'The Empire is dead. Nearly two decades on from the Battle of Endor, the tattered remnants of Palpatine’s forces have fled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. But for the heroes of the New Republic, danger and loss are ever-present companions, even in this newly forged era of peace.
'Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is haunted by visions of the dark side, foretelling an ominous secret growing somewhere in the depths of space, on a dead world called Exegol. The disturbance in the Force is undeniable…and Luke’s worst fears are confirmed when his old friend, Lando Calrissian, comes to him with reports of a new Sith menace. After his daughter was stolen from his arms, Lando searched the stars for any trace of his lost child. But every new rumour only led to dead ends and fading hopes–until he crossed paths with Ochi of Bestoon, a Sith assassin tasked with kidnapping a young girl.
'Ochi’s true motives remain shrouded to Luke and Lando. For on a junkyard moon, a mysterious envoy of the Sith Eternal has bequeathed a sacred blade to the assassin, promising that it will give him answers to the questions that have haunted him since the Empire fell. In exchange, he must complete a final mission: return to Exegol with the key to the Sith’s glorious rebirth—the granddaughter of Darth Sidious himself, Rey. As Ochi hunts Rey and her parents to the edge of the galaxy, Luke and Lando race into the mystery of the Sith’s lingering shadow and aid a young family running for their lives.'
The first time I watched Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker I had some complex thoughts. I came out of the cinema with a lot of the movie going around my head, trying to figure out whether I liked it or not. I ended up landing on hating it. My second watch through, many months later once I'd had a chance to think on it more I ended up disliking it. And when I watched it a few months ago, having read more of the comics and books that built the lore and story I ended up kind of enjoying it. There were still things I had issue with, but I'd stopped hating it at least.
When it was announced that there was going to be a novel coming out that would expand upon it further, that would feature Rey, her parents, Ochi of Bestoon, and Luke and Lando's briefly mentioned quest, I was actually really excited to get to read it; especially as I was hoping that it would further enhance my The Rise of Skywalker experiences.
The plot of Shadow of the Sith follows several figures as events across the galaxy start to bring them together. The main focus, and the character we spend the most time with, is Lando. If you're a fan of Star Wars you know who Lando is, and he'll need little introduction. And you'll be pleased to see that the charming, smooth talking scoundrel is represented well in this book. The first time we meet him he's in a card game in a dangerous bar, trying to charm his way out of a dangerous situation. He's the Lando we all love. However, there's more to this Lando than any other time we've seen him.
Six years before the events of this book Lando's daughter, Kadara, was kidnapped. Lando has spent the years since searching the galaxy for any sign of her. This has changed Lando. Whilst he might still be the Lando you expect on the surface, underneath it he's a man with emotional scars, with a grief that no one should ever have to carry. As such, when he hears a group of unsavoury folks discussing kidnapping a child, and they mention the Sith, it's something he has to do something about, a family he has to help; because he can't bear for another family to go through the pain he has.
Those unsavoury sort are a mixture of criminals, scum, and evil droids, all led by Ochi of Bestoon. Ochi made a brief appearance in The Rise of Skywalker, looking particularly horrific in live action, and has become a recurring character in the current Darth Vader comics. As someone who's seen more of Ochi it's interesting to see him here, long after the fall of the Empire, when he's become something of a washed-out drunk. He's still incredibly dangerous, and some of the scenes with him in it are incredibly tense and scary, but he's also kind of broken now too; and it's an interesting situation to see him in.
Another main character is, of course, Luke Skywalker. This is a Luke probably at the height of his glory. He's a Jedi Master, the galaxy knows who he is, he has his school of Ossum, he's training his nephew to be a Jedi. This is Luke before he makes his mistake and loses everything. I think this is the Luke that a lot of people will want to see, especially if they were unhappy with never seeing this version of him on the big screen. This is a Luke who's very confident, who never seems to be worried or afraid, who has faith in the Force and believes that things happening around him are doing so for a good reason, and that he will get through it okay.
