NGP Review : Lords Of The Sith

NGP Review : Lords Of The Sith

Coming off of my first (personally) disappointing Star Wars canon novel,  Heir to the Jedi, my expectations were set pretty low as I entered author Paul S. Kemp's successor, Lords Of The Sith. Taking place eight years after the events of the Clone Wars, and before the events of both Tarkin and A New Dawn, the story follows a small pocket of resistance fighters known as the Free Ryloth movement, led by none other than Rebel pilot Hera Syndulla’s father, Cham Syndulla (a familiar face to fans of the Clone Wars TV Series) as they take a daring chance at striking a fatal blow against the Empire.

Cham Syndulla

A surprisingly unexpected high speed thriller, Lords Of The Sith jumps out the gate with a bang and all of my misconceptions were quickly dispelled within the opening act. Primarily set on Ryloth, a planet crucial to the Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as "spice", Cham Syndulla and his small band of Rebel insurgents learn that Emperor Palpatine and his 'associate', Darth Vader, plan to accompany the planet's Galactic senator, Orn Free Taa, to the system aboard the Star Destroyer Perilous.

Orn Free Taa

Knowing that taking out both Palpatine and Vader simultaneously would strike a crippling blow to the Empire, Syndulla makes the decision to focus (and exhaust) his resources on the element of surprise by placing hundreds of mines just outside of the hyperspace lane. Among the mines, two dozen shield bleeders were also hidden within the confines of the trap, which upon contacting the Perlious’ shields, wouldn’t explode, but rather latch onto the energy signature setting up a counter grid that would weaken the Star Destroyer for the second attack wave.

Not a terrorist. But a freedom fighter.

Successful in their ambush, the Rebel attack continued with the launch of re-purposed Separatist Vulture Droids carrying Buzz Droids equip with suicide bombs set to destroy the Perilous from the inside out. As the Star Destroyer crumbles, Palpatine and Vader, constrained to rely not only on The Force but one another for survival, make their narrow escape to the Ryloth surface below intent on revenge …

Vulture Droid

Although knowing that the survival of Vader and Palpatine is a given, Kemp does a tremendous job keeping the reader on their toes as he explores not only the previously unseen master/apprentice relationship between the two Sith lords but also the lengths at which Palpatine is willing to go in order to prevent the galaxy from learning his true identity.  Lords Of The Sith is by far my favorite Star Wars canon novel to date, and comes highly recommended especially for those new to branching out to the novels medium. Lords Of The Sith serves up a great high speed, action packed story that serves as a perfect jumping on point and does an exceptional job tying in elements of both the films and TV series to further explain and expand the Star Wars universe.

5/5

With only one additional published canon novel left to conquer, I will be taking a brief hiatus from the Star Wars universe to immerse myself in Ernest Cline's sophomore novel, Armada, before doubling back for the highly anticipated Quinlan Vos/Asajj Ventress centric Dark Disciple!

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Until next time True Believers,