Deceived

Star Wars: The Old Republic #2

by Paul S. Kemp

AN -3500

Dark Malgus sert un but, la guerre, et un maître, le Côté Obscur, pour lesquels il s'apprête à mettre à feu et à sang la Cité galactique. En leurs noms, il a détruit le Temple Jedi de Coruscant, dans une bataille historique au cours de laquelle le Maître Ven Zallow a été assassiné. Mais à l'heure des machinations politiques, l'Empereur n'a plus besoin de son champion et cherche à le faire disparaître...
Et il n'est pas le seul. Une jeune Jedi est prête à tout pour venger la mort de son Maître, elle s'appelle Aryn Leener et elle ne reculera devant aucun sacrifice, quitte à enfreindre toutes les règles.
Deux destinées, deux révoltes vont se croiser dans une galaxie devenue l'enjeu de sinistres complots...

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Novels, Space Opera

285 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2011

About the author

Bestselling speculative fiction author, creator of Egil and Nix, Erevis Cale, drinker of scotch, smoker of cigars, amiable dude. :-)

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

AN OPEN AND ANGRY LETTER

TO: The Idiocracy of Brain-lacking ASStards responsible for drowning the Star Wars franchise in a sea of suckness from which all memory of the once great “space playground” is being choked out and transformed into a bloated, shit-logged, corpse of bad smelling cheese.

FROM: A ticking time bomb of pre-postal fanboyish SF RAGE whose timer has been moving towards 0:00:00 ever since George Pukus committed "franchise rape" on his fans by subjecting them to Jar Jar Binks.


Dear Snapper Heads:

A few things to know about the medium in which you are operating:

1. Lightsaber duels and a character named Darth are not adequate substitutes for an actual PLOT.

2. It takes a special and unique lack of talent to be able to take a promising story premise like (a) the Sith Lords invading and taking over Coruscant and blowing up the Jedi Temple, plus (b) a revenge mission by a Jedi Knight against the Sith Lord who killed her master, plus (c) a sub-plot involving a Han Solo-like smuggler named Zeerid trying to finish one last score so he can buy his handicapped daughter a better life....and making it so BORRifically full of lame that even with the audio-book added special effects were not enough to keep a “fanboy” interested for a mere 250 pages....250 PAGES.


3. Writing a BOOK with dialogue dialogUGLY of the same clunky, ham-fisted quality as you use in the various “set up scenes” of the Old Republic video games...not gonna cut...so don’t let the game programmers near the word processor next time.

4. Watching a 6 year old fight a light saber duel on the video game and then transcribing that into the book’s fight scenes is NOT an effective writing style. HINT: if the reader can actually visualize the fight in terms of XX O AB triangle XO OO triangle jump, X square jump, jump, XO square triangle, special weapon, jump, jump, XO while reading the fight scene...than you have well and truly screwed the pooch.

5. Sucklord Douche Malgus should be edited out of society’s collective memory, never to be mentioned again...Nuff said.

Please take the above criticism to heart (once you find yours) and do some searching in that blackened chunk of evil you call a soul so that this wonderful and beloved franchise can be saved. The collective timers of your fans continues to countdown towards an Alderaanian-like catastrophe


....so do the right thing.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy below looks familiar doesn’t he? Darth Vader without a hat? Nope – it is ancient Sith Lord Darth Malgus. I am guessing they made him look this way as an indication that the Empire has a specific format for the life support outfits they give their Dark Lords when they are critically injured:



Deceived introduces us to Malgus and one of the major early attempts of the Sith to destroy the Jedi. And, based on what I read, the universe of Star Wars was only a few swings of a lightsaber away from having no Jedi left way before we got to the more recent canon stories!

3.5 Stars

I liked it, but I was not particularly riveted by it. I think it was a very interesting history of the Sith, Jedi, and the planet Coruscant. Because of this I am very glad I read it. It also feels like it is setting up some future events, and that is pretty cool as well. Seems like it may be more of a book for the Star Wars completest (which is what I am going for) and not necessarily the casual fan.

So, hardcore Star Wars fans – go for it! People who have seen a couple of movies but think it might be cool to check out some Star Wars literature – proceed with caution.

And, as some of you may have seen – I read this on Kindle and it finished at 66%! So, if you are reading Star Wars books on Kindle, be prepared for a lot of extras at the end that are not part of the book!

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Be true to yourself"

In light of the quote I've chosen for this review, I will be brutally honest (though, that is really no different than I am any other time I write a review). This book was LIGHT-YEARS better than Fatal Alliance. Despite that, I had some issues. But first, a summary of sorts.

NOTE: I received this ARC through the Amazon Vine program.

