peace and his devotion to his former Padawan. And he will learn the terrible price that must be paid when keepers of the peace are forced to make war. . . .

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Audiobook, Novels

464 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2003

About the author

Matthew Woodring Stover is an American fantasy and science fiction author. He is perhaps best known for his Star Wars novels -- Traitor, Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. He has also published several pieces of original work, such as Heroes Die, which Stover described as 'a piece of violent entertainment that is a meditation on violent entertainment'. Stover's work often emphasises moral ambiguity, psychological verisimilitude and bursts of intense violence.

Stover is deeply interested in various forms of martial arts, having trained in the Degerberg Blend, a concept that utilises the thought behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do as its foundation.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been keeping up with the Star Wars novels lately, but I had been curious about this one. It wasn't what I expected. A page-turner to be sure, with lots of fighting and action and light-sabery goodness, but there's something much deeper going on here.

Shatterpoint is set after Attack of the Clones. Mace Windu receives a troubling message from his former Padawan Depa Billaba. Now Mace must travel to the jungle world of Haruun Kal to find Depa and either save her or destroy her.

The thing that both impresses and disturbs me about the book is how it addresses one of the flaws of the Star Wars universe. In the movies, we see a galaxy at war. Over a million worlds. And yet the war is clean. Sterile. Ships pop out of existence in flashy explosions. Anonymous stormtroopers fall with bloodless blaster wounds. Even lightsabers leave cauterized, clean wounds. An entire world blows up, and Obi Wan Kenobi gets a headache. The horrors are there, but you never see them.

Stover shows us a world devastated by war. Depa Billaba was sent to help drive the separatists from Haruun Kal, and she's done so, but at what cost? The planet's people are divided, slaughtering one another in the jungles even after the galactic conflict has moved on.

Stover hammers the theme home. War is not a heroic band fighting their way past faceless enemies to blow up the Death Star and save the galaxy. It's watching your friends die of parasites and diseases, because you have no way of getting the basic medical treatment that could have saved them. It's a child stabbing a wounded soldier again and again, because that child has never known anything but war and hate. It's mutilating your enemies' bodies because you no longer see them as human. For Mace Windu, it's struggling to find the right path, the Jedi path, when all of your choices lead to darkness and death.

It's a powerful book. A little heavy-handed at times, perhaps. But I have a lot of respect for Stover for going beyond the flash-bang special effects and the relatively clean imagery of the movies and reminding readers that it ain't so.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have found that some of the best, most outstanding novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU) have been the few handful that went against type by ignoring the standard campy "space opera" formula for something a little more serious and "grown-up".

*Aside: I always get shit for making statements like this. It's inevitable, I suppose. My intention, of course, is not to insult. Everyone expects the Star Wars franchise to maintain a kind of child-like appeal, which is what has made it so popular over the years. There are, however, a few writers in the SWEU who have deviated from the formula, to varying degrees of success. I'm sure Drew Karpyshyn's "Darth Bane" series received push-back for being too violent. Joe Schrieber's "Death Troopers" was criticized for introducing an element of horror to the franchise. Even Gareth Edwards's film "Rogue One" got some shit for being less campy and more of a serious examination of war. You either like it or you don't. I happen to be someone who likes it.

Matthew Stover's "Shatterpoint", which is now considered non-canonical, or part of the "Legends" series, is an attempt to add serious depth to the franchise through literary allusion: it is basically Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness" in space. (For the more filmically-minded, it's Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now".)

Set after the Battle of Geonosis ("Episode II: Attack of the Clones"), which was the first major battle of the Clone Wars, "Shatterpoint" is a Mace Windu-driven story.

Windu's padawan, Depa Billaba, who was on a mission to the war-torn planet of Haruun Kal (not coincidentally the home-planet of Windu), has gone missing in the jungles of the planet. All that remains is a cryptic holo-recording in which she claims to have given up being a Jedi. Disturbing reports are coming in that she is responsible for mass killings of men, women, and children. Windu, at the behest of the Jedi Council and Chancellor Palpatine, is ordered to go in and retrieve her, alive or dead.

Windu's greatest fear is that his padawan has succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force. When he arrives on the planet, though, he quickly learns that there are even worse things than the Dark Side at work.

This is a must-read for Star Wars fans, if only because it dares to question some of the long-held edicts of the Jedi Knighthood. There is also a lot of philosophical ponderings on the nature of good and evil, which is a rarity in the SWEU. "Shatterpoint" also boasts some of the most intense action sequences I have read in a Star Wars novel in a while. Be forewarned, though: like Karpyshyn's Darth Bane series, this book would probably be rated a hard-R for violence.

[Dexcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book. I really enjoyed this one. I read it once as a teenager and didn't like it at all. Much better the second time. Mace is great, but man. It really highlights the tragedy of Episode 3.

Especially the last part when Windu is thinking about Anakin and calling him a new hope, even if there wasn't a single other Jedi alive. All he had to do was be open with the guy, if he had told Anakin how much faith he actually had in him. Instead of playing the hardest. He definitely would've stood by you against Palaptine.

So frustrating, but it has to be a tradegy after all.

[Katrin von Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I put this book off for a while. So far, I've been largely unimpressed by the Clone Wars era and have never given Mace Windu much thought beyond his brief, seemingly unimportant role in the movies. Now, however, I have a newfound respect for Master Windu and am inclined to believe that Shatterpoint is one of the best Star Wars books out there. Spoilers follow.

In the grand scheme of the Clone Wars, the events on Haruun Kal are probably largely unimportant. To the characters involved (especially Master Mace Windu), they are life changing. The plot kicks off from the very beginning of the book with Windu needing to go to Haruun Kal, his place of birth, to rescue Depa Billaba, his former Padawan. He finds himself caught in the Summertime War (the struggle between the native Korunnai and the foreign Balawai) and is constantly battling with the dark side of the Force, himself, the jungle, and the planet's politics. Plot twists are abundant and, often, unexpected. The story races along at a fast pace from beginning to end, making it nearly impossible to put the book down.

Stover's writing style fits the story very well. I was a bit wary of the constant jumping between the third person point of view of the story and first person point of view of Mace's journal, but the two flow together so well that one eventually doesn't really notice the shift. The two points of view also provide different aspects of events without tedious repetition. I can't remember ever seeing this in a Star Wars novel before; it seems to be unique and beneficial to this book.

The characters are fleshed out well and were obviously given a lot of thought. Even though we are not able to get directly into their heads and see things as they do, we really feel like we know them. My personal favourite was Nick, a sharp shooting, wise cracking Korunnai who uses his optimism and humour as a distraction from the horrors of war. He's a perfect foil to Mace's calm detachment and manages to provide some humourous entertainment in his interactions with the stoic Jedi. Depa provides us with another image of a Jedi struggling with the dark side. She has strayed from the traditional Jedi path. I personally never felt like I fully understood her, but this was part of her allure as a character. Stover also provided a believable, powerful villain in the form of Kar Vastor, a dark side user and the last of Gösh Windu (aside from Mace). He is what Mace might have become if left on Haruun Kal as a child. His desire for dominance and control is one of the many conflicts within the story. The other characters are just as dynamic, providing a rich cast to keep the plot moving. The author obviously gave his characters a lot of thought, but he still allows Mace to be the star of the show. A problem with many Star Wars novels is the authors' original characters: they tend to take centre stage and overshadow the canon characters. This isn't an issue here. While the original characters are important to the plot, the featured canon character is still very well characterized and very much the lead role.