There's also a small family that we follow, a group around who all this focuses. Dathan, Miramir, and Rey. This book gives us the biggest insight into Rey's past that we've ever had, and provides some important information on Exegol, the Sith Eternal, and Rey's heritage. One of the things that I didn't like when first watching The Rise of Skywalker was the idea that Palpatine had had a child. The idea that he'd have had sex just felt kind of weird and wrong to me. Since then, and with this book, we've had it confirmed that Dathan is a clone of the Emperor, though one altered slightly. This plays a part in Palpatine's experiments to live on after death, and feels much more like the Emperor. Through the flashbacks in this book we get to see some of Dathan growing up on the Sith planet, as well as his escape. Some of these flashbacks also seem to coincide with events from the Darth Vader comic, and adds some extra details there that's cool for fans.
In the sequel trilogy Rey's parents are an idea. They're something that she's searching for, a belonging that she desperately needs. Even when we get told who they were, we spend barely more than seconds with them, seeing their eventual fate at the hands of Ochi of Bestoon. This book actually allows us to get to know them a little, so see them as people; and it's really nice. We don't really get any down time with them, they're constantly on the run, fighting to stay ahead of their hunters, but even in these moments they take the time to care for Rey, to make sure she's happy and has fun. They're good parents, and the scene where they hide Rey on Jakuu and say goodbye to her is a hard read because we've come to really care for the family at that point. Their eventual death also becomes an awful moment, and as soon as I knew it was coming my heart broke. There was no way that they were making it out of this story alive, we'd already been told that, but I wanted that to change, for something to alter it at the last minute because I'd come to care for them.
And their death, as awful as it is, is not the worst thing about this book. It's the fact that our heroes fail. Again, something we know before even picking up this book. We know from the events of the films that Luke and Lando can't save this family, that they don't find Rey and keep her safe. But even knowing this doesn't prepare you for how the book handles it, and the scene where Lando realises he's failed this family was so awful to read. I cried for him, I cried for this usually happy, charming, and carefree man because the weight of the galaxy came crashing down on him, the pain of losing his daughter came back, and he felt responsible for what happened to this family. Shadow of the Sith might be the best Lando story I've experienced, because it did something I never expected, it made me cry for Lando.
The book deals with more than just Rey's family, however, and also features a powerful Sith spirit hunting for Luke and the artefacts in his possession; the masked figure on the cover of the book. For those that have read the Aftermath trilogy, this person will be familiar, and it's great to see her story continue on here. It gives Luke a powerful enemy to face, and a confrontation with the Sith that doesn't need the involvement of the hidden cult on Exogol, or the clone Emperor. It allows those plot threads to stay hidden away; though Luke does learn of the planet's existence. The confrontations between Luke and this figure are great, and the final fight between them happens on one of the more unique locations I've seen in Star Wars, and does some shocking, unexpected things.
There are also a lot of nods and winks to other parts of the universe that I absolutely adored here, but as there are some spoilers skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to see them. Lando gets to fly around in the Lady Luck, his ship that made its first canon appearance in Last Shot, but was a part of the old Legends canon. Shriv from Battlefront II makes an appearance, which was great as I'd recently re-played through the story. Enric Pryde from The Rise of Skywalker appears, wearing a particularly horrific coat. Lor San Tekka helps Luke out. Lina Graf from the Wild Space books and Star Wars Adventures gets name dropped, and Luke gets to borrow her ship. There are some Lasat knocking around. Ben Solo pops in for a bit. We get to see Unkar Plutt. Luke visits Tython and uses the same seeing stone Grogu used in The Mandalorian. There's a reference to purifying kyber crystals to make them white like in the Ahsoka novel. And most shocking and surprising for all, Luke gets to talk to Anakins Force ghost. There are so many connections to the bigger universe, so many off hand mentions, small inclusions, and tiny background details that Shadow of the Sith ends up feeling like it's this key piece connecting so many strands together.
I had heard from those who'd read the book already that Shadow of the Sith was a good book, that it was one of, if not the best new canon novel. I went in with high expectations for the book. And not only did it meet each and every one, it more often than not exceeded them. I came away with a bigger understanding of certain character and events, I ended up caring for people that meant little to me before it, and I had so many moments where I was smiling at the tiny details, where my mouth was hanging open from the surprises, or where I was openly crying. This is absolutely one of the best Star Wars books I've ever read, and it should be on every fans 'to read' list.
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