Some thots while reading:"Kut Rate Kruise Lines" was hilariously funny to me, especially when describing how the company determines if a converted cargo ship or used passenger liner is safe for space travel.I get it that Yoda hates droids. I also get it that it might have seemed like a good idea [i.e. - funny] to have Yoda masquerading as an Artoo unit, but enough's enough! When is it going to end?!?More thots:"When you look at the dark side, careful you must be, for the dark side looks back." Funny. Never knew Nietzsche was a secret Jedi ;) not really, but nice philosophical tie-in]Final thots:Interesting book. It delved more into the 'why's of being a Jedi; more philosophical in nature than action-packed. It has some battle scenes, but the book seems to be more about people talking and pondering the why's and wherefores of being a Jedi versus a Sith. The book seemed to slow down in the middle while Yoda and Co. were enroute to Vjun to meet Count Dooku. I especially liked the confrontation between Yoda and Dooku; completely expected results there were.Plot: Dooku sends a message to Yoda after pummeling and nearly killing a Jedi Knight [via his pet Sith-assassin]. Desiring a peaceful ending to the war, which has already claimed untold millions of lives and is tearing the galaxy apart, Yoda agrees to Dooku's terms to meet him. But the question remains: how to secretly get Yoda off-planet? He is the Grand Master of the Jedi Council and well-known, much-beloved figure, after all. Meanwhile, two Padawans [Scout and Whie] compete in a tournament to test the abilities of students and determine if they move to the next stop of being Jedi Knights or are banished to the Agricultural Section of the Temple. Despite all odds, Scout wins despite injuries suffered in the tournament; she and Whie are assigned to accompany two full-blown Jedi Knights traveling undercover with Yoda to meet Dooku. As they group departs the Temple, they are observed by two droids [essentially 'twin's but each having had very different lifestyles] who follow the group along their journey. There are ambushes, mayhem, the two Jedi Knights die, and Yoda gets to spout off various words of wisdom and insight in that humorous speech pattern of his. Scout comes up with the decoy to fool the general public about Yoda's leaving the temple; it works quite well as the decoy is ambushed by Asajj Ventress [Dooku's assassin] before being taken captured. The whole thought process behind Asajj's attack was humorous to read [to me, anyway]. Unbeknownst to Yoda and his group, Palpatine asks Mace Windu to send Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi to Vjun to assist Yoda [which plays an 'important part' in how the book ends]. Upon reaching Vjun, the Jedi discover the planet is steeped with the dark side; they also discover the inhabitants of the planet generally had higher midi-chlorian counts per population than the entire galaxy combined; in an effort to control the Force the [former] inhabitants of the planet attempted to genetically modify the population to make them more susceptible to midi-chlorians and thereby increasing the odds a large part of the population would be Force-sensitive. As we all know, Yoda fails in his attempt to win a peaceful settlement and Dooku escapes to plot more ruin for the Republic.I think it might have been more humorous had the author actually written out Yoda dickering for a used space-craft to buy from a dealer. Then again, it might have fallen flat and not worked, so perhaps the author made a better choice in terms of not writing down the actual haggle play-by-play.(view spoiler)[I liked the insight Yoda gave the droid that ends up accompanying them to the Vjun. The droid offers to do all the manual labor because it is stronger than the children and does not need to rest or eat; Yoda points out that by keeping the children busy it is helping them work through their grief over loosing their Masters in battle. Had they not been physically working [loading the ship, repairing the ship, cleaning the ship, etc.] they would have had too much time on their hands and been driven mad with sadness over their loss. I also thought the conversation Yoda has with Dooku about the dark side was interesting. I had no idea Yoda was going to ask Dooku to convince Yoda to join the dark side, to explain why the dark side was so much better than the light. That was a great twist in the story that I did not see coming. It obviously took Dooku by surprise. I also liked the description of Yoda looking back at Dooku through the holograms on the desk - Dooku suddenly had a revelation [vision] of what it would be like if Yoda were a Sith Lord and turned his back on the Jedi. Darth Sidious would have been killed outright and Dooku would have to rightfully fear for his future as well. It was a nice touch. This part of the book really delved into the philosophy of why the light side was better than the dark side; Yoda asked Dooku if he had so much power to create a rose and Dooku was forced to admit he could not. The downside of this section of the book was that the view seemed to be that once a person died, they were dead. So there was no hope, per se, of more after one dies. If that is the case, then what does it really matter how one lives? There are not eternal consequences in this world view. But that is a discussion for another time.Asajj Ventress has a similar conversation with the Jedi children earlier in the book. She tries to point out the weakness, lies, and fallacies of the Jedi and how the Sith only dealt in the truth. It was an interesting argument on her part, and I felt Yoda did successfully refute it later when sharing a meal with the children onboard their newly renovated vessel. (hide spoiler)]
When contemplating the star rating I was to give this book, I was about to give it three stars, but I for the most part really liked the beginning of the book and thought it reasonable to give a soft four. As I read past the midpoint is when my feelings for the book's plot started to wain, let me explain.The book's plot is a pretty simple one that addresses the relationship between Yoda and his once apprentice, Dooku. I won't give away too much of the story, but I will say that Dooku reaches out to Yoda and asks for his council. This beginning point is one I really liked, it has been sometime since we have seen a Clone Wars era novel that didn't deal with a young Anakin and his relationship to his Master. For that reason alone I was interested in the story, and my interest peaked when introduced to a new character and her story, too. As the book progresses I was getting into the story of this new Jedi and her training. She is an interesting character that doesn't quite fit the mold of a young one in the Order. As time goes on her story blends into Yoda's tale and the two start to build from there.But of course her comes Anakin and his Master to take the story on a completely different path. Soon after their into to the book both the overall story and the story surrounding the new Jedi quickly stalled out. After the books midpoint the author seemed to waiver in his focus, and along comes page after page of filler that slows the books tale to a snails pace.Overall the book didn't do anything for me. I knew that the suspense being built up around Dooku and Yoda would never really amount to anything because of their tales in the movies and greater EU. As far as the new young Jedi and her path, after the midpoint of the book I had lost much of my connection to her and her story. The added characters had some good plot points and some interesting twists along the way, but the author never really introduced them in an important enough way to connect them to me.Decent read, not really a top tier EU book though
What do You think about Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (2004)?