Stover also attempts to add humour to this otherwise dark novel. Some of the jokes are a bit cheesy (it almost seems like they were intended to be that way), but many are at least worthy of a chuckle. The author also doesn't waste his time with needless purple prose. Every word feels like it needs to be there to complete the story. There are no slow parts and no useless paragraphs of endless description. He knows what he's doing.

The best part of Shatterpoint is just following Mace's story. He makes a lot of realizations about himself, the Jedi, the Force, and the nature of the galaxy itself. His journey to this knowledge is what truly makes the book as fantastic as it is. It's almost surprising to see this stoic Jedi Master have his foundations rocked, so to speak, by his experiences and come away from them a different person. I initially felt that this novel was a little obscure in the fact that it focused on such a seemingly random character. Now I feel that I not only have a much better understanding of the character, but of the Jedi and the Force as a whole.

Stover manages to take the story beyond the characters, and he does it successfully and without a heavy hand. A commentary on morality, ethics, politics, and even, to an extent, religion can be found woven into the novel's plot. While this isn't entirely new for a Star Wars novel, it is uncommon for it to flow so seamlessly with the rest of the story

Shatterpoint is a must read for any Star Wars fan. It is, by far, one of the best books in the entire series due to its good characterization, tight plot and writing style, and the author's ability to give us a broader aspect on things beyond the featured character. A solid, well deserved five stars.

This review is also posted on Amazon.com.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelisation – his second contribution to the written Star Wars universe –, before I picked up Shatterpoint, I really expected this to be just as good. It wasn’t; it lacked evident emotional depth, but it’s still an action-packed novel that sheds new light on the character of Mace Windu and even manages to do something many other Star Wars Clone Wars era novels don’t.

The Clone Wars are afoot, and while the situation on Coruscant is still peaceful, the situation on Harrun Kal isn’t. Mace receives a troubling transmission from his former Padawan Depa Billaba, who has been sent there to train the local tribesmen as a guerrilla resistance force against the renegade Separatist movement. The holoscan that leads Mace to travel to Haruun Kal – his home planet – and search for Depa depicts a massacre. And it’s Depa’s voice that hints at madness and murder and darkness in the jungle. “I use the night and the night uses me.”

I very much agree with Jim in saying that the action and fights depicted in this book are far from the clean, chrome-gleaning, durasteel, and laser fights that other SW novels usually present to their readers. When the Clone Wars are discussed, torture, massacres, and maiming are usually not even hinted at. Stover changes the Clone Wars' narrative as something that only involves Jedi, clones and droids, and instead plunges his readers into a world that is aflame with war, pain, and unspeakable deeds. Stover gets gritty here; some scenes are very graphic. The violence and horrors in this novel are palpable; there is no escaping them. This makes for a harrowing read and really lets the reader feel what Mace must be going through.

Some reviewers say that they thought Mace’s character didn’t align at all with how they pictured him and that it wasn’t true to him. I couldn’t agree less. Mace is still a badass in this book, as shown, for example, by this quote:

I am a Jedi Master, and a Senior Member of the Jedi Council,” Mace said patiently. “I am a general of the Grand Army of the Republic. I am not to be sent for.”

Yeah, that’s still the same Mace who held a lightsaber to Dooku’s throat and said:



But we also get to know Mace’s innermost thoughts and feelings and learn that he is not the perfect Jedi (duh, of course not, anything else would be boring). Being not only a witness to the people of Haruun Kal slaughtering each other but forced to actively participate in the brutal fights makes Mace question everything he learnt about peace and the moralities of war.

The dual narrative (omniscient third-person narrator and first-person POV of Mace’s journal) really drives home just how thrown off balance Mace feels on his quest to find Depa. He truly cares about her and wants nothing more than to rescue her from the brink of destruction and the Dark Side of the Force, but he is introspective and self-aware enough to see why spending so much time on Haruun Kal turned Depa into what she is now. Mace also knows that he is not perfect, that, for a Jedi, he is much too keen on fighting and winning, and that his decision to go for Jango, and not Dooku, at the Geonosis Arena was the biggest mistake of his life that led to the death of millions of beings.

“In my dreams, I always do it right. In my dreams, I'm on the arena balcony. Geonosis [...] . Within reach of my blade: Jango Fett. And [...] Dooku. [...] ango Fett bristles with weapons. An instinctive killer: the deadliest man in the galaxy. Jango can kill me in less than a second. I know it. But I do it right. My blade doesn't light the underside of Fett's square jaw. I don't waste time with words. [...] In my dreams, the purple flare of my blade sizzles the gray hairs of Dooku's beard, and in the critical semisecond it takes Jango Fett to aim and fire, I twitch that blade and take Dooku with me into death. And save the galaxy from civil war.”

In short, I enjoyed how the author took the character of Mace Windu apart. This novel might not be canon, but I feel like I know and understand him much better now. And not only him, but the purpose of the Jedi as well as the Force itself. Mace has a lot of realisations about himself, the Jedi Order and the workings of the galaxy and comes away as a different person. Stover understands the concept of character development because the Mace who journeyed to his former home planet isn’t the same person who leaves Haruun Kal for good at the end of the novel.

The only criticism I have to voice is that Stover gets too technical at times with his descriptions of weaponry and gear. Often, it was just too much; too many words and technical details crammed into one paragraph.

“Standard combat equipment for the regular militia on Haruun Kal included the Merr-Sonn BC7 medium blaster carbine with the optional rocketgrenade attachment, six antipersonnel fragmentation grenades, and the renowned close-combat trench-style vibroknife, the Merr-Sonn Devastator, as well as Opankro Graylite ceramic-fiber personal combat armor. In addition, every sixth soldier carried a backpack flame projector, and each platoon of twenty was equipped with the experiemental MM(X) dualoperated grenade mortar, also from Merr-Sonn.”

Yeah, alright, you go on talking about blaster carbines and Merr-Sonns, and I’ll just pretend that I know what I'm reading xD Maybe Stover was too excited to dive deep into the mechanics of Star Wars weaponry and vehicles and whatever sci-fi technology available, but I thought it became overwhelming at times.

Last but not least, I wish we had seen more action from Depa Billaba. After all, she was the reason Mace travelled to Haruun Kal in the first place, and she is his only student to become a master of Vaapad. This lethal Jedi fighting style is only practised by Mace and Depa, and I wish we had seen more of Depa actually doing something, being super evil and sinister instead of her breaking out in tears all the time? I think Stover should have turned her into a more active and forward character because I found her too passive.

Read this if you’re here for Star Wars novels that do more than just portray the Jedi as bland heroes without any inner struggles. This book has excellent fight scenes, makes some valuable statements about war and its effect on the morals of civilians and soldiers alike and portrays Mace as a brilliant tactician, a questioning man, and good Jedi.