Zeerid "Z-Man" is an ex-soldier now gun-runner. He does this to supply his paralyzed daughter (actually she doesn't even HAVE legs, so she really isn't paralyzed, is she?) with the basics, in the hopes that someday he can get her real legs. He has been given a dangerous assignment: evade the Sith blockade of Coruscant to deliver spice. On the way, he meets renegade (of course) Jedi, Aryn Leneer, who is out for...wait for it...REVENGE!!

Okay, so, let me say, after reading Fatal Alliance, I wanted to leave Star Wars books far behind. But I am an Admin of a Star Wars book club and the next book on the list was "Deceived", so I had to read it (well, I am sure I coulda found a way to cop out, but that would be a little Sithy of me, don't you think?). Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Unfortunately, it could have been MUCH better.

My favorite character was, oddly enough, Zeerid. I was shocked when I figured this out, because Zeerid and his story has been told SO many times, I'll bet an 8 year-old would know the archetype. I don't know how Kemp did it, but he made me involved in Zeerid's story, interested in his outcome, and cheering for him to make it out in the end. Even if he was an ex-soldier with a crippled 7 year old girl who lives in a crappy apartment with her impoverished, overworked aunt. (By the way, the ex-soldier bit in this story works MUCH better than the ex-soldier in Fatal Alliance--instead of making his departure from the military another "The Man did me wrong, boo hoo", he leaves because of his *gasp* family!) I found myself reading his sections quickly, desperate to find out how he survives. As I read, I was also reminded of Lorn Pavan in Michael Reaves' Star Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter: both are competent men who don't have to resort to using the Force or wearing a bucket on their heads to be 100% awesome.

I wish I could say I was as fond of the other characters as I was of Zeerid, but I wasn't. Malgus had some interesting conflicts and on one hand, I liked his relationship with Eleea, but let's face it: Malgus is your typical Sith baddie. He spouts rhetoric about "Anger" and "getting rid of peace", like all good Sith. Eleena is a plot device, or what I've seen called in other places as a "Plot Moppet". She is wise, wonderful, caring, blind to Malgus' abuse, spouts all the right stuff at all the right times...and serves only to create conflict and results in others. There is no nuance in her character whatsoever. She has no desires, no ambitions, no likes, no dislikes. All she is is a sexy female Twi'Lek (because what female Twi'Lek isn't?) whose sole purpose is to make a reaction in the other characters or to be a weakness to other characters. This resulted in my not caring what happened to her, and hoping desperately that she would get a point of view scene that would show her completely different from what the Malgus' sections showed her to be (they didn't).

Representing the Jedi is the stereotypical hero-turned-Dark Sider (at least for 2.8 seconds before realizing that, d'oh, maybe revenge ISN'T what your master would have wanted), Aryn Leneer. While she is WAY more interesting than what's his face from--you guessed it!--Fatal Alliance, her character has been done to death. Kemp really does try to bring some conflict to her, tries to make it different (I liked the subtle romance between Aryn and Zeerid, I liked how Aryn was a woman--and not just a cliched female--and yet had a decent story arc), and I admire his attempt, but it didn't work for me. Aryn is just another Jedi who, when a loved one dies, immediately goes out for REVENGE. The results are lackluster, as always.

Rounding out the cast is Vrath Xizor, a mercenary on the tail of Zeerid. He certainly isn't bad--I really liked the fight scene between him and Zeerid, in which both are equally skilled--but other than that, nothing about him stands out hugely. I was surprised at his outcome, however.

The writing was so much better than that other book I keep mentioning in this review. I think I literally sighed with relief after reading the first page. It was descriptive, beautiful, without being too frilly. In places, sometimes Kemp's writing tended to slow the action to a halt, but other times, it gave a great idea of the destruction of the temple or an amazing fight scene in the cargo hold of a drop ship.

I did receive this as an ARC through the Amazon Vine program; I am desperately hoping that this goes through a final stage of editing, because, gorrammit, there are a ton of errors in here. From wrong word choices to incorrect grammar to using the wrong character, there were so many errors, I almost wanted to grab a red pen and give Kemp and his editor a hand.

And now, for my favorite section and yours...the newly debuted, Nerd Nitpicks!!

1. Zeerid spends 87 THOUSAND CREDITS on a hover-chair. This is MORE THAN A VEHICLE (at least on earth). It is more than what Han Solo demands as payment for transport to Alderaan (10,000) and it's more than what Obi-Wan promises Han for the same trip (17,000). It is also barely more than the JK unit from The Cestus Deception. And yet Yoda has one in the prequels. How much IS the average income of these people? Isn't this a hugely bloated figure? Why does a hoverchair cost more than a trip to Alderaan or a JK unit (weapon of war)? If HOVERCHAIRS cost this much, why is Yoda being such a scum bag and zipping along on one in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith? He's wasting good money that could have been used freeing Anakin's mother from slavery!!!

