Throughout the galaxy, it was believed that Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalkerâthe Chosen Oneâhad died on Coruscant during the siege of the Jedi Temple. And, to some extent, that was true. Anakin was dead.
From the site of Anakin Skywalkerâs last standâon the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former master, Obi-Wan Kenobiâa fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi Order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxyâs ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and destroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead . . . and Darth Vader lives.
Word of the events that created himâthe Jedi Councilâs failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperorâs retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi Order, and Anakinâs massacre of his comrades and Masters in the Jedi Templeâhas yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Separatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.
When the three narrowly elude executionâand become the desperate prey in a hunt across spaceâitâs neither clone soldiers, nor the newly deployed stormtroopers, nor even the wrath of the power-hungry Emperor himself they must fear most. The deadliest threat rests in the hideously swift and lethal crimson lightsaber of Darth Vaderâbehind whose brooding mask lies a shattered heart, a poisoned soul, and a cunning, twisted mind hell-bent on vengeance.
For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, PadmĂ© Amidala. Separated after PadmĂ©âs death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regimeâand the unspeakable power of the dark side.
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!