[CS · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He was looking forward to doing straightforward, uncomplicated butt-whooping"
Depa Bilaba, Mace's only student of Vapaad, has been sent to Haruun Kal, Mace Windu's homeworld. But a disturbing message indicating she is unstable causes Mace to return to his root. There, he must battle more than just the jungles, more than the predators around every corner, more than the Korunnai and the Balawai...he must face himself and what it means to be a Jedi.
NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel.
If you are going to open this with the thought of another fluffy, "feel good" Star Wars novel, then I suggest you put down the novel right away. This is not your average, clear-cut good guys vs bad guys mindless action romp (like the Jedi Academy Trilogy). This is a very mature, very gritty, sometimes disturbing introspective novel.
Mace Windu was an interesting character in the movies (partly, I am sure, because of Sam Jackson). But we never really got to see Sam make Mace bad @ss, other than some brief battles between Mace and Jango (considering Attack of the Clones, only). Matthew Stover wrote this novel as if Mace were Sam Jackson. I was shocked at how well done it was. Mace Windu was a tough man, a tough Jedi, and a fighter at heart. He uses his brains, most definitely, but he can definitely fight as well. I loved the way that Mace talks to both himself and others. The review title is one example; here's another of my favorites: "He had a different equation in mind: four steamcrawlers divided by one Jedi equals a huge, smoking pile of scrap." Matthew Stover perfectly wrote Mace and I just was enthralled. I could always imagine Sam Jackson speaking Mace's lines, thinking Mace's thoughts.
The core issue is: What does it mean to be a Jedi? Mace tortures over this idea, as he makes his way to Depa. Why did she "go sane"? What made her delve so far into the Dark Side? Part of it is the nature of the forest, the harshness and the predatory nature. Part of it is the inner hatred the native Korunnai and the outsider, Balawai, have for each other, so far that even the children can't see past the outside.
Which leads me to some of the most poignant, heart-wrenching scenes: children who refuse Mace's help because he's a "Korno". Parents who don't trust him because of who he is. Children who try to kill him, because the Korunnai killed their parents. An endless cycle of hatred and murder.
I really liked Nick Rostu, Chalk, and even Kar Vastor. Nick was amusing, a nice sidekick, an "average" guy. Chalk, I felt was a tough woman, even when everything was against her. And Kar Vastor was like an evil twin of Mace: wild, uncontrolled fury.
I don't really have a whole lot of complaints about the novel. If I have one, it was while listening to it the second time (first time I read this, it was in novel form), I got lost in the end battle. Vastor is on their side...then he isn't...then he is... It was very confusing, but I wonder if perhaps it was the abridged audiobook.
If I have any complaints, it's about the audiobook version. I did not like the horrible growling noise that was played whenever Vastor spoke. Made it sound like strange yawning, not an intimidating growl. Also, it was dumb, the voice given to Vastor was deep enough to convey his voice. But by far the worst offense of the audiobook was its COMPLETE omission of the ending. The last words of the book are Mace telling Vastor: "You are under arrest." That is it. No contemplations of the mission, nothing on if he gets back to the Jedi Temple, nothing on what happened to Depa Bilaba. It was a horrible ending, leaving way too many loose ends. How hard would it have been to include Mace's final journal entry, where he tells what happened to everyone and reveals the most important lesson (about the Jedi and how they fit into the Republic and the war)? If I hadn't known that it was there from reading it before, I would have been scratching my head in wonder.
This isn't necessarily a complaint about either audiobook or novel, but I do want to highlight that this is a VERY violent book, with much gore and fighting. Stover doesn't pretty it up, he doesn't glaze over it. Chalk is said to have been molested; two people die because of parasites in their brains. The smells of war and captivity are told in gritty form. So if you are at all queasy, you may want to take note.
This is an amazing novel. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved reading about Mace Windu, I loved his thoughts, I loved how he fought. I highly recommend to those who are up for a little grittier action in Star Wars.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is way better than an original novel starring Mace Windu has any right to be.

[Kat V · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very excited to start a new book. Ok the author has over-explained the meaning of shatterpoint. And this book takes a LONG time to get where it’s going. I don’t really understand Kar Vastor or why Mace Windu suddenly seemed to give up. The giving up wouldn’t bother me but there wasn’t enough explanation for any of it. I wish Jude Watson wrote every Star Wars book.

Starting part 2 now. I’m starting to dislike Mace Windu which really just means I’m starting to dislike the way the author is writing his character. He seems manipulative instead of forgiving and is exhibiting many un-Jedi-like traits. Why is he angry and yelling? This is a terrible version of Mace Windu which is unfortunate because it’s a whole book about him and this could actually be a really good plot/story except that MACE WINDU in this book is nothing like MACE WINDU. Massive point of contention. I really like Nick as a character and he’s super believable but why is Mace Windu suddenly this weird angry brooding guy who exhibits no ability to reflect and thinks he’s better and smarter than everyone? And the author is still explaining shatterpoint for anyone who missed it which is no one because it’s been overly explained already.

Part 3 now. Why is this book sexist? Is that really necessary? Do women need to be weak and barely involved in the plot whatsoever? Why do men always seem to have The Answers and know what’s best even when a woman has already stated what she wants? This could have been handled differently and better. Buy don’t worry he’s going to explain shatterpoint again! OMG of ALL people Mace is not the one who thinks Anakin will win the war. I’m starting to wonder if he actually watched Star Wars.

Okay. Good plot but I just did not enjoy this. Very disappointing, especially given the positive reviews. I also don’t understand what the point of having mace go back to his “home world” was if Jedi never spend any real time there. He didn’t really reflect on what his life might have or could have been, which would have made sense, but instead tried to relate to the people there and almost act as if he was one of them. To me that was the wrong take. Anyway. This was a miss for me but it could have been really good. 2.1 stars.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I have never been particularly drawn to the character of Mace Windu. Instead I picked up this book because it was written by one of my favourite Star Wars authors. Not surprisingly, I thought the writing was great. The story itself was different and much darker than I expected. I wanted a different focus to the novel, but overall thought it was still strong story. 

[Para (wanderer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not the type of book I usually read. It's fast-paced and full of ridiculously, over-the top badassery (as befitting the character), which is not something I usually care for. However, it's also very character-focused, really giving you insight in who Mace Windu is as a person and the internal struggle that happens when his Jedi beliefs and way of living are put to the test. I liked that a lot. Another very pleasant surprise was Stover's prose - he has a very striking style that really shines in the first-person sections and his action scenes are some of the most vivid and easy to imagine I've ever read (and I'm not someone who cares about action scenes, or notices them). The blend of somewhat more literary style than you'd expect and a very pulpy plot is strange, but works super well.

Unfortunately, I also stalled hard a little over than halfway in. I didn't really care about the plot or the jungle setting, and no matter how well written the badass action scenes are, there's only so much I can take before I get bored. It dragged a bit. But that's a personal thing, and I suspect people who prefer fast-paced, action-y books would enjoy it very much indeed.

Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4.5/5

Recommended to: those who'd like to have it all: an action story with ridiculous badassery and a character study and decent writing - because yes, you can (mostly) have your cake and eat it too!

Content warnings: rape (not on screen)

More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.

[Justyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read quite a lot of Star Wars book over the last couple of years and this book was definitely different and darker than what I usually read.

First of all, the main character is Mace Windu. I don't think I ever saw another book with him playing such a big part in the story. He travels to his home planet to search for his missing former Padawan, Depa Billaba, who was send there on the mission. (the book takes place shortly after The Attack of the Clones). He doesn't know what really happened to her, and intends to find out. If you like Mace Windu, you probably going to like this book, since we can see things from his perspective. As for Depa...I wish we got a little more of her perspective, I felt a little like it was centered too much on Mace.

