Shatterpoint, a Clone Wars novel by Matthew Stover, displays Stover’s true ability to write Star Wars and make it something darker than George Lucas ever dreamed. The novel takes Jedi Master Mace Windu back to his home planet of Haruun Kal, where he is searching for missing Jedi Master Depa Bilaba. The story introduces a few minor characters, some that you can’t stand and others that you wish you could see more of. Kar Vastor, the insanely powerful warrior, is one you’d like to see more of. The incessant little soldier Nick Rostu should’ve gone by the wayside in this story, and yet, for years after the Clone Wars he’s still popping up in stories.That annoying little tidbit aside, Stover’s story in this novel is one of the best Star Wars reads you’re going to find. The guerilla warfare is stark and far more gruesome than any Star Wars warfare we’ve seen to date. Stover actually talks about missing limbs and vaporized bodies, along with the blood and gore you’d expect in warfare.
Mace Windu, at one point, has a Force vision of Coruscant covered in the jungle terrain of Haruun Kal. Likely this is a nod to the New Jedi Order and the Yuuzhan Vong conquest of Coruscant in the soon-to-be-reviewed Star by Star by Troy Denning.
The novel takes its name from a special talent of Mace Windu. He can see shatterpoints, or the places on a Corsuca gem where he would have to chip away a bit to make it work optimally in a lightsaber. Windu can see shatterpoints in everyday life. If this novel had been written by a lesser Star Wars author, well, there’s no way anyone else who could have pulled this off.
Re-readability: 9.5
Final Grade: A+
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