A while back , I finished Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, and it's one of the best Star Wars books I've ever read. It has what is hands down my favorite Yoda in literally anything. The author nailed Yoda in a way no other writer has Imo.
Yoda's advice to Anakin in RotS usually gets a lot of hate, but I think a part of that is because we look at it from Anakin's prospective. People tend to forget that Yoda is 800 years old, meaning he's outlived everyone he has ever cared about except Luke. Remember Order 66? Seeing every jedi he trained and knew die? Yoda has went through several of those. Detachment wasn't a luxury or a choice for Yoda. It was a necessity. But then we get a passage like this one:
> Teach me about pain, think you can?” Yoda said softly. “Think the old Master cannot care, mmm? Forgotten who I am, have you? Old am I, yes. Mm. Loved more than you, have I, Padawan. Lost more. Hated more. Killed more.” The green eyes narrowed to gleaming slits under heavy lids. Dragon eyes, old and terrible. “Think wisdom comes at no cost? The dark side, yes—it is easier for them. The pain grows too great, and they eat the darkness to flee from it. Not Yoda. Yoda loves and suffers for it, loves and suffers.
Through it all, Yoda still cared for each and every one of his students and friends. We see that when he goes out of his way to redeem Dooku despite the great risk to himself and to the war. It was probably Dooku's refusal that caused Yoda to believe that "once you choose the dark side, forever does it dominate your destiny".
We also see his uncanny wisdom and empathy as he guides everyone in just the right way. From Dooku, to Jai, to Scout. But more importantly, Sean Stewart incorporates an often forgotten aspect of Yoda; He's an absolutely hilarious troll. Yoda made me laugh and cry more than I thought possible in this book. Too many writers in this period write Yoda as a super serious general and forget that we loved him because he's a lovable troll. (Tom Taylor also wrote him as a lovable troll in *Treasure of the Dragonsnakes*, which is one of the reasons it's my favorite star wars one-shot comic)
**spoilers from now on**
.
.
Dooku was also great, and I don't think I ever saw him that conflicted. The way he used Anakin and Obi-Wan's arrival as an excuse to attack Yoda made believe that he hated how Yoda made him feel about himself. Much like Vader, he doesn't think he can go back.
I also loved all the supporting cast. Leem was a sweet, motherly jedi and her death hit me like a brick wall. I envisioned the gruff Jai Maruk as Chiwetel Ejiofor. Whie and Scout were also great and I didn't miss the irony of Whie and Anakin's embrace in the end. Poor Whirrey's death was also very sad.
Overall definitely one of the best standalone star wars books.
