Book Review: Star Wars: The Living Force

 

The Living Force is a 2024 canon novel written by Jonathan Jackson Miller. It is an ancillary side story set a year before the events of The Phantom Menace. The plot involves the members of the Jedi Council embarking on a goodwill mission to a planet named Kwenn, where a Jedi outpost is set to be decommissioned after Qui-Gon informs the Council about how lawless gangs have taken over the planet in the Jedi's absence. 

The hardcover version of the book is moderately long at almost exactly 400 pages. While I think the book is fine and the story is okay, I think it is mostly unnecessary. It does show how the Jedi were seen outside of Coruscant by the "regular" people in the galaxy and the consequences of taking children to study at the temple. It also fleshes out a bit more of Syfo Dias' backstory and reveals that the members of the Jedi Council were not fond of his methods. The book also establishes how Master Depa Billaba became the mentor to Caleb Dume, who would rename himself Kanan Jarrus and become instrumental in the early rebellion against the Empire. Aside from those few points, however, the book did not do a lot to set up the prequel trilogy. Personally, I think the book would have been much better had it included more of Palpatine (he did make a couple of appearances) and did almost a split story about the Jedi's standing diminishing and the Sith maneuvering in the background. Ultimately, the book is okay, and while I would not call it one of my must-read novels in the canon material, it is worth the time to read, even though it is probably not a book that most people are likely to re-read multiple times.

Book Review: Star Wars: The High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment #StarWars

 

Tales of Enlightenment is a collection of six short stories set during Phase II of the High Republic (set about 150 years before the destruction of the Starlight Beacon by the Nihil). All of the stories are set on Jedha (which was first introduced in the movie Rogue One) in a bar called Enlightenment. The stories all involve a group of regular patrons of the bar interacting with people visiting the bar before, during, and after the events of the Battle of Jedha. 

The hardcover version of the book is just under 100 pages. The short stories take up about 2/3 of the book. The last 1/3 includes interview snippets and background information on some of the authors who have contributed to the High Republic stories, short synopses of the Phase I and II novels, and a listing of the chronological order of the Phase II and II books. There are also a lot of illustrations, so even though the book is about 100 pages long, there is much less than 100 pages of text, so it is very easy to read. Most people will likely be able to finish it in a day or less. 

Ultimately, I would not classify this as a must-read. The stories are fine but are very much filler stories that do not advance the main storyline of Phase II much at all. The writer interviews and bios are okay, but nothing to write home about. The chronological listing of the novels is helpful if you are one who gets the physical books and wants to put them on a shelf in chronological order.

Book Review: Star Wars: The High Republic: Defy the Storm

 

Defy the Storm, published in 2024, is a young-adult canon novel set during the early part of Phase 3 of the High Republic (approximately a year after the destruction of the space station Starlight Beacon) written by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland. The main characters in this book are Avon Starros, the daughter of one of the Nihil bigwigs, and Vernestra Rwoh, who has been out of contact with the Jedi order for the year after the loss of her master and her Padawan, Imri, whom she believes died in the attack on the space station. Avon tracks down Vernestra to tell her that Imri is alive and comes up with a plan to get Vernestra past the Stormwall and into the Occulusion Zone to help Imri and others get out. 

The hardcover version of the book is just over 450 pages. If you have read the other High-Republic novels, including the young-adult and junior novels, most of the characters in the book will be familiar. The story is more or less self-contained, but it does end on a tease  (not quite a cliffhanger) of where the larger storyline will go next. I would not necessarily classify this as one of the must-read novels, but the story is entertaining, so it is worth the time to read.

