[.ca] Star Wars: Cloak of Deception (ISBN 0345442970)

Lots of events, yet little depth:
Now that the new Star Wars movies have arrived, the fans are graced with a whole new series of inspired fiction. The authors of previous Star Wars sagas such as The New Jedi Order now put the spotlights on what happened before Palpatine took control of the Galaxy. Great! This means a whole unknown niche of the Star Wars history will be unveiled. And sure enough that is what happens. Yet, what has disappointed many aficionados is the new tone and order of these prequels. To put the difference in words: Pre-Star Wars times were High Times in decay, not bravery against unbelievable odds. The prequels present an old man dying instead of a young one flourishing. Cloak Of Deception tells of the first attempts at bringing the old giant down. Just as you cannot stop maggots from getting into rotting meat, you cannot stop power-hungry Senators and greedy Corporations from taking profit out of this situation. Senator Palpatine has managed to attach strings on several powerful figures and institutions and has started playing them like a puppeteer. Meanwhile the Jedi are busier than ever, and eventually they are too busy and cannot control the uproars any longer. While James Luceno's book describes interesting events and gives us fans a closer look at a wide display of background characters, there is one flaw: it is too busy and too paced. It doesn't stop often enough to describe motivations. One of the villains is Captain Cohl, a character with a long history, who started out his rebellious career with a righteous cause but lost track of it. Cohl could have been THE tragic figure of this Star Wars chapter. Unfortunately, his past is merely summed up, and if his actions in this book cause any inner turmoil, the reader gets to see the result of this turmoil instead of the turmoil itself. This is what I felt throughout: the author does not stop to explain and deepen characters. Another point I have with this chapter is the lack of resolution. The lead characters do not go through any sort of emotional arch. Nor does the story itself end well. It could have been either a cliffhanger or a defined closure. It seems to stop instead of end. Despite all this I managed to enjoy Cloak Of Deception. After all, Tarkin has a cameo, as well as Vergere and Yaddle. And after all, it presents us further events in Star Wars history. The slow decline and cunning treacheries. It is just that I feel sad I care more for the encyclopaedic value of this book, than about the book itself. This one gets three stars. Bram Janssen, The Netherlands

Jedi action... Bureaucracy... Shadowy alliances...:
This James Luceno book Cloak of Deception precedes STAR WARS Episode I... and review is written on the paperback copy 2002. In Cloak of Deception, author Luceno blends humans, humanoids, and aliens, along with reader's knowledge of some locations but adding new ones as well... a cast of characters, some already known to STAR WARS fans, revolving around Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master; Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan; Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi; Senator Palpatine; Yoda, Jedi Master; Jedi Master Mace Windu; Darth Sidious, evil source; Senator Bail Antilles, and other familiar beings, along with new characters, specifically - Captain Cohl, Rella, Boiny and Havac - revealed to be an Eriaduan, a.k.a. Eru Matalis. The Senate is housed at Coruscant, with its fantastic cityscape, and named the center of "civilized space". The dominion of the Trade Federation, their "tyrannical practices", along with practices of the Nebula Front,compete and clash for dominance. The Trade Force and Nebula Front terrorists are at odds with their missions, each group has their own agenda of gaining fame and glory for their own causes. There are demands astir to disband the Trade Federation; demands for the reduction of taxation for free trade zones are amiss. Evil factions are at work striving to cancel the trade summit scheduled to take place at spheroid "Eriadu", a summit called for by Senate presiding, Supreme Chancellor Valorum. At this time in STAR WARS history, the student Jedi Knights, Masters, and Padawans are housed in a pyramid-shaped structure on Coruscant. The Jedi Knights continue to rally in pursuit of injustice, up against dark beings, including Darth Sidious. Chancellor Valorum, surrounded by Senate guards, battles his way through a crowd of anti and pro-demonstrators, is faced with an attempt to assassinate him involving a Twi'lek and two Rodians. Valorum is transported to the Galactic Senate Medcenter. With the use of senses in the Force, Master Qui-Gon and Jedi Knight Adi Gallia wend their way through the crowd to deflect the attempted assassination. The assassination attempt is believed to be a ruse for something bigger. However, evidence is to be investigated as to which group or faction is really underlying the attempt. Questions arise as to Captain Cohl's role behind the assassination attempts... also considered is House Vandron. Senator Palpatine's face changes in line with whatever purpose he is serves - the requests of Chancellor Valorum or the secretive plans of betrayal for the benefit of his own purposes. Valuable Aurodium Ingots, obtained by thievery, are a threat to ill-use for power and domination, useful in a plot to destroy factions that get in the way of evil-doers. This reader finds the following quotes from Cloak of Deception noteworthy: "Unrevealed sources at work..."says Yoda...."...deeper and darker and murkier, this becomes". "Nothing was before Yoda's time..." Qui-Gon's (with a smile) response to Obi-Wan. "Our fears regarding taxation revolve around the potential for increased corruption, as is ever the case when additional layers of bureaucracy are positioned between those with power and those without." -- Lieutenant Governor Tarkin. "There are many paths to take, Obi-Wan. Not all of us are fortunate enough to find the one with heart, the path the Force has set before us. What do you find when you search your feelings about the choices you have made?" -- Qui-Gon to Obi-Wan... Obi-Wan's response--"I feel that I've found the right path, Master." James Luceno, has a eloquent "way with words", philosophical observations with in-depth bureaucratic policies, descriptive action, characters, locations and scenes allowing readers to image in their mind's eye activity in place, counting Luceno as one of the most reputable STAR WARS writers. Author Luceno adds many twists to the Cloak of Deception story. Luceno has also done film adaptations for "Mark of Zorro" and "The Shadow". Don't miss James Luceno's November 2003 book: STAR WARS The Unifying Force, ending "The New Jedi Order" series and an outstanding read of the continuing fight against a prominent evil force - the Yuuzhan Vong.

