Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah S. DawsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Inquisitor: The Rise of the Red Blade sets for itself a difficult task: portraying the fall to the dark side of the protagonist: the author must keep us connected to the main character, Iskat, as she turns from a Jedi into an Inquisitor. On the whole, Delilah Dawson accomplishes this: though the Iskat’s rationalizations for her evil become more twisted and disconnected from reality as she descends into the dark side, there is a sympathy that remains(and possibly a spark of light). She does not start out as an evil monster, she is misguided, confused, and insecure. She is tempted by the power and façade of agency/freedom that dark side offers her. The reader knows she is wrong and has become evil; but Iskat rationalizes it all to herself: the Jedi are the ones, she tells herself, who lied and betrayed her and the Republic. But that’s all a cover for her own revenge and her growing sadistic pleasure she takes in torturing and killing Jedi.
The exploration of the psychology of the Jedi who fall to the dark side is fascinating: the complex ways we make small choices that lead us down paths of wrongdoing and evil. Iskat is not fully honest with herself; and the Jedi, in well-meaning ways, are not completely honest with her either. She doesn’t take responsibility for her own situation and shortcomings; and the Jedi, again in well-meaning ways, facilitate this. All together these small evasions of reality lead her down her path. It is not inevitable not her destiny; it is her choices. She has many opportunities to avoid this fate; but she chooses to stay on the course she is on. She grows to accept and own this path; she comes to relish it.
That said, the epilogue undoes a lot of this. The book would have been better and far more interesting if it had just stopped before the epilogue. It was largely unnecessary and gives the character some small bit of a redemption that she has not really earned. The mutual love and connection between Iskat and Tualon provides some basis for this, but it is just not developed enough to make it earned.
On the whole, it’s an interesting and engaging read. The narrator is good and the sound effects and music add context and color without being overbearing.
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