Book Review: Star Wars: Escape from Valo

 

Escape from Valo is one of the Phase 3 High-Republic era Star Wars novels. This is a junior novel written by Daniel Older and Alyssa Wong and published in 2024. The Phase 3 novels bring the storyline back to the "present" time, which is about 230 years before the events of A New Hope. The events of the book are set on Valo, which was the planet that hosted the Galactic Fair that was attacked by the Nihil. The story is set about a year after the Nihil's destruction of the Starlight Beacon and the construction of their Stormwall, which keeps the Republic and the Jedi out of Nihil territory while trapping several Jedi and Republic worlds inside. In this book, Ram Jomaram, who was introduced in the junior novel Race to Crashpoint Tower, is making life difficult for the Nihil by launching raids pretending to be a Sith calling himself The Scarlet Skull. A group of Jedi younglings (and Nihil) track him down, and the book then becomes a cat-and-mouse chase with the Jedi trying to save one of their own and avoid one of the Nameless/Levelers.

The hardcover version of the book is moderately long (especially for a junior novel), at just under 370 pages. The book does advance the main storyline a bit, by showing that Levelers can be killed, but for the most part, the storyline is ancillary to the adult novels. Ultimately, I would say that the story is okay but the book is not one of the must-read books from the High-Republic era novels. 

Book Review: Star Wars: The Eye of Darkness

 

The Eye of Darkness, written by George Mann and published in 2023, is one of the newer adult canon novels, and the first in Phase 3 of the High Republic era novels. Phase 1 of the High Republic novels was set about 230 years before the events of A New Hope. The Phase 2 novels jumped back about 150 years before that, to about 380 years before the events of A New Hope, and then Phase 3 picks up where Phase 1 ended. Specifically, the events of this book are set 1 year after the destruction of the space station Starlight Beacon. In it, the Nihil have walled off a part of the galaxy creating an impenetrable barrier that they call the Stormwall around a portion of the outer rim trapping the inhabitants of several planets (and several Jedi, including Avar Kriss) behind the barrier. Marchion Ro, the leader of the Nihil, has revealed the mysterious beast capable of killing Jedi called levelers to the Republic broadcasting the "trial" of a Jedi trapped in what the Nihil and the Republic call the Occlusion Zone for all to see.  Elzar Mann and Bell Zettifar are tasked by the Jedi Council with figuring out how to break through the Stormwall to get into the Occulison Zone, while Avar Kriss is working on a plan to get out.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 400 pages, but it reads more quickly (at least for me) than the Phase 1 and 2 novels did since the characters are well-established. This book also finally includes Yoda in this part of the timeline. One of my big complaints about the Phase I novels was that Yoda was mentioned, but never appeared. Now, however, since he did appear in a couple of Phase 2 novels, there is a bit of a continuity issue (which will hopefully be resolved eventually). Specifically, The Path of the Open Hand, the group that was the precursor to the Nihil, used the Levelers against the Jedi 150 years ago. Yoda was aware of Jedi being killed in the same way back then, even though he did not know what was causing it. In this novel, he appears to be totally clueless about the Levelers even though members of the Jedi were killed by them years ago and Yoda does not mention that fact. It seems unlikely that the Jedi would not have figured out what the Levelers were long ago and figured out how to protect themselves if they encountered them again. Even with that continuity issue, the story in this book entertaining with a good blend of action and suspense. If you have liked the High-Republic era novels up to this point, this one is definitely worth the time to read.  

Book Review: Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide

 

Dawn of Rebellion is another one of the Star Wars visual guides. It is one of the books that I would categorize as a coffee table book, with as many pictures as it has text. The book mainly has character profiles of the main characters (from the movies, novels, animated series, and live-action series) who were around during the time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It is updated to include the characters in the Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi series so it includes, for example, profiles of young Leia and Luke and the updated backstory of Cassian Andor.

The hardcover version of the book is very short. The book totals just under 140 pages, but none of the pages are full of text. Some pages just have a picture and little to no text, and other pages have several pictures with text blurbs next to them so the book is very easy to read. There is also a timeline at the beginning of the book that shows the major events that occurred during the time period from the creation of the Empire to the Battle of Yavin. I think the book is good, but not really essential reading. Chances are most people who are going to be interested in the book are the die-hard Star Wars fans as opposed to the casual fans, and most die-hard fans will likely already know most of the information in the book. It does, however, have some fine details that you may not have picked up watching the live-action material so if you are more than just a casual fan of Star Wars it is worth the time to look over.

