Star Wars - Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side

Secrets of the Galaxy Guidebooks

by Daniel Wallace

The black-and-red pyramid-shaped Sith case appears innocuous. But with the touch of a button, the door of the case lifts, accompanied by lights and Star Wars sound effects. The secrets within are revealed—the Book of Sith slides into view.

The Sith have existed in the galaxy for centuries, lurking, waiting for their chance to seize control. As various Sith Lords emerged and rose to power, they recorded their thoughts, exploits, and plots for Sith control of the galaxy. When they fell, their knowledge vanished with them forever. Or so it seemed. . . .

Over the years, these writings were passed among numerous Sith and Jedi, who added their comments to the pages. In his quest for domination, Darth Sidious tracked down what remained of five pivotal Sith texts written by his most powerful predecessors. Then, drawing on the knowledge within the compiled pages, he wrote a sixth text—his own manifesto. Together, these documents, along with several collected objects associated with them, shed light on the philosophy, achievements, and failures of the Sith Order. For years, this collection remained hidden, existing as legend only. But now all who are tempted may unlock the Book of Sith and delve into the dark side. . . .

From the creators of The Jedi Path, in collaboration with Lucasfilm, Book of Sith reveals the mystery and madness of the dark side—while introducing new characters, history, as well as sinister insights into what it means to be a Sith Master.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Reference, Collections

159 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2012

Reviews

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

We touched down on Korriban - the world that screams the loudest for those who can hear the dark side's voice. It is on Korriban that the Sith Purebloods began; it is here that they often return in death. We stepped out of the cramped reek of our interstellar prison into the light of an unfamiliar sun. Grand tombs carved from the planet´s stone surrounded us. The sand was littered with the bones of a thousand kings.

After his ascension to the Imperial throne, Palpatine began to compile the writings of those who had come before him to mastery of the dark side. The result was The Book of Sith, a collection of the secrets of the dark side…

The tales themselves are close to perfect. My favourite of the six was by far the first one; written by Sorzus Syn, an ancient Sith sorceress and among the first Dark Jedi to land on Korriban alongside Ajunta Pall and found the Sith Order. The chronicle of Sorzus Syn was fantastic from beginning to end. I also really enjoyed Mother Talzin’s writings on the teachings of the Nightsisters.

However, I had a few issues. First, some of the texts, enjoyable or not, did not fit with the theme. Darth Malgus’ tale was just a military report, and in a so-called Book of Sith, there are so many better candidates to pick from the Old Republic era (Exar Kun and Vitiate, not to even mention Revan) than a blunt soldier. Talzin’s tale not only focuses on another dark side faction, but openly criticises the Sith. I loved reading these texts, but unfortauntely they gave the impression that this book wasn’t planned particularly well.

Second, the scribbled notes. Throughout the book, you’ll find notes on the pages written by Jedi and Sith alike. While this certainly added some degree of authenticity to it, I think it did more harm than good. Several comments and writing styles are entirely out of character, and in my eyes it’s very overdone.

Still, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. I would mostly recommend it to people familiar with the Expanded Universe and the Old Republic era, but if you’re one of these, then you’ll definitely have a great time reading this.

[Mariℓina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge EU Star Wars fan, I couldn't miss the opportunity to read this book. I should clarify right away that for someone who is only familiar with the movies it would be difficult to grasp the concept behind it or reading this book will turn out to be a tedious experience. For the rest of us, let's delve into the Dark Side.. they have cookies..


The Book of Sith is brilliantly done. Excruciatingly researched, beautifully formatted and with an abundance of any kind of information you ever wanted to know about the Dark Side of the Force, along with the history of those who shaped it.


Divided into six books, each one from another era and written in different tone, all accompanied by pictures, trivia and insightful annotations written in the side by Luke, Yoda, Mace Windu, Darth Sidious, Darth Vader -who by the way has an excellent handwriting- Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos.


So go ahead and read it like a Jedi would, -or a Sith Lord- and study the Dark Side in its purest state. A few themes discussed in here are, Alchemy, Warbeasts, Amulets, Prophecies, The Rule of Two, Lightsaber Construction, War Tactics, Midi-Chlorians, Instructions on how to Lead etc.






THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

- Knowledge is powerful but also a great responsibility, Jedi care only about the responsibility factor and act sometimes like the knowledge is a miasma and Dark Jedi and later Sith, only concentrate their interest on power, selfish victory and chaos. So if you ask me both fail.
O.k. it got too serious, too fast.

- So how about writing in ancient scribes? Who does that?
- Bane's part was by far the best..
- Quinlan Vos makes the best comments:D

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.

So you want to become a Sith? This is your guidebook to becoming one and what weapons are at your disposal. This is told thru several different Sith lords and their personal experiences as a Sith and their areas of expertise.

I loved the concept of this book especially since I find the Sith more fascinating than the Jedi. There are about six different stories from different Sith lords with each belonging to a different era. I enjoyed the first story of how a split from the Jedi order integrated with Sith beings. The ending story written by Darth Sidious is terrific too as you can see how he incorporated the stories before him and used them to become the Emperor. History can be a great teacher and that is what this book is about. Interspersed with these stories are notes written by Jedi or Sith lords like Vader or Luke and this just adds depth to the atmosphere of this book. It is a nice contrast in seeing how the Jedi or the Sith view some of these practices. Also within the stories are various illustrations and some of them were beautiful to look at.

This is such a cool concept for a book. I think my expectations were too high for it though. I found out that there was a story by Darth Bane and I was immediately sold on this book. Unfortunately it didn't add much to his lore. This fell into my usual pattern with short story collections. Some I love and some not so much. The good definitely outweighed the bad and I recommend any fan who likes the dark side to read this book.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peace is a lie. There is only passion.
Through passion I gain strength.
Through strength I gain power.
Through power I gain victory.
Through victory my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

-The Sith Code.

The Book of Sith was excellent. It is not only presented in a very cool format, as notes written by various Dark Side masters, but is also very informative for those wishing to delve into the Dark Side of the Force.

This book is supposed to be the culmination of Sidious' learning and ruminations about the Dark Side of the Force. It "collects" the writings and philosophy of the following:

Sorzus Syn- from the first group of Jedi who left the order and settled in Sith space to form a new order that studied the Dark Side. His history and notes cover the integration with the Sith and the various researches they delved into from Force amulets to Sith monsters.

Darth Malgus- The Rim Campaign

Darth Bane- The Rule of Two

Nightmother Talzin- The Secrets of Wild Power and Dark Side spirits

Darth Sidious- the future of the Sith.

All of these sections are full of illustrations and information. It is a very interesting look at the Sith order and other Dark Siders. I also liked the little "hand notes" scrawled by various people from Yoda and Luke to Darth Vader and Sidious making notes on the sides arguing or supporting a particular view or power. Very cool, though I could have done without the Jedi's bloviating viewpoints. Nothing reeks more of hubris than reading Wndu or Yoda's ruminations on how the Dark Side sucks and can't do this or that...blah blah blah. All these notes would have had some more impact if that whole Jedi Order hadn't been wiped out by the very same Sith they dare criticize.

The Sidious notes are far more interesting.

Filled with cool information and illustrations, this is a Star Wars fan dream. Especially those who like the Dark Side. A must have for any Star Wars fan.

[Brett Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Structure
The book starts off with a prelude where Sidious explains how he inherited the Sith archives - over a thousand years worth of teachings. In his studies, Sidious realized that the works of Sorzus Syn, Darth Malgus, Darth Bane, Mother Talzin, and Darth Plagueis are the true relics of the Sith. He managed to recover some of their writings, and put them into one volume - the Book of Sith. Then of course, Sidious couldn't help but slap his own writings at the end explaining how he achieved Absolute Power.

Book Build
Each collection has a unique page design that truly makes the side profile of this book look like a true collection of scattered pages. A+ to the publisher. I've praised the page design for this entire series, but Book of Sith takes the cake.

Content
Sorzus Syn's chapter reads like a history book. Here's a list of the subsections to give you an idea: Exile and Arrival, The First Great Schism, The Hundred Year Darkness, Proud People of the Sith, Sith Weapons, Sith Amulets, Houses of Power, Sith Holocrons, Reign of the Ax, Conquests of the Sith, Warbeasts, Sith Alchemy, Sith Incantations, The Sith Code, and the Prophecy of the Sith'ari. Very solid chapter.