2. I do not believe, in my wildest nightmares, that you can get from Ord Mantell to Vultar to Coruscant in ONE DAY. I just don't believe it. This whole book should have taken a WEEK or MORE, not a whopping TWO DAYS. RIDICULOUS! And, might I add, this is supposedly OLD technology...that means that during the days of the Death Star, Luke and Ben should have been at Alderaan before they left Tatooine!!

3. Speaking of the whole "days of old" thing...this doesn't feel, in the slightest, like a story 3000 years before Luke is born. Coruscant is built to the same extreme levels; space travel is the same (no, wait, faster...); technology is apparently the same (prosthetic legs).

4. With the exception of ONE character, the ENTIRE Character List is human. This is a pet peeve of mine about SW EU; in the movies, we see all these aliens in the cantina, have all these aliens encounters in the prequels, and then in the books, all the main characters are human. It gets so bad, that I wonder what the point of having them in a galaxy far, far away is. Just make it Earth in the year 3000, and the story might be the exact same.

5. Why the kriff put Ven Zallow in the Character List when he is going to be dead for 75% of the novel? Here is this character that is very interesting, and he dies within the first 50 pages. Hopefully, a book will come out about his exploits before being skewered.

And thank you for joining us for yet another...Nerd Nitpicks!

Honestly, when I started reading these Old Republic tie-in books, I wasn't very excited. I am not a big fan of this era, I don't really care for how everything is almost exactly like the classic trilogy with the inclusion of Sith and Mandalorians, and I just don't care for the video games that much (and to answer your question: No, I've never played KotOR, I can't get it to run on my stupid Vista system). After reading The Book That Shall Not Be Named, it seemed like my suspicions had been confirmed.

Kemp's "Deceived", however, busted those suspicions. I'm not saying this is perfect--it has flaws up the whazoo--but I found parts that I enjoyed and Kemp was a decent writer. If you are interested in this era or are playing the TOR MMORPG, check it out. All others, well, check out if it sounds interesting, but don't feel bad if you pass it over.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best "Star Wars" novel since "Darth Bane - Path of Destruction", "Deceived" introduces us to the charismatic Dark Lord known as Darth Malgus, the man, who we saw to destroy the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in a stunning cinematic trailer last year. With that destruction, the story begins and author Paul S. Kemp did a solid job to portray the breathtaking battles between Jedi and Sith, including the fateful duel between Darth Malgus and a brave, handsome Jedi Master. The invasion was a success and it should have been the moment of Malgus' greatest triumph. Instead of that, the Sith Empire and the Republic continue to negotiate for peace, something which is heretical to Malgus, a purist in his belief in the dark side. Adraas, a Sith Lord, who is his rival for influence, is conspiring with the powerful Darth Angral, as they want political power. Malgus, on the other hand, wants to see how the galaxy burns. Yet he has a fatal weakness - a woman, a Twi'lek slave, who he saved years ago. Who he loves deeply, and this makes him vulnerable.
In the same time, we meet Aryn, the Jedi Padawan of the Master, slayed by Darth Malgus. She is maddened with grief and wants vengeance. And to get it, she will leave the Order and everything in which she believed, to ally with a pilot, who bears drugs... in order to buy a better life for his daughter.
These are the characters in "Deceived" - deep, complex, imperfect in their good... or evil. They are not grey, as in some other stories, yet Kemp manages to make us see the good in the bad guys... the bad in the good. He faces his characters with tough choices, in which all answers are sometimes wrong. I have liked his previous novel, "Crosscurrent", but here he does much, much better. I hope that he will continue to write more stories about "The Old Republic", the epilogue certainly leaves an opened door.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

As this is only the fourth event on the ‘Legends’ timeline and the second to feature characters from the computer games, I’m still finding myself in unfamiliar ground.

This fast paced adventure gave me another snapshot of The Old Republic having jumped just over 300 years since the events of Revan.

Both Aryan and Darth Malgus were both really interesting characters, throw in lightsabers and the usual Jedi and Sith conflicts - I felt I was treading familiar ground.

It was an enjoyable entry in the series.

[John McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid three Star Wars entertainment. 👌

[Tiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read more reviews @ The Bibliosanctum

Narrator: Marc Thompson | Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Random House Audio (March 22, 2011) | Whispersync Ready: Yes

This book was much less heavy handed than Fatal Alliance with making obvious nods toward things in the game, but this story does focus heavily on characters from the game such as Darth Malgus, Eleena, and the female Mandalorian, Shae Vizla. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t chuckle a little when they introduced Lord Baras, a Darth my lighside Sith marauder has a long and storied history with in game. Yeah, you read that right. Lightside Sith, which shamed my husband for a whole mess of reasons. I deal in the incongruous even in my games. Not all her lightside choices have actually been that “good,” and she may have her own motives for going against the grain. She is a Sith after all, but I digress.