Book Review: Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia

 

The High Republic Character Encyclopedia serves a couple of different functions. First, it is a catalog of the various characters who have appeared in the High Republic novels and comic books. The characters are categorized by what group they are affiliated with (e.g., Jedi, Nihil, Path of the Open Hand, etc.). Each character has a write-up that gives information such as their species, what book or comic they first appeared in, and major events they participated in. The more central characters get longer write-ups (about a page and a half or two) and the minor characters get about a paragraph. There are pictures of some of the characters and others are just listed by their name. While the book covers most of the characters, not every character that has appeared in the books has an entry. The second function of the book is to summarize the first and second phases of The High Republic era and chronicle the major events that have led up to the forthcoming third phase. 

The hardcover version of the book is 200 pages long, but because the book has a lot of illustrations, the actual text is much shorter. Therefore, the book can be read very fast and easily finished in a day or two. This is not likely going to be a book that casual Star Wars fans will get into because most of the characters in the book have not appeared in the movies or the various TV series. I would not call this one of the must-read books but for anyone who has read some or all of the High Republic-era books, it is worth reading once.

Book Review: Star Wars: Crimson Climb

 

Crimson Climb is a young-adult novel centered on the character of Qi'ra (who was the character played by Emilia Clarke in the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story). The book begins immediately after the events of the beginning of Solo (still a very underrated movie) when Han escapes Corellia and Qi'ra is captured. It tells the story of what happened after Qi'ra returned to Lady Proxima and how she ended up in and worked her way up through, the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate to become a major player under Dryden Voss. The story also helps explain why she made the choice she did at the end of the movie.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 350 pages. The book includes new and unfamiliar characters, which may make it a bit slower to read than the novels involving more established characters. It has a good blend of action and suspense and definitely adheres to the "no honor among thieves" saying. Since the chances of a sequel movie to Solo are pretty much shot, if the story of the characters is going to be continued it will be in the novels. This is absolutely worth the time to read.

Book Review: Return of the Jedi Novelization

 

This is the novelization of Return of the Jedi, the hardcover version of which was re-released in the mid-1990s when Lucas was working on the prequel trilogy and the special editions of the original movies.  Like the other two re-published novelizations for the original trilogy that were released around the same time as this one, this has a short introduction that was written by George Lucas.

The hardcover version of the book is very short, coming at just under 230 pages, and it reads very quickly. As is the case with the novelizations of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, what is in the book is very close to what ended up in the movie, with mostly just some minor tweaks to scenes or dialogue. It does, however, include what was a deleted scene from the movie in which Luke is finishing his new lightsaber before Artoo and 3P0 go to Jabba's palace. As with the other original trilogy novelizations, I would not say that this is a must-read, but for people who are more than just casual fans, it is worth the time to read.

Book Review: Star Wars: Tales from the Death Star

 

Tales from the Death Star is a collection of short stories in comic/graphic novel form. The main premise is that one of the kids living on the ocean moon Kef Bir in the Endor system where the remains of the second Death Star crashed is attempting to go out to the crash site to prove his bravery. A mysterious figure warns him against going by telling him stories of strange things that happened on the first and second Death Stars.

The hardcover version is short, coming in at just 96 pages, so it can easily be read in an hour or two, give or take. I will be the first to admit that graphic novels and comics (with a few exceptions) are not really my thing. I pre-ordered this before the cover art was available and from the initial description, I thought it would be a collection of short stories like what was released in the "From a Certain Point of View" novels. While the illustrations were great and I do like the fact that tales from both Death Stars were included, I do not think that the stories really added anything significant to what has already been put out there in the movies and books that have come before this one (unlike the Darth Vader comics, for example). So, unless you are really into collecting the comics, this is easily one you can skip and you will not miss anything.

Book Review: Star Wars: The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life

 

Tales of Light and Life is a book set during the two (so far) High Republic eras of Star Wars. The book published in 2023, is a collection of short stories from multiple authors who have written the High Republic era novels, that occur between or after the major events during Phase 1 (the middle) and Phase 2 (the beginning) of the High Republic. Some of the stories involve new, non-Jedi, non-Nihil, or non-Path members who were present during the events in the books, and other stories involve the main characters from the books. 