Then we get Malgus's war logs of a Rim Campaign he was on. He wrote in his journal on day 133, 152, 179, 215, 221, 258, 315, 342, 399, 460, and 479. It's clear that he wrote in his journal before day 133 but Sidious could not recover those pages. I think that's a cute detail. Nothing here really stands out to me. It's basically Malgus whining about other Sith Lords stealing his clout and gaining favour with the Dark Council. There isn't much substance here. Weak chapter.

Next, we get the infamous Rule of Two section by Darth Bane. It delivers exactly what you'd expect. Here are the topics covered: Power of the Sith, The Mistakes of Ruusan, The Title of Darth, Striking from the Shadows, Selecting an Apprentice, The Revenge of the Sith, Personal Combat, Lightsaber Construction, Sith Lightsaber Variants, Lightsaber Combat, Using the Saberstaff, Sith Armor, and Dark Side Combat. Very solid chapter.

The fourth entry is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Wild Power by Mother Talzin (for those who don't know, she is a Nightsister, not a Sith). After seeing the Nightsister's in the Clone Wars series, they remained an enigma to me throughout. This chapter is the only place I've been able to find some lore on them. The topics covered are as follows: The Writings of the Nightsisters, The Living Force and the Dark Side, The History of Dathomir, The History of the Nightsisters, The Winged Goddess, The Fanged God, Talismans and Totems, Beasts of Dathomir, Nature's Vigor, Training a Warrior, Instruction and Transformation, and Competing Dark Side Traditions. Very solid chapter.

Next we get Darth Plagueis's writings. He goes on about the following: The Science of Creating Life, Influencing the Midi-Chlorians, Perpetual Life, Concentrating the Force, The Philosophy of Life, New Explorations in the Force, Transcending Death, The Netherworld and Chaos, Sith Spirits, The Prophecy of the Chosen One, and The Culmination of the Sith'ari. This section is captivating but very short compared to the other chapters. Very solid chapter nonetheless.

Lastly, we have Absolute Power by Darth Sidious. This chapter is basically him boasting about being the last Sith of the Bane line, thus transitioning from the Rule of Two to the Rule of One. He thinks he is god-like with UN...LIMITED........................POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Anyway, he wrote three books - The Weakness of Inferiors (covers The False War, The Useful Bureaucrats, and Hiding in Plain Sight), The Book of Anger, and The Manipulation of Life. As a whole, they explain how he achieved Absolute Power. Very solid chapter.

Handwritten Notes
As with the other books in this series, the book contains handwriting from the previous owners of these texts. Palpatine obviously owned all the sections of this book at one point. After his fall, Luke gained possession of the book. So their comments appear in all the sections.

It appears that the Sorzus Syn chapter was kept in the Jedi archives until Sidious took over. So Yoda and Mace Windu added their comments to that section. Bane's section has notes from Quinlan Vos but not Yoda or Mace, which is a missed opportunity but okay.

Vader's notes only appear in Malgus's war logs. This implies to me that Sidious was withholding many secrets of the Sith from Vader. Or perhaps, Vader was the one who found the war logs and give them to his master.

In Mother Talzin's section, Ventress can be seen adding her two cents considering she's a fellow Nightsister.

I love how different each one of these characters think, so I really appreciated their two cents. I also love that even though Sidious puts these writings in high regard, it doesn't stop him from chirping the other Sith Lords.

Score
I originally gave this 4 stars because I read this before joining goodreads and just pulled a rating out of my butt when I added this book to my read shelf. But as I am skimming through the book to do this review, I find myself realizing how this goes into far more detail than any of the other books in this series. I am upping the score to 5 stars.

[Kyle Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a Star Wars fan, but apparently I know less about my favorite space opera than I thought I did. This book is for the other kind of Star Wars fan, the avid follower of the series that went beyond the movies. I know the movies well and can name the minor characters, the factions, the doodads, and so on, but my knowledge of Star Wars doesn’t include much from the Expanded Universe of books, comics, and TV shows. I’ve dabbled in the EU before — I read the first few books of The New Jedi Order years ago and I loved the Knights of the Old Republic videogames from BioWare — but I don’t know much else.

The Book of Sith is a collection of six journals from those close to the Dark Side. Cool concept. At times it reads like the uncovered documents of a long dead race. . . other times it reads like a book on How to Join Team Evil. While some of the journals were interesting as they granted a look at the inner workings and history of users of the Dark Side, too often the characters described here were evil for the sake of being evil. Lines like, “What a delight to have landed amidst fellow twisters of life!” illustrate my point. But it’s still entertaining most of the time. The Book of Sith is essentially a 160 page book of world-building, which in itself is not a bad thing if you know what you’re getting into.

