Lit Books Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith Novel by Adam Christopher

Ochi also drinks heavily and isn’t that bright.

 

I thought this book was fairly enjoyable but I was kinda disappointed that it didn’t contain all the answers I wanted, and I found the motivations of some characters to be confusing. Exim Panshard wanted to get to Exegol to recreate his body, but why did he need Kiza to tell Ochi to find Rey? Exim/Kiza already had the dagger, which already contained the coordinates for the Death Star, so they already had a way to get to the wayfinder in the wreckage. Maybe we’ll get more answers later, but this didn’t really make sense to me.

 

Panshard/Kiza were being played by the Sith Eternal as well. Sidious is basically using Panshard as a distraction for Luke while he moves to get Rey.

 

Doesnt seem like Sidious is doing a good job of playing them if he gave them a dagger that has instructions written on it that would lead them to the wayfinder.

 

Somehow, Palpatine screwed up.

 

Maybe Sidious gave them the dagger with the text to where the Wayfinder "will be" if they are successful? If they just go there and find nothing, it would make sense. If another Sith Eternal would place it there watching their success from afar, maybe that helps?

Or Ochi's Metal Eyes could be secretly hacked to be unable to translate the inscription!

 

So Sidious told the Sith Eternal to tell Kiza to tell Ochi to go find Rey? But then in the book, Sidious is telepathically telling Ochi to find Rey and bring her to Exegol. I guess I’m just confused on why there are so many steps and people involved in this plan. Why do they need Kiza at all? It seems like the Sith eternal could just find Ochi, tell him to find Rey, and once he has her, they’ll take him to Exegol. They don’t even need wayfinders or the dagger when you think about it, since Sith eternal have agents all over the galaxy, secretly transporting materials to Exegol to build the fleet.

 

He was bored and this seemed like a good way to kill a few people/days.

 

Kiza/Panshard are literally a patsy and a red herring to get Luke off the Ochi trail. By the end of the book, Luke believes that Panshard was the Shadow moving that he was sensing and the whole Exegol visions were related to Panshard. Sidious and the Sith Eternal used them to distract Luke. The biggest flaw in the plan was that dumbass drunk Ochi.

 

I guess that mostly makes sense. Just seems a bit odd that the Sith give Kiza a dagger with the coordinates of the wayfinder on it, since the whole reason she is working for the Sith is they are promising to tell her how to get to Exegol. I guess Kiza can’t read Sith well enough to translate it? Or maybe doesn’t know what a Wayfinder is?

 

Remember in Legends, Sith Amulets bore inscriptions that nobody could read but those worthy or wearing them suddendly could translate the ancient language they never learned. Maybe it i the same here, they have it but to be able to read it they need to be worthy by using it to kill.

Ochi needed to kill Rey's parents.
Kiza/Panchard was supposed to kill Luke or die trying, rather the latter.

Of course nobody suspected someone might find a droid that can translate it... and would be willing to get hacked and rebooted to spill what it read. Bless C3PO for not only being a talkative spoilsport despite the programming not to translate Sith, but then also to agree to the procedure and luckily have a backup of himself stored in R2.

The Sith always underestimate those two droids! Imagine Palpatine learning how they did it and going mad that the droid that Anakin Skywalker built still foils his plans!

 

does it say that Kiza was on a mission to kill Luke? I thought she was just supposed to help Ochi find Rey.

 

Only about a quarter of the way through, but is there a reason Depa is referred to as Mace's Apprentice during a chapter set during the Clone Wars? Am I misreading or is that just a goof?

 

Could be just the same convention that has Anakin be referred to as Obi-Wan's apprentice after his promotion to Knight.

"if once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny - consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

 

Eh dunno, this seemed much more specifically that she was his current Apprentice. I thought it might have been like you say, with the first mention of him being her Master, but it was pretty specific.

 

I wouldn't think much of it. There is always some interpretation going on when all you are doing is reading text. And from what I remember that scene was from the point of view of Ochi and he may not of known the current situation during that time period. It would have been a bigger issue if the book said Depa was trained by someone else.

 

There is a good book here buried under tros terrible world building spackle

 

There is just so much that happens because it needed to for tros that it really handicapped the story.

 

Question:

Spoiler

Is “Sidious” ever referred to as such or is he only referred to as “Emperor” or “Palpatine” or not referenced at all?

 

Tend to agree, I didn't realise the antagonists were from a comic run, initially thinking they'd been created and fast-tracked but once I realised the backstory I didn't mind it too much. But as you say there seemed just a bit too much of a checklist feel to it of "Well this has to happen, and then that has to happen. Luke can't meet Rey, the family need to steal Ochi's ship but then lose it again" etc.

 

Must have missed that entirely, what comics run? Knew there was an Afternath link.

 

The droids that Ochi works with in the novel are from the 2020 Darth Vader comic run, in the arc Ochi first appears in ("Into the Fire" I think it was called).

 

I thought the Dark Side cult was as well?

 

I just finished it tonight and gave it a 5/5 on Goodreads.

I REALLY enjoyed this book and it's one of my new favorites. I really like material that fills in the gaps between movies, and the fact that Christopher was able to write a very compelling page turner over a short but intriguing comment in TROS, is amazing.

First of all we know going in how it ends in effect per Rey. Now whereas some people might think that ruins the book, I didn't feel that way. We get enough of Dathan's origin to tell us what we need. The book though really gave a human face to him and Miramir and just how perilous their trials were. We also learn how heartbreaking leaving Rey was for them. Now sure, we can imagine that in TROS but here we "see" it. We also see how Dathan and Miramir were each unique people. The book gave us real insight into them. I also liked seeing it explained why they left Rey there and their relationship with Unkar. Reading this though gives you a deeper understanding of Rey. She'd been scavenging since she was 6 to pay off a debt.

Seeing Luke here and getting to know what he is doing and has been doing was interesting. Seeing Lor in it was nice and getting a peak into the fact that him and Luke had been searching for relics was intriguing. Finding out Luke had also saved Komat, essentially saving from the darkness that pervaded the Acolytes of the Beyond, was really interesting. I want to see more of this. The way we see how his power has developed to this point as well really showed a lot. And that he could defeat Kiza/Exim Panshard? That is cool! I have to say I was on the edge of my seat at points. I thought Komat was sure to be killed by Kiza/Exim Panshard.

Lando is captured so well here. We see a mix of the charmer with a deeper, tragic figure due to losing Kadara. The drive we see to help Dathan, Miramir, and Rey adds a lot of context to what we find in TROS. It was really nice seeing him with Luke and R2-D2 of course. Their interactions were captured well and even his interactions with Komat are well done and don't feel artificial. The camaraderie was portrayed well.

Now in TROS we get a line or 2 about Ochi from Lando that gives us this book, but this book really shows how awful he is. For the fans of the Vader comic we see that but here we see what he's devolved into. Really well done. Of course we know going in Dathan and Miramir leave Rey on Jakku and get killed, but we also see how Miramir didn't die in fear but in defiance. I liked that touch. Also, I had forgotten how exactly he was found, it was vague, but to see how he dies makes it all the more worth it, as a failure.

Sure we see Pryde here as well. There's not much added here except his obvious early involvement in establishing the FO. I have to say the fact he was wearing a coat made of Ewoks made me hate him more.

I will definitely rewatch the ST now.

 

The Acolytes of the Beyond are from the Aftermath novels. If you're referring to Sly Moore and her cloaked pals, I don't believe it's been confirmed whether or not they're supposed to be Acolytes of the Beyond, although it's possible.