The hardcover version of the book is a little over 300 pages but reads very quickly, especially for those who have read the other High Republic novels. To me, the best stories are the last few that detail events that occurred after the events of the novel, The Fallen Star. Those stories will likely serve as the setup for the Phase 3 novels that detail the end of the High Republic era. The other stories in the book really felt like filler that did not add a lot to what was in the existing books. Ultimately, I think this is a book that most die-hard fans would read one time, but it is not a must-read and you will not miss a lot if you don't read this one. 

Book Review: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi

 

This is the third of the "From a Certain Point of View" books, set around the events of the original trilogy. This book, published in 2023 for the 40th Anniversary of "Return of the Jedi" has 40 short stories set around the events of that movie. As has been the case with the books set around the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, most of the stories in this book are from the perspective of an ancillary character or a minor character who was often in the background of the events shown in the movie. Sometimes, a story will involve one of the more visible ancillary characters (such as Wedge) or characters from other novels (such as Norra Wexley, a main character in the Aftermath series of novels set after Return of the Jedi). Toward the end of the book, there are stories from the perspective of main characters like Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and Anakin.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 560 pages. Even though the overall length of the book is on the longer side of most Star Wars novels, each of the stories is relatively short, so there are a lot of natural stopping points if you are a person who reads for an hour or two before bed. And, it reads fairly quickly. The book's timeline basically follows the movie's events, starting out at Jabba's palace and ending on Endor. There are also some easter eggs such as referring to Revenge of the Jedi, which was the movie's original title before it was changed. I think the book is worth reading for any Star Wars fans, but for those of us who grew up with the original trilogy movies and are more than just casual Star Wars fans, this is a must-read. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Starlight Stories

 

Starlight Stories is a book about the High Republic era of Star Wars, set around Starlight Beacon, the space station that is included in many of the High Republic novels. It is a cross between a coffee table picture book and a novel. In the beginning, there is a summary of the High Republic era stories, and then in the middle, there is a series of short stories written by 4 or 5 different authors, generally set around non-Jedi characters. Finally, the book ends with profiles of the authors who submitted stories for the book.

The Hardcover version of the book is very short, coming in just under 100 pages. The text is extremely small, and in some places, it is very light, so it is not always easy to read, especially if you are older and you are at the stage in life when you need reading glasses or bifocals/progressive lenses. It is not a book that I would describe as a must-read by any means, as it does not really add much to the High Republic storyline. I think it is a book that most people would read once and then put on a shelf.

Book Review: The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic – Volume 1

 

The Art of Star Wars is a book that is what I would call a coffee table book. It is a mix of artwork/pictures and text. The text talks about how the concept of the High Republic era (which is set a few hundred years before the events of Episode I) came to be, how various characters and creatures were conceived, etc. The pictures range from very rough sketches (almost scribbles in some cases) to the final artwork that appeared on the covers of the various novels and in the graphic novels. The text is written from interviews with the artists/illustrators and the authors of the various High Republic era novels as well as bigwigs at Lucasfilm. It also includes some concept art from the movies and TV series as well.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 230 pages. You can read it from cover to cover, but chances are a lot of people will skim it and mainly focus on the pictures. Either way, it is something that most people can get through in a few hours, or a day at most. It is also a good way for those people who do not get the graphic novels to see some of the characters who are described in the books but are not on the covers (or are not easily identifiable on the covers). It is probably not something that will appeal to casual Star Wars fans, but for the more "die-hard" fans, it is worth checking out.

Book Review: Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

 

This is one of the first, in time and chronology canon novels (aside from the existing novelizations of the six movies) to be released under the Disney helm post-purchase of the rights to Star Wars. It is set 8 years after the events of Revenge of The Sith, with Vader installed as the Emperor's right hand/weapon. The Emperor himself is still hiding the fact that he is a Sith Lord from the masses, playing a public role of a weak old man who is just a politician. The Jedi are essentially gone (with Obi-Wan and Yoda in hiding) and it seems the galaxy is beginning to forget about them. Vader is known by reputation as having powers most do not understand, and it is a world where very few know of his true identity as Anakin Skywalker.

