Saboteur: Star Wars Legends (Darth Maul) (Short Story)

Star Wars Legends: Novels

by James Luceno, Ron Marz, Jan Duursema

A dazzling new short story featuring Darth Maul, merciless apprentice of evil . . .

On the distant planet Dorvalla, precious ore is mined by two competing companies: InterGalactic Ore and Lommite Limited. Neither rival suspects that they are central to a sinister plot masterminded by Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith, himself.

Dispatched by Sidious on his very first solo mission, Darth Maul infiltrates Lommite Limited. There, his unique gifts of deception and subterfuge will set off an explosive chain of events that could destroy both companies, leaving them ripe for takeover by the Trade Federation. But a vengeful Lommite Limited Manager with his own thirst for retaliation against InterGal could blow Maul's cover--and all of Sidious's fiendishly layed plans . . .

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

James Luceno is a New York Times bestselling author, best known for his novels and reference books connected with the Star Wars franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and novelisations of the Robotech animated television series. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and youngest child.

He has co-written many books with Brian Daley as Jack McKinney.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darth Maul as agent of chaos. Elric would be proud.

James Luceno’s 2001 novella, Darth Maul: Saboteur provides a fun backstory for Darth Sidious’ behind the scenes machinations occurring before the Phantom Menace and his use of Maul as an agent provocateur.

Just as in Tarkin, Luceno does a great job in expanding the Star Wars vision into economic and sociological realities that help to provide depth and at least a semblance of realism into the fantasy.

And it has Darth Maul action; he’s cool with the two sided light saber!

[Mike Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much from this short story but was pleasantly surprised by what James Luceno has accomplished with "Saboteur". Maul is always operating on the sidelines, here, manipulating events (hence the title) to achieve Sidious' ends rather than just being a heavy. Considering the role he played in the first film and how little we know about him, this could have been a heavy-handed action story to showcase the underused character. Instead, Luceno plays it for mystery, ties it into Episode I, and I think this was very much the way to go.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Read in 2018, review from 2024)

Short story that explores Darth Maul on a mission. It's got a lot of the corporate politicking that made the Prequel Trilogy a bit of a let down for some Star Wars fans. But it's interesting enough seeing Maul at work manipulating everyone before moving in for the kill. He's not as interesting as his Clone War depiction and the story isn't essential but if you like Maul might be worth reading.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in 33BBY

Unfortunately there's nothing to see here. This one's a short story that takes place before the Phantom Menace and it's supposed to be a Maul story, but alas, we only get a peek of Maul, while other non-important characters take the main stage. And that's sad.

Simple enough story, that is not interesting and or fun to read but rather a chore to go through, mainly because it's a Maul story that barely includes Maul in it.

Q: Is it important for the lore or the character?
A: No.

What is done in secret, has great power. - Palpatine

[Criss Rosenlof · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read, but well written. Those who are fans of the dark side will enjoy this look into the life of Darth Maul before his untimely end at the hands of Obi-wan. ;)

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #61

Background: Darth Maul: Saboteur was published in early 2001 as the first Star Wars eBook. It was later republished in the paperback of a novel released at the end of the year. It was written by James Luceno as a prequel to his novel Cloak of Deception. Originally hired to help oversee the development of the New Jedi Order series, Luceno ended up writing three of the novels himself, including the final book. He has gone on to write several more Star Wars novels, including one of the first to be included in the new expanded universe continuity. Outside of Star Wars, Luceno has written several stand-alone novels and a few film adaptations. He also collaborated on the 21-book Robotech series with his closer friend (and fellow Star Wars author) Brian Daley.

Saboteur is set 33 years before the Battle of Yavin, 1 year before The Phantom Menace. As a prequel to Cloak of Deception, it features (in addition to Darth Maul) many of the same characters and locations as the novel, including the planets Dorvalla and Eriadu, local governor Tarkin and various members of the Trade Federation, etc.

Summary: Two rival mining companies on the planet Dorvalla, InterGalactic Ore and Lommite Limited, are locked in a mutually-destructive struggle for control rife with sabotage and intrigue, but neither is quite devious enough to finish the other off. Enter Darth Maul, who has been dispatched on his first solo mission to manipulate the situation to the advantage of the Trade Federation, thus securing his master the loyalty of a certain Nute Gunray . . . Maul's skill at destruction are sure to serve him well here. The trick will be getting in and out with no one the wiser to his dark presence.

Review: As I hinted in my initial description of the publication history, this is a fairly short work, but too long to be a short story and too short to be a novella. I believe that makes it a "novelette," which is a term I don't hear very often. Honestly, I'm not sure it isn't longer than some of the slimmer Jedi Apprentice volumes.

I feel like maybe I'll appreciate this story a bit more once I've re-read the novel it's supposed to tie-in with. As it was, I just suddenly began realizing some of the connections partway through when Tarkin makes a brief appearance, and I remembered that Luceno wrote that other novel as well. Luceno isn't my favorite Star Wars author, but I don't tend to actively dislike his books, I just find them a bit bland at times.

Saboteur suffers from a couple of flaws that aren't really Luceno's fault. First, the story barely scratches the surface of exploring Darth Maul as a character. We get just the bare minimum of some personality and no background. Now, part of that may be because this isn't very long, but I'd guess that at least some of it had to do with a lack of latitude to develop things about the character that hadn't been established yet. And that just means his portrayal is all over the place across different stories.

Second, there aren't really any characters that we can really latch onto, because having a story centered around Darth Maul that doesn't really do much with him as a character means that whatever sympathetic characters we do spend time with are probably going to end up dead if they play an important role. Luceno tries to give us at least one interesting character, but it felt like we didn't spend enough time with him to earn that. Yeah, I guess I'm complaining that this short novel is short. However, after seeing how well the Darth Bane trilogy dealt with having an evil protagonist, this seemed like it could have done better as well.

That said, it was just fun seeing Maul in full Agent of Chaos mode, expertly sowing confusion and destruction without anyone noticing that there is a 3rd party manipulating the situation. I feel like Luceno lowered the bar for Maul a bit by explaining how incompetent everyone else is so many times, but it's his first mission out on his own. Plus, it's clear that he's never really tested to anywhere near the limits of his abilities, which just makes him that much scarier as a force of darkness. Overall, this isn't super-memorable, but it's fun in spots and it ties in with a larger story.

C+

[Zachary Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent short read. I was struggling hard to avoid getting this digitally but it turns out that it was never printed while the "sequel" was. That's fine given the length. I strongly prefer physical copies and this is the first ebook I've read for pleasure since late 2012-early 2013. That said...

This was a fantastic short read. I loved how we see Darth Maul work from the sidelines rather than brute force. The story ties well into Shadow Hunter (but reading it prior to this is completely okay and spoils zero) because you can pick up a bit of Monchar's character that adds additional logic and explanation to the beginning while standing on it's own. It also helps setup Episode 1 in unseen ways, much like Shadow Hunter does. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it, especially for Darth Maul & fans of the Sith.

[Maegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally read this! I've wanted to read this for over a decade and I'm glad I was finally able to. I quite like how Luceno and Reaves (in Shadow Hunter) portray Maul and I wish other authors had followed suit.

[Thurm · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10.

Darth Maul engages in corporate espionage.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Nothing special. I love Darth Maul.

[Meggie · Rating 2 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: James Luceno’s ebook short story from 2001: “Darth Maul: Saboteur”

SOME HISTORY:

“Darth Maul: Saboteur" is a short story written by James Luceno that was released in February 2001. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store for $1.99—but if you’re reluctant to fork out two bucks for a 14,000 word story, it was also published at the end of the paperback edition of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. (The ebook of Shadow Hunter--as well as more recent paperback editions—includes “Saboteur” plus another short story by Luceno from 2011, “Restraint.”)