The main reason why this books is darker than most Star Wars novels is the fact that it shows how cruel and horrible war is and how it affects people. Apart from Mace and Depa, we get to know a few more characters, the people who live on the planet, and we can see the impact the war has on them. It was really depressing to read sometimes.

I'm not really a fan of Mace Windu, I'm more like curious and intrigued, cause we never get to see much of him in the movies. And while I think the way the author portrayed his character was not bad, I think I disagree with some things. The main thing was probably this short simple statement:

Mace liked to fight

Really? I always found him kind of intimidating and serious and powerful, but I can't imagine him liking to fight. Granted, the books shows that he hates war and doesn't want to kill people, but still, he sometimes enjoys to fight them!? Well, I think something is not right here or it's just not the way I imagine this character. Without giving anything away, because of the events in the book, it seems like Mace is on the verge of giving into Dark Side sometimes...and from the beginning it seems like he can barely keep his temper. He is worried for his Padawan (he thinks about her more like his daughter than the former apprentice) but it doesn't change the fact that he felt a little out of character. He is not a typical Jedi Master I guess, I always knew it (well, he created Vaapad, which is pretty aggressive fighting style, that also says something), but I imagine him a little different than the author of this book.

If you haven't read any of the Star Wars books, don't start from this book, unless you are a fan of Mace. It's a solid book, but I wouldn't want to read anything similar to this, at least not in the near future. A little to dark for my liking. I have other Star Wars characters I like much better and want to read more about them instead:)

[Iset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank the Force for Shatterpoint. I remember enjoying this one back when it came out, but now I find myself appreciating it even more because of its context.

Now that the Expanded Universe is defined by finite parameters, I’ve been doing a grand re-read, chronologically, through the entire thing. The vast majority of these books I have read before, but there are a handful which I missed when they released – mainly from the final few years of EU publishing, partly because I was just too busy at that time in my life, and partly because the last years of EU publishing began to offer material that felt rushed, churned out, short at 250 pages and somehow still padded with filler and thinly sketched. I’m in the Clone Wars era right now, and honestly, I’ve been disappointed by these books that I missed first time round. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they are novelisations of stories told in a very different format originally, I’m not completely sure yet. I was even let down by The Cestus Deception, which I did read on release and I remembered liking, but today just seems okay and basically missable. I kind of have a goal, as well as doing a marathon re-read, of creating a personal cut of Expanded Universe canon, and so far I hadn’t liked a single entry from the Clone Wars era well enough to include it. Shatterpoint just made my list.

There are surface reasons why someone might be drawn in to this book, and then there are the deeper reasons why it is actually good. One of the surface reasons is that Mace Windu and his former Padawan, and fellow Council member, Depa Billaba, are the stars of the show. Exploring some of the universe’s intriguing side characters and fleshing them out, giving the impression of a rich and exciting galaxy aside from what we think of as our core main characters is definitely a plus point… but only if the story then written is worthwhile. If the story turns out to be a poorly written mess, we feel cheated out of what we were promised and tend to reject the portrayal of these characters. The Cestus Deception is, in my opinion, an example of a book that copped out of this promise, dangling Kit Fisto and then making him share the limelight with Obi-Wan and an original clone character, and never letting us get inside his head even though we spend plenty of time with Obi-Wan’s inner monologue. Not so here. Mace Windu is front and centre, and Obi-Wan and Anakin are nowhere in sight. This is a good thing for this book, as it means there are no distractions from putting the focus where it should be.

Stover has something of a reputation in the Expanded Universe for delivering complex, brutal stories, and Shatterpoint is no different. Stover often strives to show the harsh realities of war, the way it blurs lines and snatches away clear-cut choices between good and evil. There are still heroics here, but not of the rollicking adventure kind, and they are all the more poignant for the sheer struggle it takes to achieve them, to do something as simple as save a single life. I frequently enjoy this kind of writing because the echoes of realism lend the story a stamp of authenticity that aids believability, and also because we become more invested in the story if the risk and consequences are treated seriously. Some people may be thinking this is out of step with the fun adventure time story that is Star Wars, but I would remind people that the original film saw Owen and Beru callously murdered, the captain of the Tantive IV interrogated, killed, and discarded, Leia tortured, and genocide committed against an entire planet. Sure, at the end our heroes returned in time for tea and medals, but you cared about these characters because you took the threats they faced very seriously indeed. We are clearly shown the impact of war and how pitiless people can be. Shatterpoint is not out of step with this – it continues its tradition. In any case, be warned that this story can get pretty grim and dark – but if you ask me, I consider that a positive. The book explores meaningful situations, like what happens when two groups in conflict get so caught up in a cycle of vengeance that they dehumanise one another, and their children grow up indoctrinated in hatred and prejudice. These are tough themes, but they are themes that need to be explored.

With 410 pages to play with (plus ten at the end devoted to an extra short story), Stover has plenty of time and space for his subject, and this book feels substantial and significant compared to the paltry 250-page offerings aforementioned. Somehow, he succeeds in placing his main characters in considerable danger, and evoking reader worry for them, and yet also depicting moments of giddy, glorious triumph where their strength of will and Jedi training positively shines through. Stover manages to walk the knife edge of tension masterfully, never letting us get too depressed about a defeat without some satisfying success bolster our spirits, and never letting victories come too easily, without a sudden reversal or three. The successes, when they come, feel deeply satisfying because of the struggles we have to go through to get there. Stover also makes us care about the side characters, even though they are brand new and original to this story, and at the start they come across as rather unlikeable. Shared hardship reveals hidden depths and strips away masks. These people feel realistic; defensive but essentially decent and afraid. I’m not just talking about Nick and Chalk, but Geptun as well. So many low-level functionaries on the opposing side in Star Wars are depicted as incompetent pen pushers – mainly Imperial, but pre-Empire this translates to the financiers of the Separatist movement. Geptun is anything but. He’s a smart man, though not infallible, and like Nick and Chalk is essentially decent. His efforts pose a deadly threat to Mace and he is credible as a dangerous adversary. He is also treated as a fellow human being, to the point where an impressed Mace recruits him to Republic Intelligence in the aftermath. This brings up another point – the book handles antagonism very well. It isn’t clichéd or straightforward. Geptun is a well-rounded person. And the true evil in this book comes from someone who is on the same side as Mace. Even Depa’s fall is bittersweet because it comes from a place of loyalty to the vulnerable people she is protecting – but she buys into the indoctrination of hate, of “us vs them”.

I’ve been trying to think of criticisms, and I suppose the most significant one is that things can get a bit confusing in this book. The final quarter of the book, which encompasses the ultimate confrontation and climax of the story, has so many betrayals and sudden reversals in it that it can get a little bit punch drunk at times. The overall lesson that Mace learns, or that the story is trying to impart, feels a bit murky too. I’m not sure if this is a legitimate criticism though, since Mace himself is intended to spend most of the book thrown into ethical turmoil and unsure of his path and his principles. Some final thoughts come through loud and clear – the importance of seeing the ‘humanity’ in others no matter what side they’re on. The importance of standing up for what is right and fighting even if you can’t win. Other questions remain obscure. Is the book saying that civilisation is good and the natural jungle is savage and bad? Is it saying that the Jedi should not be taking a partisan stance fighting for the Republic and should instead be moving among both sides, simply wherever they are needed to protect people? I’m really not sure. Perhaps the book deliberately leaves these questions open for readers to ponder.

