​Before the Rule of Two, there was Darth Bane. Before Darth Bane, there was an indentured miner full of deadly anger and untapped potential - and his name was Dessel. His rise within the Sith is marked with hard lessons and treachery, but Bane's path will alter the galaxy forever. Yet his biggest challenge is finding the single being who is worthy of coveting his power.

During my recent read-through of the pre-Disney EU media, I thought that some of the Old Republic novels were quite good, but it's now obvious where they drew their inspiration from! What pale imitations. Even Karpyshyn seems to have failed to recapture this magic in his later novels. See, I'm reading these in chronological order, not publication order...so I was used to some very average work from his author. Path of Destruction was nothing short of epic. I'm now quite excited to read the rest of the trilogy.

I will also add that it's extremely impressive Karpyshyn managed to take an underwhelming comic series and turn it into a story worthy of the word "saga".

Kerra Holt is a Jedi stranded deep in Sith space with no way out - she doesn't even have the coordinates she needs to get home. But she is not aimless. She continues to do what she can to free the beings under Sith rule and that includes making strange, untrustworthy allies. Forget lightsabers and explosions - Sith politics may be the greatest challenge she has ever faced.

This story should not have been presented in the format of a novel. I realise it was meant to complement a comics line, but it was segmented in a way that doesn't really work in prose. It would have made far more sense to be published as part of the comics (that way it's divided suggests that it was the equivalent of three TPBs). The pace was negatively impacted by this and I struggled to get into the story - so many days and so many attempts. Kerra is at times a fun character (mostly she seems a bit flat), but this was not the right vehicle for her.

Padawan Kevmo Zink arrives on Dalna as part of an investigation into missing artefacts and quickly encounters the Path of the Open Hand, which is definitely not as chill and peaceful as they appear. Marda is a devout follower of the Path and her beliefs bring her into instant conflict with Kevmo. She likes him...but how can she befriend a Jedi who abuses the Force?

The most important aspect of this book is the introduction of the Leveler. It is also the only interesting aspect. I was not interested in meeting Marchion Ro's relatives and I'm finding that I'm just not interested in seeing how the whole shebang began. Most of Path of Deceit is an unimportant snorefest. The delightfully dark ending...was a brief glimpse into this book's potential. Alas, it was a potential that was not lived up to.

A Hutt is keeping a prize of galactic importance in her digs and everyone wants a chance at buying - or stealing - it. Jedi, Sith, Republic, Imperial and even Mandalorian interests are all at play here, but in order to find the true prize they can't compete with each other. They'll have to play along and forge... a fatal alliance (ba dum tsh). No one will come out of this team-up unscathed.

Up until this point, the Old Republic novels have felt less like stories and more like...ghosts of stories. Attempts to carefully follow or avoid the games, attempts that have left me wanting. But this one finally yielded a decent adventure. I found that the more generous length worked in the book's favour - it drew me in and made the characters feel like old friends by the end. An excellent entry.

​Hestizo Trace has a gift with plants and so she works at the Agricultural Corps instead of in a Jedi Temple. When a special black orchid is stolen, she is taken along with it - and delivered straight to a Sith Master whose latest project involves Sith trainees who just won't seem to die. Escape is becoming more impossible by the second. Who will be left alive instead of undead?

This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. But I won't lie - I enjoyed the heck out of it. Sometimes you just need a silly, fun zombie romp involving lightsabers and Tauntauns. Oh and let's not forget the Taken reference. It's the kind of moment you either hate or cackle uncontrollably at. Obviously, I was in the latter camp. A trashy and terrible book, but damn I love it.

A peace treaty is to be signed and the war ended - but first, the Sith will do the unthinkable with the Sacking of Coruscant. Jedi Aryn Leneer wants revenge. The footage of the being who killed her Master is on Coruscant, but the Empire is still there and she shouldn't be endangering the treaty. Her journey begins and ends with Darth Malgus. If she succeeds, then she will be betraying her Order and her soul.

I didn't want to like this, but it slowly won me over until I realised that I'd suddenly run out of pages to read. Setting this over three days was a good idea. Due to this, the pace of the story never flagged and there wasn't any time to get bored or focus on the flaws (and yes, there are flaws!). I'm not sure why, but I found Kemp's writing style slightly off-putting. But the story itself was excellent.