Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade Review

spoilers ahead!!!!!

"When the Jedi Order falls, an Inquisitor rises."

Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah Dawson is one of the best Star Wars books I've ever read, and one of the best books I've read in general! The book follows Iskat Akaris, a Jedi padawan who struggles to find her place in the Jedi order. Her master seemingly doesn't like her, and many of the other padawans are scared of her after an accident that occured while Iskat was an initiate. When her master dies during the first battle of Geonosis, Iskat is rushed through the knighting process, ending up as a Jedi general in the Clone Wars. Despite being a Jedi Knight, the High Council still doesn't trust Iskat, and orders her fellow knights to report to them about her. This surveillance seeds her distrust in the Jedi Order, and when the time comes for Palpatine to excute Order 66, she is spared and brought into the Inquisitorius.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the way that the Jedi Order, specifically the High Council, took on an antagonistic role. As with much of their actions during the Clone Wars, their actions and thought processes are very flawed, and do more to harm than help those within their own ranks. Iskat needed someone to talk to who could help her, but the combination of Jedi dogma and her alienation made her feel like she was alone and couldn't talk to anyone. When she realized that the droid mechanic she had confided in was actually reporting to Palpatine, she killed him. Framing the Order in this way was a great way to demonstrate how being in an institution like this could lead to Iskat's turn to the dark side.

I found Iskat's internal struggle with wanting to fit into an oppressive society but being unable to reconcile the way she felt very relatable in terms of queerness. Dawson does a really good job of making this comparison, and a quote that stuck out to me was "'Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be something you're not, day in and day out? To smile and nod and contort your soul into a tight little knot?'" I know how hard it is to feel like that, and I know how easy it can be to turn away from the 'light' when it feels like everyone and everything is against you.

My biggest praise for this book is Dawson's narrative style. I've read two other books by Dawson — those being Phasma and Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire — and I could recognize how brilliantly she writes the story, but neither of those plots particularly caught my eye (though I enjoyed both). In Rise of the Red Blade, I got the best of both worlds; A brilliant writing style and a plot that fully captivated me.

I genuinely can't think of a criticism for this book. I wish it were longer, and I hope that Delilah Dawson keeps writing Star Wars. I would recommend this book to anyone, even if you don't like Star Wars that much. 10/10, as close to perfect as a novel can get.