(Graphic Novel with art by Brian Ching and Travel Foreman)

The first book of the KOTOR series is set amid the Mandalorian Wars, eight years before the start of the popular 'Knights of the Old Republic' computer game.  The story focuses on Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick, who is failing his training.  His luck turns worse when he finds his fellow Padawans murdered by their own Masters and is then blamed for the crime himself.  He flees into the underworld of the planet Taris and finds an unlikely ally in the criminal Gryph.  The book follows the fugitives as they attempt to avoid capture and discover the reasons behind the murders of the other Padawans.  This is a very interesting story and is made all the better by the truth of why five Jedi Masters felt they had to kill their students, showing the confusion and fear sown by war and the dark side.  Ultimately, though, I was a bit disappointed by this book.  It fails to capitalise on the potential of the Mandalorian Wars and doesn't make enough of it's connections to the KotoR games.  Fair enough, they writers have to save something up for the rest of the series, but I still felt disappointed.  Not played the computer games?  Then you're better off reading the 'Tales of the Jedi' series if you're after stories of the ancient Republic.

4 out of 5

 

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic - Flashpoint

(Graphic Novel with art by Dustin Weaver, Brian Ching and Harvey Tolibao)

The second book of the KOTOR series features the continuing adventures of fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick and his friends Gryph, Jarael and Camper.  There are three story threads presented to us here and the first features the crew of the Last Resort being caught on a planet as the Mandalorians invade.  They are then forced into an alliance with Mandalorian warrior Rohlan Dyre, who is as much a fugitive as they are.  Now, ever since Boba Fett first appeared, Mandalorians have been cool.  With the recent expansion of their culture in Star Wars literature, they make for really good antagonists and that is very much the case here.  The second story thread follows Jedi Master Lucien Draay and reveals some more of the mysterious Jedi Covenant who are pledged to prevent the return of the Sith regardless of the cost in lives.  The final part of the book shows how Zayne and his friends try to lay their hands on Gryph's ill-gotten gains, but instead come face to face with two bounty hunters and someone from the failed Padawan's past.  This book contains what it's predecessor lacked; good use of the Mandalorian Wars and stronger connections to the KOTOR games.  The best element of this book?  Well, it's the fact that Miller keeps throwing up hints and red herrings about which of the characters is likely to go Sith.  Here we're presented with possible candidates for Revan, Malak, Traya and Sion.  My favourite bit is where a cloaked individual (likely a pre-Sith Revan) is repremanded for proactivity by the Jedi Council and then later one of the members of the Covenant says "A Sith Lord could walk right in front of the Council and they'd lecture him about neutrality!".

5 out of 5

 

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic - Days Of Fear, Nights Of Anger

(Graphic Novel with art by Dustin Weaver, Brian Ching and Harvey Tolibao)

The third book of the series begins with the main characters going their separate ways.  We then follow Zayne and Gryph as they seek their fortunes as restauranteurs on a planet called Serroco.  But when Zayne has a vision about the impending Mandalorian attack he is forced to place himself in the hands of the Republic Navy.  The second half of the book focuses on Jarael and Camper as they return to their homeworld, Arkania, and become embroiled in the plots of Lord Arkoh Adasca.  This book has certain flaws, which heavily affect it's enjoyability.  The most obvious is that it raises a great number of questions but answers very few of them, even ending on something of a cliffhanger.  The one that frustrated me the most was regarding Rohlan's reappearance; we're given enough to fill in some of the gaps, but we never learn (here at least) the truth.  I know that these issues are because this is part of an ongoing series, but the fact that it doesn't stand alone is annoying (considering how long I have to wait for the next one - and that's before Dark Horse's constant delays!).  However, those specific issues aside, this book is a nice little read.  Fans of the KOTOR games will be especially pleased to see the likes of Admiral Karath and Carth Onasi.

4 out of 5

Then check out the graphic novels of Kevin J. Anderson and Tom Veitch (I also highly recommend the 'Knights of the Old Republic' computer games).

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