The book also focuses on the beginnings of what would become the Rebellion, set around the planet Ryleth and Twi'lek freedom fighters led by Cham Syndulla who was a character in the Clone Wars television series. The organization who have a local imperial in their pocket learns that Vader and the Emperor are going to be coming to the planet with the Senator for the planet. They see an opportunity to take out the head of the empire and the local Moff and hatch a plot to bring down their Star Destroyer. I will not spoil the rest of the plot although everyone knows that Vader and the Emperor survive, but the story of how is really well done and suspenseful.

To me, the best part of the story is the focus on Vader and the Emperor's relationship, and what we get of Vader's state of mind. He has lost everything he loves, and is fueled by rage, and does not care for anyone besides his master, whom he is already considering overthrowing. We learn that he is still haunted by the memories of his past life as Anakin, and uses those to enable his anger and make himself more powerful. We also get a reminder of just how powerful Palpatine is when he wants to be and a sequence where he and Vader take out an entire colony of predatory insect-like creatures native to the planet. It does a lot to set up the characters we eventually see in the original trilogy.

While I do not think the book is perfect, I think it is well done for what it was. I would have liked it to be a novel that gave more post-prequel trilogy check-in on all the major characters. Even just cameos for Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa raising Leia would have been a nice touch. Those novels may, of course, come down the line, but given what the focus of this book was, it was done well. I would definitely recommend it to get more of the canon storyline.

Book Review: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Novelization

 

This is, probably the best novelization of any of the Star Wars films. While Episode III is probably considered the strongest of the prequels, given how much they were despised, it is saying something to say the book turned out great. It is far superior to the movie, mainly because the author was able to flesh out the story by adding scenes and changing some of the weaker dialogue from the screenplay. Although some of the movie's limitations are still present, it does clean up a lot of the problems.

Ultimately the story is how Palpatine/Sidious has been manipulating events from the beginning, using the Clone Wars to turn the republic into an empire, with him at the helm. There is a great scene between Palpatine and Dooku, just before the rescue, that really crystallizes that whole theme. The first third of the book, in fact, tells the events of the rescue, while also reintroducing the Anakin and Obi-Wan characters and how they became heroes during the Clone Wars. Of course, everything sets up for Sidious turning Anakin, which is done in a much slower manner in the novel than it was in the movie, which made it much more believable and made Anakin seem much less like an easily duped rube, which is what he ended up looking like in the movie where he was basically turned in two or three scenes. By telling the story of the Palpatine-Anakin friendship that evolved during the Clone Wars, it made things much more believable. Another aspect I really liked was the author almost splitting Palpatine and Sidious into two separate entities, with Sidious being an all-powerful shadow that could defeat any Jedi.

The book, while longer (about 420 pages) reads relatively fast. It is pretty easy to finish in a couple days if you are a fast reader and how many breaks you take. Even if you were not a huge fan of the movie, it is still worth reading if you are a fan of the novels, as it is one of the better ones both in the canon and expanded universe sets.

Book Review: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Novelization

 

The novelization of Episode I, while it does suffer from some of the same issues that the movie did (Jar Jar, 9-year-old Anakin's dialogue, etc) it was able to flesh out more things and set up the characters a bit more, and not drag out some of the political story that the movie seemed to focus on. This novel set out a little bit of the Sith backstory, bringing Darth Bane into the canon as instituting the rule of two. However, the brief summary of Bane does diverge quite a bit from the story told in the non-cannon trilogy of novels. Here Bane was said to be more on the sidelines of the Sith destruction as opposed to orchestrating it, and taking a male apprentice when he was old. Not that it was a big part of the book or the overall story, but it was nice to include. The larger inclusion that worked very well in the book for the overall story was introducing Anakin long before Qui Gon and Padme ran into him in the shop. He is introduced during a podrace that occurs before the one we see in the movie, and more of his skill and caring for others is fleshed out. In fact, there is an interaction with a Tuskin Raider which contrasts well with his actions in Episode II. It also helps that the readers get to know Anakin's feelings for Padme and to an extent her feeling for him through dialogue not in the movie as well as the thoughts of the characters.