9 out of 10

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know what Matthew Stover was attempting to do with Shatterpoint, but whatever it was, I wholeheartedly hated it.

Shatterpoint is easily the worst Star Wars Legends novel I’ve read yet. In some small sense, maybe, just maybe I should give Stover the benefit of the doubt since this book was written in that weird in between time where Attack of the Clones had been released and Revenge of the Sith was still on the horizon. Stover had the unenviable position of trying to write a story without the plethora of facts and tidbits that came out after Episode III. But then, I can’t use that as an excuse for such a tedious and ridiculously boring story.

The simple plot it this: Mace Windu goes back to his war ravaged home planet, gets pissy, gets lost in the jungle, goes native, and loses tings. That’s it. 410 pages to tell those 4 things. I had hoped Shatterpoint would actually do a good job of describing Mace, a Jedi Master who’s always regarded as a bad ass, but was never really fleshed out in the films. Instead, this book just had him wondering around aimlessly, getting in pointless fights, causing a shit load of deaths and damage, and then going back to good old Coruscant with blood on his hands having achieved practically nothing. Even worse, Shatterpoint makes Windu out to be a fledgling Jedi who knows he’s powerful but doesn’t understand the ways of the Force. Had this been told from a Padawan’s POV or maybe a lesser Jedi Knight, at least this aspect of the story would have been slightly understandable, here though, it just sucked.

The Star Wars library has some good reads and classics and well loved novels in it. Shatterpoint is, unfortunately, not one of those.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 22BBY

I really liked it. Decent story, solid plot and FINALLY some really good dialogue that doesn't feel simple, dumb, or cheesy. A great adventure with Mace Windu's company.

“Clouded by darkness are my eyes; the Force shows me only suffering, and destruction, and the rise of a long, long night.” - Yoda

Set during the Clone Wars, the story follows Windu as he embarks on a mission to his homeworld, Haruun Kal, in search of his former apprentice, Depa Billaba. What unfolds is a mysterious tale of warfare, morality, and the complexities of the Force.

“Nothing is more dangerous than a Jedi who’s finally sane.” - Depa Billaba

A richly detailed world filled with vibrant characters that's actually on-character (rare) and well-written action (rarer). From the jungles of Haruun Kal to the corridors of power on Coruscant, the author paints a vivid picture of a galaxy torn apart by conflict during the wars.

“Holding too tightly to what we love will destroy it and break our hearts as well." - Yoda

What truly sets Shatterpoint apart, however, is its exploration of the character of Mace Windu. Often portrayed as stoic and unyielding, Stover provides a nuanced portrayal of the Jedi Master, delving into his inner struggles and doubts and the character is pretty spot on!

From the way he moves and thinks to the way you'll be reminded of him from the films with his mannerisms and whatnot while reading.

"I can read your mind. You only have three ideas, and all of them are wrong." - Mace Windu

Another must-read from the Expanded Universe for sure!

[Rory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Embracing being an awful Star Wars freak deep down by reading what many are calling “the good Star Wars book”. Stover blew my mind when I was 11 and read his Episode III novelisation (the other good SW book), so glad to report this also owns. Think the key to making good SW stuff is understanding that the Jedi are fucking rubes. Maximum-size oof for the magic space cops in this one, an unbelievably well-stuck landing, hats off

[Caleb Likes Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice surprise! Given the praise I’d heard for Shatterpoint, I figured I’d enjoy it. However, I didn’t expect it to become one of my favorite Legends books.

The thing that really elevates this one for me is the insight it gives into Mace Windu. He’s quite conflicted, haunted by the effects of the Clone Wars, and rather aggressive for a Jedi. While the majority of the book is told in the usual third person perspective, a large portion is dedicated to journal entries directly from Mace’s POV. These are wonderful additions and make the book much more interesting. I also enjoyed some of the other characters like Nick and Depa, and much of the plot was engaging as well.

The main thing that brings this down for me is that some parts of the plot didn’t quite grab me. I loved the premise of Mace going to find Depa, who seems to have gone rogue (if not dipped into the dark side), and seeing the effects she had on those around her. But some other things, particularly towards the end, just didn’t grab me. This book is at its best when it’s introspective and more character-driven, and the last act had some pretty big action scenes. They were good but they felt like they bogged things down a bit rather than enhancing the book.

Overall this was really enjoyable. I loved the more introspective angle it took with Mace, and it was generally just a joy to read. Definitely a high recommendation!

Rating: 9/10

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not believe how bad this book was when I borrowed it from the library when it was first published and read it. It is a crass, boring, pointless, poorly written cash in on Star Wars, especially the clone wars. It is not worth your time, avoid this at all costs.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure about this one. I just didn’t feel like the book was true to Mace Windu. He doubted himself a lot and was much weaker than he should be. Ultimately the book was a shallow “hack-n-slash” action story.

[Starwars/Trek Freakman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Mace is my favorite Jedi, but this book gave him no justice. It was simply a borefest.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 2022, I decided to go back in time and reread all the Prequels Era novels published between 1999 and 2005, plus a smidgen of other novels (like Survivor's Quest and the Dark Nest trilogy) released during that time frame. This shakes out to 21 novels, four eBook novellas, and at least thirteen short stories.

This week’s focus: the first novel in the Clone Wars multimedia project, Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover.

SOME HISTORY:

Apocalypse Now, the 1979 Vietnam War movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. But Coppola wasn't the first choice for director, and instead George Lucas intended to direct the film. He worked with screenwriter John Milius for several years, but ultimately chose to instead work on American Graffiti and Star Wars. So with that Lucas connection, perhaps it's not surprising that in trying to brainstorm ideas for his Clone Wars novel focused on Mace Windu, Matthew Stover chose Apocalypse Now and its base story Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad as the inspiration for his novel. He wanted to lend it a gritty feel: “Apocalypse Now with Jedi.”

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I'm fairly certain that I read Shatterpoint when it was initially released, because I was keen to read most of the Clone Wars novels and fill in that gap between Episodes II and III. But all I really retained was that it was dark, and it was violent, and that it was focused on Mace Windu.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

The jungle planet of Haruun Kal, Mace Windu's homeworld that he barely remembers, has become a battleground between the Republic and the Separatist forces. The Jedi Council has dispatched Jedi Master Depa Billaba, Mace's former padawan, to train the local tribesmen into a guerrilla movement. But Depa has vanished, and when news reaches Mace of terrible events on Haruun Kal, he must leave behind the Jedi and civilization to return to his homeland, to seek out his former padawan, and to learn the terrible price that must be paid when keepers of peace turn to war.

A BRIEF TIMELINE DISCLAIMER:

Depa is first sent to Haruun Kal two months after the events of the Battle of Geonosis, and Mace in turn goes to Haruun Kal four months after that. So we can pretty accurately place Shatterpoint at six months into the Clone Wars, after Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Side note: my library copy of Shatterpoint had a Clone Wars timeline on the inside cover that placed Escape from Dagu nine months into the Clone Wars. If you’re unaware, Escape from Dagu was a canceled novel by William C. Dietz that was going to focus on Shaak Ti.

