Thoughts on Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade

Jan 14, 2024

The dark side never felt so real

I just finished reading Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, (no spoilers below) and I had trouble putting it down. As the title implies, it’s about a Jedi’s fall to the dark side and it’s fantastically done.

The main character has legitimate issue with the way the Jedi operate and how she is treated, but it gets twisted as her own insecurities and desires push her forward. She is contradictory and messy. Misreads situations and makes mistakes. And desperately needs therapy. The fall feels so real and human the way it happens. No long dead Sith Lord or vague premonitions about a dying love one needed. In a better Jedi order, maybe things would have been different for her. But we don’t always exist in the best place for us.

And I love the depiction of the dark side. It doesn’t start out as some brooding and evil thing. It’s happy to see her, and just wants to hug her in a warm blanket. Tapping into it, just a little, lets her drop the limits she feels the Jedi way put on her. The descriptions of the dark side eventually becomes more greedy and transactional, but stays comforting. I’m not going to be tempted by EEEVILL! But that, I just might fall for.

This is how you write a villain you want people to care about, and I love it.

Till next time,
- Matthew Booe