Member Review
Review by
Alberto C, Reviewer
A personal story about choosing the dark side of the Force when the light side holds back your true self.
This will be a mostly spoiler-free review but content warning that the book does contain reference to suicide.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade pushes us to follow a Jedi Padawan that finds herself at a crossroads in her Jedi path and how the inaction from certain Jedi from the Order might push someone to give themselves to a side they have been trained their whole life to avoid and keep inside. In a knighting ceremony that included Anakin Skywalker, Iskat Akaris is granted the title of Jedi Knight but instead of giving her more freedoms, it came with more constraints from the Jedi. Iskat is not sent on any additional missions, and is restricted to the Temple, meditating and more importantly, or hurtful, told to hide away parts of herself. The parts of her that made her feel alive but had no place in a Jedi.
This journey of self discovery, done alone and in secret, takes Iskat to hidden parts of the Jedi Temple as she forms a bond with a droid technician that encourages her to follow her true path. After another “failed” mission and two years spent in the Temple teaching younglings, Iskat is finally sent on another mission which turns out to be her final one as a Jedi as Order 66 is initiated.
Was she good enough? Why did the other Padawans not like her? Was she different or broken? All these thoughts are something that a lot of us go through at different stages of our lives and Delilah S. Dawson is not afraid to explore them through this Jedi that is not even sure if she should be a Jedi. What happens when the people you trust the most keep you at arm's length and seem not to understand you and then evil forces come along and promise you what you’ve always longed-for?
Her counterpart throughout most of her journey is fellow Jedi, Tualon Yaluna. A by-the-book Jedi, defender of peace, that when the time came to trust Iskat’s intuitions, throws her under the bus and reveals his true self as just another Jedi that did not understand her. You might say that they are a tortured version of star-crossed-lovers. Will they? Won’t they? This goes for falling in love and for killing each other.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade may not be for everyone but Delilah S. Dawson is unapologetic in showcasing a troubled and misunderstood Jedi that try as she may, might not be suited for a life as a keeper of peace inside the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. The all knowing Jedi are shown as hiding too much, bending the truth and omitting details to serve their purpose and their belief system. For some readers this might be unappealing but to others it might cement their headcanon that the Jedi are to blame for their fall.
Not everyone's journey as a Jedi takes the same paths and sometimes that path always led to the dark side of the Force.
This will be a mostly spoiler-free review but content warning that the book does contain reference to suicide.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade pushes us to follow a Jedi Padawan that finds herself at a crossroads in her Jedi path and how the inaction from certain Jedi from the Order might push someone to give themselves to a side they have been trained their whole life to avoid and keep inside. In a knighting ceremony that included Anakin Skywalker, Iskat Akaris is granted the title of Jedi Knight but instead of giving her more freedoms, it came with more constraints from the Jedi. Iskat is not sent on any additional missions, and is restricted to the Temple, meditating and more importantly, or hurtful, told to hide away parts of herself. The parts of her that made her feel alive but had no place in a Jedi.
This journey of self discovery, done alone and in secret, takes Iskat to hidden parts of the Jedi Temple as she forms a bond with a droid technician that encourages her to follow her true path. After another “failed” mission and two years spent in the Temple teaching younglings, Iskat is finally sent on another mission which turns out to be her final one as a Jedi as Order 66 is initiated.
Was she good enough? Why did the other Padawans not like her? Was she different or broken? All these thoughts are something that a lot of us go through at different stages of our lives and Delilah S. Dawson is not afraid to explore them through this Jedi that is not even sure if she should be a Jedi. What happens when the people you trust the most keep you at arm's length and seem not to understand you and then evil forces come along and promise you what you’ve always longed-for?
Her counterpart throughout most of her journey is fellow Jedi, Tualon Yaluna. A by-the-book Jedi, defender of peace, that when the time came to trust Iskat’s intuitions, throws her under the bus and reveals his true self as just another Jedi that did not understand her. You might say that they are a tortured version of star-crossed-lovers. Will they? Won’t they? This goes for falling in love and for killing each other.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade may not be for everyone but Delilah S. Dawson is unapologetic in showcasing a troubled and misunderstood Jedi that try as she may, might not be suited for a life as a keeper of peace inside the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. The all knowing Jedi are shown as hiding too much, bending the truth and omitting details to serve their purpose and their belief system. For some readers this might be unappealing but to others it might cement their headcanon that the Jedi are to blame for their fall.
Not everyone's journey as a Jedi takes the same paths and sometimes that path always led to the dark side of the Force.
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