Third and final book of the Darth Bane trilogy (Path of Destruction, Rule of Two and Dynasty of Evil).
(Back cover synopsis):
«Twenty years have passed since Darth Bane, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, demolished the ancient order devoted to the dark side and reinvented it as a circle of two: one Master to wield the power and pass on the wisdom, and one apprentice to learn, challenge, and ultimately usurp the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. But Bane's acolyte, Zannah, has yet to prove herself a worthy successor. Determined that the Sith dream of galactic domination will not die with him, Bane vows to learn the secret of a forgotten Dark Lord that will assure the Sith's immortality–and his own.
Zannah knows that her ruthless master has begun to doubt her, and so she prepares for his downfall, plotting at last to wrest from Bane the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Zannah pursues her Master from the grim depths of a ravaged world to the barren reaches of a desert outpost, where the future of the dark side will be decided by the final, fatal stroke of a lightsaber.»
As with the other installments in this trilogy, the book is splendidly written.
In Dynasty of Evil, Drew Karpyshyn concludes the Darth Bane trilogy by focusing on the ultimate tension of the Rule of Two: the relationship between master and apprentice and the violent succession that this rule entails.
The story is told entirely from the Sith perspective and normalizes an ethic of power based on ambition, betrayal, and the elimination of the adversary. Violence is abundant and integral to the plot; the sexual component is practically nonexistent, and the language is restrained. The ideological underpinnings—exaltation of pride, exploitation of others, and rejection of charity—clash head-on with Christian anthropology and may disorient uninformed readers.
Recommended only for Star Wars fans. It's a book for adults.