Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 10 Great (Canon) Books To Read While You Wait

Dec 5, 2017 December 5th, 2017

1. Dark Disciple

Star Wars: Dark Disciple — Del Rey/Matt Taylor

Despite its rocky start, 2008's Clone Wars series ended up turning into one of the finer adaptations of the Star Wars license, exceeding the quality of the Prequel Trilogy by a large margin and leaving behind a devoted fan following in the process.

The show was cancelled before it was given the opportunity to wrap things up fully. Which, while indeed a massive shame, allowed for Christie Golden to swoop in and adapt one of the series' many unaired scripts; one that featured political intrigue, assassinations, and Asajj Ventress herself.

Dark Disciple works so well because it takes a completely different approach to its appraisal of the Jedi Order, depicting what could even be considered the Order's lowest moment, where the council - seemingly embracing the cynicism of the era - orchestrate the assassination of Count Dooku. Tasked with the deed is Quinlan Voss, a favourite of Legends lore and a character that the animated series only devoted minimal screen-time to. Supervised by Obi-Wan and equipped with a plan to manipulate Ventress' grudge against Dooku to the Republic's benefit, Voss embarks on a journey that completely transforms the character by the book's end, forcing him to reassess his impressions of the Jedi Order and his actual commitment to it as well.

Ventress is by far the book's greatest triumph however; Christie Golden (the upcoming author of the Inferno Squad tie-in to Battlefront II) finds a voice for the character that embodies both the whit and cynicism that made her so enjoyable in the Clone Wars series, and seeing her delve deep into the former apprentice's motivations adds a whole new dimension to the former Sith Lord. It makes for a brilliant read, and provides closure for the series in a manner that exuded its atmosphere perfectly.

Golden paints the decline of the Jedi Order with all the subtle inflections that such a topic necessitates, and does it all whilst providing the perfect ending to one of the series' finest supporting roles. It is for that reason, among many others, that Dark Disciple triumphs.

Are you excited for The Last Jedi? Have you read any of the new novels to have released so far? Let us know in the comments below!

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Ewan Paterson

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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