This book took things, even power moves we know from the games, and weaved it in much better than Fatal Alliance. It was fun naming the in-game moves used just by the description in action scenes. Some of the relationships mirror similar relationships in the game that the player’s character can have with their companions. Scenes from the cinematic trailer for the game show up here described in all their glorious details. It was pretty awesome and one of my favorites from the game to date. It was fun to get the blow by blow of one of my favorite fights from the trailer.
However, none of this was done in a way that would alienate readers who haven’t played the game (or those who started the game after that particular cinematic was no longer used to open the game), but it’s a nice nod for those of us who have played.

Aryn and Malgus offered an interesting dichotomy of each other as Aryn rebels against Jedi “nonattachment” and Malgus struggles with his passionate feelings that don’t serve his purpose. Ironically, despite differing beliefs, there is that one moment they can meet in the middle and admit that they’re disillusioned by the respective Orders.

This conflict with both Aryn and Malgus presented a compelling story, especially where Aryn was concerned. Readers are pretty used to Sith drawing on emotion, especially rage, so it was nice to see this delving into how some Jedi might really feel about this “Jedi nonattachment.” The exploration of Aryn realizing that emotions and emotional attachments were important to her really was fascinating, and while Malgus can come off as typical Sith, his struggles with the softer emotions he feels add a new layer to an old story. In this respect, there’s a bit of a romantic plot/subplot going on in this book that manages not to suffocate the story and adds to Malgus’ conflict with himself and emotions most notably, and I enjoyed this exploration of conflicting emotions in a Sith and a Jedi took center stage rather than trying to quell them. This presents them as human despite vows they’ve taken for their respective orders instead of making it easy for them to overcome emotions that make them “weak” and “vulnerable.”

I think it goes without saying that Marc Thompson did an excellent job with the narration as usual. I won’t rehash all his virtues since I think I pretty much exhausted that in my review of Fatal Alliance. What I really appreciated with this book is that it did better with the background ambiance. Where I sometimes had a hard time hearing Thompson over the din in the last novel, which is a common complaint I have about many full production books even though I enjoy the added touch, I can’t say that I had that issue with this book.

The story had more depth to it, and the action scenes were choreographed well with words. Yeah, this story still has its corny scenarios, cheesy dialogue, and contrived plot points like the last novel, but overall, this was a stronger, better crafted novel than Fatal Alliance.

[Terrible Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gritty, dark, real with a loving Sith - what's going on?"

It would be nice to read a Star Wars novel that didn't either; tie in with the movies or games. Having played The Old Republic MMORPG at launch, I get this story. It really does two things, introduces the different types of classes to the reader/gamer (aka - Trooper, bounty hunter, Sith warrior, scoundrel etc) and also the main characters in the game. That being, Darth Malgus (Sith warrior), the Emperor, Satale Shan (Jedi Master) etc etc. From a literacy point of view, it must have been difficult to be creative and bring your own twist to such a novel, when you are hamstringed by the lore, canon and beyond that, a game. Having said that, Deceived ties in well with one of the trailers that was released before came out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4iL5u...). The beginning is rather explosive. From then on however, the novel fades to smaller embers of that explosiveness.

This is one of four novels that represent the era of The Old Republic and the second I've read (the first being Raven). This was the first to come out in the series and possibly the most difficult to get into. Darth Malgus is so far removed from being the standard 'bad arse' Sith. He loves to much and doubts himself (much like Darth Scrouge from Revan which I've mentioned in that review). I'm not sure if there was a conscious effort to try and portray a different archetypal Sith, but it seems a trend that runs through this series.

The main story is centred around a Jedi Knight, called Arrya, who thirsts for revenge against Darth Malgus (I've not given anything away from the story itself, see the trailer copied and pasted above). It's rather amusing to seeing a 'caring' Sith and a bloodthirsty Jedi. A trend which seems to be fairly A-typical lately "let's go full-circle" sorta-thing. Then you've got Malgus hunger for power and conflict within his own order, something not unusual when a Sith. What didn't sit too well with me was his battle with his perceived weakness; love for someone else. Why would a Darth so openly show his weakness to his fellow Sith, especially in battle? Why show a weaken side of yourself for other to exploit? It didn't feel right to me, and felt very convoluted when Malgus's story progressed with his obsession with Eleena throughout the prose.

The final player in the 3-pronged tale is a very stereotypical-Star-War-y smuggler. A rogue, a spice runner and a nice guy. Hmm. It was a nice touch to see how he was with his daughter, but other than that - the usual lustful awkwardness with Arrya was rather amusing and clumsily handled in my opinion.

