The attraction of reading a new story in an existing universe (for me: Marvel comics and Star Wars novels) is that, in the best case scenario, you can get to the meat of a story without having to explain a whole set of rules, or describe a whole set of scenes, or introduce a whole new cast of characters. If you love character-driven novels, the in-universe story can get you where you want to go faster than almost anything else.

There are two huge downsides, though. The first downside is that many readers like the in-universe book because they like those rules, scenes, and existing characters for their own sake. They want to drop into the world, and just sit there. So there’s a risk that an in-universe book will splash around a bit in the familiar world, but ultimately lead nowhere. This leads to the second downside, which is: since a reader doesn’t need to spend effort learning rules, scenes, and characters, the mental cost of reading the book is lower than it would be otherwise. That lowered cost of admission, of course, makes it easier for the author to deliver less than they would have to if they were asking for buy-in on a whole new world. The heart-breaking result of this is that most in-universe stories, equipped with all the necessary tools and advantages to be engaging literature, are pretty bad.

This book, Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn, successfully navigates these pitfalls, and lives up to much of the potential of in-universe writing. It was a very fun read. The characters are immediately engaging. The story is compelling - leaves you in anticipation without becoming predictable. It’s an accessible Sith-vs-Jedi story, so it’s great for beginners, and it deals with the essential themes of human goodness that the best Star War stories do. It’s the first book in the Darth Bane trilogy, so hopefully it’s not too big of a spoiler to say that this book is about Darth Bane’s origin and rise to power. The beginning of the book introduces Darth Bane to many other powerful Sith; characters that leave you impressed with their depth and cunning. My biggest gripe is that, as Darth Bane becomes more physically powerful and mentally sharper, it’s clear that the other characters are getting… stupider. There’s more than just his own ascent going on here; the people he defeats at the end of the book are demonstratively less capable than they were when they were introduced several hundred pages earlier.

But that’s not a dealbreaker. It’s still a solid story. I think this is a bit more my speed than the Thrawn trilogy I read last summer. That said: this book is much more fantasy than sci-fi.

I recommend it to anyone whose looking for some easy summer reading!