Book Review: Star Wars Lords of the Sith

Yesterday we got a look at an amazing trailer for the upcoming Star Wars movie. As we wait for that movie there are a number of novels coming out to expand on the Star Wars universe. The newest Star Wars book Lords of Sith comes out in just over a week. I was lucky enough to get a review copy sent to me and just finished reading it.

Lords-Of-SithLords of the Sith takes place after the events of Star Wars 3. A few years have past, but the empire is still trying to establish dominance and Darth Vader is still becoming accustom to his robotic prosthetics. At the time of the story Vader is not someone the average citizen knows about, he is a rumor.

This Vader rumor/reality is part of the fuel of the story. A group of citizen on the planet Ryloth have banded together in against the Empire. They are not the rebel alliance, but one of many small local groups that likely will become the alliance. At the start of the story Vader kills some rebels on a mission. Leaders from this rebellion are witness to the killings, but able to escape. They then pledge to find out more about Vader and kill him.

Eventually both Vader and the Emperor take a trip to Ryloth. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but there is a plan to attack the Star Destroyer they are traveling on. This attack works but there are some unexpected issues, mainly the rebels not knowing Vader and the Emperor can use the force.

After the attack the two Sith Lords escape to the planet surface. Their escape pod crashes in a thick rain forest area of the planet that is filled with dangerous predatory animals. Both the rebels and the imperial forces set out to locate the crash site.

The story is filled with little twists. An imperial officer is aiding the rebels, not because he wants to see the empire fall, he wants to use this situation to move up in rank. But like any deception his lies and backstabbing start to snowball out of his control.

In addition there is the imperial commander for Ryloth, Moff Delian Mors, whom initially seems incompetent. The stresses of the search and rescue mission ignite a passion in her that brings out a very competent leader. According to some speculation this Moff Mors person will show up in upcoming Star Wars movies.

While the search operation is going on Vader and the Emperor start to make the trek out of the forest. They know they are being hunted but the rebels and can’t wait for imperials to save them. Vader quickly comes to the realization their hike is less about escaping and more about the Emperor testing him.

Don’t forget as the Emperor is testing Vader, the rebels are hunt them down. They bring in a tracker and set out on foot to find the Sith Lords. Through out the story we learn about how this mini rebellion started and some of the operations they are working out. It foreshadows the alliance we know from the original movies.

This is as much a thriller as it is a sci-fi story. The plot threads of all the characters weave around to tell a cohesive story. Each of the main people have an agenda. For some that personal agenda will work out, for others things blow up in their face, and others find their agenda will shift focus.

From some of the interactions I have with the people who visit RescueHumor I know many of you enjoy sci-fi. In addition many are Star Wars fans to some degree. As such I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Lords of The Sith is a book you do want to check out.

Please note a free review copy of the novel was provided via NetGalley for this unbiased review.,/em>