Where the book shines is in its presentation. The six different journals all have their own page color, cut, and font, making them easily standout from each other. Within the margins of every page are notes from those that have read and studied these journals, including thoughts from Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Palpatine. An especially nice touch. And added to all that is some fine artwork. Very cool presentation.

The Book of Sith is a book that I would recommend to those who have read and enjoyed the EU books. It may be of less value to readers such as myself who don’t have the same experience with the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Still, the stylish presentation and a few interesting stories made it enjoyable. Learned a few things, too. Like, did you know that the Sith were once a species of red-skinned people with interesting chins before their bloodlines were mixed with Dark Jedi offworlders to create the Sith we know today? Huh. You learn something new every day.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful little Evyll Tome!



Sadly much of the material this book drew upon to create its rich tapestry of Sith Lore and history has now been made apocryphal by Disney's tidying up of Star Wars canon post-Lucasfilm acquisition, but I reckon even if your knowledge consists entirely of the films and maybe a bit of the Clone Wars television series and the odd video game you'll find much you can recognize and enjoy.



Of the different sections I feel I enjoyed the bits "by" Darth Bane and Darth Plagueis the best, though Palpatine's sneering margin notes were always amusing.



The weakest bit was perhaps the Nightsister lore of Mother Talzin, but mostly as these were pointedly composed as a reaction to, not a continuation of, the Sith ideas elsewhere expounded upon in the book.

This cool little hardback would make a nice addition to any serious collector's shelf. I'd like to check out the companion books on Jedi and Bounty Hunters someday!

[Nicis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los recuentos de algunas batallas de la guerra de Darth Malgus y los comentarios de Darth Plagueis sobre los midi-chlorians (ugh, George Lucas, why?) son los dos segmentos más aburridos del libro, pero el resto es genial y la perfecta contraparte de The Jedi Path.

¿La edición de este? Supera por mucho la del resto de los libros: la encuadernación, las páginas distintas para cada sección que da la sensación de realmente ser un libro que se formó por la unión de documentos sueltos encontrados en algún momento y los comentarios que esta vez incluyen incluso a Ventress ❤

Si tan solo las ediciones especiales de coleccionistas no costaran 100 dls cada una *sigh*

[Victoria Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually six different books, written from the point of view of various people with connections to the Dark Side. Gathered together, they form a collection of knowledge about the Dark Side and the Sith. This is a fun idea, and the book itself is extremely well made and thought out, with paper themed to look like different textures for each section, and notes from the books' different owners over time scrawled into the margins (Luke, Vader, Yoda, Palpatine, etc). There are also plenty of great sketches and illustrations, making this a beautiful and colourful book to flick through too. Parts of it are a little cheesy, but that’s exactly what I want from a Star Wars book. I think any fans of the greater Star Wars universe will find this both interesting and fun.

The book has obviously been very well researched by Daniel Wallace; there is information taken from a number of sources – the films, tie-in books, games, and more. People who are familiar with the tie-in fiction will enjoy spotting the references, but even fans who have only seen the movies will still be able to understand this, as there’s nothing too obscure that isn’t explained. I do think, however, that those who are interested in the deeper lore will get the most out of this, as there are sections that go into a lot of detail that might be hard for the more casual fan to read through.

Overall, I enjoyed the extra information the book gave me, in particular about the Rule of Two, which really helps to add context to what happens in the films, and to show why Palpatine acts and thinks as he does. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more discussion about the Force and how the Dark Side practitioners view it, though. It would have been fascinating to see a different perspective on this, as in Star Wars fiction we largely see the Dark Side from the Jedi point of view. We do get some discussion of the Force in this book, but this is unfortunately a little lost amongst too much information about weird creatures and weapons.

The book also suffers at points from Evil Villains who are evil because they’re evil. I’ve often heard writing advice that, to write a good villain, the antagonist should believe that they are the hero of their own story. This came across with some of the perspectives in this book – Palpatine, Darth Bane and Darth Plagueis – but others felt a little one-sided and flat to me: “What a delight to have landed amidst fellow twisters of life!” – This phrasing, ‘twisters of life’, sounds like something a Jedi would say about a Sith, but do the Sith really think of themselves this way? Might they not look on themselves as ‘improvers of life’ instead of ‘twisters’? That line makes it sound like they are evil and revelling in being evil for the sake of it, which, at least for me, doesn’t make a very interesting bad guy.

