Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Authors: Sean Stewart
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: November 2004
Reviewed by Nathan “Valin Kenobi” O’Keefe
Summary: The devastating Clone Wars have sundered the galaxy and raged for two and a half years. Suddenly one Jedi escapes enemy clutches to deliver a message to Master Yoda: an offer of parley from Dooku! Accompanied by two Jedi, their Padawans, and a couple droids, Yoda sets out to pay a visit to Dooku at his chateau on Vjun.
Some SPOILERS below!
What Worked: This book has everything, and I mean that in the best way. It really does the best job of any Clone Wars novel at integrating themes and characters from EU, other Clone Wars tales, and all the films including Episode III. In particular, this is the first CW novel to combine material from the comics to any significant degree. Asajj Ventress has her first starring role in a novel--she was in The Cestus Deception and Jedi Trial but didn’t get to do much in either. It’s also one of the rare times that Yoda does more than just shuffle around Coruscant dispensing wisdom and pronouncing impending doom. And it’s the first CW book so far that uses Sidious beyond one or two lines. Stewart even reintroduces midi-chlorians, a plot point that’s been conspicuously absent in the years since The Phantom Menace.
YDR does the best job of any book since Greg Bear’s Rogue Planet at effectively evoking the atmosphere of the Republic’s faded glory and imminent collapse. Everything is loaded with foreshadowed double meanings. The book starts with a gorgeous and evocative description of a Coruscant sunset and only gets better from there. Plus we see how the Temple has changed in wartime and the effects of the war on the apprentices’ training. We also learn about the citizenry’s increasing fear and distrust of the Jedi.
A fascinating dynamic between Ventress, Dooku, and Sidious pervades YDR. Here Dooku is humanized, even more than in Legacy of the Jedi, going so far as to occasionally feel remorse for his role in this civil war. (“He thinks he is lying,” Qui-Gon’s spirit voice tells Yoda, in regard to the treaty offer.) Dooku is secretly afraid of Sidious, and he’s a little jealous of Anakin Skywalker, since he, Dooku, used to be the Jedi Order’s “favorite son”. (“If Fate is looking for an instrument to humble Skywalker, I confess myself willing to volunteer,” he tells Yoda.)
Ventress, much like Darth Maul, is barely more than a pitbull whose life ambition is killing Jedi. But here her character is rounded out a little, although not to the point of making her a sympathetic figure. (Tangentially, I must admit that I still prefer Durge despite his one-dimensionality.)
YDR casts some light on the dispute surrounding LOTJ’s insertion of Thame Cerulian as Dooku’s Jedi Master. Here we learn that Yoda brought Dooku to the Temple, and kept in contact through his apprenticeship and career. Additionally, YDR tells us that when he was taken from his family, Dooku was old enough to know he was being given away--explicitly linking to the betrayal theme from LOTJ.
Yoda even gets a visit from Qui-Gon’s disembodied voice, adding to his earlier appearances to Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Jedi Trial. I feel certain that this is leading up to something important in Revenge of the Sith.
Lest all the portentous solemnity should get too depressing, Stewart leavens the book with humor that had me literally laughing out loud. It’s clear he had the whimsical ESB Yoda in mind, not just the more serious Yoda in TPM and AOTC. The little dude does a lot of poking and whacking people with his cane. There’s also a very funny description of his dietary habits, followed by a hilarious skirmish with a cafeteria droid whose scanners cannot identify his stew as food. Sticking out his tongue at the droid was a bit over the top, but otherwise the scene is very much in keeping with ESB. Moreover it touches on an area that hasn’t been explored before: what does an 800-year-old space gnome eat, anyway? Besides the “rootleaf stew” in ESB and “shoo bread and wurr” in Rogue Planet, we had no clear idea.
A couple of other things we’ve rarely (if ever) seen are a Jedi who’s skilled at hand-to-hand combat (namely Tallisibeth “Scout” Enwandung-Esterhazy) and the Star Wars version of a haunted house (Chateau Malreaux) which forms an appropriately Gothic backdrop to the climactic events.
What Didn't Work: While I really liked the return to the humorous side of Yoda, I felt the silliness was a bit over the top in one or two instances.
I think the book overstates Yoda’s importance--specifically an overemphasis on his role as the Grand Master Jedi and the main military advisor to Palpatine. Sure he’s an extremely important Jedi, but Stewart makes it seem the Republic would collapse in short order without him. I don’t think one individual could be so absolutely vital to a galaxy-spanning Republic. Also, somehow I always thought that Mace Windu was the public face of the Jedi while Yoda dealt more with internal matters in the Order. Though I’m not entirely sure where I got this so I can’t definitely say YDR contradicts anything.
Though well written and described, the climactic duel was a bit of a cop-out because it followed too closely the pattern of their AOTC duel, wherein Dooku only escapes because he endangers others and forces Yoda to break off the fight. Plus we don’t get to see any Force lightning or similar pyrotechnics; I was expecting more of that.
Overall: The best Clone Wars novel thus far, closely edging out Shatterpoint. SP is a little more “intellectual” and perhaps more “literary”, however it’s so unrelentingly grim. Dark Rendezvous was far more fun to read, though it certainly had its share of philosophy.
This book does the best job of any Clone Wars novel at successfully integrating themes and material from all six films, previous Clone Wars stories, and other EU.
Rating: 9.5/10
Related
Items:
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous Review
Mission to Vjun
"The
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous" timeline entry
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