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I might have read Shadow Hunter before, but I definitely did not read Luceno’s short story. I thought that Darth Maul looked cool, but I wasn't particularly interested in his backstory. So it's fun to read these stories now—stories that I either was unaware of at the time, or never bothered to seek out.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Commissioned by his Master, Darth Maul is sent to intervene as a saboteur on the mining planet Dorvalla and see to it that the competing mining companies, Lommite Limited and InterGal, are taken over by the Trade Federation.

TIMELINE DISCLAIMER:

Most of the stories that I’m reading after Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace are set prior to the film, so here’s (I hope) the proper chronological order: read “Darth Maul: Saboteur” first, because it relates Darth Maul’s first solo mission for Sidious; then read Cloak of Deception by James Luceno, because it sets up a lot of things for The Phantom Menace; and finally, read Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves, because it serves as an immediate prequel to the film.

THE GOOD:

This was an unexpected role for Darth Maul. When I think of Maul, I always think of him as a sword fighting master that’s just running around killing everyone. But for most of “Saboteur,” Maul is carrying out a covert mission. He cannot be seen by the people on Dorvalla so there's a lot of sneaking around, overhearing conversations, recording those conversations, and then altering them and leaking them. It's not until the very end of the story that we see stereotypical Darth Maul—Maul killing people so that they can't find out about him and leak knowledge of the Sith.

It’s also fun to get to see different worlds and different aspects of the Star Wars universe that we haven't seen before. In this case, Dorvalla is a mining planet that mines an ore called lommite that's used to create transparisteel (basically Star Wars’s very strong glass that’s actually a metal). We also see the planet Eriadu, which is where Grand Moff Tarkin is from, and we get tie-ins with The Phantom Menace with the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation waiting in the wings to see what happens with these mining companies.

THE MEH:

“Saboteur” is fairly short, and there’s not a lot to it. 14,000 words is like a 60-page term paper, and you could probably read it in a few hours at most.

And while it's interesting to see Darth Maul's mission, we don't get a good sense of Maul as a character. He's pretty much a blank slate: he's evil, he wants to please his Master, he learns that you shouldn't always rush into action, that the whole idea of having a double-bladed lightsaber is so you can be prepared for everything—and in some cases that's to not reveal yourself, to stay in the shadows the whole time. But he's mostly there to foil things for Lommite Limited and InterGal.

Of all the characters on Dorvalla, the only one we get to know moderately well is Patch Bruit, Lommite Limited's chief of field operations. I didn't want him to die, yet he's not a good person: he's gotten a promotion that's led to him being out of his depth, he wants to get off Dorvalla but drinks a lot and wastes money and doesn't know any way of attaining his goals, and he's ultimately killed by Darth Maul!

IN CONCLUSION:

“Saboteur” shows how much maneuvering Darth Sidious did to get everything in place for the Trade Federation blockade against Naboo—for the Trade Federation to feel secure enough to make a move like that—but while I enjoyed getting to see Darth Maul as a shadowy, covert agent, it didn't really add a lot to my understanding of the prequels. If you're interested in checking it out for yourself, I would look for either the paperback or the ebook of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter: you can read “Saboteur,” and then you can read Reaves’s novel as well, which offers a more novel-length look at Darth Maul's actions before The Phantom Menace.


Next up: a novel from 2001 set prior to The Phantom Menace: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/HEo2SfEOEcA

[ZeN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saboteur is a case of more is more. The story has poor development and the overall result of the plot meaningless. Darth Maul is treated as a menial henchman who does and says literally nothing, despite being advertised as the stories' main event. He is in few scenes and all he does is lurk in shadows, skulk around and then does nothing else. Speaks to no one because he likes to be silent sinister incognito. Saboteur is 40 pages of feeble politics commentary and 10 pages of Darth Maul making menacing faces when no one is looking. Literally a $1.00 ebook click bait. I was, indeed, disappoint.

[Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtlety of Darth Sidious is reflected in Maul. This type of espionage is how I would have preferred Rogue One.
As usual Luceno delivers.

[SkipperPig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Reading #1

Last year I read The Phantom Menace novelization. I enjoyed it. I finally thought I would get back into reading again, but the only problem was that summer had come along, and my reading interest quickly waned in favor of other things. And so for many months I attempted to read, but quickly failed. With the new season of the mandalorian coming out, I thought I would get into Star Wars once again. I own many Star Wars books, but honestly, I have barely read any of them, especially not recently. For many days I contemplated on whether I should read again, and I decided why not. So I picked up Rogue Planet, a book that followed The Phantom Menace. And I was enjoying it, but some part of me realized that if I read past The Phantom Menace, I wouldn’t want to revisit the era. Whether or not this was true I have no idea, but I put Rogue Planet down and once again searched for a book to read. I saw Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter on my shelf, and knew it took place before TPM. But after doing some research I realized, it took place after Cloak Of Deception, the prequel the TPM! I wanted to read the books in order, but I also wanted to read the books I owned. After more research I found one thing that took place before cloak of deception that I owned. A novella in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. I decided to read it.

Darth Maul: Saboteur shows the rivalry between two companies: Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore (whose name confused me given that Star Wars takes place in one galaxy, though I suppose there are comparison galaxies). Darth Sideous sends Maul to manipulate this rivalry, and that’s the story. It’s pretty short, I think it’s a novella, although it was short even for that. But it’s length doesn’t matter because I thought it was good. Lucenos writing style clicked with me and I read the story in two sittings (surprising given I haven’t read in months). I liked Maul here, he gets his job done, and the political set up for TPM seems to be shown here a little bit.

I enjoyed this story, and let it be known that if I continue reading after this that it was Darth Maul: Saboteur that revived my interested in reading. Next up, Cloak of deception hopefully.

[Lady Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Not to say that James Luceno isn't a good writer or anything, but from what I've read of his work in the Star Wars universe--namely, this short story about Darth Maul and his entire Darth Plagueis book have led me to the conclusion that, while he may understand the Star Wars universe very well, he doesn't really know how to make it exciting.

First of all, there's too much description and not enough action in what he writes. I know that it's maybe a demonstration of how well he understands the Star Wars universe--through trying to explain how politics in the Galactic Senate work, how trade between different star systems is possible because of big companies like the Trade Federation and other companies, and even just how something looks, as he goes into explicit detail on all three categories.

However, showing and telling isn't really exciting if you don't have action to back it up.

I will say this, though: he does understand his characters well. Maul was reinforced in my eyes as the almost machine-efficient assassin that was presented in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, showing his ruthless efficiency and fanatical devotion to Sidious. Coupled with this story, I also read the short story of "Restraint", also by Luceno, which further delved into Maul's personality as a young man. Well, I was a bit more impressed with that, although Maul's character does seem to return to that aforementioned ruthless efficiency.

Maybe it's because we see him at his best when he's up against Jedi, but anytime that he's taken away from that kind of Sith vs. Jedi action is almost boring to read at in comparison, even if there is action involved, because you just know that Maul will win. In the same way that failure is incomprehensible to him, so it becomes with a reader who gets familiar with him as a character.

One more Maul book to go, and then I'm nearing the pre-Clone Wars books with Obi Wan and Anakin. Looking forward to finally moving away from the Old Republic Sith perspectives into Jedi perspectives, because, honestly, so far all I've been reading is Sith-related stuff. That's just how the timeline goes.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darth Maul – Saboteur by James Luceno is a short story detailing a quick mission taken by Darth Sidious’s young apprentice, Darth Maul, prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. Put me in the category of being a Darth Maul fan without knowing actually why. Sure, he has the classic vicious villain look to him or it could be because he wields a dual sided lightsaber. Whatever the case may be, I’m glad there are dedicated stories and novels based on his character. Never would I have guessed though that Darth Maul is actually gifted in other arts besides being a Jedi sword master.