I've spent my time revealing my difficulty with the three-dimensional characters and potential issues with the 'isms' of those characters. What I enjoyed; well Malgus does have his moments "I just want to watch the world burn" when referring to the sacking of Coruscent. His easy dismal of his peers amused me - his directness, avoiding politics and subtleties and just coming out with what he wished to say - which was a good foil for some of his, detractors within the Sith order of hierarchy. Z-man (aka the smuggler) touching moments with his handicapped daughter showed a different persona from the generic character, which was a joy to read. The gritty environment almost made me feel dirty, Malgus with his clear distaste of anyone, Arrya wishing harm on other's and Z-man being a drug runner; it made me feel dirty, DIRTY!

This was a fairly good introduction into The Old Republic series of novels. Sadly it looks like there won't be any more in the future after the first four, as the game has flopped. There is such rich potential here for future content. After all The Knights of the Old Republic really started the pre-Skywalker era. Give it a try if you're interested in a different feel to the Star Wars universe.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, look I apologize to the friend here who wanted me to read these. AND I apologize to all the fans of the Star Wars book franchise. I get it that you like these and I guess T can see why. I have a soft spot for what are usually called "men's action books". Total brain candy.

I'm about to say why I don't care much for these but I wanted to say first that I get why many love them and I'm not questioning your taste. I'm saying everyone's taste is different and these just don't appeal to me.

In the end here I skimmed to the end of the book, wrote the end off and don't plan to read the third in this series.

I give it 2 stars...barely.


Okay..criticisms coming so if you don't want to read them you might want to stop here.


Back in 1977 I saw Star Wars. In 1978 I read a book called Splinter of the Mind's Eye. You see Alan Dean Foster had been contracted to write 2 novels. One was the novelization of the film and the other was to be a novel that could be used as the outline of a low budget sequel in case Star Wars bombed.

In case you have been under a rock for the last (almost) 40 years Star Wars did not bomb...

But had already been published, though it was scrapped as the outline for a new movie and a "somewhat" higher budget alternative took it's place.

The book itself was not all that was scrapped. In the book Luke is striking back with the force as an aggressive weapon. There are force fights so to speak. In the films we would learn that this is the DARK SIDE. In the book the "MacGuffin" is a crystal which is a "force amplifier". Lucas decided to make the force a more mysterious almost ethereal...well force.


Now lets look at the original 3 films (in my opinion the only ones worth seeing. I am reserving judgement on the new one[s] of course.) Lucas set them up based on a loose model of the old movie serials that people would go to see at the Saturday movies. Flash Gorden, Captain America, Buck Rogers, The Black Claw and others. We began at EPISODE 4.

And everyone made millions (and millions) of dollars.

Then GL decided to go back and do the first 3 episodes...which were frankly a...well let us be generous and say a disappointment. There were some huge problems (I've mentioned Jar Jar elsewhere) but then there was the change in the "understanding" of the Force.

He decided to/came up with "Midichlorians"...in my opinion probably one of the biggest screw ups in cinema history.

Star Wars is (in spite of frantic and furious arguments to the contrary) fantasy, possibly science fantasy, but fantasy all the same.

We have a warrior princess kidnapped by an evil Warlord who has a powerful evil sorcerer in his service. They are challenged by a young hero with a magic sword who in instructed by an old wizard (wise man) who has "served good" for many years and seen the old "good kingdom" (Republic) fall. A rogue and a muscular fighter join him in his "quest". The young man's heritage is revealed and eventually he and his "band" must overthrow the "evil emperor".

The attempted building of a complete history and prehistory coupled with the attempts to make the mythology more "science fiction" than "science fantasy" has (every time I've tried to get into it" left me cold. I just find that FOR ME that's FOR ME it does not work.

So if you like it enjoy. I think I've made my last foray into the Star Wars books...

Just me I assure you.

Oh by the way...I really like the Babylon 5 novels.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We first met him in a Star Wars: The Old Republic game trailer — the mysterious masked Sith that brought down the Jedi Temple during the sacking of Coruscant. Darth Malgus, dark lord of the Sith, was the one who led this brutal assault and cut down countless Jedi on their own sacred ground. Now he is one of the main characters in Deceived, the second book in the SWTOR series by Paul S. Kemp, which tells the story of the attack as well as the calamitous events which came afterward.

On the surface, Deceived might just be another novel based on a video game, but after reading it, I admit the quality of the storytelling took me by surprise. Even as Star Wars novels go, I have to say it is better than most. Granted, it is still your standard Star Wars fare — you have your archtypal tale about a Jedi and her comrade pitted against a Sith Warrior and the dark side and such. But still, it was refreshing to read a game book for once and get the sense that the author is actually more interested in telling a good story rather than trying to write a blatant MMO marketing piece that attempts to showcase every single player class and their abilities (which, incidentally, was my main complaint about the first SWTOR book).

