Cloak of Deception (Star Wars) 
asked by ibook on November 28, 2006 3:06 PM
From New York Times bestselling author James Luceno comes an all-new Star Wars adventure that reveals the action and intrigue unfolding directly before Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Mired in greed and corruption, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is crumbling. In the outlying systems, where the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over?while back in the comfort of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a hand in the machinations are baffled?especially when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.
With the crisis escalating, Valorum calls for an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money run rampant, and no one is entirely above suspicion. But the greatest threat of all remains unknown to everyone except three members of the Trade Federation who have entered into a shadowy alliance with a dark overlord. While the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious has grander, far more terrifying plans.
It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Republic together?none more so than the Jedi Knights, who have long been the galaxy's best hope for preserving peace and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the meeting will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone?s worst fears . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
Mired in greed and corruption, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is crumbling. In the outlying systems, where the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over?while back in the comfort of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a hand in the machinations are baffled?especially when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.
With the crisis escalating, Valorum calls for an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money run rampant, and no one is entirely above suspicion. But the greatest threat of all remains unknown to everyone except three members of the Trade Federation who have entered into a shadowy alliance with a dark overlord. While the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious has grander, far more terrifying plans.
It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Republic together?none more so than the Jedi Knights, who have long been the galaxy's best hope for preserving peace and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the meeting will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone?s worst fears . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews
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The book "Star Wars Cloak of Deception" is a story about an assassination attempt on Supreme Chancellor Valorum's life. A man by the name of Havac hired Captain Cohl to kill the chancellor. Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi find out about this assassination plan on Supreme Chancellor Valorum's life and try to foil this plot. Chancellor Palpatine tries to help Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to get the support he needs to tax the Trade Federation on the goods they trade. I enjoyed this book very much. It had a lot of good plot twists.
reviewed by nutshell on November 28, 2006 3:16 PM
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Cloak of Deception is a political thriller from the Star Wars genre and gives the reader early indications of the Machiavellian manipulations of Senator Palpatine, the esteemed legislator from Naboo. It also introduces you to Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the two Jedi who are the principal heroes in the tale.
I couldn't help but wonder how a reader would react to the book if you were picking it up for the first time and had scant knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Would you really understand Jedi? Would you have any clue as to who Darth Sidious is and what he might be up to? With the benefit of having seen the movies numerous times and being familiar with what happens down the road, I took the book to be an extremely enjoyable yarn. Plus, it was great fun to be introduced to Nute Gunray and his Trade Federation cohorts, to the new Queen Amidala of Naboo, and to Bail Antilles and other senators, not to mention Yoda, Mace Windu and the Jedi Council.
The descriptions in the book of locations are outstanding, particularly that of Coruscant - "a welter of lustrous domes, knife-edged spires, and terraced superstructures that climbed to the sky.... Striations of magnetically guided sky traffic moved swiftly above the cityscape - streams of transports, air buses, taxis, and limousines, coursing between the tall spires and over the measureless chasms like schools of exotic fish." Excellent stuff, particularly for readers who have visited all levels of Coruscant in their imaginations.
The story moves along well from incident to incident, and plot twists regarding the apparent assassination attempt on Chancellor Valorum come into play near the end of the book. Captain Cohl and his band are interesting characters and will be missed.
All in all, Cloak of Deception leads the reader through a great story and does a huge amount of groundwork in setting the stage for future chaos created by Darth Sidious.
I couldn't help but wonder how a reader would react to the book if you were picking it up for the first time and had scant knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Would you really understand Jedi? Would you have any clue as to who Darth Sidious is and what he might be up to? With the benefit of having seen the movies numerous times and being familiar with what happens down the road, I took the book to be an extremely enjoyable yarn. Plus, it was great fun to be introduced to Nute Gunray and his Trade Federation cohorts, to the new Queen Amidala of Naboo, and to Bail Antilles and other senators, not to mention Yoda, Mace Windu and the Jedi Council.
The descriptions in the book of locations are outstanding, particularly that of Coruscant - "a welter of lustrous domes, knife-edged spires, and terraced superstructures that climbed to the sky.... Striations of magnetically guided sky traffic moved swiftly above the cityscape - streams of transports, air buses, taxis, and limousines, coursing between the tall spires and over the measureless chasms like schools of exotic fish." Excellent stuff, particularly for readers who have visited all levels of Coruscant in their imaginations.
The story moves along well from incident to incident, and plot twists regarding the apparent assassination attempt on Chancellor Valorum come into play near the end of the book. Captain Cohl and his band are interesting characters and will be missed.