One really brilliant aspect of the book was the way that various characters interacted with the text and with each other in the comments, as I thought the author did a brilliant job of capturing the characters’ personalities. Mace Windu is appropriately pompous, Yoda is... Yoda, Palpatine reveals a self-obsessed and power-hungry intelligence, and Luke is the most balanced and sensible in his approach. Vader’s notes were particularly good, hinting at his distaste for his master’s methods, but also suggesting a man who has gone too far down the path of the Dark Side to turn around and is now desperately trying to justify it to himself. I also really enjoyed Quinlan Vos’ little asides, which provided a nice note of humour.

My favourite exchange from the whole book involves a rather superior sounding Mace Windu dismissing the need for ritual, followed by this observation from Palpatine:
“This is the most outrageous thing I have ever read! With their Council, their trials, their ranks, and their Temple, the Jedi are nothing but ritual.” Heh.

This is a fun and well-made book that Star Wars fans will enjoy. It provides an incredible amount of extra information about the universe, the worlds, the characters, weapons and creatures of the Dark Side. Despite my disappointment that it did not go very deep into the philosophy of the Force, it’s still left me with lots to think about, and plenty of fodder for discussion. The amount of research into the expanded Star Wars universe that has gone into this is impressive, and it’s handy to have it all in one beautifully-presented book. Characters are spot on, the book is very well written, and the author has captured that ‘Star Warsy’ feel perfectly.

Thank you to Titan Books for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review also appears on my blog.

[Lena's Version · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaya reliquia de coleccionismo friki *-*
Aún no los he leído en su totalidad, pues como bien se supone, no son libros narrativos al uso, sino manuales. Y es tal la cantidad de información y expansión del universo sobre el mundo jedi y sith que... WOW e infinitamente WOW. Una real pasada, ya solo desde su edición de lujo que es el pack, taaaan IMPRESIONANTE. Las mejores ediciones de libros que han visto mis ojos hasta el momento.

[Marc-Antoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read giving you insight on the Sith folklore from the Star Wars universe. I'm geeking out for the new movies set to come out later this year...

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of various Sith texts written by several different Sith including Darth Plagueis, Mother Talzin, Palpatine and others. Several of the texts that made up the book were incomplete, which lent an air of mystery to Sith history.

The texts dealt with many different topics including Sith history, creatures, weapons and practitioners. One text detailed the Nightsisters, and another chronicled Palpatine's rise to power. The book ended with the Empire being declared.

Several characters made notes in the text including Luke, Yoda, Msce, Darth Vader, Quinlan Vos and others. Reading the notes and comments brought not only the Sith texts to life, but also showed how other Jedi and Sith viewed the writings.

A great insight into the Sith.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight]

I read The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force around this same time last year, and Book of Sith was almost as enjoyable. It wasn't quite at the same level because of the extra notes. In The Jedi Path, there were notes from Anakin and Obi-Wan and Luke and Ahsoka. Here, it's mainly Palpatine and Luke, although there were some nice scribbles by Ventress and Quinlan Vos. So those were cool.

Like The Jedi Path, I really liked getting an inside look at the mechanisms of the Sith. This book is comprised of six different accounts from various Sith and/or dark side users, and it just made me want to read more SW Legends books. I know I'm missing out on all of these references, of which there are many!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this awhile ago and liked it a lot. Don’t think I’ll ever outgrow “Star Wars.”

[Craig Ranallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you only knew the power of the dark side..."

The Book of Sith is another in-universe text from the Star Wars mythos. This time, we're dealing with a volume of recovered texts all dealing with dark side history, teachings, philosophies, failings, and strategies. The premise is that we're dealing with collected texts that are all fragments of larger works that were gathered together by Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine and annotated by him shortly after the execution of Order 66 and the rise of his Galactic Empire. This book was found among Palpatine's possessions in the Imperial Palace by Luke Skywalker after the Emperor's death at Endor and he has provided his own observations. There are additional notes in the margins throughout the texts from Yoda, Mace Windu, Quinlan Vos, Asajj Ventress, and Darth Vader depending on the subject matter.