That is not to say Deceived is completely devoid of references to the upcoming MMO, just that I feel they are much less pronounced. In fact, in true BioWare fashion, what I think the book attempts to do is to set the stage for the type of light-side/dark-side interactions we can expect to see in TOR. Deceived does this by delving deeper into character motivations and ambitions, and treading the line of morality.

Instead of hobbling the story, the addition of this interplay actually made things better. Subsequently, I felt the characters of Deceived were more fleshed out than I would have expected from a video game tie-in or Star Wars novel, because of the personal reasons and internal conflicts that drive them. The angry and hate-filled Darth Malgus, for example, may surprise you with his tenderness towards the woman he loves. Similarly, the Jedi protagonist Aryn Leneer has her own reasons for turning her back on the Order and going rogue. The reader will also find the smuggler Zeerid struggle to make some difficult decisions, in the name of keeping his family safe.

As such, even though this book can be read as a standalone novel, if I have to relate it back to SWTOR, I want to say Deceived prepares us for the kind of moral dilemmas and questionable choices and we will no doubt face in-game. In the context of the novel, however, this also serves to provide in-depth characterizations for the heroes and villains, and helps readers connect to characters who are otherwise new to the Star Wars expanded universe and are thus relatively still unknown. It’s a win-win situation, really.

There were a few things that annoyed me about Deceived, and I feel I need to mention them. One of them pertains to Darth Malgus, who was the one I was most looking forward to reading about, but unfortunately he also turned out to be the weakest character for me. I felt that his evilness, anger, hate, and all that lust for destruction and melodrama was just a tad over-exaggerated, making him just another broody Sith Lord in the Star Wars line-up, overshadowing what depth he could have had. Aryn and Zeerid, on the other hand, were much more interesting to me.

The book also changes points-of-view very frequently, bouncing around, sometimes only after just a few paragraphs at a time. Word of warning, it can get taxing if you are unused to that. Thankfully, there are blessedly few subplots in this novel, which made the constant shifts bearable. I liked how the storyline in Deceived has a clear focus, and Kemp follows through with it very well.

I would recommend this book to fans of Star Wars, fans who are looking forward to the MMORPG, and even those who are just looking for a quick but fun video game-related read. If you enjoy scenes of lightsaber combat and space encounters, you will not be disappointed — in fact, you can even expect to read about the Sith attack on the Jedi Temple in all its glorious detail and appreciate it anew. However, there is also more to Deceived than just constant action; there is also a deeper poignancy and intensity behind the events that I honestly didn’t think I would find in a Star Wars game novel. Perhaps other readers will be pleasantly surprised as well.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Altogether good. Ending feels incomplete.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Video game afficionadoes ("gamers" as they like to call themselves) talk lovingly about a video game called "The Knights of the Old Republic", based on George Lucas's Star Wars franchise. I have never played it, know nothing about it other than it exists, and I will most likely never play it as i do not play video games. The setting is roughly 200 years before the events of the first "Star Wars" film. I read the first in the "Old Republic" series, a book called "Revan", based on a popular character in the video game. I was not impressed. I was, actually, extremely disappointed with that one.

So, you may be asking why, if I found the first in the series to be less-than-stellar, I would choose to read the second, my answer would be three-fold: 1) I am always willing to give anyone or anything a second chance, especially book series. 2) This second novel, "Deceived" is NOT written by the same author as the first. In this one, Paul S. Kemp mans the literary helm. 3) It's a "Star Wars" book. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything "Star Wars".

I'm actually glad I gave this series a second chance because I liked the second book much better. It's better written, for one. (Not by much, to be completely honest, but immensely more readable than the first.) It's also a stand-alone, so there is no need to read the first one, nor is there a need to actually read the third. "Deceived" is its own beginning, middle, and end.

The plot involves three main characters, all of whom are pretty prototypical characters for a "Star Wars" novel:

*Zeerid Korr: a smuggler working for gangsters, rugged and deadly when he has to be but, deep down, he's a soft touch. (Sound familiar?) His motivation is his young daughter, being cared for by his sister. Their lives are being kept secret because he knows that his ruthless employers would use them as leverage against him. He wants out of the smuggling trade, but he knows he could never find another (legitimate) job that pays as well.

*Darth Malgus: a Sith Lord who gleefully envisions the destruction of all Jedi Knights. He leads a full-frontal assault on the planet Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, and specifically against the Jedi Temple. His attack is a success, but a contingent of other Sith Lords wants to negotiate peace with the Jedis. Malgus just wants endless war.

