Books STAR WARS: LORDS OF THE SITH by Paul S. Kemp

I like this idea especially because it goes back to the old inifinites comic were ceded fights maul and maul asks vader what he could hate so much and vader after delivering the killing low to maul through his own torso says simply "myself".

Early Vader has to be very hard for authors to work with, they have to balance how much of Anakins personality that they are going to show, with his fustration of his new limitations, his rage about what happened in Revenge of the sith and his relationship with the emperor. One thing I liked about the legends book Dark Lord was Vaders starts to suspect that Palpatine used old technology for his prosethics on purpose as a way of controlling him. It also gave us a Palpatine who felt that Vaders limitations were more mental then physical.

 

Anyone else just counting the days for this one?

 

Nope. I'm mostly zen on release dates now - it'll arrive when it arrives and not before.

 

I've already pre-ordered it.

 

Done that too.

 

Not counting the days (infact, as I first started typing this post, I had no idea what the actual release date was). But I am looking forward to it. I'm in the middle of Heir to the Jedi now. I used to read all the SW books up to the pre-NJO event. Haven't read or listened to one in over 15 years. HttJ and LotS will be my first two.

 

So far I'm REALLY enjoying this.

 

Man, I envy you guys who managed to get it early.

 

Yeah, I got an advance copy at Celebration and found what you're talking about. Hopefully they'll fix that in the release printing. It is pretty hilarious.

I really enjoyed the book. The Vader and Palpatine characterization is spot-on, Cham Syndulla is a bad***, and I thought the supporting cast was pretty interesting.

 

I emailed del Rey about it and they said my note was passed to the LOTS team. So we will see.

 

I think the copies at celebration are part of the main present print run. If its a significant error, it'll just likely simply be corrected in the e- and paperback editions, and end up as a footnote of curiosity on Wookieepedia's page for the book.

 

Vader thinking about Ahsoka IS new. She was barely mentioned in the EU prior to the "reboot"

 

I saw this in a book store just now. Very surprising as I don't remember ever seeing a hardcover English SW book in a store before.

I opened it on a random page, and the first sentence I read was (very minor spoiler, actually not even that and it's not even a direct quote since I don't have a Winter-memory)

Spoiler

"Our relationship is on a different level" Vader said [to Sidious].
Krhm.

 

In the meantime, Wookieepedia's page for LOTS currently lists the error as a new character, "first mentioned" in LOTS

 

Well that's mostly because most of the EU was written before Ahsoka even existed.

 

Okay, just tell us what it is...

And yeah. Making up new characters because of spelling errors? No. No. No. No. And No. Correct it in next edition, and move along, move along.

 

I'll go ahead and put it out there, since I didn't get a review copy or a copy from Celebration and presumably that means I am not violating a review embargo or breaking any rules about that sort of thing. It is the very mildest of spoilers:

Spoiler

The clone Fives, from TCW, is accidentally referred to at one point as "Sixes."

 

Dear god.

 

So it looks like there will be an audiobook for download, but it doesn't look like they are making an audiobook CD. That's the first time they haven't released a CD version for a Star Wars book in a long time.

 

I completed LOTS while waiting in one of the many queues at Celebration. I won't give specifics on the story, but rather just general thoughts and impressions.

Overall, I ended up being disappointed with the story. It felt very small and constrained, and it never reached a level of excitement that I'd like to see out of a SW novel. It felt like a short story with a lot of exposition padded into it. Tarkin and Lords of the Sith are similar in that the actual storyline isn't terribly epic in scope. In Tarkin, that weakness is more than made up for by the level of detail given to Tarkin's background. However, LOTS unfortunately doesn't have some similar mitigating strength.

The story itself seems intended to expand upon Vader's relationship with Sidious. I think it partially succeeds in this regard, but it is sporadic and leaves me desiring far more than what's given. There are some interesting insights into how the Apprentice views the Master, and Vader ends up having some thoughts about the past that you may be surprised by. But the real strength of LOTS is in its characterization of Vader. He is simply a terror on two mechanical legs and there should be no question left as to why the should galaxy fear him. Kemp should be commended in this regard.

There is also some minor, but interesting allusions to what the general public in the galaxy knows and what it doesn't know about the Emperor. The reader is also granted some brief insight into the Imperial Guard and who is behind those red robes and masks.

Unfortunately, the characterization of Vader and the information on the public's understanding of the Emperor and his Guards doesn't make up for the problems with the book. In addition to its small feel, the ending is so abrupt as to be jarring. I found myself actually caring more about what happened in the aftermath of the events of the story rather than the story itself.

5/10, and likely to collect a lot of dust in the future.

 

I love these new continuity glitches. The old ones rarely reached this level of head-scratching wacky.