Picking out one of the more interesting releases of late (not forgetting of course that Battlefront 2 is due out tomorrow!), Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader has been released. Dark Lord is the immediate sequel to Revenge of the Sith detailing the period right after Anakin Skywalker dons the iron mask.

Those of you who read Labyrinth of Evil will know how it formed a kind of prequel to ROTS, Dark Lord forms the sequel, completing the trilogy within a trilogy. I haven't read it yet myself but its meant to be a very good book and James Luceno is one of the better Star Wars authors out there so I don't doubt the claim. If you're bored and want something to do between sessions of hardcore BF2 gaming its worth picking up. I leave you with the basis precis:

_Throughout the galaxy, it was believed that Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker–the Chosen One–had died on Coruscant during the siege of the Jedi Temple. And, to some extent, that was true. Anakin was dead.

From the site of Anakin Skywalker’s last stand–on the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi–a fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi Order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxy’s ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and destroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead . . . and Darth Vader lives.

Word of the events that created him–the Jedi Council’s failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperor’s retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi Order, and Anakin’s massacre of his comrades and Masters in the Jedi Temple–has yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Separatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.

When the three narrowly elude execution–and become the desperate prey in a hunt across space–it’s neither clone soldiers, nor the newly deployed stormtroopers, nor even the wrath of the power-hungry Emperor himself they must fear most. The deadliest threat rests in the hideously swift and lethal crimson lightsaber of Darth Vader–behind whose brooding mask lies a shattered heart, a poisoned soul, and a cunning, twisted mind hell-bent on vengeance.

For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, Padmé Amidala. Separated after Padmé’s death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regime–and the unspeakable power of the dark side._

While we're on the subject of books you might also like to know that the New Essential Chronology has been released. Its a sourcebook so not something you'll want to get for a light read but its the most comprehensive all inclusive guide out there and covers its subject well. If you're not a total geek but looking for a decent reference guide for when somebody mentions the Hundred Year Darkness and want to know what the hell they're on about then it's worth getting.