Star Wars: Darth Maul, Shadow Hunter (Star Wars - Legends)
Here's anotherStar Warsspinoff novel, a brisk and extremely  uncomplicated action-adventure romp set on planet Coruscant immediately before  the events ofThe Phantom  Menace. After a few setting-up exercises, it's essentially a prolonged  chase sequence whose implacable pursuer is Darth Maul--the almost absurdly  villainous-looking Sith Lord with the biggest lightsaber and worst makeup job in  the entire saga to date.The plot? Insidiously evil Darth Sidious is poised to launch the Naboo trade  blockade featured inThe Phantom Menace. But one of his alien henchmen  has sneaked away to betray this scheme and must die. So must the traitor's  contacts, smalltime crook Lorn Pavan and his uppity droid, I-Five. Likewise  Darsha Assant, the female Jedi Knight apprentice who gets entangled with Pavan  through either mind-boggling coincidence or the mysterious ways of the Force.Michael Reaves makes a reasonably slick job of all this nonsense and is not  afraid of clichés. Plenty of characters have wooden lines like "I've got  a bad feeling about this," and "Too many questions, and not enough answers."  Meanwhile in the Jedi council, Yoda makes characteristic remarks: "A good choice  he would be... No accident this was."Unfortunately, the well-known story line ofThe Phantom Menacedefuses  suspense inShadow Hunter. That trade blockade has to happen despite the  good folks' doomed heroics, and horrible Darth Maul (already far more powerful  and deadly than the puny opposition he faces here) is fated to win out. This  novel is for dedicated fans only.--David Langford--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.