The "chapters" include a history of the Dark Jedi and rise of the Sith Empire by master alchemist Sorzus Syn, a field journal from Darth Malgus during the Great Galactic War, Darth Bane's establishment of the Rule of Two and the new Sith Order, a guide to dark side magic by Mother Talzin of the Nightsisters, and recordings from Darth Plagueis about the true nature of the dark side and the relationship between biology and the Force. The texts are bookended by statements from Palpatine expounding upon his grand plan and his general genius in achieving the Sith goal.

This is a fun book and an easy ride, much more so than the often dense textbook tone of the Star Wars: Imperial Handbook. Once again the annotations from various characters provided great commentary and encouraged engagement with the ideas presented. Palpatine's comments in particular allowed for narrative cohesion as he elaborated on why he had selected these particular texts to form into his first Book of Sith and Vader's were a delight as they were appropriately rare and sassy.

I've always loved the villains, and Darth Vader was and may always be king of the bad guys to me, so I had a blast diving into what was essentially 160 pages of evil world building. You can tell Daniel Wallace knows his Star Wars. Or at least he did. One of Luke's notes mentions his "nephew Jacen" so that means this book is relegated to Legends (formerly Expanded Universe) and isn't canon per say; but like the Nighsisters, the spirit of the dark side described here will traverse realms into the new canon and haunt us in new and sinister forms.

Know your enemy. Read up and get prepared.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jedis have their The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force Vault Edition , now Dark Side practitioners and Darth wannabes can learn about their past masters from Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side.

Just as the Jedi Path book, this one also has highlighted passages and notes written in the margins mostly by Luke and Sidious but Yoda, Mace, Quinlan Voss and Asajj Ventress also put their thoughts onto the page. There are six parts including (but not limited to) parts of a war journal by Darth Malgus, Darth Plagueis theories on prolonging life and Darth Sidious' 'How I Did It'-manual where he boasts about his genius.

The casing shaped like a Sith holocron looks cool and like the Jedi Path book, it also emits sounds when the button is pressed. What makes it better than the Jedi Path however is that to close it, just press the button again. With the Jedi book, you had to close it manually which lost it a couple of points in the Cool-o-Meter. It's nice that this issue was addressed for the Sith book.

An enjoyable book to read and a cool casing makes it a great collectible. I also made a video review of it in my blog. Check it out: Book of Sith video review

[Jorge Figueroa · Rating 4 out of 5]

el primer libro de esta serie The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force es de lectura más ágil, y con el cambio de dueño de lucasfilm sigue más bien vigente hasta ROTJ.
Este segundo volumen (ahora hay también versiones para los oficiales del Imperio y para los cazadores de recompensas) no tiene esa frescura, sus fuentes son los cómics, los juegos online (the old republic), los libros que acompañaban a todo ese periodo, muy poco la serie de The Clone Wars y por ello para el fan más casual de Star Wars es difícil encontrar alguna parte de este texto que sea un buen punto de ingreso, es en serio para los muy dedicados, y la extinción del universo extendido si le ha afectado en gran medida.

Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane y Mother Talzin son los autores de las secciones más interesantes. Si alguien todavía tiene la teoría de que Plagueis ha sido el creador de Anakin, aquí hay más alimento para esa posibilidad.

Rumbo al final del libro encuentra su mejor momento y su gran valor.
En resumen, este libro es sólo para los muy dedicados fans de Star Wars, si tú te quedas en las películas, no pierdas tu tiempo, y hay una buena razón para ello, demasiada explicación sobre «La fuerza» que no es algo bien recibido en muchos sectores, aun si aquí hay homenajes a los primeros drafts de George Lucas.

[Anchorpete · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was worried that reading more about Darth Sidious and the Sith would take away from their mystery and mystique and make them less interesting. I am happy to say that didn't happen. What I would say is that my favorite aspect of Star Wars is the polarized interpretations of the Force by the Sith and the Jedi. This book has both, even though it is basically a compendium put together by Darth sidious himself.
Each section is a passage written in first person by a Famous Sith. to ensure that readers don't suffer from Dark Side overload, their are actually notes in the margins by Luke Skywalker, Mace Windu and Yoda.
The book is to be treated like a collection of artifacts, originally composed by Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine and then rescued by Luke, after the Emperor dies. I completely ate it up, and I recommend it to Star Wars fans, who can never get enough of the Jedi and Sith lore

[Raimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides fascinating insights into various dark side doctrines, including some really interesting dark side artifacts and abilities. The beautiful hardcover design with the differently-shaped pages and scribbled notes inside made the book appear more authentic, deepening my immersion into the lore. I'll give 4 stars for content and half a star for the experience of reading the physical book, adding up to 4.5 stars.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a work of art. Beautiful piece, absolutely loved it. And Sith are my favorite!