THE STRUCTURE:

Shatterpoint contains an introduction and an afterword set on Coruscant, involving Mace Windu, Yoda, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, then the rest of the novel is broken up into three parts and is entirely set on Haruun Kal. Most interestingly, each of the chapters have chapter titles—something that we usually don't see in Star Wars books, and that I had not seen since Matthew Stover's Traitor. The first part—actually the first half of the book—involves Mace arriving on Haruun Kal, meeting Nick Rostu and Chalk and Besh & Lesh, and then heading further into the jungle in search of Depa. Part Two involves Mace traveling with Depa, thinking that they're going to be picked up by Republic forces very soon, and Part Three has a big battle between the Korunnai and the Balawai, as well as a fair bit of Separatist/Republic interference in the battle.

THE CHARACTERS:

Mace has some memories of Haruun Kal: he was taken as an infant by the Jedi, but he came back as a teenager to participate in traditional rites and to learn about their culture. While the Jedi aren't keen on attachments, they don't seem to mind if you learn about your heritage as long as you come back. However, when Mace returns to Haruun Kal, he finds it very different from when he visited decades ago.

This galaxy-wide conflict between the Republic and the Separatists has drawn in smaller local conflicts as well, and on Haruun Kal that includes the Summertime Wars between the Korunnai—the natives of the planet—and the Balawai—the off-worlders who have come because the jungles of Haruun Kal are hugely profitable. The Summertime Wars have been going on for decades at this point; it was mainly a seasonal conflict, but the Balawai siding with the Separatists has made this conflict even more intense, and brought the Korunnai even closer to extinction. The Korunnai and the Balawai are not able to coexist peacefully, and it’s reached a point where the Balawai are quite happy to wipe out all the natives with weapons and ships provided by the Separatists.

That's what Mace struggles with for a lot of this book: recognizing that what's happening on Haruun Kal isn't Republic versus the Separatists, that it goes even deeper to these deep-seated conflicts that have become a part of each culture. Mace’s opinion changes throughout the story; he begins thinking that Depa and the ULF have done terrible things (and they have) but the Balawai have also done horrible things. No one is free of blame here. Yet at the same time, you feel so sympathetic for the Korunnai’s plight, who are facing the end of their way of life and the genocide of their people.

With the way the story is structured, we stay in Mace’s head the entire time. Stover cuts back and forth between limited third person (“he said this” and “he did that,” yet it’s clearly Mace’s POV) and entries from Mace’s private journal, which are written in the first person. It’s an interesting choice—I enjoyed getting to hear some of the entries in Mace’s voice, but I also felt like they were a conceit for Stover to add elements of a first person narrative without committing to it for the entire novel. I didn’t always buy that Mace had time to record his journal entries, especially when some of the entries referred to later events yet we’re told that the datapad is encrypted and he can’t revisit old entries. The journal excerpts are only really present for the first two parts; for obvious reasons, once we get to the climactic battle, Mace doesn’t have time to record his thoughts.

Mace fights A LOT. He’s very good at fighting, but he also says at one point that he likes fighting. I’m not sure if I believe that; I believe that Mace is a strong warrior, especially since he invented a new style of lightsaber combat (Vaapad) but I'm not sure that he enjoys it. He's always seemed more of a stoic character to me; that he's good at what he does, but he doesn't get sheer enjoyment out of it. Especially in the fight scenes, I felt like Mace was stepping perilously close to the Dark Side, and I preferred the scenes where we saw a more thoughtful Mace—the Mace who's trying to save children, who's trying to get Balawai civilians to safety—the Mace who looks at a situation and decides that restraint is the best option. That's the Mace I was interested in learning about, and I wish we could have seen even more of him.

I also liked his relationship with Depa Billaba, his former padawan. He saved her as a young child and then he trained her for over 10 years, so at this point he sees himself not just as her former master but almost as her father figure. Part of the reason why Mace is so upset about what has happened to her, and wants to find her and bring her back to the Jedi Temple, is because he feels responsible for her actions.

But perhaps because we see the story through Mace's eyes, I felt like we didn't get as much of Depa as I would have liked. When we encounter Depa in person in the second part she's physically weak: she's suffering from headaches and nightmares, and she's falling apart before our eyes. There are a few bits, especially in the third part, where Depa does amazing physical feats…but we don't really see them. She does them off-screen, or we'll catch only a glimpse of it and then she collapses. I would have liked to spend a little more time with Depa, to see what a great Jedi she was, rather than just seeing her at her lowest point when the madness of the jungle has overtaken her and she completely falls apart.

I expected Depa to be the antagonist of the story, but instead we have a different main antagonist in the form of Kar Vastor. Vator is a Korunnai from ghosh Windu, like Mace, whose entire family was killed by Balawai when he was a teenager. He was left alone in the jungle for a year, and survived at the cost of his ability to speak. He’s become like a shaman, a strong channeler of the Force energy of the jungle, but like the rest of the natives of Haruun Kal he’s completely untrained. Vastor is just sheer, immense dark power—it’s not Sith, but it’s definitely not Light. I felt like he overshadowed Depa at times—swallowed her up so that she had less of a mind of her own, and was doing what Vastor wanted. Mace’s relationship with Vastor changed throughout the story: he was straight up evil, then they work together, then Mace decides again that he’s a force of evil.

Of the other Korunnai characters that Mace meets, we have Nick Rostu, a smart alecky young man who ends up helping Mace; Chalk, who has had a traumatic life and deserved better than she got; and Lesh & Besh, who don’t end well because the jungle is a dangerous, deadly place.

ISSUES:

My favorite part of Shatterpoint was the first part/half. I felt like the first part integrated more bits from Heart of Darkness—Mace is the Marlow character, who's heading deep into the jungle to find Depa/the maddened Kurtz character. It's strange and it's unnerving and he tries to do the right thing and it's hard and he feels this dark pull on everything he does. He comes to revelations about the history of the planet, and how the Separatists have inveigled themselves into the local conflict.

I was really enjoying the first half, but then I felt like the second half—and especially Part Three, the big climactic battle at the end—started to lose me because it began to veer away from the inspiration that Heart of Darkness provides. Mace is an interesting Marlow-esque character because he is both an outsider and an insider: a native of Haruun Kal who has only been there for brief periods, but also the Jedi outsider trying to figure out what’s going on and why. In Part Two, he talks with Depa a lot and then he gets double crossed by her; in Part Three, there was so much military jargon of all the different missiles and ships and weapons that I lost interest.

Additionally, in Parts Two and Three Stover gave us multiple incidents where Mace has a plan, but it’s not revealed to the reader until afterwards. I can see how that would build suspense, but after it happened multiple times I began to get FRUSTRATED. I wish instead of getting “that’s what I intended, Nick” we had gotten some preemptive explanations, since this happened so many times throughout the story.

I felt like the main point of Depa's story was to show us that the Jedi are guardians of peace, and if you make them military officers they're going to fall apart. Because that's not what they've been trained for! That's not how they've learned to use the Force! As Depa gets drawn into the conflict between the Korunnai and the Balawai, she loses her objectivity and can’t separate herself from the Korunnai’s fate. She's in too deep, and she loses her mind as a result. The Jedi were never intended to command military forces—they were intended to be peacekeepers, or philosophers, or scholars, and to have them lead battles in the Clone Wars is the antithesis of what they’re meant to do.

