Star Wars: Dark Lord - The Rise of Darth Vader

Throughout the galaxy, it was believed that Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker -- the Chosen One -- had died on Coruscant during the siege of the Jedi Temple. And, to some extent, that was true, Anakin was dead.

From the site of Anakin Skywalker's last stand -- on the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi -- a fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxy's ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and destroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead...and Darth Vader lives.

Word of the events that created him -- the Jedi Council's failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperor's retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi order, and Anakin's massacre of his comrades and Masters in the Jedi Temple -- has yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Separatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.

When the three narrowly elude execution -- and beome the desperate prey in a hunt across space -- it's neither clone soldiers, nor the newly deployed stormtroopers, nor even the wrath of the power-hungry Emperor himself, they must fear most. The deadliest threat rests in the hideously swift and lethal crimson lightsaber of Darth Vader -- behind whose brooding mask lies a shattered heart, a poisoned soul, and a cunning, twisted mind hell-bent on vengeance.

For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, Padme Amidala. Separated after Padme's death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regime -- and the unspeakable power of the dark side.

"What is the source of the transmission?" he said finally.

"The Jaguada system, Lord Vader," the first technician replied. "More precisely, the moon of the system's only inhabited world."

"This moon," he said, gesturing with the forefinger of his black-gloved hand.

"Yes, Lord Vader," the tech said.

"Instruct the garrison commander to scramble troopers immediately."

"Capture or kill, Lord Vader?"

"Either would please me."

Vader cupped the holo-image of the tiny moon in his hand. "I have you now," he said quietly, making a fist.

--from Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

James Luceno is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil, Star Wars: The New Jedi Order novels Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial and Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, as well as Star Wars: The Unifying Force, Star Wars: Cloak of Deception, and the eBook Darth Maul: Saboteur. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and youngest child.

Star Wars: Dark Lord - The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno is a fantastic story about the first mission Darth Vader takes on after being put into his infamous suit.

From the struggles of his first steps to the demise of the first Jedi he's able to hunt down, we get a great look into the life of Darth Vader.

James Luceno also shows us that after Order 66 was issued not all the clones followed it like mindless zombies; in fact Clone Commandos were created to have free will, and after Order 66 was issued they stood by their Jedi Generals.

Dark Lord also gives us an inside look into the first days of the Jedi on the run. What the Jedi had to do to escape Order 66 and how they then had to evade a man in a black suit who seemed to be hunting them.

If you're a fan of Darth Vader or the Empire then pick up and read Dark Lord - The Rise of Darth Vader.