All in all, Cloak of Deception leads the reader through a great story and does a huge amount of groundwork in setting the stage for future chaos created by Darth Sidious.
reviewed by dataworld on November 29, 2006 4:01 PM
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What an awesome kickoff to the Star Wars Expanded Universe this book is! Luceno masterfully captures the prequel "feel" and spins a tale which deepens and adds layers to characters and plotlines presented in The Phantom Menace. The book could be characterized as a political thriller with liberal dashes of action sprinkled throughout.
Cloak of Deception kicks off with a nifty echo of the opening sequence of The Phantom Menace (it was published after, although it is set before the film). Much like the start of the movie, the first few chapters are chock-full of shipboard Jedi action, Neimoidians, battle droids, and more. Luceno writes in a very descriptive style and does not take for granted that the reader has seen the Star Wars films, making for a stronger novel.
Many characters from The Phantom Menace make their EU debut here, and there are also entertaining cameos from characters who play significant roles later in the saga, such as Lieutenant Governor Tarkin, Vergere, and Jorus C'baoth. Considering the book was published in 2001, it meshes well with the two prequel films released afterward. The Separatist commerce organizations of Attack of the Clones are all worked into the story by name, along with many of the bit-player Senators and Jedi. A sequence early on in the book takes place at the Coruscant Opera House, which marries up nicely (and quite accidentally) with the dialogue between Palpatine and Anakin that takes place there in Revenge of the Sith.
I was most impressed by the complexity of the plot Luceno has woven. Palpatine and his alter-ego Darth Sidious pull the strings of virtually every character in the story. At times I had to step back and think through exactly what each character knew and what they didn't to see how Palpatine's plans were falling into place. One element I found a bit confusing early on is whether Palpatine had anticipated Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's involvement in the Nebula Front/Trade Federation/Old Republic conflict he was brewing. Whether he did or not, though, it works to his advantage as the Jedi begin to get entangled in and compromised by the corruption and duplicity spreading through the government.
Cloak of Deception fills out the "accusations of corruption" against Valorum that Palpatine mentions in The Phantom Menace and sets the stage for the forthcoming vote-of-no-confidence in Valorum's leadership. It explains why Sidious instructed the Trade Federation to blockade Naboo in particular and manages to breathe some life into the somewhat dry concept of taxation of trade routes being a key conflict driver in The Phantom Menace.
Luceno does a great job bringing out and enlivening some of the murkier story elements from the first prequel film. His descriptive powers serve his story well and he leaves many tasty tidbits for serious fans of the EU to digest. This book is very highly recommended to anyone wanting a quality Star Wars read and especially highly to fans of the prequels.
Cloak of Deception kicks off with a nifty echo of the opening sequence of The Phantom Menace (it was published after, although it is set before the film). Much like the start of the movie, the first few chapters are chock-full of shipboard Jedi action, Neimoidians, battle droids, and more. Luceno writes in a very descriptive style and does not take for granted that the reader has seen the Star Wars films, making for a stronger novel.
Many characters from The Phantom Menace make their EU debut here, and there are also entertaining cameos from characters who play significant roles later in the saga, such as Lieutenant Governor Tarkin, Vergere, and Jorus C'baoth. Considering the book was published in 2001, it meshes well with the two prequel films released afterward. The Separatist commerce organizations of Attack of the Clones are all worked into the story by name, along with many of the bit-player Senators and Jedi. A sequence early on in the book takes place at the Coruscant Opera House, which marries up nicely (and quite accidentally) with the dialogue between Palpatine and Anakin that takes place there in Revenge of the Sith.
I was most impressed by the complexity of the plot Luceno has woven. Palpatine and his alter-ego Darth Sidious pull the strings of virtually every character in the story. At times I had to step back and think through exactly what each character knew and what they didn't to see how Palpatine's plans were falling into place. One element I found a bit confusing early on is whether Palpatine had anticipated Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's involvement in the Nebula Front/Trade Federation/Old Republic conflict he was brewing. Whether he did or not, though, it works to his advantage as the Jedi begin to get entangled in and compromised by the corruption and duplicity spreading through the government.
Cloak of Deception fills out the "accusations of corruption" against Valorum that Palpatine mentions in The Phantom Menace and sets the stage for the forthcoming vote-of-no-confidence in Valorum's leadership. It explains why Sidious instructed the Trade Federation to blockade Naboo in particular and manages to breathe some life into the somewhat dry concept of taxation of trade routes being a key conflict driver in The Phantom Menace.
Luceno does a great job bringing out and enlivening some of the murkier story elements from the first prequel film. His descriptive powers serve his story well and he leaves many tasty tidbits for serious fans of the EU to digest. This book is very highly recommended to anyone wanting a quality Star Wars read and especially highly to fans of the prequels.
reviewed by fusionz on November 29, 2006 4:39 PM