But I feel like by the time we get to that final battle, that fact has been hammered into the reader’s head, and I felt fatigued reading what was happening. Shatterpoint is a very dark story. There's some humor from Nick Rostu’s quips, but on the whole it's unrelentingly grim. There is a lot of violence here: people get beheaded, and the jungle itself is treacherous and dangerous. (There are wasps that get in your bloodstream and go up to your brain and it’s so disgusting.) But at the same time, I really love that concept of the jungle as this dangerous force; it’s very Jedi-like of the Korunnai to figure out a way to exist within this world that constantly wants to kill them.

I think for me, Shatterpoint is very like Star by Star. It's an interesting story, but it's not a story I'd really want to revisit because it's draining to read. Even at the end, when Mace brings Depa back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, it's like she's gone inside. Her body physically is okay, but her mind isn't there anymore, and to watch a Jedi fall apart like that is really hard to read.

IN CONCLUSION:

Shatterpoint almost exclusively focuses on Mace Windu, and how much you like Mace may dictate how much you like this story. It's super dark, super violent, and the last part of the story is very much a war story--with all the elements that entails. But at the same time, I like Stover's attempt to show how the galaxy-wide conflict of the Clone Wars has drawn other localized conflicts in its wake...or in the case of Haruun Kal, has forced local grudges like the Summertime Wars to become even more horrific and devastating.


Next up: maybe the first Star Wars video game tie-in novel (if you don’t count Shadows of the Empire): The Ruins of Dantooine by Voronica Whitney-Robinson with W. Haden Blackman.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/VmNLJx02arU

“Matt Stover on Shatterpoint” (May 2003): https://web.archive.org/web/200502041...

[Darmok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atypically for a Star Wars story, Shatterpoint is less about heroes and villains than it is about the good and evil within us all.

Despite its big themes, the story starts small-scale. Set in the first year of the Clone Wars, it follows Jedi Master Mace Windu on a solo-mission to find out what happened to his former Padawan, and whether the gruesome theories about her are true…

Immediately, the premise pulled me in. Not only is he seeking out one of the people closest to him, he’s doing so on his warfare-ridden home planet, somewhere he hasn’t returned to or even thought much about since his youth. And on top of that, the indigenous population—his people—is entirely Force-sensitive.

My Thoughts

Matthew Stover does a lot with this set up, but nonetheless not every element gets its due. There’s a lot to like—Mace’s characterization, some much-needed ambiguity for Prequel-era worldbuilding, and Stover’s commitment to theme—and overall I give it a strong three-out-of-five.

Apparently, Shatterpoint’s descent-into-the-jungle-and-the-depths-of-inhumanity structure was modeled on Heart of Darkness by way of Apocalypse Now. I’ve neither read the former nor watched the latter, but I thought it worked very well.

Moreso than Star Wars adventure, though there is plenty of that, the novel is a character-study on Mace Windu. On the surface, he seems like a tricky protagonist: brusqueness, laconism, and severity aren’t the most compelling traits for a PoV. But Stover gives Mace such inner reflection and tumult that compelling is the perfect word to describe him.

Less favourably, Stover also tries to offset Windu’s personality by pairing him with a wisecracking sidekick, Nick. On his own terms, he’s a strong character, but his comic relief and motormouth tendencies add levity that I would’ve rather done without. As for the other characters; one was a pleasant surprise, one a somewhat major disappointment, and the rest of them just okay. The book is mostly about Mace.

For me, the novel’s strongest elements were its themes, such as order and disorder, justice versus retribution, and how war changes us. Much like Andor, Shatterpoint understands conflict, society, and institutions to a far greater, grimmer degree than anything else I’ve read and watched in the franchise (for context, I’m a moderate Star Wars fan, having seen the movies and a few shows and read 10–15 novels).

In this regard (but not others), Stover’s achievement is greater than that of Andor: he tackles these topics while directly engaging with the Jedi and franchise mythos instead of casting it all aside.
That said, there’s also some stuff in Shatterpoint that I didn’t love.

Mainly, there’s too much uninteresting action. The duels make for great, visceral scenes, but I was largely bored by the battle sequences. Too long and too little character-development. This made for a particularly boring ending, which also disappointed me somewhat in terms of character.

As mentioned, I also wish Stover had descended to an even darker tone and dropped the unfunny jokes. I wasn’t into the immersion-breaking, colloquial dialogue, either.

So, one star off for some boring sequences and tonal decisions and another withheld because it never blew my mind (my condition for a five-star read or strong four-star read with other significant flaws).

Should You Read It?

Still, I’d recommend this novel to people who either A) love Star Wars and would appreciate another angle on the franchise or B) people who have a poor opinion of franchise novels despite never reading any. I think it’d be a welcome surprise to both groups.

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

"We are well and truly forked".
Yup, that's a line from this book. I'll just leave that here for you to ponder...

So anyway, I have been reading a lot of really good Star Wars novels lately but Shatterpoint just didnt do it for me. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge fan of Mace Windu, maybe it's because, in the back of my mind, I am comparing it to things like the Trawn trilogy and the Bane trilogy. For whatever reason, this was just ok in my opinion.

More specifically, I didnt feel like any of the characters besides Mace were really fleshed out. When someone died or did something dramatic i just didn't care that much. I do like how Stover channeled The Heart of Darkness a bit, but I wish he would have delved a bit deeper into that aspect rather than just touching on it here and there and then tossing it away.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing like a marginal EU novel to kill a May the 4th inspired reading spree. It appears that Shatterpoint is actually well liked by most readers but I found it to be a real disappointment. It did nothing for the character of Mace Windu, failed to capture the character's voice, felt very little like a Star Wars adventure, and was repetitive and dragged on for far too long. I mean, I think Mace faced off against the big bad, like, four times!

As a short story I could have forgiven a lot of what I didn't care for but as a full length novel I have to go with one star and time already wasted.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a cut above the typical tie-in novel. Excellent characterisation, interesting plot, very well-written.

[Izzy E · Rating 4 out of 5]

right so I know I said this was the year I'd read War and Peace. And from a certain point of view...

Anyway I did enjoy this, even if there was a bit too much "I engaged the splorgasbor into hyperflink and smashed through the extraterrestrial humblasters, the brilliant glow, reminiscent of groodle-spawn mating rituals from the planet Rup, lighting up the crudjling-green sky" for my liking.

[Alasdair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gets to go on the shelf with the other good non-film Star Wars fiction: Andor, the monologues between the 501st story missions in Star Wars Battlefront II (2005), and maybe KOTOR (due a replay).

Not just a nuanced look at conflict and guerrila warfare with a Star Wars veneer over it, also a really incisive cut into exactly that Star Wars Veneer and the implications of its philosophies/worldview (lookout Mace, your worldview is incredibly flawed! Oh no, he can't hear us he's been reading too much Marcus Aurelius etc etc etc).

