Genre:                    SciFi
Publisher:              Del Rey
ISBN:                       9780345511287
Edition:                  Audiobook
Length:                   14 hours, 45 minutes
Release date:        10-01-2012
Narrated by:         Daniel Davis

Not much if known about Darth Plagueis the Wise. Other than that he is mentioned in Episode III, Revenge of the Sith by Palpatine when he talks to Anakin about the abilities of the Dark Side of the Force to save the lives of others. This book tells us the story behind the master of Palpatine, who would later become known as Darth Sidious. This book is no longer considered canon, sadly.

I have a forty-five minute commute to work and during that time I usually just listen to the radio, but some time ago I considered listening to audiobooks to better spend my time while driving. I decided to give Audible a try and this is the first book I decided to listen to, after I had seen so many mentions about how good this audiobook was on Reddit.

What I loved about this book was how we get to see what Darth Plagueis and Sidious were up to behind the scenes, living a double life. Their public personalities respectively being Hego Damask, Magister of the Banking Clan and Senator Palpatine, from Naboo. The book is divided in three parts, the first part concerns Darth Plagueis and his master Darth Tenebrous and tells us a lot of who exactly the former is.

During the second part of the book Plagueis comes across a young Naboo noble; the Palpatine we all know as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Plagueis recognizes the latent power in the Human and they quickly form a bond, and soon end up becoming Master and Apprentice.

The last part of the book ties in perfectly with Episode I and we see how all the events unfold, and how much influence these two had on their outcomes. It was brilliantly told and although there’s a lot of politics and intrigue, I absolutely loved this book!

The performance by Daniel Davis was superb too! We probably know him best for his performance as Niles from The Nanny television series. Not only does he posses a very pleasant voice to listen to, he also did the voices of the characters very well! When I was close to the end of the story I decided to finish the rest at home, because I really wanted to know how it all ended and I have to say, this book is probably one of the most in-depth and well written Star Wars stories I’ve come across. The only thing you have to enjoy is listening to political debates, business jargon, talk of midichlorian research and a whole lot of lore! As a big Star Wars fan, for me this was a great book, because it focussed much more on the inner workings of the Republic, the Jedi Order, the Sith and the Force itself.

A big five star rating for this wonderful audiobook!

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Originality: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Happy reading!

~Jeffrey