*Aryn Leneer: a Jedi Knight away on Alderaan for peace negotiations. She senses a disturbance in the Force when her Jedi Master Ven Zallow is killed by Malgus. Against all her Jedi training, she rushes back to Coruscant to avenge his death.

Within the "Star Wars" universe, this has probably all been done before, but for geek fans like myself, it never gets old.

[TheGeeksAttic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Paul S. Kemp.
This novel is the fourth event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale takes place during the Old Republic Era, it also counts as book two in The Old Republic series. It takes place 3,653 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY: A war has been raging between the Sith Empire and the Republic. In this tale, the two factions sit on opposite sides of a table to negotiate a peace deal. While the peace negotiations are taking place; Sith Lord Darth Malgus, his companion Eleena, and a Mandalorian, spring a surprise attack on the Jedi Temple on the Republic world of Coruscant.

A Jedi knight feels the disturbance in the force and will do anything it takes to get back to Coruscant to avenge the attack on her fellow Jedi.

CHARACTERS: There are many great characters I’d like to mention, but I’m only going to talk about two, Darth Malgus and Aryn Leneer. An honorable mention goes to Zeerid Korr.

Darth Malgus: He’s s an absolute beast. He’s one angry Sith. This guy is so full of hate! His desire for conflict is his driving force, the thought of peace drives him deeper into madness. Looking at the cover of the book, he looks like pure evil, intimidating to all in his path. Malgus has one weakness and with a slip up in battle, exposes it to his foes.

Aryn Leneer: She’s a Jedi with empathic force abilities. She is powerful in the force, feeling what others cannot. While the galaxy she knows begins to crumble, her will does not allow her to sit idly by and wait for a solution as her peers do. She comes to a fork in the Jedi road, one that leads to light… the other to darkness.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Paul S. Kemp is such a good high intensity writer. I really enjoyed reading this novel. I think it’s important I mention that there is a whole other storyline that takes place in the book that I didn’t mention in the summary, not because it’s bad, but because I don’t want to give you all the information.

For me, it’s rare to sit at the edge of my seat while reading a book. The first few chapters were so intense. I couldn’t peel my eyes from the words. The character development was excellent. The chemistry between all characters was fluid. I really hope to come across these characters again somewhere in The Old Republic timeline… but I doubt it.

Darth Malgus is so disturbingly awesome. I can’t think of anything negative to say about this book. I loved every page of it.

Do I recommend that you read Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived? Absolutely. Buy it now. Read it now.

RATING: I give this book an A+. It was fast paced, surprising, and just so cool. I have nothing negative to say about the book.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audiobooks are worth the time and effort to obtain. I'm not sure I could read these, but the "listen" is so worthwhile. I can't say enough good things about the audios.

I prefer the original cast of Star Wars characters (which they weren't in this series), but I still enjoyed this one for one main reason. I liked the relationships and the way they were developed. One was sweet, but it also had a certain authenticity to them that I could believe.

I can't recommend the audios enough. So 4 stars.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Star Wars book that takes place during the Old Republic days. I enjoyed this book. The fight scenes were described well. The author did a good job capturing what you would expect from a Star Wars novel. Lightsaber duels, evil villians, and good guys trying to thwart those villians. My only complaint was the conclusion to the final duel. I did not care for that. Besides that, this is a good Star Wars EU book.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a ride..

This is a story about revenge pretty much, but also about loss.

Great story, and for the life of me I'm trying to remember any boring parts about it and I can't. It really was good and you really get to know Darth Malgus and how evil he can be and how sad and tragic his life was and how you sometimes can feel sad for him but then he does something and you take it right back.

Great story, with nice character development, and even though Veradun is the main character here, the Jedi (Aryn) in this story was interesting too, even though I didn't care much about her or what was gonna happen at the end, maybe because she was focused on one thing throughout the whole book.

The smuggler (Zeerid) was more fun to read but whenever you'd read about him or Aryn or anyone really, the pages that would focus just on Malgus were so good that no matter what you're reading about anyone else, you just want to go right back on Malgus' story.

And I have to say, you're getting prepared by the author throughout the book after you finally get what the final mission/quest or choice fo path of every character is, you get a sense of what's going to happen that's either this or that at the end, but.. it goes completely the other way around, and you thought there was no other way around. And that was shocking to me.

I really liked this one as you can tell, and if you're a Star Wars fan then I highly recommend this one!

Oh, BEFORE you read this, or after you read the first chapter, you HAVE to watch the cinematic video 'Deceived' on YouTube. It pretty much paints the picture of how the story starts.

