3.83 AVERAGE

Loveable characters: Yes

one of my absolute favourite Star Wars books. if you are a sequels fan, read this book!  
adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

i’m absolutely in love with luke’s characterization and what i perceive as nods to his exile make me want to scream, it’s so very dear to me.

dathan, miramir, and rey’s journey is so consistently intriguing and oh how i wish they had more time together. it adds so many interesting things to rey and her connection with luke, i could talk about it forever. 

I enjoyed this book. It took me a long time to properly read this book due to unforeseen circumstances in my life, but when I finally got to sit down and read it: I had a good time.

The audio book went well with it, I liked reading along with the narrator. It got confusing for me at times with time jumps/characters/ and locations so I did have to re-read some things, though, I think thats more on me then it is the book lol.

Without going into extreme detail, all I will say is it was so nice to have Luke and Lando together. They made a good duo in this book, and I was ESPECIALLY happy to see the author included my beloved Ben Solo. I wish he had a bit more to do with the story but it was still an adventurous read nonetheless.
medium-paced

Shadow of the Sith is one of the Star Wars canon novels I've most looked forward to getting into - with the difficult task as it does of smoothing the rough edges of set-up hinted at during The Rise of Skywalker. 

Luke Skywalker is haunted by visions of Exegol, the hidden world of the Sith; Lando Calrissian, wracked by the kidnapping of his daughter years prior, is on the trail of a young family hunted by agents of the Sith Eternal. Together, the old friends will come face to face with the vastness of a galaxy which can never be fully known, their place within it, and cross paths with a young girl who will grow up to carry the Jedi Master's legacy into the future.

Christopher acquits himself well with a big task, coralling the disparate pieces of plot from a mess of a film into a pacey thriller that explores Lando's grief and sense of emptiness when the war you were a hero of is over, and the the people who matter most are taken from you; and gives greater depth to Luke's state of mind, and the mistakes he will inevitably make, as the timeline barrels towards conflict with the First Order. While it can never quite iron out the issues with Abrams's ham fisted plot decisions, it's a really decent attempt that gives more flair and flavour to an as yet vague part of the canon.

I’ve read a lot of Star Wars books. I’m a fan. This is a fantastic book. Hardly want to write more. It interacts with characters and themes and stories from comics/movies and other books/eras in a rich manner. And it isn’t some short thing either.

Listened on audio. This book was a good bridge between ROTJ and Rise of Skywalker. The story drug at points, but I like hearing the story of Rey's parents and how the remnants of the Sith order still existed after the fall of the Emperor. A good adventure featuring Luke and Lando teaming up. Answered some plot holes from Rise of Skywalker.
adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Usually my complaint with Star Wars books is that the authors aren’t allowed to bite off enough material. This book has the opposite problem, attempting to answer so many questions from the sequel films (particularly IX) that it feels a bit cramped. Still, if you’re looking to fill some of those gaps, this book is a must.

Thank the maker, a new Star Wars novel has been bestowed upon us! Shadow of the Sith, published by Del Rey and written by first time Star Wars author Adam Christopher, is a beast of a book (page count is nearly 500) that does quite a bit of heavy narrative lifting in a portion of the canon timeline that’s relatively unexplored. Filled with faces both familiar and new, Shadow of the Sith kept me captivated chapter after chapter with its mix of heart, action, and suspense.

Front and center is Ochi of Bestoon, a character whose introduction in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker was both brief and mysterious. For devotees of Star Wars comics, his backstory has been more fleshed out in the Darth Vader (2020) and Crimson Reign titles. If you’re only familiar with him from the film (like me), you’ll have no problems keeping up as Christopher does a great job of filling in Ochi’s backstory and displaying his – let’s call it specific – personality. What we learned about Ochi from Rise of Skywalker shouldn’t be a spoiler at this point, but it’s his motivation and how he works towards his goal that is the central plot of the novel.

Shadow of the Sith is set about 20 years after the Battle of Endor, and while The New Republic generally has things under control, there’s still plenty of evil in the galaxy. Old pals Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker are on very different paths at this point in their lives. Lando’s particularly traumatized by the capture of his young daughter years ago and he carries that burden with him wherever he goes. Luke’s focused on training the next generation of Jedi but can’t deny that the Force is trying to communicate an evil threat on the horizon. The events of the book kick into high gear when Lando overhears Ochi’s plan to kidnap a child and he recruits Luke to join his team to ensure he doesn’t succeed. It’s never that simple though as a new dark side menace is determined to take Luke and Lando down.

I really enjoyed how Adam Christopher handled the number of new characters in this book. As I said earlier, Ochi of Bestoon is well fleshed-out (pun sorta intended) and is deliciously despicable. The aforementioned dark side villain’s name is Kiza, who was first introduced in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy, and she’s dealing with some pretty intense physical and psychological torture via the form of a Sith relic. Without spoiling anything I will just say that her storyline is equal parts evil and entertaining (imagine if Jim Carrey’s The Mask had horror mixed in). As announced before Shadow of the Sith was published, Rey’s parents are given names, Dathan (father) and Miramir (mother). Dathan’s family tree would put a strain on any relationship, but these two handle their situation with maturity and love. I honestly wasn’t prepared for how charmed I was by these two, kudos to Christopher for surprising me with how endearing they are. As a parent I found myself sympathizing with their desire for normalcy amidst chaotic circumstances. Plus, getting to know them makes their fates that much more heartbreaking and give Rey’s backstory an impactful emotional weight.

Like I said before, Shadow of the Sith is a meaty read and that’s a compliment! Chapters are lengthy and Christophers prose isn’t difficult to read by any means, but he packs a lot into each chapter. This is a book that shouldn’t be devoured, rather savored for the rich feast it is. Shadow of the Sith stands apart as a Star Wars novel that skillfully combines the action and adventure we’d expect with elements of humanity and heart.

I give this book