Shatterpoint is a Star Wars novel set after the events of the battle of Geonosis and focuses on our favourite purple blade wielding Jedi, Mace Windu.
Mace finds himself back on his home world of Haruun Kal where he is to investigate the disappearance of his former student, Depa Billaba. The only clue he has is a vague warning discovered at the site of a brutal massacre on the planet. Has his former student ventured to the ways of the Dark Side? Or is there more to it...
The planet is not only a part of the great war, but is also suffering from brutal civil war between the local Korunnai and the Balawai, who have their own sets of brutal traditions that have continued throughout the Summertime war.
Mace takes it upon himself to resolve this and the mystery of his old padowan in one.
What is good about this book is the nature of Mace Windu, and the exploration of the dark side of the force. Mace often feels himself pulled to it's seductions in this naturally dark planet and it feels like he's genuinely struggling to remain inside the light.
The local flora, fauna and characters are also written well, really adding a believable layer to the events of the story, which are in some places very brutal and quite gruesome. It's an intriguing story, and though there are some very slow bits, especially from the journals of Mace Windu where a large amount of reflection occurs, making the book much longer than it needed to be, itmade me want to read it through and I'm glad I did as the story has quite a satisfying outcome.
Not a Star Wars book to start with, but a good, dark read and something different as we don't have many novels focusing on Mace Windu.