[† Fangue † · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall good story. Typical good vs evil scenario with lightsabers. I guess you can say it was a surprise ending because none of the main characters died, but I was left wanting in the end. The tales of the 3 main characters were wrapped up haphazardly and felt forced to me. Easily could have added a 100 or so more pages. As I am beginning my journey into the expanded universe in chronological order, I am noticing the lack of action. This is the era of the Old Republic and the power of the Sith. There should be unbridled power and destruction. An unrelenting fist crushing its foes at every turn. Using tactics like peace negotiations as a diversion tactic and ultimately suing for peace at the end was disappointing. I still have 3 more books to go in the Old Republic era but so far, the Darth Bane trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn is leagues above these other reads. I have to give it 4 because the story flows well and it is about the Sith, which are far more intriguing than their light side counterparts.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest Star Wars novels I've read.

[Art the Turtle of Amazing Girth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the old republic stories but this was one that could have spanned eras

good jedi-sith interactions
and as usual, a non-force character right in the thick of things holding their own

[Sirri .M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking, however "Decieved"
By Paul S. kemp is a clash of blades and ideals done right, a Revenge Story within the old Republic that does everything that it's supposed to do.

I didn't exactly adore Kemp's method of constant and quick PoV switching throughout the novel, however his extremely detailed and comprehensive Worldbuilding and rather elaborate descriptions of all the areas this Novels takes place in, was brilliant.

Kemp also really nailed the fierce ideological Clash between Jedi and Sith here.

Definitely recommend Decieved by Paul S. kemp.

[Lois Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time really staying in this story because when it started, it felt like it was the continuation of another book or something like that. Probably just me. But still, it was a good look at a time where the sith are known, and there are a lot of them, and not just the hidden master and apprentice, two and only two, as we are more familiar with.

[Cal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning more about Malgus. Well written story, good description allowing Old Republic lore to leap off the page. Would recommend to anyone who hasn’t delved into the Malgus story.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started this book I thought about giving it two stars, but something changed.

Let me start off with the things that I disliked. Some might seem like I'm nitpicking, but hey! it's my review. ;)

I felt like the first couple chapters were terrible. They didn't get me interested in the story and the battle scenes were awful. I started this book in July, got to page 28 and then just stopped until I picked it back up again as a part of my New Year's Resolution. That was pretty much the only thing pushing me. It took me a whole week to get to the part where I actually started to enjoy it. That was pretty much my main gripe about this book. Also, what kind of nickname is Z-man? That bothered me so much. While I was reading I was thinking, "Maybe I should pretend I read the rest and just give it two stars". Obviously I ran across some things that made me change my mind and add a star.

My mind first changed when in Chapter 5 Zeerid sees his daughter in the park. Some emotions started rolling over me, and my throat started to get tight. This also happened when later in the book they ran into T7 and it gives Aryn Zallow's lightsaber. I'm not someone who normally gets emotional, so that's definently going to bring my rating up.

Also, later on in the book I started to love some of the characters. You couldn't just say, "Oh, he's just another Sith Lord, or Oh, she's just another Jedi". They differentiated from the pack, and that really made their stories interesting.

But the whole way through, I was definently rooting for Zeerid. I wanted to see him make his daughter proud.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both Aryan and Darth Malgus were both really interesting characters. I didn't care for Zerrid. However, I loved seeing The Fall of the Republic and the destruction of the temple

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sort of book I enjoy while I am reading and then forget about it after. I began reading Star Wars books when they first started to come out. And than got away from it because they followed a track of moving further and further away from what the original movies were. And than the prequels came out and I realized how much more wrong those books were than I even thought. Since playing the video game Knights of the Old Republic however I have found this is by far my favorite time period of the Star Wars universe. Even though this book takes place long after that game does. I keep hoping for a Star Wars Old Republic book that includes characters from the game but I'll take what I can get.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the Old Republic. I particularly like when sources (books, games, etc.) are able to flesh out the Sith philosophy into something intelligible and relatively coherent, and to show the unique variations among its practitioners, including the pain they inflict on themselves; this book does that well.

[EdwinB_D2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being one of the most fearsome warriors of the Sith, Darth Malgus has proceeded to cripple the Republic and to eliminate his sworn enemy. However, suddenly finding himself in an unlucky position for the political crisis to come, Malgus goes on to fix things his own way. You would like this book if you like Star Wars and Fantasy.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this book took a little while to draw me in, honestly. Once everything had been laid out, however, it was excellent. That twist at the end really shocked me and was one of the most exhilarating moments I've encountered in a book. The characters and the drama are all so incredibly well-written, too. Fantastic work.

[Nathan Farrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story and the narrating is top tier. The sound effects and different voices for each character really makes you feel so involved in the story it’s hard to stop listening. Would recommend 10/10

[Max Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was honestly great. Intertwining stories, lengthy descriptions, great action but great emotion. I am happy with how the story went - this being quite important with characters you like in a big big universe.