Star Wars: Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side by Daniel Wallace (book review).
After reviewing ‘The Jedi Path’ last year, it is now time to look at the other option and what it was like to be part of the Brotherhood of the Sith. There aren’t many papers remaining related to them as most have been destroyed and those that are left relate mostly to combat training. There used to be a dozen Sith and it’s only been in recent times that humans have stepped up to the role decreeing that there should only be one master and an apprentice at any one time. The master also keeps his apprentices on a short leash, mainly because they also have a tendency to rise up and kill their own masters if they don’t and take the title themselves. Maybe there would be safety in numbers.
The human Sith believe that they can contain all the evil for themselves and I suspect, to stop in-fighting when they want control over other people. Ever got the feeling that the recent Sith are selfish folk? Of course you should, that’s the whole point of being evil. They aren’t going to put any money in charity boxes. The apprentice contains the power of the dark side and it is the master who decides how to use it. Something I was vaguely aware of and confirmed here is that ‘Darth’ means ‘dark’ and the reason they change their name is because they put away their childhood name. Oddly, the Emperor Palpatine kept both his names because to the general public he felt fear of not knowing what he really was more useful than not. The pair of them are manipulators rather than combatants as they use other people to achieve their aims.
The information about the original dozen Sith Lords indicates that they didn’t actually use lightsabers but had a wider selection of weapons to rely on. Like the Jedi themselves, when a large number of people died, they also felt it although they relished the pain than abhorred it.
The Nightsisters who trained the Seth originally never saw themselves as evil but more of a means for power and command. Guess they exist in all societies. I suppose you could put that down to their own perspective but it definitely shows a difference in their moral compass.
It’s rather interesting following their experiments with the midi-chlorians as this is the material as revealed in the latest ‘Star Wars’ trilogy that gives certain people their ability with the Force. Something that I’ve puzzled over is why no one has ever considered injecting them into people with no Force manipulative ability or indeed, into Force users to enhance their abilities. However reading here that increasing their numbers in the blood stream in the latter kills the host suggests that is not a viable option.
On page 59, the illustration of Ven Zallow is a ringer for a young Roger Moore who in this reality is no saint.
There are hints that some of the material has been derived from the novel tie-ins but no direct quoted sources in the indice. If you’re into these books, no doubt you’ll find the links. Whether you want to be that technical or just like to have the book on your shelf to show your dark side is up to you. I did find it an interesting read and although it appears that only two Sith lords are around at any one time, this appears to be a tradition than need. One can only hope that the forthcoming films will show that or any merging Siths are likely to be outnumbered from the start. Don’t get on their wrong side.
GF Willmetts
April 2013
(pub: Titan Books. 159 page small illustrated hardback. Price: £ 12.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-78116-617-8)
check out websites: http://www.titanbooks.com/ and www.starwars.com
