Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

 

Two things interested me about this book before I started reading it. First, it focused on the Free Ryloth Movement and its leader, Cham Syndulla. Ryloth and Syndulla were both featured in a story arc on The Bad Batch. Additionally, Cham's daughter, Hera, was one of the main characters on the Star Wars show Rebels. While Hera was only mentioned in passing in the book, the show Rebels defiantly referenced Hera's childhood and the influence her parents had on her regarding becoming a Rebel against the Empire. So from that perspective, I was interested in reading about Hera's parents and the Free Ryloth Movement to get better insight into Hera's character. 

The second aspect of this book that I was interested in was its focus on Vader and the Emperor. Considering they are two of the biggest characters in the Star Wars universe, there really are not many scenes where both of them interact with each other. I'm referencing the first three movies here (Episodes IV through VI) by memory, but there are really not too many scenes with the Emperor at all. I'm assuming this was done on purpose to keep the character a bit mysterious. And while we get some insight into his character in the Clone Wars era, I was interested in seeing the Emperor and Vader interact as master and apprentice.

The story follows the Free Ryloth Movement and their attempt to destroy an Imperial Star Destroyer. They learn that both Vader and the Emperor are on the Star Destroyer Perilous. Once they find this out, they have a second mission objective: kill Vader and the Emperor to really stick it to the Empire.

Somehow both the Emperor and Vader survive the attack on the Perilous, making a crash landing on Ryloth where they battle Lyleks while being hunted by the FRM. The rebels eventually get to Vader and the Emperor, who end up winning the battle and surviving. Of course this outcome was known as the events in this book take place prior to episode IV. A lot of people from the FRM die, but Cham Syndulla manages to escape and survive. 

As for the scenes with the Emperor and Vader, they went about as expected. The Emperor seemed to be omnipotent and omniscience, and was constantly testing Vader. Most of the tests were about his loyalty to the Empire and to the Emperor. It was also neat to see some scenes where Vader was fighting with his lightsaber and using the Force against someone other than a member of the Imperial military.