Review: Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade

By Alberto Calderón

Spoilers!

A personal story about choosing the dark side of the Force when the light side holds back your true self. Author Delilah S. Dawson opened herself up to the reader even before the story starts, being vulnerable about her past and her intimate connection to one of the characters and her story.

Content Warning: Inquisitor: RIse of the Red Blade contains mentions of a suicide

Jedi are keepers of peace not soldiers, but what happens when you are forced to join the fight and you find out that what you excel at is killing? Do you go to the Jedi that have been keeping secrets from you and tell them your most inner feelings, or hide them away until someone comes along and tells you it is OK to act on your connection to the Force?

“Rejoice, for she is one with the Force.”

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.

Story: 3.75 out of 5 Probe Droids

After returning to Coruscant following a successful artifact hunt with her master, Jedi Padawan Iskat Akaris along with a contingency of Jedi are sent to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi in a battle that saw the loss of 200 Jedi including her master, Sember Vey. In order to survive, Iskat had to open herself up fully to the Force but on her return to the Jedi Temple, she was not treated as a hero but as an out of control child, even when her actions saved multiple Jedi.

Delilah S. Dawson

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.

“Some knowledge is not worth the cost.”

Master Sember Vey

For all that we know about the Jedi we have never seen how their first kill affects them, even when it’s done in self-defense. For Iskat, it was a turning point. Feeling that Geonosian warrior extinguish in the Force, the emptiness she felt but almost immediately replaced with euphoria but not being able to confide in anyone because it was not the Jedi way.

When she learns from Master Vey’s dying words that she made a promise to someone named Feyra, Iskat’s desire to learn about her past and why her connection to her master never felt real grows, she is instead told over and over again to not linger on the past and to move forward.

Master Uumay “Live in the now,” he intoned. “The past and the future are illusions. There is only the current moment. If you can find peace here, you will always know peace.”

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.

We see firsthand how Darth Sidious and the dark side corrupts and promises its easier, more seductive ways as Iskat is told that all her questions about her past and Feyra, her mother, would be answered and she will finally be able to give herself fully to the Force without the rules of the Jedi and she gladly accepts as it gave her the two things she most desperately wanted, answers and freedom.

“You must learn from that day. The best teacher, our experience often is.”

Yoda

We follow Iskat as she is tested by the Grand Inquisitor, almost killed by Darth Vader in an initiation test and as she finally finds the answers about Feyra, Iskat’s species, her home planet, and her final test before becoming the Thirteenth Sister, tracking and killing two rogue Jedi. But in the end, the dark side lies. She was not free to explore the galaxy or her feelings towards a fellow Jedi turned Inquisitor and those who promised her freedom ultimately took that from her.

Ease of Reading: 4 out of 5 Probe Droids

Overall, Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade is an easy read but a lot of your enjoyment will come from how you feel about the main character and her story along with her views on the Jedi and their tenets. If readers feel a disconnect with Iskat’s constant blaming of the Jedi and the Order, they may lose interest in the book. If you are of the belief that the Jedi were culpable for the fall of the Republic or can at least see her point of view, then you should be able to thoroughly enjoy reading it. Ultimately, it is called Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade so do not expect a redemption story or someone who unconditionally loves the Jedi.

Short chapters, extremely well written scenarios and a small cast of characters, Delilah delivered a book that readers at all levels can enjoy.

Characters: 3.75 out of 5 Probe Droids

Iskat Akaris. This is 100% her story and her journey. Although there are other characters, do not expect an ensemble cast with multiple points of views that change between chapters. Iskat is not only the only one of her species in the Jedi Order, she has never met anyone like her and this leads her to question her past and why is anything connected to it kept hidden from her. Her master doesn’t give her enough praise and this leads to her doubting her abilities and how to control them. Was she good enough? Why did the other Padawans not like her? Was she different or broken?

“You are not broken. We are all imperfect beings, striving for enlightenment.”

Master Vey

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?

We’ve seen Jedi before question the teachings of the Order and those that are held back for this reason or that one, but not to the extent of Iskat Akaris. Did the Jedi Order fail her or was she just meant to not be a Jedi in the first place? One thing is for sure, she is very good at taking lives.

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.

Of the other characters that we meet, I enjoyed Heezo, the Selonian Temple droid technician the most. He befriended Iskat and showed her compassion and understanding. Too bad he turned out to be a spy from the Grand Inquisitor sent to slowly corrupt her by feeding her what she wanted and needed to hear.

“If you’ve been trying so hard to be what you’re not, maybe you’ve never asked yourself what your heart wants.”

Heezo

Canon Connections: 5 out of 5 Probe Droids

Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade is one of those books that not only stands on its own but makes other media better by subtle and meaningful connections. I think it works great as a companion piece to Brotherhood by Mike Chen by not only referencing the bombing on Cato Neimoidia but also showing how the Jedi had to resort to promoting Padawans to Jedi Knight before they were ready just so they could help in the war effort.

Of course we have the Battle of Geonosis, made famous in Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, appearances by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jocasta Nu, and even mentions of Jedi Master Kelleren Beq, Ki-Adi-Mundi, General Grievous, and Noxi Kell. There even is a hidden area inside the Jedi Temple where they keep Sith artifacts reminiscent of Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott and a mention of an Ithorian on Batuu (check out Black Spire also by Delilah).

For the comics side there is never a bad reason to check out Charles Soule 2017 Darth Vader run, where we get the first appearances by formerly unnamed Inquisitors Iskat Akaris and Twi’lek Tualon Yaluna and their search of Eeth Koth. We also get a reference to the Sixth brother losing his arm to Darth Vader and appearances and confrontations against the Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother.

“You may think you drink from the dark side, but you’re just a little tooka-cat lapping at a saucer.”

Seventh Sister

All these canon connections are not mere Easter Eggs but meaningful additions to the main story.

Expand Star Wars: 4 out of 5 Probe Droids

Delilah S. Dawson not only introduced a new species (Pkorian) for our main character but also a new planet (Pkoris) with its culture and traditions. Not an easy feat. Out in Wild Space, Pkoris is a different type of planet, especially to what Iskat was accustomed to. It was a quiet planet that hadn’t achieved spaceflight and wasn’t interested in it. No ships, no droids, no war. Just lots of colorful buildings and accessories. Each family was looked over by a matriarch and they all lived together in one dwelling.

We visited different planets that were imbued with the dark side which made Iskat comfortable once she landed on them and opened herself up. Thule was an ancient Sith world which contained a Sith altar and Iskat’s visit to it started her journey to the dark side of the Force. Also Firrhana, an old Sith stronghold which was used by a bounty hunter to lure rogue Jedi after Order 66.

“And how can we learn if we never question anything?”

Iskat Akaris

We got to experience what life as an Inquisitor was like. Basically, not pleasant. They didn’t like each other, would fight almost to the death any chance they got and lived in fear of Darth Vader appearing out of the shadows and beating you to an inch of your life, or straight up killing you.

Overall: 3.75 out of 5 Probe Droids

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. 

For readers that have been the cast out, that learn in different ways or have been made to feel a certain way because they didn’t fit the “mold”, this book, and author Delilah S. Dawson tells them that they are not broken, that there is nothing wrong with them, that being different is okay. They are good the way that they are and that is a powerful message.

“Everyone deserves to be understood,” Heezo said. “Especially if they feel different.”