‘Inquisitor – Rise of the Red Blade’ Available Now; Delilah S. Dawson Discusses Novel Alongside Final Excerpt
The latest Star Wars book Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, is now available wherever books are sold, providing readers an insightful look at the Jedi’s shortcomings that led to a Padawan becoming an Inquisitor. For those still on the fence about picking it up, USA Today put out a brand new excerpt of the book, showcasing an appearance from the Grand Inquisitor; and StarWars.com also put out a behind-the-scenes discussion with the book’s author, Delilah S. Dawson.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade focuses on the red Inquisitor that was briefly seen in issues #19 and 20 of Charles Soule’s Darth Vader comic series (beware of spoilers in the attached link). In my review, I scored the book a 7.5 out of 10 and stated, “Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade features one of the most compelling Star Wars literary characters in recent memory.”
The new excerpt features Iskat Akaris after Order 66 when she’s being transported in secrecy to the Fortress Inquisitorius. There she comes face-to-face with the Grand Inquisitor. Here is a piece of the excerpt:
Every time her rage rose up, hating the darkness and the confinement, she pushed it back down and clutched her amulet, seeking her newly deepened connection with the Force, that joyous river that had been waiting so long for her to welcome it. She’d put herself in a mental cage for nearly two decades; what were a few more days of physical captivity? She could tell that they were traveling through hyperspace, and it seemed unlikely they would transport her to yet another prison when the first one had been perfectly wretched. Perhaps enough time had passed that whoever was in charge had figured out how to move forward. Maybe she was finally going to get answers. Once she was on the other side of this journey and out of the brig, she could express her dissatisfaction with her treatment to whoever had chosen to spare her life.
When the ship dropped out of hyperspace, Iskat’s eyes opened from a deep level of meditation, and she stood, sending out her senses. She knew immediately that they had to be headed toward Coruscant; nowhere else in the galaxy held such massive, teeming amounts of life.
Was she being taken back to the Jedi Temple, which surely had to be empty now?
Was she being taken to the Senate, or to some other governing body?
Or would the ship descend into the lower levels, where the crime bosses ruled and where she’d first explored the possibility of a life without strict control?
She wouldn’t know until they wanted her to know.
The ship landed, and after some time, the brig door opened. Iskat was already standing, waiting, her arms by her sides. Captain Spider stood there, his face unreadable behind his helmet. He offered her a blindfold and waited for her to take it and shroud her vision.
“Step out of the brig.”
Iskat obliged, and his hand clamped around her upper arm, guiding her across the ship and down the ramp. She couldn’t tell by smell or sound where she might be, but the air quality and the noise of the nearby space lanes suggested it was an upper level of Coruscant. It sounded similar to the Jedi Temple, large and empty, but felt entirely unfamiliar. A smooth grate was under her feet, and after she walked through a grand doorway, she could feel a cavernous space bound in metal echoing around her. It felt almost like a warehouse, perhaps in parts unfinished.
As Spider led her forward, the heavy tromp of his troops escorting her in perfect time, Iskat began to feel a powerful presence, dark and pulsing, heavy in the flow of the Force.
They were walking directly toward it.
Toward him.
“Welcome, Iskat Akaris,” this figure said, his voice crisp and cruel. It was, oddly, not the same voice from the shrouded hologram.
She inclined her head in a nod but did not speak; her words, she felt, were unnecessary.
The blindfold was lifted from her face.
The figure standing before her was a Pau’an. He wore stylized black-and-gray armor with a long cloak the color of dried blood; he seamlessly blended in with the soaring industrial fortress in which they stood. The Pau’an had white skin, burgundy facial tattoos, piercing yellow eyes, and sharpened teeth. He had been a Jedi once, Iskat realized, but he had fallen. He had chosen otherwise.
Just like her.
He held out his hands, presenting all three of her lightsabers, and she took them, feeling like a part of her soul had been returned. She hooked the green ones on her belt but kept the yellow one in hand, unlit. This being—she did not trust him.
After all her time locked in isolation, she wondered if she would ever trust anything or anyone again.
“Are you ready to leave behind everything the Jedi have taught you and finally forge your own path?” he asked with grave finality.
Iskat did not have to give this question a moment’s thought.
She’d been waiting her whole life for someone to say those words.
“Yes,” she responded. “I am.”
Whether it was true or not remained to be seen, but she would not voice that concern.
Much like with the Jedi, she would hold back the questioning part of herself.
Her first interest was in staying alive.
With a sinister smile, the Pau’an reached behind his back, revealing a glowing red lightsaber with a crescent-shaped hilt. Holding her gaze, not blinking, he assumed a dueling position, his yellow eyes reflecting his crimson blade.
“Welcome, then, to the Inquisitorius.”
Head over to USA Today for the rest of the excerpt.
Author Delilah S. Dawson was recently featured on StarWars.com, where she highlighted interesting facts about the development of the book. In her article, Dawson writes about how she was approached for the project due to her reputation for writing villainous women, but she reveals that Iskat Akaris’ journey doesn’t start out with her being one.
“Every Star Wars book begins when a writer is tapped to craft a story uniquely matched to their skills and style, and I’m honored to know that I’m developing a reputation for writing violent women, including Captain Phasma, Vi Moradi, Asajj Ventress, and Bazine Netal. Outside of Vi, most of those women are also what we would consider evil, or at least villainous. Iskat Akaris begins her story as a naïve young Padawan who wants only to please her Master and help the Republic, but we soon learn that the Clone Wars are a battlefield not only for the galaxy at large, but also for the hearts and minds of those fighting on the front lines. Iskat is trained for diplomacy and peacekeeping and entirely unprepared to be thrust into war. Not because she’s weak or incompetent, but because fighting awakens something in her. Something dangerous.”
Finally, Dawson also talks about how she connected with her main character when writing the book, talking about her own feelings of not necessarily always “fitting in:”
“When I was crafting Iskat’s backstory, I wanted to begin with a character who felt different from everyone around her, because that’s how I’ve always felt. Iskat is more sensitive than her fellow Padawans, and she often remains silent and avoids others because she believes that her particular way of being makes the other Jedi uncomfortable. She feels as if everyone else somehow learned the secrets of serenity and belonging without her, which is exactly how I felt as a kid: like everyone else understood how to make friends and how to dress and what to do and say, whereas I was always awkward and committing social blunders. Even among the Jedi, where everyone is equal, she is frustrated by the otherness she feels in her heart.”
Feel free to also read the full article on StarWars.com, where Dawson talks about other Star Wars books that inspired her and about some of the “Easter eggs” contained in her book.
Star Wars: Inquisitor — Rise of the Red Blade is now available at bookstores and on digital store shelves. You can read our review here.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
