Late this evening, Dalton Wylind—the author and creator of the fan fiction series Darth Wylind Productions—was kind enough to share with the Star Wars Fanon blog his thoughts on my latest story, Star Wars: The Tragedy. Rather than paraphrasing Wylind, I’ll quote his review. It was very generous and I was happy to see that he really enjoyed the story. I want to thank him for taking the time to review the story, as The Tragedy really means a lot to me. Here’s the review (SPOILER ALERT):
Immediately upon reading the first section of the story, I began to feel a sense of “oh, boy, grandpa’s drunk during story time again.” The beginning recited a couple lines from Episode III of the canon Star Wars film series, which I found interesting in the sense that it reminds you that the ASWS isn’t something on its own entirely, but rather a re-imagining of the canon Star Wars saga.
The “real” story itself begins with astonishing attention to emotion and feeling that remains with the reader throughout the course of the entire story. Rather than simply putting “It was raining,” for example, Rhea went above-and-beyond to capture the reader’s interest through the means of explaining and giving detail, as well as showing the emotions of a fictitious character to the point where they are able to be related to.
While reading, I was able to feel the emotions of Darth Plagueis and his knowledge and wisdom. In fact, it made me laugh when I found out he already realized his life was soon over, yet was going to take no action despite possessing knowledge about his impending death. I enjoyed reading a little bit about Plagueis’ back story and how he seemed somewhat able to be related to. His love for the princess that died and his life as a Jedi long ago show there is a softer, more personal side than just the cruel ways of the Sith Order—at least there was, of course.
You can tell this information wasn’t added just to be referenced to in articles on the wiki. It actually had a purpose: to tell the back-story of a Sith Lord that, in my point of view, wasn’t all that sadistic and evil as most Star Wars works portray them to be. In fact, I enjoyed that little difference; it’s nice when authors make readers aware that Sith are people, too. The fact that Plagueis is sitting in silence contemplating his life shows that he does have a mind and a conscious.
Just as any person who knows who Brandon Rhea is, I enjoyed the sudden appearance of Ussej Padric Bac into the story, and his tendency to pop-out of nowhere during the most important events in galactic history. The fact that he, one of the holiest individuals in the galaxy, was trying to save a Sith Lord was quite interesting. It goes to show the power of the friendship the two once held for one another. I enjoyed that inclusion.
Of course, one of the greatest parts of the novel is Plagueis’ murder at the hands of his apprentice, as is the way of the Sith. It is obvious that there is such malice to this unidentified Sith apprentice, who appears to be very brutish and—well—downright evil as hell. The detail in the murder is outstanding, as well as the portrayal of the apprentice’s emotions and thoughts. The apprentice’s desires and lust for power and control and mastership was what was bound to be found in most Sith. Perhaps what I enjoyed most about this scene was how Plagueis remained silent and pretended as though he hadn’t known about his own murder.
The coldness and the cruelty in the apprentice’s actions were very memorable, as was the appearance of Darth Maul, the new Dark Lord’s apprentice. The Dark Lord’s coldness and ruthlessness is once again displayed when he orders Maul to kill the pregnant woman who is to birth the Chosen One—though he does this without verbal communication written on the page, instead deciding to embrace the fact that he is all-powerful by speaking only through the Force.
Finally, the revelation that the murdered Darth Plagueis is none other than Damien Nightblade, formerly the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order during the Great Territorial War, was an absolutely shocking and beautiful twist. The sadness and regret Ussej feels regarding his now-deceased former friend is heart touching.
Overall, I believe that Rhea has truly created something amazing here. I find The Tragedy to be an outstanding story that is both memorable and capable of leaving readers begging for more. To put a numbered rating on it, I’d give this story 5 out of 5 stars, a perfect score. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it that I can find.
Thanks again to Wylind for the review! Click here for more information about the story, and here to read the story itself.
