Star Wars: Lords of the Sith is an audiobook based on the 2015 science fiction novel of the same name written by Paul S. Kemp and published by Del Rey.  It was narrated by Jonathan Davis and sound design published by Random House Audio.  The story follows the sith lords, Emperor Palpatin and Darth Vader, who’re stranded in the wilderness of the planet Ryloth by an ambush.  Together, the two must depend each other if they are survive the assault by an army of resistance fighters.

Positives:

• Great characters
• Great audio production
• Great reading
• Writing is good

Negatives:

• Never felt the two were in danger

Plot:  Set on the planet Ryloth, an aggressive resistance movement has risen, led by the freedom fighter Cham Syndulla and a former slave named Isval.  To ensure that his rule of the planet is solid, Emperor Palpatine and his disciple, Darth Vader, set out to Ryloth.  When the two are ambushed, they are forced into the inhospitable terrain of Ryloth and must depend on each other if they are to survive the army of resistance fighters who’re hunting them.

The story is pretty fast paced.  From the moment the reading starts, it’s apparent that things are very tense.  A group of resistance fighters are just decimated by Vader.  The story is told from three perspectives; the Twi’lek “terrorists” trying to kill Vader and the Emperor, Belkor’s whose aiding the resistance and using political corruption to overthrow the moth, and Vader and the Emperor who’re trying to survive the rebel attack. The Twi’Lek and Vader perspectives are the most interesting though Belkor’s is less engaging.

The story does come to an epic climax but does leave off on a strong ending (well atleast a Star Wars ending where the bad guys win and the good eyes live to fight another day).  It’s a good story.  (4 out of 5)

Characters: I was surprisingly appreciative of the characters and how well written they are. Chame Syndulla is the leader of the resistance and probably is the most liked character.  Along side of him is Isval, a vengeful former slave, and sometimes she felt like a loose cannon.  How she became so far up the chain is beyond me.

The star of this book is Vader. He’s very thoughtful and I like that he was unsettled with thoughts of his past and betraying the Emperor. He also believes his role is to rule the galaxy and I like that. He’s done some pretty bad things and he doesn’t feel sorry for himself.  He uses it to strengthen his conviction.

Colonel Belkor Dray is an interesting character.  He’s this ambitious guy that wants to be the head honcho but unfortunately his under the rule of Moff Delian Mors.  Yes, his motivation isn’t the best but it does introduce the political side of the argument.  The story does have a decent supporting cast.  (4 out of 5)

Audio: The sound design is just awesome and I have to give it to Random House Audio for the high production value.  Jonathan Davis narrates the story and he gives a great performance. (4 out of 5)

Writing: Like any good Star Wars novel, there is a lot of great, intense action and political intrigue.  Paul S. Kemp does a great job with the writing.  The dialogue is handled well enough to give conversations meaning.  I think Kemp keeps up the great pace with the story essentially being a big chase.  There’s a lot of violence and plenty of people do die.  Really enjoyed the deep writing given to Vader and the focus of his relationship with the Emperor.

Never really felt like Vader or the Emperor were in any real danger.  I understand that they are powerful Force users but there really should’ve been a sequence or two where they are nearly killed or lack control of a situation. One instance, I didn’t like how the giant bug fight turned out. I can understand the sith fighting the horde off but killing them all just ruined the suspension. Why kill the entire horde at the hive when they could’ve just killed the horde before they were chased inside of the cave.  Another instance is when the resistance fighters attacked them with ships and Vader and the Emperor destroyed the ships.  They should’ve been driven to hide, not able to destroy ships.

Also, there is one line that’s pretty repetitious.  Every action sequence Vader “fell into the Force” several times.  The writing isn’t bad but the need to make the sith be overly badass does take away from the tension. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Star Wars: Lords of the Sith is a pretty solid Star Wars read.  It does a great job of giving a crap ton of insight into a very beloved and feared character.  Didn’t really have many problems with the reading except that Vader and Palpatine are very overpowered and it breaks the tension, there is some repetition in the lines, and the political intrigue could be more engaging.  However, the story is really interesting, the characters are well written, there is a ton of action, and the audio production is of a high quality.  Star Wars: Lords of the Sith gets 4 out of 5.

This is a great Star Wars story and comes at a high recommendation.