This novel follows the story of the rise of the dark lord Darth Bane and the creation of the Rule of Two.
Darth Bane comes from this remote planet that provides resources to the Republic during the Sith War. Bane works in the mines until he gets in a fight with one of the other workers and bites off this guys finger. He gets suspended from work and goes to the local cantina. There are a few republic soldiers there and they are playing cards while trying to recruit people to join the army. Bane gets into it with them and as he leaves the bar later that night, he gets into a scuffle and kills one of the soldiers. He then flees to join the Sith army. In the Sith army he rises through the ranks through incredible feats and gets noticed by one of the Dark Lords. The Dark Lord sends him to Korriban to get trained in the ways of the Dark Side. While at the temple he gains the notice of all of the teachers and becomes a praised apprentice. He kills another student in the dueling ring and sets a new example for the other students.
With that kill he fears what he has become and falls away from the dark side allowing the other students to take advantage of him and the teachers to ignore him. In a desperate attempt to gain back some prestige he challenges the top student in the dueling ring and loses miserably. He is henceforth shamed.
Meanwhile, on Ruusann the Jedi have joined forces into the Army of Light and have begun to attack the Brotherhood of Darkness lead by Lord Kaan. The Jedi are betrayed by one of their own, Githany. She tells all of their secrets to the Sith and then goes to the temple on Korriban to learn the ways of the Sith.
Once she arrives on Korriban, she makes an alliance with Bane and agrees to teach him what the teachers will not. He also supplements his studies by learning in the archives. Together they grow strong, but Bane grows even stronger and begins to question the teachings of the Brotherhood. He challenges the same student again but this time wins decisively. After his win, the leader of the school tells him he has to stop talking to Githany and he has to stop using the archives.
After the fight with his head lord, Bane leaves to find the secrets of the ancient Sith. He travels to the valley of souls to look in the vaults of the dead Sith master but finds nothing. As he returns to the temple, he discovers that the students are joining the ranks of the brotherhood and going to Russann to challenge the Jedi. He gets revolted because he feels that the equality that the brotherhood supports is a lie and so he leaves to go to a planet where he thinks there may be some ancient Sith roots. He finds a old holocron of the Sith Lord Revan. Through this holocron he realizes that the brotherhood is a lie and he creates the Rule of Two. One to embody the power and the other to crave it. He realizes that he needs to purge the current brotherhood and only take one apprentice to keep the Sith going. He knows that the only way to finish off the Jedi is by holding back and being patient and using cunning and treachery.
After this discovery he sends a peace offering to Lord Kaan and waits for his envoy from Ruusaan and Githany arrives and poisons him. He ends up escaping and going to Ruusaan anyway where he confronts the brotherhood and leads them towards using the peace offering he sent - the thought bomb. The brotherhood gathers in the caves and unleashes the thought bomb on the world. One hundred Jedi who went in to try to stop them and all of the Sith are destroyed. Bane survives and finds a young girl to take on as his apprentice.
This book was fast paced and exciting. I think Drew did an excellent job describing the flaws of the Sith and actually had you questioning the Jedi. It is really hard to convince people that know the Star Wars saga that the Jedi might not be the true people you think they are, but this book had me questioning the ways of the Jedi and almost cheering for the Dark Side. Uh Oh.
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