Annihilation by Drew Karpyshyn, Star Wars: The Old Republic #4The Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord’s attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy.
But Karrid’s ruthless determination is more than matched in the steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force—but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood. As a top covert agent for the Republic, he struck a crucial blow against the Empire by exposing and destroying a Sith superweapon arsenal—which makes him the ideal operative for a daring and dangerous mission to end Ascendant Spear’s reign of terror.
Joined by hot-headed smuggler Teff’ith, with whom he has an inexplicable bond, and wise Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural, Darth Karrid’s former master, Theron must match wits and weapons with a battle-tested crew of the most cold-blooded dark side disciples. But time is brutally short. And if they don’t seize their one chance to succeed, they will surely have countless opportunities to die.
I
have always wanted to read an Star Wars story but never had gotten around doing
so. For a lot of people the Star Wars genre is something they grew up with and
for me has left a definite impact. However screaming with a bit of young boyish
delight, I still had some reservations, because with such a potential behind
the series, a book really has to live up to something. But just a few pages
into Annihilation, I knew I was in good hands. Drew Karpyshyn knows how to
capture the Jedi, the Sith and everything that surrounds the Star Wars universe
in a great manner. Annihilation is an action packed and a very fast
paced book.
I am not that familiar with the Star Wars universe besides the six
movies, and I would never have guessed that there would be such an extensive timeline.
In the front of the book you see all the other books that have been written in
this genre and where they take place either in between movies or even before
it. Annihilation takes place before the first movie even and introduces
us to a new set of characters, both non-Jedi and Jedi Republic fighters and the
Sith Empire. But actually the start of this book could have been any other high
tech science fiction space opera but soon after a few pages in I really got
settled into the Star Wars universe and Drew Karpyshyn managed, even though it’s
a short book, to give a clear picture of the tremendous Star Wars universe.
The main protagonist that you follow in Annihilation is Theron
Shan. Theron, though born from a Jedi mother, isn’t a Jedi himself, instead he
works for the SIS the secret service of the Republic. Theron never has know who
is father was and sees his former Jedi teacher, who trained Theron, as his
father. Because getting children isn’t something normally seen amongst the
ranks of the Jedi. Though it was a bit hastily introduced in the mix with
revealing who Theron’s father was, did add another layer in to the mix (it’s
not a Luke I’m your father moment). What was done in a nice way was how Drew
Karpyshyn further build the story surrounding Theron’s parents. It was great to
see that Theron was getting torn between two sides and his mission. And this is
also a part where Theron’s character draws a lot of strength from. When you
first read about Theron, you see him as a hardened special agent, determined
with his mission and helping a person dear to him. But later on you see a
duality of feelings to his mother and his father. On one hand you feel like he
doesn’t want to know them, since they abandoned him as a child but you also
learn that he was seeking contact with his mother but it just never worked out
and even more when I read between the lines I do think that Theron desperately wants
to be acknowledged by his parents and connect with them. Drew Karpyshyn really
puts down a connectable character in Theron.
Besides Theron there are a few different characters that you follow for
starters there is Teff’ith, who Theron knows on a more personal level being
both trained by the same Jedi master. Teff’ith is now a smuggler with a hot
temper and mostly does jobs to get a few extra credits in her pocket. You see
that the relation between Theron and Teff’ith is on some parts quite strained,
Theron protects Teff’ith at all costs and even going as far as secretly tailing
her to makes sure everything is OK, Teff’ith really seeks to be independent and
this difference in attitudes sometimes collides but in the end it comes to show
that they both need each other. Another one that is also a bit contrasting
towards Theron is the Jedi Gnost-Dural. Gnost-Dural assists Theron in his final
mission, and being a Jedi he is calm itself and tries to inspire this to others
as well. Though does have the traits of what you come to aspect of a Jedi
Knight, it is just spot on for this story. Keeping true to the whole Star Wars
universe. Now another point where Annihilation get another plus from
that Drew Karpyshyn also shows this story through the eyes of the Sith. Now
this was something I was hoping for to see. As you see the Council and several
individual Sith Lords you really get the feeling of the darker side of the
force. The main Sith Lord that you follow is Darth Karrid and she isn’t your
average Sith lord at that. There is much more to her character and even in
relation to one of the other characters in the series. I really liked how Drew
showed he history and what she has become. Just comes to show that when your
feelings aren’t pure, persuasion towards the dark side become that much more easier…
What for me was quite new to read about was the type of technology that
Drew Karpyshyn introduced, of course you have the blasters, the lightsabers and
typical spaceships of both the Republic and the Empire. But there is more as
well. With different implants in Theron and in Darth Karrid as well, this added
for me something new to the story and of which I haven’t until heretofore have
read about. This technology, implants that allow communication and a sort of
hacking technology was shown on a small scale in the case of Theron, but on a
much larger scale with Darth Karrid. And in the latter case it went quite far
and even as far as intermingling it with the Force. I really liked this part for
the book as it inspired yet again that there is much more to the Star Wars
universe that was shown in the movies, and adds on the whole a much grander
feeling to everything.
Just lastly I want to mention the lightsaber action. When you hear the “zzzzzing”
in the movies I have this clear picture in my mind and likewise some other
aspects of what I link to Star Wars I was hoping to see this, and yes it more
than represented in Annihilation, even though the focus is on a non-Jedi
protagonist as soon as Theron teams up with Gnost-Dural, the action really
starts to take off. There are some very cool fighting scenes with the Jedi and the Sith and some various other action packed scenes. Overall the action that is shown from the deep space
battles with several fighters and the Ascendant Spear to the shoot outs
with blasters and Jedi on Sith battles the action is downright superb and lends itself to the big screen. This is
the stuff you want to read when you have the face off of good vs. evil, it’s
suitable to be turned in its own motion picture.
Annihilation is a must read for every Star Wars fanatic, I know you won’t be disappointed
by it. Drew Karspyhyn knows what he is writing about, from just showing the
Star Wars universe in the big picture down to the fine details it’s like you
are right there. His writing style is fast and engaging and only after a few
pages you won’t be able to let this book sit aside. The way that the story is
build up from Theron’s getting his assignment down to the actual mission this
is just a non-stop ride to save the galaxy from the Empire yet again.
Furthermore, with the emphasis on a completely unexplored setting for me with
the technology aspect that is involved really produced a feeling that there is
much more to the already multiple galaxy spanning universe of Star Wars. I’ll
be definitely keeping a close eye on any new books in the Old Republic series.