It was...okay:
"Cloak of Deception" is the first Star Wars novel that I have read. This novel is set before the events of "The Phanton Menace" and set some things in motion which help better explain potential questions raised in the movie. Some questions that get addressed in this book: "What is the deal with the Trade Federation?", "Why is Chancellor Valorum ineffective as the leader of the Senate?", "How does the Senator from such a small planet has such influence in the Senate?". We are in the waning days of the Galactic Republic. The Trade Federation has an absurd amount of power, influencing the Senate and maintaining control over trade lanes. They are, in effect, a Galactic Monopoly. Few in the Senate are willing to deal with this growing problem, but there are bands of terrorists attacking the Trade Federation in the Outer Rim. Members of the Trade Federation have entered into an alliance with a mysterious figure only known as Darth Sidious. The Jedi-Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi get involved in one of the terrorist attacks and sensing a larger problem that is worth getting involved in, Qui-Gon defies the Jedi Council and continues to work to find the root of the terrorist problem and the Trade Federation. Qui-Gon also foils an assassination attempt on Chancellor Valorum, and the implications of this event are far reaching. I did not have very high expectations regarding this book. I have not heard very many good things about the quality of the Star Wars novels. The beginning of this novel was moderately weak as I didn't find any of the characters to be engaging at all (despite my familiarity with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan). They seemed to be simply acting, and Luceno was not very successful in revealing who these men, women, and aliens were. About halfway through the novel, the story picked up a bit and I was able to get into it a bit more, and I enjoyed the book more than when I began. It was good enough that I'm willing to try a few more Star Wars novels and try to work my way through the series for a while longer so that I can see what happens after the events of "The Return of the Jedi". This isn't a great book, but it's not bad. It is middle of the road science fiction set in the Star Wars universe.

Good big-picture background, but lacks strong characters:
Reason for writing this review, too many reviews give 4-5 stars. To clarify, if ur looking to dig deeper into the big picture stuff, such as the relations between the Republic and the Trade Federation and Nubula Front, or Palpetine, then this is a 4 star book. Other than that, if u want a character driven story look somewhere else. The only interesting characters in this book to follow are Palpetine, for his subtle scheming and Captain Cohl who is a hard nosed mercenary working against the Republic. All the jedi are quite one dimensional even though they take up 1/2 the book. The main Jedi here is Qui Gon who is intent to catch Cohl. The author does touch on why Qui Gon is a sort of mavrick in Jedi circles, but would have been interesting to see more of this and less Yoda/Windu babble.

First foray into Star Wars literature--not bad.:
Well, the title isn't quite true. I have read a couple books--the novelization of the Phantom Menace and Attack of the CLones, and Return of the Jedi, and the first Jedi Apprentice novel ... but I've never really delved into the Star Wars books ... until now. This book answers many questions posed in "The Phantom Menace." I read somewhere that it ends two years before, but I don't see how this could be the case. It seems to me that te book ends right before the events of TPM ... maybe three to six months before. There are new characters in this book that I loved--a band of mercenaries who I would love to see in other books. My biggest obstacle in giving this book a higher rating is that it was difficult for me to keep up with all the political ramifications of events happening in the story. There are a *lot* of characters in this novel, and keeping them all straight was a chore at times ... particularly regarding all the different alien races. Still, having said that, the book held my interest and made me want to reread the novelization of Phantom Menace, and other books in the SW saga. One thing I'm confused about ... and I don't know if I've just missed something obvious or not ... there's a cahracter named Bail Antilees who is a senator, and we know Leia's father is Bail Organa who was also a senator. It almost seems like these have to be te same person ... but how will/did/does the name-change occur? It's very odd... All told, this book is definitely a worthwhile read, particularly if you like Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and want a book that feels a lot like The Phantom Menace--sans everyone's favorite Gungan (sarcasm there, folks.).