The Old Republic: Revan
Jun 3, 2026
I came into Revan with high expectations. The guy is considered one of the greatest Jedi who ever lived — someone who went so deep into the dark side that he became a Sith Lord, then clawed his way back. I wanted a violent, powerful, morally complex story about the greatest fallen Jedi in the history of the galaxy. What I got was something different, and I am still not sure how I feel about it.
⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 stars
- Author: Drew Karpyshyn
- Format: Kindle + Audiobook
- Read: May 30–June 3, 2026 (5 days)
- Era: 3,954 BBY — Old Republic Era
- Series: Star Wars Legends (Chronological Read-Through, Book 2)
The battle scenes are where this book earns its keep. When the lightsabers come out and the Force starts flying, Karpyshyn delivers in a way the previous era simply could not. Coming from Dawn of the Jedi where everyone is fighting with swords, finally seeing the full power of Force users with lightsabers felt like a gear shift. Those moments are genuinely great.
The problem is everything surrounding them.
Revan himself feels underpowered for someone with his legend. You spend the whole book hearing about how extraordinary he is, and then he spends most of the story confused, searching for answers, and ultimately captured. For the greatest Jedi-turned-Sith in history, he gets handled surprisingly easily. I wanted a monster. I got a man with memory problems.
The character who actually carries the second half of the book is Scourge — a Sith lord making cold, calculated decisions in the dark. His arc is the most interesting thing in the novel. But I didn’t sit down to read a Scourge book.
The real frustration is the ending. The Emperor survives. Revan gets captured. The other Jedi is killed. Scourge ends up on the dark council. None of it resolves. The book just stops. After doing some digging I found out that Revan’s story doesn’t finish in any novel — it continues in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, a video game I haven’t played and don’t plan to. The book was written as a bridge to that game, not as a complete story. Knowing that explains everything, but it doesn’t make it any less unsatisfying.
If you played KOTOR and have the game’s story and characters already living in your head, this book probably hits differently. The memory loss storyline, Bastila, Canderous — all of it would carry more emotional weight with that context. Without it, you’re reading about legendary characters you have no prior relationship with and then watching their story stop mid-sentence.
Read it if you played the game. If you haven’t, understand what you’re walking into.
This is part of my ongoing Star Wars Legends chronological read-through. I’m reading every Legends novel in the order events happen in the galaxy, starting 25,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. Next up: The Old Republic: Deceived.