OFFICIAL NEWS Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

This book, just from it's cover, looks exciting. Really hope to see the throwdowns and emotions involved between the enemies of the Empire and the Sith lords!

 

Sounds like it'll be a goodun! I've been very impressed by the quality of the new canon so far and I feel this will not alter that.

With Cham Syndulla being an integral character in this story, could it perhaps hold further information on Hera Syndulla (of Rebels) and her personal motivation behind rebellion? I'm also very interested to see what specific time period this novel will inhabit, as the new canon seems to mostly cover 15BBY and 5BBY, so we're getting two fairly different points in the establishment of the Empire. Would be interesting to see somewhere between these times.

 

Just finished reading it. I thought it was quite good. I still wish James Luceno would have written this one.

 

Are there new informations about the sith order, the sith shrines and the prehistory of the galactic republic in it? Possible Connections to TFA?

 

I was looking forward to this since seeing the cover last year. It doesn't really do what it says on the tin and was getting a bit annoyed with the gaps in the story that don't feature the lords of the sith. It also feels a bit rushed and there are a lot of mistakes in it for a published novel. It's not bad but definetly not what I was looking forward too.

 

Er no. But there's lots of twi'leks.

 

It took me a long time to get through this one, in part due to a house move, new job etc, but also because I didn't feel as much drive to know the ending. I think the grammatical errors and the imperial guard dilemma (there's a thread dedicated to this) sort of broke me out of the story from time to time, but there was just something about the narrative I didn't relate to.

Tarkin has swiftly become one of my favourite books and I expected this to outdo it, but it didn't quite hit the mark. Don't get me wrong, it is a great book and worth a read, but it was somewhat sluggish. The development of Isval and the start of the book (assault on the Perilous etc) were phenomenal and the end was great, but there was just a period in the middle that lacked punch for me.

Take, for example, the lylek horde/nest sequence; it was great to start with, but I think it went on too long. There were only so many ways one could describe Vader killing a lylek with his lightsabre before it got a little samey, which is a real shame!

I think I vastly preferred the dialogue to the action with Vader and the Emperor (particularly the build to the final bit). I thought the other characters were done rather brilliantly though too: Belkor's slow climb to insanity, Isval's need to kill, Mors' redemption etc.

I'm possibly being a little over critical here, as I did enjoy it, but I think I've learnt not to let my expectations tarnish books for me in the future!

 

I get what you are saying. There are a lot of plot holes in this book. I really enjoyed it while I was reading it. Pretty big dose of action covers up a lot of the motivations I felt were misplaced. I thought the ending was too abrupt and I wish there had been more time devoted to the Emperor and Vader's relationship. It felt strange to interweave this story with some of the early insurgents. I enjoyed this much more than Heir to the Jedi, but I agree that Tarkin is the strongest of the new novels to be released so far. I'm really hoping they bring James Luceno back for more. He should be part of the Star Wars Story Group, in my opinion.

 

Yeah, I feel like the action was a little too repetitive in places and possibly a little too frequent. The final sequence was well executed though in terms of action. I agree about the abruptness, but I didn't mind it so much! Would've been nice to know something of the fate of Delian Mors though other than the fairly expositional conversation about her probably being better in the future.

 

When I bought the book, this is what I thought it would mainly be about. Instead, it is no exaggeration (imo) to state that this book really is mainly about the Free Ryloth movement, Cham Syndulla and some of his lieutenants, along with one of his governmental contacts. And while that can be interesting in its own right, it really wasn't what I wanted. I was hoping for some insight into the nature of Vader's and Palpatine's relationship, of the dark side, and of the Sith, and perhaps some insight into what their real intentions with the Empire were (as hinted in Tarkin). But outside of a few loyalty tests that Palpatine laid on Vader, the book is almost entirely absent of any of it.

Another minor quibble is the depiction of Vader in the action sequences. Still fresh in my mind is Dave Filoni who said that despite the fact that they had the ability to make Vader more athletic and acrobatic in Rebels, they chose not to do so because that's just not how Vader operates. I think that was a good choice on their part, but unfortunately not followed here. In Lords of the Sith, Vader is bouncing all over the place.

Despite all of that, and despite the typographical errors that permeate the text (and apparently a reference to Fives from the Clone Wars, except it got his name wrong and called him Sixes as pointed out by @ZebroGodilla in a different thread), and despite the over-reliance on action, I still think it's a worthwhile book. Even if it wasn't what the book was promoted to be, Cham's rebellion struck a mighty blow and it's interesting to watch how it all unfolds.

 

I was likewise disappointed by the lack of focus and Vader and good old Sheev, but I think, given the way it was written, I actually found myself more interested in the FRM stuff. I think the way Vader and Palpy were executed in terms of what they did and what they talked about, the content itself lacked what I'd been hoping for (more about the Sith and the dark side).

I certainly agree regarding Vader's crazy jumping and such. In my head I kept trying to underplay it, but there's only so much that can be left to the imagination. I wasn't keen on the way he sprinted everywhere too. I understand the idea of force augmentation and that he's younger here than Rebels etc, but I've always liked Vader approaching slowly like a storm cloud; it just conveys his power and confidence more. It would have been so much more impactful if Isval was running from him and he was catching up at a steady march (could have chucked stuff in her way with the force or something). I did like the idea of the Emperor only using the force when there would be no survivors.