The book tells a little more about when Dooku was just a young padawan. I love it when these clone war novels show Yoda's recollection of things that happened in the past. This is a definate read for those of you who are so inclined.In this book, closer to Episode III than II, the Clone Wars have forced the Republic to the edge of collapse. During the height of the battle, on Jedi Knight escapes the carnage to deliver a message to Yoda on Coruscant. It appears that Dooku wants peace and demands a rendezvous. Chances are slim that the treacherous Count is sincere but, with a million lives at stake, Yoda has no choice.The meeting will take place on Djun, a planet steeped in evil. The challenge could not be more difficult. Can Yoda win back his once promising pupil from the dark side or will Count Dooku unleash his sinister forces against his former mentor? Either way, Yoda is sure of one thing: This battle will be one of the fiercest he?ll ever face.
—Shadab Siddiqi
For decades, Star Wars authors have had to address the issue of how to deal with inevitability. When writing novels around the times of the movies, certain things have to happen. So it is no spoiler that, in the end of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, the entreaty made by Dooku to Yoda will come to naught. It is no spoiler that Dooku, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin will survive the book. But Dark Rendezvous is about the journey, not the destination. It’s a look at life within the Jedi and how the Jedi dealt with life. Dark Rendezvous opens up not with a death, but with mercy. The nefarious Count Dooku spares a Jedi and the Jedi returns with a message that the count is possibly willing to defect. However, he will only talk to Yoda. Yoda receives a message from the Force that the count THINKS he is lying, and so he decides to drop everything and go to the ominous planet of Vjun to convince his old student to go to the fold. But that won’t be as easy as it sounds. First, they have to get there, after all.Stewart wisely decides not to focus on the titular Yoda primarily, but on several Jedi who are not main characters in the movie. This allows him to develop characters who are not limited by inevitability and can plausibly be put into danger. My favorite of the new characters is Scout, a Jedi initiate. Scout isn’t particularly skilled in the Force, but she makes up for it in tenacity, stubbornness, and cunning, making her easy for the audience to relate to. I have often said that a good Star Wars work involves politics, philosophy, and action. While politics falls by the wayside here, philosophy is a strong focus here. We learn a lot here about the light side, which is often overlooked by Star Wars authors, and just why the Jedi stick to their beliefs. There are some wonderful quotes here, mostly by Yoda, who seems to resemble a lot more the person (so to speak) he was in Episode V than the prequels. More than anything, however, Stewart deserves credit for being a fantastic writer and providing life to characters that we only know from the movies. Most Star Wars writers are, unfortunately, mediocre. Their books are by the numbers, dull affairs. Dark Rendezvous is not, because Stewart understands that he’s telling a story, not milking a cash cow. The story of Yoda and the Padawans that follow him is an epic one, with epic themes, but it comes down to one thing. Hope. And that is something that we should all take into account.
—Joshua
A riveting Star Wars adventure that suffers immensely from a disappointing third act. Stewart introduces two intriguing teenage Jedi pupils who carry most of the story. Whie is a prodigy, his strength in the Force said to rival even Anakin. Scout on the other hand struggles to connect with the Force and must rely instead on her sharp wits and hand to hand combat skills to survive. They accompany the wizened Jedi Master Yoda on a secret mission to confront Count Dooku, who has drawn out his old Master with the ploy that he wants peace and renounce the Dark Side. While craft and care is taken to flesh out these new characters and others, the ending feels rushed and contrived with a gratuitous cameo of Skywalker and Obi-Wan shoe-horned in.
—Jeff
