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!

Questions or Comments? Sound off below, or find me on Twitter as @ArchangelEZE and for more exciting news and reviews, follow NGP on Facebook!

Until next time True Believers,

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The NEW Star Wars Canon

The NEW Star Wars Canon

The Star Wars Expanded Universe is dead. At least in terms of canon. After the Disney / Lucasfilm buyout (which has thus far given us more good than ill) had taken place, fans were left to speculate how current Star Wars lore would fit into the cinematic franchise upon the announcement that Episode VII was in the works. However, to the dismay of many, executive producer Kathleen Kennedy explained that in order to give the upcoming films the freedom they needed, they would not be following the future mapped out in the novels - therefore single handedly rendering the Expanded Universe non-canonical.

However, a slight concession was made to maintain the existence of this material as writer Simon Kinberg (providing story direction for the franchise as a whole) promised that those Expanded Universe stories would remain in publication under the 'Legends' banner and could still potentially be used as "inspiration" for canon projects. Additionally, Del Ray publishing editor Shelly Shapiro also chimed in :

"Well first of all, we don't want to just disappear stuff that everybody read and loved - including myself. Legends are things that are often told over generations so they're not ... they change constantly with the telling, so you can't actually attribute an author to any particular one. Often it wasn't someone who was actually there. You can go back to any of the legends ... they're pretty sure there was a 'King Arthur,' but most of the stories probably didn't happen. But that doesn't mean that there aren't kernels of truth in it." 

"Everything now - starting from "A New Dawn" on - is canon. So if you care about that - which you really probably shouldn't, but if you do - it's all part of this whole new collaborative process ... All of this stuff happened." 

So how exactly does the Star Wars canon look now with the slate wiped clean?

For a fan who never had the opportunity to explore the far reaches of the Expanded Universe, I'm actually thrilled. Chewbacca is alive, Emperor Palpatine doesn't have a clone, Mara Jade is a myth and the Yuuzhan Vong are an alien race that may not even exist.

If you're looking for a jumping on point with the Star Wars universe, now's the time.

The first three canon novels, A New Dawn, Tarkin and Heir to the Jedi are available now at your favorite retailer with Disciple, Lords of the Sith and Aftermath scheduled to release July 7, April 28 and September 4 respectively. Additionally, Marvel Star Wars comics beginning in January 2015 with Star Wars #1 by Jason Aaron and John Cassady are also considered canon.

A New Dawn and Tarkin have been ordered from my Amazon Wish List and are scheduled to arrive early this week. Keep an eye out for additional NGP thoughts and reviews as I embark (and attempt to keep up) on the journey.

Questions or Comments? Sound off below, or find me on Twitter as @ArchangelEZE and for more exciting news and reviews, follow NGP on Facebook!

Until next time True Believers,

-ArchangelEZE

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