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. Half Sith philosophy, half Sith history, this is a really great read for any Star Wars fan.

[fredi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
the comments by the characters>>>

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot:
The Book of Sith is a culmination of six separate journals that were found throughout history and were now finally put into one binding. The first journal is an entry of Sorzus Syn, Grand Master of Sith Alchemy. She starts off talking about the history of the Sith which was really going on when she was alive. She described the Sith hierarchy and the importance of everyone in the Sith society. Sorzus then talked about different artifacts of the Sith such as weapons, amulets, holocrons, and the architecture. Syn starts to describe Sith Alchemy which is her forte. She tells about the different dark side creatures that were made due to alchemy, as well as the basics of Sith Alchemy. The last part of Sorzus Syn’s entry is the Sith Code and the prophecy of the Sith’ari, who is the greatest of all Sith to ever come.
The next entry is part of a lost journal of Darth Malgus. His entries are all about his time on the frontlines. He continuously talks about what he believes is wrong with the Sith order. His entry shows how even one person can destroy something that has been standing for a long time. Malgus shortly afterward became one of the greatest Sith of his time.
The third entry came from Darth Bane and it is all about his Rule of Two. This section is Bane’s rule book of sorts. It explains the title of Darth, how to pick an apprentice, how to build a lightsaber, and how to fight using the dark side. Bane also tells of what the old Sith order did wrong.
The fourth book is by Mother Talzin called Wild Power. Mother Talzin was the leader of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. The book starts off by stating the history of the Nightsisters and Dathomir. Talzin talks about the Winged Goddess, the Fang God, talismans and totems, and spells used using the magic of the Force. She repeatedly refers to the Force as a magic of nature, and how the Nightsisters worship nature and the magic of it.
The fifth writing comes from the notes of Darth Plagueis. He talks about the Living Force and the midi-chlorians. It talks about his science of trying to live forever. Plagueis was very smart and was able to find ways to bend the Force to create and destroy life due to science. In his notes he tells of how to live forever.
The sixth book is Darth Sidious’s explanation of his rise to power. He explains the false war and how it was always his idea, and he says how it is good to use politicians to your benefit because they are easy to manipulate. Sidious reveals how he was hiding in plain sight as a senator from Naboo: Palpatine. Palpatine was a master of deception. After he became Emperor he instilled many rules. One of the main ones was his hatred for alien species, and that is one rule he wrote in his book. He also wrote about the importance of using anger to your advantage and the power it has. He talks about his new Rule of One, and the three steps it takes to destroy a man’s will. His last thing he talks about is how he will rule forever and that he is the Sith’ari.
Characterization:
Throughout this book different readers have wrote down their own thoughts to the writings in notes. It really shows how different characters feel about the same events. It is a neat way to explore their minds and feelings. For example, Darth Sidious made many comments about power and control. That shows that Darth Sidious is a power craving kind of person. Luke Skywalker made comments about peace and kindness. That shows that Luke is a kind and caring person. Throughout the book there are different people and different comments about what those people believe in. The comments show how people grow overtime and how people are different.
Audience:
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. This would be a good book for people who want a deeper knowledge of the Star Wars universe. This book can be read by middle schoolers and above. If you enjoy science fiction or folklore you might enjoy this book as it is a collection of Sith folklore and stories. This book is gender friendly and it does not judge. On the other hand, if you don’t like science fiction or Star Wars I recommend you stay away from this book as you will just be confused.
Personal Response:
I really enjoyed this book, one because I love Star Wars, two because I love learning. This book offers both of those. This book gives insight to the dark side and the path of the Sith. I enjoy learning about the Force and everything it has to offer. This book has many exciting bits of information that I love.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insbesondere die Kapitel von Plagueis und Palpatine sind ein Muss für jeden Star Wars Fan.

