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Darth Vader craved the power that Emperor Darth Sidious possessed, as all Sith Apprentices do. To claim that power, he would have to wrest it from his master, train his own successor and continue the Sith Rule of Two. All this was chronicled in the hit LucasArts video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in 2008. The multi-media event surrounding the adventures of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, codenamed Starkiller, was a big and well-reviewed deal that slipped seamlessly (more or less) between the years of Episode III and Episode IV.

However, Starkiller's popularity wouldn't allow him to stay out of the Star Wars Expanded Universe with the release of The Force Unleashed II last year. The story picks up a year after Starkiller's final battle with Vader and the Emperor on the still-under-construction Death Star. His former pilot and romantic interest, Juno Eclipse, is now Captain in the fledgling Rebel Alliance and doing her best to help and keep control of Jedi General Rahm Kota. But on Kamino, Darth Vader has not given up on his apprentice, either bringing him back to life, as he did once before, or finally managing to clone a Force-sensitive individual.

Now Starkiller must go on a quest to discover who he truly is, find Juno and decide what his place in the Rebellion is going to be. Is the path of the Jedi his destiny or will the hand of Vader guide him back towards the Dark Side?

The novelisation of the video game tale is penned just as well as the original novel by Sean Williams, managing to mix the right amount of story, character depth and insight as well as scripting thrilling video game-esque battles. However, this tale does seem a little more rushed than the initial story. Quite some time and planning went into the initial game and storyline, but, not knowing if there was sequel potential yet, it was wrapped up so well that one wonders if the follow-up was hurried just to capitalize on the first's success.

This isn't to say it's a bad product, as fans of the Expanded Universe get to venture into this untold chapter with its engaging characters like hologram fighting droid PROXY, and Bail Organa who really shows himself to be a fighter as well as a politician. But, without giving away any spoilers, it seems that there's a Force Unleashed III in the works, especially by the ending. Trilogies do work well in the Star Wars Universe and we can hope that this one won't end up feeling tacked on.

Suffice to say, it's nice to see Starkiller return, even though we know what his destiny inevitably will be. I mean one can't expect that a Jedi this powerful hid out through the Rebellion, New Republic, Yuuzan-Vong War, New Jedi Order and Darth Cadeus' empire, right? If you were a fan of the Force Unleashed, you'll definitely want to see where this next installment leads.

Science fiction enthusiast David Maddox has been Star Trek characters, the Riddler in a Batman stunt show and holds a degree in Cinema from San Francisco State University. He has written several articles for various SF sites as well as the Star Wars Insider and the Star Trek Communicator. He spends his time working on screenplays and stories while acting on stage, screen and television. He can sometimes be seen giving tours at Universal Studios Hollywood and playing Norman Bates.