Was going to read this right before watching Episode III, similar to how it was released just prior to the film's original release and set during the immediate precedings, but I just finished the original 6 season run of the Clone Wars and the final arc used some elements that Wookiepedia said were also covered in this book, so I went ahead and skipped to it because this one always seemed cool to me.

Still, most of the book holds up – if somewhat shakily at times – in terms of EU continuity. (Disney hasn’t told its version of Palpatine’s kidnapping yet.) One of the fun things about being a Lucas-era “Star Wars” fan is playing armchair retconner, and I have retcons for most of the oddities in this book: Unknown Maul Removed most asinine dialogue as Padme arrives and confronts Anakin, including "I saw your ship." No reference to younglings. Tension ratchets between the two as Anakin finds out Padme told Obi-Wan about their relationship. No discussion about Anakin trying to save Padme; she never knew about Anakin's fears about that. Anakin doesn't seem focused on it himself anymore. Probably the only reason this does not receive a full five stars is the apparent conflictions with the Clone Wars Animated Shorts (almost as good as the movies). In the shorts, the end is completely different than that in Labyrinth of Evil. Anakin and Obi-Wan are on completely different systems with completely different reasons for being there. I still wonder how this is reconciled in Star Wars canon. Courtesy of Hundsdorfex, replaced shot of Taintive IV descending toward Naboo with the ship streaking through space.To everyone else, the purpose of this novel edit was to bring Labyrinth of Evil into canon continuity. However, it seems that it will be retconned by the upcoming novel “Brotherhood,” which will feature its own version of the Cato Nemodia incident. This novel edit will now be better for those that keep Siege of Mandalore in their Legends timeline and want it to coexist with Labyrinth. That was actually the initial intent and is also why references to the Republic comics and other Legends content is kept in the edit.

Italie, Hillel (April 6, 2005). "The best 'Revenge' – Novelizations give author high profile". The Kansas City Star. p.F1.

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Capturing Trade Federation Viceroy—and Separatist Councilmember— Nute Gunray is the mission that brings Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, with a squad of clones in tow, to Neimoidia. But the treacherous ally of the Sith proves as slippery as ever, evading his Jedi pursuers even as they narrowly avoid deadly disaster. Still, their daring efforts yield an unexpected prize: a unique holotransceiver that bears intelligence capable of leading the Republic forces to their ultimate quarry, the ever-elusive Darth Sidious. Bail Organa is very unhappy with the progression of the war and the powers that Palpatine has been able to attain, isolating him further from the greater Senate. He’s part of a delegation that meets with Palpatine and gets him to agree to cede some of his power once the war is over. He also tells Padme that his wife and he will support her through any situation… How have you handled the reason for a still-alive Padme only keeping Leia and not Luke. Didn't she like Luke? ;-) Arc Welding: Luceno ties together multiple elements from the Clone Wars stories and earlier in the Prequel era, as the Jedi realize just how extensive Sidious's machinations are.

The story feels well-plotted out, certainly, and definitely dovetails very smoothly with the opening of Revenge of the Sith, where we’re thrown right into the middle of the action and perhaps left to wonder a little bit exactly how we ended up with a battle above Coruscant, when the Republic were supposedly winning the war, and how such a high profile and well-guarded figure as the Chancellor could have been captured. Labyrinth answers all those questions. It also draws from and makes references to plenty of the other Clone Wars novels, making this feel like a coherent, joined up world. The downside to this is that there are frequent mentions of some of the not-so-good entries that I’d rather forget and cut from my personal canon. Throughout “Labyrinth,” Luceno writes engaging prose about key prequel topics such as certain senators’ opposition to Palpatine, the Jedis’ theories about who the Sith lord might be, Dooku’s defection and relationship with Sifo-Dyas and the cloners, the makeup of the Separatist council, and Anakin’s feelings for Padme.It's Star Wars, so you don't get a long review. The audiobooks by Random House come complete with sound effects and music. They're really well done. If you like audiobooks anyway, the Star Wars ones from Random House are worth your time. Luceno said when writing a Star Wars novel that connects with a film, he begins by "asking myself when and where the full story began", then imagining younger versions of the characters from the films. [3] In the earliest outlines, the book was to build upon the opening crawl of Revenge of the Sith, particularly by depicting the off-screen kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine. [6] The starting point for Labyrinth of Evil was a line of dialogue from Revenge of the Sith in which Obi-Wan Kenobi briefly mentions to Anakin Skywalker "that business on Cato Neimoidia", an event from their past which is not further elaborated upon in the film. [3] [7] Luceno called that line "the springboard for exploring Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship". [3] Labyrinth of Evil was originally planned to include the death of Asajj Ventress, an antagonist from other Star Wars works whose story arc had remained unresolved by that point, but it was ultimately excluded from the final novel. [6] Labyrinth of Evil, along with the Revenge of the Sith novelization and Dark Lord—The Rise of Darth Vader, is part of what is unofficially called the "Dark Lord" trilogy. Meanwhile, Bail Organa watches the changes in government and begins to worry about the outcome. He and a few others (Mon Mothma from Return of the Jedi) start the outlines of what will become the Rebel Alliance.