[Graham Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.0-4.5 (rounded up)

“Shatterpoint” is a Star Wars book I’ve been meaning to read for a while, having been described to me as “Apocalypse Now” starring Mace Windu, and whose author Matthew Woodring Stover is said to be up there as one of the best Star Wars Legends writers. Post read, I can say Shatterpoint is unlike any other Star Wars book I’ve read up until now and while not stupendous like some people claim, is still a really great book.

Shatterpoint follows Mace returning to his homeworld (Haruun Kal), a jungle world in the midst of a brutal civil war, to look for his old apprentice Depa Billaba who has seemingly gone rogue and partaking in war crimes. I mostly know of Depa from her much different depiction in the Disney Canon (the master/mother figure of Kanan Jarrus) so it was interesting seeing her in a much more different context (even if once again her relevance is tied with her relationship with a male Jedi). Mace’s relationship with her is key to the plot and his own storyline as his time searching for her and experiencing the horrors of war brings him close to falling to the Dark Side.

Its a heavy set-up for a book and Shatterpoint very much feels like an early 2000s book having come out in the early years of the War on Terror. Haruun Kal felt like a mix of 1960s-1970s era Vietnam and any number of real/fictional African nations Western stories used as settings to show a wartorn and poverty stricken area for a protagonist from a privileged nation to visit. Frankly Shatterpoint can be a little too grimdark at points (even Karen Traviss’ Republic Commando books didn’t get this dark) and almost feels like it's an entry in a different sci fi franchise. But I do say Star Wars lends itself to many different genres and tones so it's not unimaginable that Star Wars can go this dark and gritty. Maybe Stover goes a little overboard at points with the war crimes and gorey realism but it's still an engaging story and character study of Jedi in “War is Hell” scenarios.

As a character study, Shatterpoint is a revelation for me about Mace Windu’s character. I never disliked him but I never could quite see the appeal beyond him being played by Samuel L Jackson. But the book might be the first time I’ve ever really felt like Mace was vulnerable and human. He’s never been a favorite despite some badass moments (i.e, dismantling a droid army in hand-to-hand combat in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars and freeing Ryloth in Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars). Yet here his struggles made him a bit more relatable as the Jedi Master had to mentally strengthen himself to avoid falling into the darkness. When the set pieces aren’t horrific, they are a good showcase of Mace’s abilities both as a strategist, a warrior and a Jedi. I likewise also liked Stover addressing how Mace is now leading clones of the man he killed in Episode II into battle and his surprising guilt about that moment.

The rest of the book’s cast were pretty good as well. I surprisingly came to really like Mace’s interactions with Nick. It was a nice bit of comedic relief in an otherwise grim story. I also felt like Kar Vastor and Geptun were both nuanced antagonists for this world and story. Depa meanwhile is probably the weakest character and just an example of the trope of a woman who has gone mad whereas her male loved one endures the horrors. Beyond that I don’t really think Shatterpoint gives enough of a story for her descent into madness. Really the only noteworthy part with her is her belief of why the Jedi can’t survive in wartime. Otherwise I do prefer her Canon portrayal and fate.

Besides the characters I enjoyed the set pieces when Stover didn’t go too hard in the war crimes but even then they were well thought out. I say my favorite part was the climatic battle that reminded me of the climax of James Cameron’s Avatar (with a bit of “Starship Troopers” mixed in) but much gorier. In some ways it felt like a completely different story than the lead up guerilla/jungle warfare but I didn’t care too much (especially when the final scenes swung back towards the tone of the earlier parts.

Beyond Depa’s characterization and Stover going a little overboard, “Shatterpoint” lived up to my expectations and is one of the best Star Wars Legends books I’ve read lately (possibly ever) and gave me newfound appreciation for Mace Windu. It certainly has me excited for rereading Stover’s “Revenge of the Sith” novelization in a few weeks and his “Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindoir”. This is definitely a book I recommend to any Star Wars fan (at least those that want some mature content).

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a general rule, I pretty much hate the idea of media tie-in novels, and the whole franchise thing turns me off. My brother has been trying to get me to read a few of these Star Wars authors (Stackpole, Zahn) for quite a while, and I resisted since I could only imagine books populated by hack riffs on the old themes, catch phrases and rehashes of the good old days when Leia told Han she'd rather kiss a wookie...that kind of thing.

Of course, Stover wouldn't do that. This is the 4th book of his I've read and he really does a tremendous job delivering something different, intriguing, and exciting.

Yes, this is definitely Heart of Darkness meets Jedi, and I loved the idea. It is executed well, with the violence, gore and sheer darkness that Stover brings to the table. Interestingly enough, I'm sure that Stover was holding himself back when he wrote this, since this book is pretty light on the graphic violence, rape, and cannibalism you see in his other novels. Course, this is a franchise book and he had to tone it down, which is fine by me. I'm not a big fan of that kind of stuff.

I loved the whole idea of the shatterpoint. Very cool concept. And Stover really does a good job exploring the mind-twisting philosophy of war, good vs. evil, that kind of thing. Stover is a thinker, and he asks some interesting questions.

I had some small issues with the portrayal of Mace Windu, who acts just a little too much like Caine in the early part of the novel (when he beats up the guards) but seems to work his way into a more believable Jedi frame of mind later on in the book. Overall, though, the characterization of Windu is very good.

Another minor quibble: the journal dialogue does not work for me. Direct dialogue recorded in a journal? Nah! Stover loves the first person (and it is a very effective tool) but I wished he hadn't tried to cloak it in the guise of the journal. Either that, or he should have made the dialogue indirect, which is what you'd expect in a journal.

The portrayal of Depa didn't really fulfill my expectations. Stover doesn't seem to be all that good at portraying females, and he had a lot of potential to describe the fallen jedi's state of mind, which he wasn't able to do: course, it might have just been too similar to Windu, which is why he didn't include it. But I just feel that Stover missed the mark with her. The characterization of Kar Vastor is all right, but after the first scene we meet him (where Vastor chillingly describes Windu's desire to murder the defenders) there's very little character-revealing interaction.

There was also one or two plot points I wondered about, but nothing obviously wrong. Overall, a very good book, and it leaves me interested in some of the other franchise books out there, notably some of Stackpole's work, and a few of Stover's other works such as Traitor and Revenge of the Sith.

[Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s A LOT I could say but I will try to be concise. Mace Windu is one of those character’s that I feel like was very one-dimensional in the films, serving as a foil to Anakin and finger-wagging everything he did, but otherwise he was such a blank slate and we didn’t know much about him. This book makes him so much more complex. For the first time we are allowed inside his head and can see how he truly feels and operates. It’s set during the Clone Wars where he has to travel to his home planet to rescue his former Padawan who may have turned to the dark side. We see him wrestle with a lot of things as he confronts his former culture and how it conflicts with the Jedi Order. It reminds me a lot of Apocalypse Now. It’s a gritty war drama and gets super dark at moments. It has a lot of action and intense moments that kept me engaged. There are some things that could’ve been fleshed out more but I really enjoyed it.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mace Windu's old padawan has got involved in a war and may have fallen to the dark side. Mace goes after her alone, to his home planet. This is 'Heart of Darkness' with a jedi twist. The journey through the jungle, looking for his elusive pupil, to the horrors of war, just pay homage to 'Heart'. This is a dark, depressing kind of book, with lots of horrible things happening. It does not glamorise war in any sense of the word. Mace's character is strongly enough written to drive the plot forward. A good read.