Product Description

From New York Times bestselling author James Luceno comes an all-new Star Wars adventure that reveals the action and intrigue unfolding directly before Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Mired in greed and corruption, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is crumbling. In the outlying systems, where the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over?while back in the comfort of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a hand in the machinations are baffled?especially when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.

With the crisis escalating, Valorum calls for an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money run rampant, and no one is entirely above suspicion. But the greatest threat of all remains unknown to everyone except three members of the Trade Federation who have entered into a shadowy alliance with a dark overlord. While the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious has grander, far more terrifying plans.

It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Republic together?none more so than the Jedi Knights, who have long been the galaxy's best hope for preserving peace and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the meeting will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone?s worst fears . . .


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120148 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-25
• Released on: 2002-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345442970
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Library Journal
At last, what you've been waiting for: a prequel to the Star Wars ramble that will explain why Chancellor Valorum fell from power.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
From New York Times bestselling author James Luceno comes an all-new Star Wars adventure that reveals the action and intrigue unfolding directly before Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Mired in greed and corruption, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is crumbling. In the outlying systems, where the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over?while back in the comfort of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a hand in the machinations are baffled?especially when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.

With the crisis escalating, Valorum calls for an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money run rampant, and no one is entirely above suspicion. But the greatest threat of all remains unknown to everyone except three members of the Trade Federation who have entered into a shadowy alliance with a dark overlord. While the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious has grander, far more terrifying plans.

It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Republic together?none more so than the Jedi Knights, who have long been the galaxy's best hope for preserving peace and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the meeting will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone?s worst fears . . .


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
James Luceno is New York Times bestselling author of two Star Wars: The New Jedi Order novels–Agents of Chaos: Hero’s Trial and Jedi Eclipse. He also co-authored the popular Robotech series with his close friend, the late Brian Daley, and wrote the film adaptations for The Shadow and The Mask of Zorro. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and children.

Customer Reviews

Palpatine's "tangled web" of deception is novel's focus....
"The Chancellor has little real power...he is mired down by baseless accusations of corruption." -- Senator Palpatine of Naboo to Queen Amidala, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

One of the intentions writer-director George Lucas had when writing the current prequels in the Star Wars saga was to illustrate how precarious democracy can be and how it can transform itself into a dictatorship. This little civics lesson, when added to the "main story" of how and why Anakin Skywalker becomes one of filmdom's greatest villains, was intended to answer such questions as "How did the Emperor take power?" and "Why were the Jedi nearly destroyed?" (Unfortunately, for many Star Wars fans, this civics lesson made Episode I seem like a galactic edition of C-SPAN, with all that talky maneuvering and manipulating in the Senate Hall.)

There are, however, some fans who do like the intrigue and political backstabbing that marks the end of the Galactic Republic, and James Luceno's Star Wars: Cloak of Deception gives willing readers a fascinating look behind the scenes of those "baseless accusations" aimed at Supreme Chancellor Valorum...the ones that are distracting the Republic's chief executive just as the Senate is about to be bogged down by the question of the taxation of trade routes in the galaxy.

Set shortly before the events chronicled in Michael Reaves' Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and Star Wars: Episode I, Cloak of Deception follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they investigate the daring space pirate Captain Cohl and his gang, who have been striking at the heavily armed "freighters" of the Trade Federation...that greedy multi-system entity controlled mostly by the Neimoidians who have allied themselves with the mysterious Sith Lord. But is Cohl raiding the disguised warships just to steal from the rich and make a name for himself? Is he allied to those systems that are sick and tired of being extorted by the Trade Federation? Or is he merely one of many pawns being manipulated by Palpatine/Darth Sidious in his endless chain of schemes-within-schemes in order to create a major crisis that will push the well-meaning but ineffectual Finis Valorum out of office, thus paving the way for Palpatine's ascent to the Supreme Chancellorship?

This being one of several literary prequels to The Phantom Menace, savvy readers know the ultimate outcome of this story, but Luceno is one of the best Star Wars writers, and Cloak of Deception masterfully combines much of Lucas' back story and symbolism (Finis Valorum, the Supreme Chancellor's name, in Latin, roughly translates to brave or valiant end) with a suspenseful storyline replete with intrigue, action, and a more detailed look at Senator Palpatine and his cronies' plots and counterplots that will culminate in the Naboo Crisis.

