Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan

Anyone who knows me is aware that I hardly ever read.  It’s not that much of a stretch to say that I never read at all.  But few books have had the effect that Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan just had on me.  Honestly, I couldn’t put it down…even when I had a headache on a four hour plane flight.

SW:TOR:R (yeah, I’ll call it that) Spans a surprisingly long time; taking place between Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, before jumping to the after effects of the latter.  It references these games sparsely but appropriately, bringing back necessary characters that play vital roles while even having arcs of their own.  Events like The Mass Shadow Generator incident is mentioned but not dwelled on, so the novel constantly has a sense of drive and doesn’t just gives fans some nerdy nostalgia…which I would have been happy with.   Even popular characters like HK-47 and Kreia are just talked about but never show up.

Unfortunately, the vast history of the characters is a hindrance to the book, but it would have been almost impossible to avoid it.  Many moments, especially near the start, contain huge amounts of exposition to form the back-story of people and places.  If I wasn’t incredibly familiar with both KOTOR games, I’m afraid I may not have been able to understand the presence some of these characters and locations possess.

Not that it would matter since SW:TOR:R is quick to jump into its own story with old and new characters going along for the ride.  It focuses solely on two characters (excluding a third who has some little chapters to herself), Revan and Darth Scourge.  Each man’s story dynamically cuts back and forth from each other, and has some of the best cliff-hanger sentences I’ve ever read.  The overall story itself is actually deceptively short but the characters that are introduced have a clear journey throughout the book and never overstay their welcome.  The book is big enough to give descriptions of each person and place, while keeping the progression at a steady pace.  Many characters like Sechel and Revan grow and change so their personality is explored throughout the novel and not just shoved into one spot before letting loose…most of the time.

Unfortunately, the whole novel seems to build up to a climax that never really finishes, as if it’s just hanging in the air ready to come back down as a conclusion.  This is definitely the intention, since SW:TOR:R is primarily an introduction to Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMO taking place after KOTOR 1,2 and this book, but more closure would have made it feel more complete and satisfying.  The universe it creates is deliciously Star Wars-y, with hammy dialogue and settings, which helps illustrate the images it’s explaining.  That may just be for me but I was easily able to visualize every single scene as if I were watching a movie.  When all the main characters finally meet up, they’ve all had enormous amounts of experiences for the reader to get invested, while also feeling retrospectively engaged by their previous adventures.  Everything these characters do can get pretty unbelievable and even awkwardly convenient, but just as a story, it greatly assists the reader in understanding their behavior and reactions, since we learn how they deal with certain situations before things get much more difficult.

With the introduction of Darth Scourge, it’s easy to feel like the book is drifting too far into unfamiliar territory and may introduce characters before crudely discarding them with no closure or impact.  Luckily, the book is large enough to accommodate Scourge’s early journeys, some of which feel immensely important at the time of reading them but drift away later on.  In fact, Scourge’s tasks do drag slightly, at least when compared to the entire novel as a whole.  I basically forgot most of what Scourge previously did while I was reading the book’s climax.  Many of his chapters feel too vague and investigational, like he’s figuring out something that he’s pretty much told eventually and less like he’s working towards something.  Yet, I was still engaged, at least on a basic level.  For one thing; he’s a new character that interacts with other new characters, so although this book essentially draws history from three video games, it does have its own sense of identity and growth. 

I did instinctively care more about people I knew from the games, but the characters that are introduced and then killed off bring weight with them through specific descriptions and masterfully flowing dialogue.

The novel, however, should have explained the characters more, if just slightly.  Malak, Bastilla and even The Exile (Called Meetra Surik here, which is even more random than the Random Names KOTOR II gave me…) aren’t explored in any great detail, which can make them feel pretty hollow compared to Revan, Scourge and others.  But then you’ve got The Emperor, who is barely developed in the entire novel, which weakens the impact of the climax as well as the introduction to Star Wars: The Old Republic (whatever the introduction is to that game).  This is weirdly unsettling since I assume he’s the person sitting on the chair on the back of the book itself.  Revan actually has the opposite problem, if only temporarily.  The start of the novel is crammed full of back-story, involving a lot of KOTOR 1, which could have been expressed a lot shorter or spread out through the novel.  This again shows how overwhelmed Drew Karpysyn is when writing something that involves so much known history.  He doesn’t bite off more than he can chew, but there are some ‘story speed –bumps’ to get over.

Ofcourse the book is for Star Wars fans, which is lucky since it doesn’t really go in depth on the concepts and cultures of the universe.  I don’t think it ever truly explains a lightsaber, and if this was the first Star Wars thing ever made I would have been incredibly confused as to what The Force actually is.  And even if this was the first Star Wars thing I ever experienced, it doesn’t elaborate too much on locations, situations, appearances and people enough for me to work to understand what the book assumes I already know.  (Try and wrap your head around that sentence)

The descriptions themselves, although brief, are incredibly bold and cutting.  The words “T3 never stood a chance” made the past nine years of my KOTOR playing life rush back to me.  Drew Karpysyn seems very aware of this, treating the deaths of characters with an appropriate sense of coldness and simplicity.

His precise descriptions work wonders when explaining physical settings, such as the surface of the planet Nathema that made me feel like I was literally choking.  Even an incredibly important place like Dromund Kaas is depicted minimally; although its appearance isn’t brought up nearly enough.  When the cloudy sky comes up after about 200 pages it’s like a jarring reminder, so I had to remember back to every other scene that took place on this planet and splice in a cloudy sky.  

Fortunately, no time is spent holding back the dialogue and action.  Action scenes are very distinct.  Many are interrupted by the introductions of new elements, others are just short battles and the rest are broad enough for you to just focus on the methodical steps of the main characters.  No second is left alone; there was even a moment when it was explained why Revan couldn’t just rush at someone while they were charging their Dark Side lasers!!!!!  Actually, when it’s a duel between Jedi it’s nearly always ended or at least delayed by Force Lightning.  It’s still effective when it happens, but the descriptions may as well just constantly say “pain was coursing through his body like fire” every time.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan is just a great book, in a very traditional sense.  Characters are introduced, who then play specific and dynamic roles before moving onto the next objective.  Characters die, even ones you wouldn’t expect until the very second it happens.  And although the ending wasn’t very conclusive, it was still a satisfying experience throughout.  I really do appreciate Drew Karpysyn’s understanding and references to the games, something I hope Star Wars: The Old Republic embraces…I haven’t played it yet…somehow.