Rise of the Red Blade is the newest canon novel in the Star Wars timeline. It is set over a span of many years, starting during Episode II, giving an alternate view of the Battle of Geonosis, which started the Clone Wars and ends in the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The main character is Iskat Akaris, who is a Padawan at the Battle of Geonosis, becomes a Jedi Knight after the battle when her master is killed, and eventually becomes one of the Inquisitors.
I will not go into too much of the plot so I do not spoil it for people, but the book is partly about how Iskat is turned, but it also, toward the end of the book, provides a lot of insight into how different Inquisitors were turned, and what their lives were like after they were. We learn how deeply Palpatine's agents were embedded in the Jedi temple, and how some of the Inquisitors were basically groomed whole they were Jedi. And, we also see another perspective of Order 66 and learn that Order 66 for the groomed Jedi did not occur the same way as it did for other Jedi. The book does feature a lot of main characters from the Skywalker saga including Yoda, Mace Windu, Palpatine (both as Chancellor and as Emperor), and Darth Vader. If you have watched the Rebels animated series, the Obi-Wan series, and/or played the Fallen Order video games, some of the Inquisitors featured in those appear in the book as well.
The book is just under 350 pages, and it reads very quickly. Fast readers can definitely finish it in a couple of days. The story flows very well, and I like that the author spends most of the book detailing Iskat's life before she was an Inquisitor and building up to her turn. It is definitely one of my must-read canon novels.
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