Good novel, not a knockout, but does everything pretty well
I was happy with James Luceno's novel. What I think are the strong points is that it gives a lot of interesting backstory and background on the events leading up to The Phantom Menace (TPM). The issues of the taxation of the trade routes, for example, is much clearer when you read this book. As is the Trade Federation and Chancellor Valorum, who you also get to learn about. Valorum only had a few lines in TPM, but he was important in the scheme of things nonetheless. What's nice about the Star Wars novels is that they can develop characters you only see on the screen for a few minutes.

The characters are written well. This is important for any Star Wars book and Luceno clearly has a grasp of them. The dialogue rings true, particuarly with Qui-Gon, who has a pretty good role. Palpatine was also a highlight.

Regarding Episode 2 spoilers: the thought had entered my mind while reading, but I don't think it could spoil anything. I'm a big anti-spoiler fanatic, so I would be upset if that were the case. I highly doubt Lucas gave Luceno his EP2 script. I would also think Lucasfilm would want to minimize spoilers. But because this novel takes place pre-TPM, and there will be a good sized gap in time between TPM and EP2, I can't see there being major spoilers in this book. I sure hope there isn't.

The writing style is clear and well done. Luceno uses a vocabularly word here or there but it never ever becomes excessive. It is very light on techno-jargon as well. The action scenes are written clearly enough, which is not always the case with books.

The pacing was good. I read through this book fairly quickly. It starts off pretty good and then gets better. I always looked forward to reading it.

Compared with the recent DARTH MAUL novel by Michael Greaves, I would say they're both comparable in quality, with the MAUL book slighting this one by a hair. I recommend both novels. The MAUL book takes place before this one but it doesn't make much of a difference which one you read first. Both are highly worthwhile.

Essential Prelude to TPM
Cloak of Deception is not only an exciting read, but it also nicely sets the stage for the events of TPM.

Most importantly for Star Wars fans, this book explains what the vague "dispute over taxation" at the beginning of Episode I is all about. Much of the information to be found here would have improved the film as well, by more fully explaining the motivations of key characters and more sharply setting the tension. For instance, the fact that the dispute isn't really about taxes, but rather about (a) a nascent rebellion, (b) the reactions of both the Trade Federation and the Republic to growing anarchy and (c) political control over large portions of the galaxy is important to understanding the issues behind TPM. Of course, Palpatine's behind-the-scenes manipulation of everyone on every side is also interesting and illuminating. As a side note, I think that in TPM Lucas wanted to hide Palpatine's actions behind a veil of secrecy and mystery, a goal that was largely successful. On the other hand, Lucas was so successful that the film left us clueless as to what the political factions were debating and why the Trade Federation was making such a hostile play for Naboo. TPM as a stand alone film would have been better served if Lucas had cleaned up those plot lines a bit - even one or two lines explaining the dilema would have helped (it's all about motivation!). Cloak of Deception corrects that oversight.

Perhaps just as important to the future development of the SW epic is Luceno's treatment of the rift among the Jedi regarding the nature of the Force. Luceno tell us that some (Qui-Gonn Jinn among them) adhere to the precepts of the "Living Force," while others (the majority of the Jedi Council) follow those of the "Unifying Force." In the interest of brevity and my unwillingness to spoil an interesting plot line for fans, suffice it to say that this book begins to explain why Qui-Gonn is somewhat of an outsider (his adherence to the Living Force) and how these conceputal differences have somewhat divided the council. I think that this philosophical difference will also tie in with the midi-chlorian thingies and the disappearing Jedi conundrum (SW fans understand those references).

I'm not even going to outline the plot in this review - it's mostly standard dueling, space chases and other swashbuckling. As far as all of that goes, Luceno does a fine job balancing action, political intrigue and character development.

Footnote: I think that reading this book will probably be as essential as watching TPM again before Episode II hits the screens. The political intrigue is bound to play a role in the next film, too.