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blackbibliophile's review
5.0
In Path of Destruction Karpyshyn told of the evolution of a young man from his bleak existence as a cortosis miner to become the most powerful Sith Lord in the galaxy. Rule of Two picks up 10 years later from the climatic events of the first novel. Darth Bane continues to train his apprentice; although Zannah has missteps, she recovers seemingly well and shows that she too is a dark side force to be reckoned with. Karpyshyn did a good job of overlapping multiple character perspectives which helped to fully immerse you in the story. I can't wait to read the third, and final installment in this series.
bensmith91's review
4.0
Rule of Two picks up from where Path of Destruction left off, following Darth Bane as the sole surviving Dark Lord of the Sith. This book also introduces the character of Rain/Darth Zannah, Bane's apprentice. I feel that this book suffers from "middle book syndrome" somewhat, as there is not nearly as much character development for Bane as there was in the first novel and not much happens that affects the Star Wars galaxy at large. Luckily, Zannah's intriguing growth as an apprentice helps to make up for this. The Jedi characters also prove interesting, and I often found I wasn't really sure who I was rooting for when major characters collided. The book keeps you on the edge of your seat, and there are several major plot twists along the way. If you are a fan of the Star Wars Universe and don't mind novels focusing on dark side characters, I would highly recommend this series. Make sure to start with Path of Destruction though, which introduces Bane and his rise to power. If you have already read the first book and liked it, you will probably enjoy this one as well.
greenseer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
unclemeauxmeaux's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mbrutzman's review
4.0
First one was better but another fun enjoyable Star Wars book. Excited for the last one!
rbz39's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Nothing but bangers! The adventures of Darth Bane and his apprentice Zannah continue and we got everything I love in a Star Wars story: space politics, weird body horror, dark side machinations, duels, the works. Onto book three!
insomniacsquare's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Rule of two was an enjoyable read. It was my second time reading before writing a review. The action scenes and manipulation scenes are top notch. The only down side for me is some of the pacing felt weird. Sometime I got hooked and then other times I wish it sped up. I could zone out but still understand what was going on.
mrericsully's review
3.0
This book makes it very obvious that this series was not intended to be a trilogy. My first complaint is that this cover is one of the ugliest to grace any Star Wars novel. There are others that are poorly drawn or very poorly Photoshopped, but this one is downright ugly. And yes, I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but this one is pretty bad. What is more, this cover by John Van Fleet does not match the other covers in the series [by John Jude Palencar] and I think consistency is more important than beauty. Not all of the ugliness is the artist's fault however, because the story line includes living orbalisk [hard-shelled bug] armor and the drawing of this makes Bane's appearance more distasteful.
Beyond that the storyline of the orbalisk armor was pretty obnoxious and seemed to be unnecessary. The book also covered Bane's attempts to make a Holocron, which too a little too much time in the book and caused it to focus on Bane's apprentice more than Bane himself for large segments of the book.. This is certainly the worst book in the series, but a necessary bridge between the two if you are going to read the whole thing.
Check out my reviews of each book in the series:
Beyond that the storyline of the orbalisk armor was pretty obnoxious and seemed to be unnecessary. The book also covered Bane's attempts to make a Holocron, which too a little too much time in the book and caused it to focus on Bane's apprentice more than Bane himself for large segments of the book.
Spoiler
It is kind of obvious that with another book in the series that nothing serious is going to happen to Bane, but even so I still expected his apprentice Darth Zannah to have more of a spine and to stand-up to BaneCheck out my reviews of each book in the series:
sara_reads_things's review
4.0
I'm really enjoying this intense look into the dark side of the force and how the Sith look at life and how their order should be run. There is always two, a master and an apprentice. We watch the lines of darkness build to what we are familiar with, but every good story has a beginning and we are watching it unfold in this story. I can't wait to see how this line of Sith comes to a head in the next book.
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina