Over the past couple of months I’ve found myself more and more interested in the lore of Star Wars and the massive universe created by George Lucas. Generally we think of the heroic defeat of the dark side by none other than Luke Sywalker. While it is grand story of good vs. evil it’s also only a tiny portion of the story. I’ve always wondered what the other side’s perspective was/is when compared to that of the Jedi. One of my co-workers suggested that I read the Darth Bane trilogy. The story of the Sith is compelling and defitely worth your time.

I found that my local library has access to a great number of Star Wars fiction as audio books. Among them is the Darth Bane trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn and they are absolutely brilliant. So far I have listened to the first two and just got my hands on the final book this afternoon. It’s probably not to hard to figure out what happened next. Yup, that’s right I downloaded the audio to my phone and have been a happy camper ever since.

Right now I’m not entirely sure how this book will play out in the long-standing battle between the shadowy Sith Lord and the Jedi. However, it is clear that Bane and his apprentice Zana are some of the most compelling evil power-hungry characters I’ve come across. Even though you know from the beginning they are Sith both are somehow also likeable at the same time.

The story from the dark side is interesting and definitely more brutal than that of the Jedi. I think in some ways the characters begin from roots that mirror more of what humanity faces in life and a greater portion of their humanity shows through. Greed, passion, hate, and desire for power may lead to the dark side of the force. These are all things that we face in the real world as well. Maybe George Lucas wasn’t too far off the money and the dark side does actually exist in some manner.