“What is done in secret has great power.” – Darth Sidious

Not much is known in regards to the Darth Maul character if you were like me who just watched the Star Wars movies and never getting to actually explore beyond that. He was a mysterious and quiet figure serving as apprentice to Darth Sidious but we all underneath that demeanor lurked a very powerful Jedi skilled in the way of fighting with his awesome looking, if unorthodox, duel sided red light saber. With Saboteur, we get to see that Darth Maul isn’t just all about using his lightsaber. Instead, we learn one of his other prized gift as a Jedi is actually in the arts of background deception and manipulation. Being able to sense and read people’s feelings allows him to better predict and manipulate an outcome of his choosing. This makes him the ultimate saboteur and perfect for stealth missions. That shocked me a bit at first but I really shouldn’t have been. Darth Maul is Darth Sidious’s apprentice and we all know how well of a manipulator he is.

“You need fear me only if you fail me.” – Darth Sidious

Saboteur is nice quick read on Darth Maul before going into other of his more length novels. If you’re just getting into the Darth Maul character like I am, be prepared for a surprise.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars: Legends: Saboteur by James Luceno - Darth Maul short story

Challenging, dark, mysterious, sad, and tense.

Fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5 Stars

When I opened this book up, I was surprised that it was a short novella or a long short story. I wasn't expecting that...since all my books are digital.

I knew the protagonist was Darth Maul, and that it was going to be dealing with some type of sabotage, with Maul being the "Saboteur", or at least that was my first thought...which panned out.

Darth Sidious is the architect of the scheme with the Trade Federation...and we see the machinations of what is going to be in full force in a little bit.

It is interesting to get these glimpses of what he was like Pre-Prequels.

This was honestly TOO short. I wanted more. The part two of this duology is a full length novel called Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves. That will be next.

[Elwin Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I really liked it." - 4 out of 5 star rating.

As Maul being probably overall my #1 favorite Star Wars character, my opinion of this book may be unfairly skewed.

For none Mauldalorians, I'm sure there is plenty of amazing Son of Dathomir content in here to pull you in for an enjoyable read.

Mauls selection of the double-bladed lightsaber deep dive is the character depth I so desperately crave - and is delivered here. More Master Sidious and Maul as the Apprentice relationship going on as well, which is super and dark and so very well done. Looking at the cover as well, you can see that Maul gets to have some Neimoidian fun as well. I will leave at that...

Maul is the assassin in the night, guided by the hand of the devil himself - Lord Sidious. He is the one that you fear. The one you never see coming. And even if you do, you will not last long against this being of pure hater embodied in physical form. Maul - the living weapon, forged by the cruelty of Shev Palpatine.

[B.A.G. Studios · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this a good bit more than “Restraint,” and I think I appreciate it better because of having just read Cloak of Deception. It’s a solid story that feels important enough to warrant telling it. I must admit I wish I’d gotten another glimpse of Captain Cohl, but that’s just because I liked him enough. As usual, I don’t find Luceno’s prose exceptionally accessible, but I like how mature it is despite that. I appreciate the true sense that it’s literature the same as any other, not lesser because it’s Star Wars or because it’s short fiction or because it’s Star Wars short fiction. He clearly has a love for Maul, and it’s contagious. I enjoy seeing more of his personality when he was nothing but a sharpened stick for Sidious to wield, before he returned as a more formidable actor.
Onto the novels.

[Stanislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an action-adventure story on it's own, the work is not so exceptional. But as a piece of the huge puzzle that is the SW saga, it is worth reading. Of course I am discovering this puzzle piece a bit too late. Sixteen years ago, when it was first published, I would've been so thrilled by how it all fits together. And also when the hunger for new and original SW material was so hard to satisfy.
Sadly this story is part of the star wars of my generation, and the word "original" does not apply to it anymore. Now that Disney soiled the franchise and changed shifted the story. It was nice catching up with the events in the book though.

