Written by: Tim Siedell
Art by: Gabriel Guzman
Publisher: Dark Horse
The Star Wars prequels may not have been great films, but they did provide us with something very important—a fascination with the clone troopers created on Kamino. Karen Traviss took this fascination and made it even more powerful when she wrote a series of novels based around the clones and their Mandalorian trainers. Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows approaches the clones from a different, but just as interesting way, and the resulting story is pretty damn good.
The main focus of Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows is a clone trooper who was left for dead by his squad during a battle. He survived, changed his name to Hock Malsuum, and became a farmer for a short time. However, Hock wasn’t trained for the agricultural life, and he decided to rejoin the Empire once he began hearing rumors of Darth Vader. Hock was inspired by Darth Vader’s fighting style and cold, calculating demeanor, so he worked his way up through the ranks and became one of Darth Vader’s elite soldiers.
Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows is an interesting book because it is written in a way that resembles a Quentin Tarantino movie. Hock’s tale starts at the ending before jumping back to multiple points throughout the story and ending where it began. The majority of the story is spent on a major battle that was a turning point in Hock’s life, but other parts describe his training and interactions with a crazed clone named Kaddak. Many stories would seem disjointed with this approach, but Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows actually makes a lot of sense. Plus, Hock is the continuous thread that neatly ties everything together during the story.
I appreciate that Tim Siedell, the book’s author, was able to create a book that was interesting, yet different from the standard Star Wars fare. In addition, he added some moments to the book that actually made you stop and think about what he meant. I didn’t catch the ending’s significance until my third time reading Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows. Granted, I’m easily confused.
Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows is, in my opinion, definitely worth reading.
