Review: Beware the Sith by DK Publishing

Beware the Sith or if you are a Jedi of questionable moral fiber perhaps it is better to be aware of the Sith. In any event the publisher DK in February of 2012 release a book on the Dark Side targeted at children between the ages of 7-12.

Beware of the Sith features tons of images from the six Star Wars movies with little snippets of knowledge about the Sith, focusing on Palpatine and his various apprentices. Presented in this 96 page hardcover book is a collection of sections that are set up roughly like magazine articles with lots of images and word bubbles spread across them. As an introduction to some information about the Sith beyond the film, I think it does a great job dropping small EU nuggets like the Sith Code, Darth Bane and Darth Plagueis.

While as an adult reader some of the information presented is over simplified and some of the sections like "Sith Plan: Take Control" could have been worded differently, overall it is a cool way to get your Youngling reading, particularly if they have slightly evil inclinations.

My two favorite sections where the floor plan and description of Palpatine's offices and the section on Sith Artifacts. Any time we get to see high quality images of props that we see briefly or only in passing in the films I enjoy that.

The section of the book entitled "Becoming a Sith" has an awesome set of four photos of actor Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine, then Supreme Chancellor, then Prequel Darth Sidious and finally original trilogy Emperor Palpatine. This is an awesome visualization of the transformation that the character went through. The only problem is that it seems to imply that the use of Sith Lightning caused the transformation, not the fact that Mace Windu used his lightsaber to redirect the lighting to Sidious that caused the disfigurement.

While as a critical adult Expanded Universe reader I have some issues with some of the content of the book, I absolutely loved the visuals in it and was surprised by the amount of detail and information that was provided at times. I think if your kids are anything like I was when I was younger, they will love this book. The bad guys are always have cooler stuff.

For more on Star Wars: Beware the Sith visit DK.com