[Micah Spiece · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate Maul as a spy, instigator, and manipulator, because he’s so often simply a monstrous killer. And I enjoy this era of SW and how this event goes to tightly into Darth Plagueis, Cloak of Deception, Shadow Hunter, and of course Episode 1. But as a short story, it’s a little too thin and anticlimactic, despite a brief, scary moment from Maul himself. The competing companies are on the verge of undoing themselves anyway; Maul merely alters a recording and leads them to direct conflict. Even the moments with Gunray, Monchar, and Sidious don’t do much to provide insight or even entertainment, making the whole thing a bit superfluous.

[Peter Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella was okay, but I wanted more Darth Maul.
Like with Darth Plagueis, Saboteur was more concerned with the bigger picture of the political landscape of the Prequel era galaxy than providing an entertaining Darth Maul character story. The plot focused on two rival mining companies and Darth Sidius's desire to take them out for the benefit of expanding the power base of the Trade Federation. Darth Maul was a silent shadow in the story. He was not as present as many of the other characters.

[Zuzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Darth Maul: Saboteur follows Maul on his first solo assignment, set on the mining world of Dorvalla. Two competing mining corporations are locked in a bitter conflict marked by sabotage and deception. Working from the shadows, Maul manipulates events with precision, ensuring the Neimoidians (who are not part of the conflict) come out ahead - just as Sidious intended. While Maul is portrayed effectively as a ruthless and unseen force, the story itself feels more like a brief strategic setup than a compelling standalone tale.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short but excellent story. As long as you have seen at least Star Wars: Episode I you have everything you need to get into this book.

This makes the fourth Star Wars book I have read from Luceno. All of them have been good, with this being the second to make it to my "favorites" list. I have two more yet to read ("Cloak of Deception" and "Millennium Falcon"). If those hold up, Luceno will be right up there with Timothy Zahn as the best Star Wars writers :)

[Logan Knoper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story published with the book 'Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter', but written by the author of the Episode I timeline political drama novel 'Cloak of Deception'. Overall. This story was a simple story of espionage, but the details were hard to follow. That being said, the story is painted with enough fan service to feel like a true star wars side story, and I am looking forward to reading this story again someday.

[Wiktor Atryda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nie wiem po co w ogóle ta książka powstała. Nie dzieje się tu dosłownie nic angażującego, postacie nie są za grosz interesujące (dlatego, że nic o nich nie wiemy) i nie ma to najmniejszego wpływu na Mroczne Widmo czy inne zakamarki uniwersum. Fabuła tego opowiadania mogłaby być przedstawiona w jakimś shorcie w np. animowanej antologii, który byłby najgorszym i najmniej wnoszącym filmem krótkometrażowym ze zbioru.

[Michael Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent short story which is included in the Darth Maul Shadow Hunter book which I highly recommend, set before the phantom menace Darth Maul is sent out on his first solo mission to intervene as a saboteur on Dorvalla a mining planet to try merge two competing mining companies to leave the shipping ore to the trade federation with completion of the mission Maul takes his place as the true apprentice to Darth Sidious.

[Gia O’Donohoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

i get that it’s a short story and all but there is very little if not zero establishment of characters whatsoever to the point that it’s hard to differentiate between the names on the page. idk if i’m just not reading it properly but i was confused up until the last few pages.

anyway i guess it does a somewhat okay job at setting up DM:SH and SWCOD but other than that its most inconsequential to their stories

[Scott Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Star Wars fiction I have ever read. It’s well-written, but there’s not much to it. I was hoping to learn more about Darth Maul but the focus is really on the Trade Federation and beginning to set the scene for the events of The Phantom Menace. I will check out book two in this series to see what happens next.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This very short book was a decent expansion to Maul's story. It isn't worth reading by itself. However, it is worthwhile when pairing it with the other books in this time period such as Darth Plagueis, Darth Maul Shadow Hunter, Maul Lockdown (skip this one), and Cloak of Deception. I would read this one before the others.