NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . . When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their own ruthlessness to prevail. “It appears things are as you suspected, Lord Vader. We are indeed hunted.” Anakin Skywalker, … Lord Vader. We are indeed hunted.”
Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, is just a memory. Darth Vader, newly anointed Sith Lord, is ascendant. The Emperor’s chosen apprentice has swiftly proven his loyalty to the dark side. Still, the history of the Sith Order is one of duplicity, betrayal, and acolytes violently usurping their Masters—and the truest measure of Vader’s allegiance has yet to be taken. Until now.
On Ryloth, a planet crucial to the growing Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as “spice,” an aggressive resistance movement has arisen, led by Cham Syndulla, an idealistic freedom fighter, and Isval, a vengeful former slave. But Emperor Palpatine means to control the embattled world and its precious resources—by political power or firepower—and he will be neither intimidated nor denied. Accompanied by his merciless disciple, Darth Vader, he sets out on a rare personal mission to ensure his will is done.
For Syndulla and Isval, it’s the opportunity to strike at the very heart of the ruthless dictatorship sweeping the galaxy. And for the Emperor and Darth Vader, Ryloth becomes more than just a matter of putting down an insurrection: When an ambush sends them crashing to the planet’s surface, where inhospitable terrain and an army of resistance fighters await them, they will find their relationship tested as never before. With only their lightsabers, the dark side of the Force, and each other to depend on, the two Sith must decide if the brutal bond they share will make them victorious allies or lethal adversaries.
Praise for Lords of the Sith
“A compelling tale [that] gives us new insight into the relationship between Darth Vader and his master, Emperor Palpatine.”—New York Daily News
“Endlessly fascinating . . . a tale [that is] not just compelling but completely thrilling.”—Big Shiny Robot
“The best novel so far in this new era of official canon Star Wars stories.”—IGN
“Packed with action . . . hard to put down.”—Seattle Geekly
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If you are a Star Wars fan you MUST read this book! It keeps you gripped and on the edge of your seat. It fits right into the Star Wars that we all love and have grown up with, but it adds a grim and dark tone to the universe. I cannot stress it enough, this is a must read.
Full of potential, but lacked to use the story creatively.
The idea of Darth Vader and the Emperor crashing on a planet and fighting for their lives sounded intriguing. Alas, it wasn’t what I hoped it would be, a Sith battle against Rebel forces of insurmountable odds. Instead we got a small amount of rebel-types from twi’lek trying to fight the Empire. Sure they had help with leftover tech from the clone wars, but against a massive star destroyer? Come on… fail on that one.
Then there’s this awful side story of Vader and Palpatine, fighting a horde of heavily armoured bug creatures. Why? Why was this added? What was the purpose of such a long drawn out battle against bugs? The rebels fought barely anyone, and when they did, it wasn’t very long. Then the climax came… and ended with a whimper… Disappointing.
The writer failed to take this story to a very powerful rebel versus empire thrill ride. How I would have loved to seen this on a planet of unknown discovery. To make it one of Vader’s childhood wishes to explore a new world and yet be hunted by a large group of rebels trying to finish the reign of The Empire once and for all. A dynamic of his duality would have been better challenged that way, then some small insignificant band of nobodies and armoured bugs.
So much could have been explored better, if it wasn’t bogged down in extra fluff and bland dialogue that didn’t help the characters one bit. I’m not sure if the writer had to meet a certain requirement for page factors, the editor feeling the need to add material, or all of it combined. But I was not impressed by this mediocre book that basically left me feeling robbed,; robbed of a possible exciting Star Wars novel that delved deeper into the sinister (and yet disturbing) relationship between two Sith Lords struggling to survive.
Would Vader try to take over? Would Palpatine constantly test his new apprentice to ensure loyalty and drag Vader deeper into the dark side? Guess we’ll never know… unless they crash them alone on a planet again.
Like I said, disappointing.
Cut the fluff writing and flowery chit chat, and just write a damn good novel in a galaxy far, far away…
Let me state that outset that I have decidedly mixed feelings about this book. Like many other reviewers, I feel that the title is incredibly deceptive, since it suggests that the book is going to primarily focus on the relationship between Darth Vader and Palpatine. While that is indeed a very prominent storyline, it’s only one of many, and it can sometimes be a bit bewildering trying to keep track of everything that’s happening (to say nothing of becoming actually involved with some of these characters).
The novel takes place some time before the events of A New Hope. Vader and Palpatine find themselves ensnared in the Ryloth resistance movement led by the Twi’lek Cham Syndulla. In the process, they find themselves stranded on the planet Ryloth and have to contend both the native wildlife and with the efforts of the Twi’leks, as well as a renegade Imperial, and their attempts to destroy them.
Of all of the complicated relationships of the Star Wars universe, that between Vader and Palpatine is one that has always hovered at the edge of full comprehensibility. Sure, we get some clues to its nature in the prequel trilogy, but we only occasionally see how they feel about one another. Throughout this book, we get the distinct sense that Vader doesn’t have a great deal of love for his master, and in fact may just be biding his time until he can bring about his destruction. It’s really fascinating to see this little spark of rebellion in this iconic villain, a reminder of how perpetually unstable the relationship between the Sith was and remains.
This novel makes it clear that Vader still struggles to put the darkest parts of his past behind him, that the ghosts of his horrible actions still haunt his waking hours. He thinks back to incidents that fans will recognize from the prequels, such as his notorious slaughtering of the younglings in the Jedi Temple, as well as his murderous rampage after he discovered his mother’s tortured body. The sequences from Vader’s perspective were some of the most compelling parts of the novel, and they really do shed light on his inner psychology. However, each time I read a Vader chapter I’d be left wanting more.
The novel moves along at a brisk pace, but despite that it can sometimes get a bit boring. There were a few times when I found myself getting genuinely invested in the rebelling Ryloth characters, but the novel’s main antagonist, a rebelling Imperial, was both ineffective and frustrating to inhabit as a character. The novel would have been better served, I think, by focusing its attention on the two Sith rather than secondary Imperial characters.
There are some parts of Lords of the Sith that threaten to veer into the ridiculous, most notably the far too extensive battle between Palpatine, Vader, and a nest of creatures known as lyleks. It just felt so strange and out-of-character to see these two giants of the Empire doing battle with strange creatures on an alien planet. I’m also not entirely sure what Kemp was trying to accomplish with this scene, other than to show that both Vader and Palpatine still wield enormous power as users of the Force (as if we didn’t know that anyway).
On the other hand, there are some notable action sequences that are worthy of praise, particularly those in which Vader gets to once again put his superior flying skills to use. The battle sequences were depicted very well, and they were some of the rare instances where I actually felt myself engaging with what was going on.
All in all, Lords of the Sith is entertaining enough, but I did emerge feeling somewhat dissatisfied. The many pieces just didn’t seem to fit together very well, and I really do think that if the novel had either been strictly about the two Sith or about the rebels of Ryloth that it would have made a stronger novel. As it is, it’s hard to find a sense of narrative urgency. We know that the efforts to assassinate the two of them are doomed to fail and, since the events precede those of the original films. The novel is an unfortunate reminder of what might have been.