STAR WARS
EPISODE II
ATTACK OF THE CLONES

There is a great disturbance in the Force...  From the sleek ships of the glimmering Coruscant skyscape to the lush gardens of pastoral Naboo, dissent is roiling.  The Republic is failing, even under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, elected ten years earlier to save the crumnbling government.  Separatists threaten war, and the Senate is hopelessly divided, unable to determine whether to raise an army for battle or keep the fragile peace.  It is a stalemate that, once broken, could lead to galactic chaos.

Mischievous and resolved, courageous to the point of recklessness, Anakin Skywalker has come of age in a time of great upheaval.  The twenty-year-old apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi is an enigma to the Jedi Coulcil, and a challenge to his Jedi Master.  Time has not dulled Anakin's ambition, nor has his Jedi training tamed his independent streak.  When an attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala's life brings them together for the first time in ten years, it is clear that time also has not dulled Anakin's intense feelings for the beautiful diplomat.

The attack on Senator Amidala just before a crucial vote thrusts the Republic seven closer to the edge of disaster.  Masters Yoda and Mace Windu sense enormous unease.  The dark side is growing, clouding the Jedis' perceptions of the events.  Unbeknownst to the Jedi, a slow rumble is bilding into the roar of thousands of soldiers readying for battle.  But even as the Republic falters around, Anakin and Padmé find a connectin so intense that all else begins to fall away.  Anakin will lose himself - and his way - in emotions a Jedi, sworn to hold allegience only to the Order, is forbidden to have.

Based on the story by George Lucas and the screenplay by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales, this intense and revealing novel by bestselling author R. A. Salvatore sheds new light on the legend of Star Wars - and skillfully illuminates one of our most beloved sagas.

R. A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959.  He is the acclaimed author of the Demon Wars trilogy: The Demon Awakens, The Demons Spirit, and The Demon Apostle, as well as Mortalis, Bastion of Darkness, Ascendance, and the New York Times bestseller Star Wars The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime.  He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three children.

Visit the author's Web site at
www.rasalvatore.com

Jacket illustration by Steven D. Anderson
11/02

Twenty-one years after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic will face an even darker enemy....

More than two decades after the heoes of the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star and broke the power of the Emperor, the New Republic has struggled to maintain peace and prosperity among the peoples of the galaxy.  But unrest has begun to spread and threatens to destroy the Republic's tenuous reign.

Into this volatile atmosphere comes Nom Anor, a charismatic firebrand who beats passions to the boiling point, sowing seeds of dissent for his own dark motives.  And as the Jedi and the Republic focus on internal struggles, a new threat surfaces from beyong the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim - an enemy bearing weapons and technology unlike anything New Republic scientists have ever seen.

Suddenly, Luke Skywalker; his wife, Mara; Han Solo; Leia Organa Solo; and Chewbacca - along with the Solo children - are thrust again into battle, to defend the freedom so many have fought and dides for.  But this time, the power of the Force itself may not be enough....

EXCLUCIVE AUTHOR INTERVIEW INSIDE