Book Review: Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader

 

This was a novel put out before the Disney-Lucasfilm collaboration so, it was relegated to Legends status. It is a novel that really retells Anakin/Vader's life through his own eyes, so much of what is told (things that were seen in the movies) are still a part of the official canon. However, some of the inner monologue material and things presented from a slightly different perspective are not. Much of that has been replaced by the Vader comic series that chronicles his life after the battle of Mustafar and being put in the suit.

As others have mentioned, the book does rehash a lot of the "old" or already known material. But, that is not to say that there is nothing new in the book. We get a lot of what Anakin or Vader was actually thinking during the events, which were not always things that were in the movies. So, it is disingenuous to say that there is nothing new in it. That said, it is not going to be a book that will appeal to everyone. While I would not necessarily put it in the category of a must-read, for die-hard fans I do think it is worth checking out.