I do think the political subterfuge story works much better in the book than it did in the movie. The author was able to cover it enough without going into a ton of detail and focused more on the various character relationships. The book gives more detail on the Qui Gon-Obi Wan relationship than the movie did, and even though Jar Jar was still annoying in the novel, he did seem to be at least a bit less useless than he was in the movie (although not much). Darth Maul was still very underutilized in the book as he was in the movie, with his only real significant appearance being the battle at the end (which was altered a bit from the version that was shown in the movie).

Ultimately your feelings toward the book will largely depend on what you thought of the movie. If you loved the movie, you will likely love the book. If you hated the movie, while you may not hate the book as much, it is not so different that you are likely to love the book. And if you are somewhere in between, then you will find good and bad in the story. It is a fairly quick read and can easily be finished in a day or two if you are a fairly fast reader.

Book Review: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Novelization

 

As was the case with the Episode I novelization, this ends up being much better than the movie. While there are still elements of Lucas' screenplay in the novel, and we all have opinions as to the quality of that, the book is able to flesh out and expand upon things that the movie either just glossed over or skipped altogether. The first few chapters fill in the decade-long gap (somewhat) between Episodes I and II. Then it starts getting into the events that start off the movie. There is much more about how the relationship between Padme and Anakin develops and her conflicted feelings for him. We also get much more of the Shimi Skywalker/Laars family storyline that only gets a few minutes of screen time in the movie. And Anakin's destruction of the Tusken Raider camp is detailed a lot more.

Certainly, some of the issues with the movie are still present in the book. Anakin still comes off at times as just a whiny, bratty teenager. The author even gives him a line in the book that he is not whining when he clearly was. Given that much of what people disliked about the movie is that Lucas wrote Anakin as a whiny brat, it was a pretty funny line. There is also a lot more detail about the separatist movement, and how the Sith are manipulating everything behind the scenes, as well as more detail about Jango and Boba Fett. The only thing it does not really do is flesh out how Sidious ended up taking on Dooku as an apprentice.

Ultimately it does what a good novelization should. It tells the story from the movie but is also made it's own by adding detail that the movie could not because of time restraints. If you hated the movie outright, then chances are you are not going to like the book. If you liked or even were lukewarm to the movie, chances are you will like the book as well, maybe even a bit more than the movie. It is certainly not perfect, given that the source material it was created from was not (in my opinion anyway), but it is enjoyable nonetheless. And, It is a fairly easy read, especially if you are a fast reader.

Book Review: Star Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter

 

This is another novel fleshing out the story just prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. One of the Nemoidians is willing to sell (to the highest bidder) information that the Sith still exists. Palpatine/Sidious tasks Darth Maul with tracking him down and killing him, and anyone else he may have told, so the Jedi do not discover the existence of the Sith before their plans can be set into motion. It then becomes a cat-and-mouse chase novel between Maul, a Jedi Padawan on assignment to become a full Jedi knight, and an information broker who is no fan of the Jedi, but knows enough to know the Sith coming back would not be a good thing, so helps in trying to get the information to the Jedi. Most people who are reading the book already know the story that plays out in the movies, so while you can guess how this story is going to turn out, it gets there in a very satisfying way.

Most of the main characters from the prequels are not in the book, although Mace Windu, Qui Gon, and Obi-Wan Kenobi do make an appearance. Palpatine is in the book as well, but more in the background. It is very much like many of the ancillary novels in terms of pacing, but not as bogged down with the political maneuvering that Cloak of Deception was. It is, of course, relegated to the legends (non-canon) novels post-Disney buy out to the rights to Star Wars, but given when it was set that is not likely going to be much of an issue.

Book Review: Star Wars - Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade

 

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.