The Force Unleashed (novel)

The Force Unleashed is the hardcover novel version of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed multimedia project, announced in the March 2007 issue of Game Informer. Along with the novel there is also a graphic novel and a webstrip. All these feature Darth Vader and his secret apprentice in events between Episodes III and IV. The paperback version was released on August 25, 2009, and contained an excerpt of Death Troopers.

Plot summary
Along with the comic, it features the storyline of the game and the fate of Darth Vader's apprentice at the end of the book. Although the game has multiple endings, the book and comic follow the sole canonical ending. Along with the comic, the book's release was timed around the release of the game.

There are differences between the novel and the game. For instance, during Starkiller's mission to Imperialized Raxus Prime, the plot of the novel diverges from the plot of the video game, in that a giant computer, known only as "The Core", gains control over PROXY, and uses PROXY to attack Starkiller, making PROXY assume the form of Darth Maul (although this plot point was included in the Nintendo DS version of the game). In the game, PROXY attacks Starkiller, sensing the best opportunity to fulfill his primary programming.

Back cover
The Republic has fallen.

The Empire is ascendant.

Palpatine and Darth Vader hold sway.

Jedi beware: The dark side's merciless

assassin is at large in the galaxy....

Internal flap
"The Sith always betray one another....I'm sure you'll learn that soon enough."

The overthrow of the Republic is complete. The Separatist forces have been smashed, the Jedi Council nearly decimated, and the rest of the Order all but destroyed. Now absolute power rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious–the cunning Sith Lord better known as the former Senator, now Emperor, Palpatine. But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for...and dealt with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor’s ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader. In turn, the Dark Lord has groomed a lethal apprentice entrusted with a top-secret mission: to comb the galaxy and dispatch the last of his masters’ enemies, thereby punctuating the dark side’s victory with the Jedi’s doom.

Since childhood, Vader's nameless agent has known only the cold, mercenary creed of the Sith. His past is a void; his present, the carrying out of his deadly orders. But his future beckons like a glistening black jewel with the ultimate promise: to stand beside the only father he has ever known, with the galaxy at their feet. It is a destiny he can realize only by rising to the greatest challenge of his discipleship: destroying Emperor Palpatine.

The apprentice’s journeys will take him across the far reaches of the galaxy, from the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk to the junkyard planet of Raxus Prime. On these missions, the young Sith acolyte will forge an unlikely alliance with a ruined Jedi Master seeking redemption and wrestle with forbidden feelings for his beautiful comrade, Juno Eclipse. And he will be tested as never before–by shattering revelations that strike at the very heart of all he believes and stir within him long-forgotten hopes of reclaiming his name...and changing his destiny.

Paperback back cover
The overthrow of the Republic is complete. Absolute power now rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious-the cunning Sith Lord better known as Emperor Palpatine. But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for... and delat with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor's ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader, who in turn has groomed a lethal, nameless Sith apprentice to secretly dispatch the last of his master's enemies. This acolyte's journey will take him across the far reaches of the galaxy and test him with shattering revelations that strike at the very heart of all he believes, stirring him with long forgotten hopes of reclaiming his name... and changing his destiny.