[Bookworm Amir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright, a disclaimer first.

I finished reading the Jedi Manual first, before going on for this, so that I could compare the two.

My advice for Sith wannabes - READ THIS. But, however, only for those who know and follow about the Expanded Universe, and not just the classic/prequel movies (so that you can understand a lot more). There is a lot more to Star Wars than those 6 films. Anyways, anyone who are following the Expanded Universe would comprehend this book. But even if you don't, you'd still understand it, though just without some contexts.

You could also buy this thing not for the book, but for the awesome Sith Holocron! I inserted my Qur'an and it fitted! Amazing.


My findings:

It is MEANT to be a tad bit disorderly than the Jedi Manual, as it is the left out remains of the writings of Ancient Sith Lords, compiled by Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine). Unlike the Jedi Order, which was more, shall I say, official,the Book of Sith was not an established institution (not to the face of the galaxy at least, as under Darth Bane's Rule of Two, the Sith are supposed to be hidden in view, but still influential). So, do not get ticked off because it might not be as structured and clean as the contents of the Jedi Manual.

Do read the books/watch the stories/read the comics, surrounding this book. You'd get a better understanding. For example, I've read all Darth Bane novels, and what I read THERE, ties in with what I read here. Hence, the connection is important.

In terms of built production, the Sith book as more value. All the pages of specfic chapters are tailored to the Sith Lord's era (as in, it was binded and such). Great stuff.

You WILL get almost all the information about being a Sith - and some have complained about Darth Plagueis' chapter on midi-chlorians only. Well, even Palpatine commented that his master (Plagueis) was too obsessed with that. But more importantly, THIS chapter itself is a treasure as finally Sith Lords can find a way to live forever. And also, maybe he was responsible for the creation of ' The Chose One'. Oops, did I just say that aloud? haha.


I urge all potential Dark Jedi's or Sith'aris, or Darths to read this; a gem of a book!

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had very high expectations for this book, unrealistic high expectations.

This book is actually a bundle containing the incomplete books of the Sith:
- Sorzus Syn's chronicle of the rise of the Sith Empire
- the journal of Darth Malgus
- Darth Bane's Rule of Two
- Wild Power by Mother Talzin
- Darth Plagueis' musings
- The Book of Anger, The Weakness of Inferiors and The Manipulation of Life by Emperor Palpatine

The book is a hardcover and each of the six books is printed on different paper, which makes it look authentic. Nice touch. Very original. The stories are a mixed bag. I would give the writings of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Bane 4*. The journal of Darth Malgus is quite personal and worth 3*. The chronicle of the rise of the Sith Empire is long and the quality varies between 2* and 3*. The writings of Mother Talzin and Darth Plagueis are IMO only worth 2*.

Original concept, the stories are a mixed bag.

Warning: You will not learn how to use the force or use Sith lightning by reading this book. Bummer. I will have to continue my quest to find a Sith Lord willing to take me as an apprentice.

[Naida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like "The Jedi Path", a really interesting and fun book to read to expand basic knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Again I'd like to mention I've done nothing more than watch the movies, so my review is from an SW amateur, not a knowledgeable fan.

The book covers, among other things, in more detail the history and various "sects" affiliated with the dark side, with just enough explanations without making it overwhelming. For me the historic part was very fun, since I knew next to nothing about how and when the Sith Lords appeared.

I'd recommend it (and its counterpart "The Jedi Path") to anyone who wants to know a bit more about SW. If you watched the movies and was left with some questions, it's likely one of these two books will be able to answer them.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really good, immersive Star Wars book.

This time we learn about the Sith and all the deliciously dark things that come with them. Speaking hypothetically I always assume I'd choose to be a Jedi but it's easy to see the temptation of the dark side when you read about it like this. Even if you're good through and through, this is a must read for any fan.

The bad guys really do seem to have more fun!

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mientras que "La senda Jedi" me entretuvo mucho y me aclaró bastantes conceptos de una forma muy dinámica, "El libro de los Sith" se me ha hecho sumamente repetitivo y pesado. En fin... al menos es un libro cortito y con una edición espectacular.

[Amanda J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as The Jedi Code, but still up there. It definitely captures the Sith history in an interesting nugget-sized book, and makes you feel like you understand the lesser-developed third of Star Wars much more deeply. Definitely would recommend!