Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - The Collected Stories (Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - Legends)

This book is extremely unconventional in its format as well as being somewhat atypical for a Star Wars novel, but the further into it I got, the greater degree of appreciation I grew to have for the way in which 'Lost Tribe of the Sith : The Collected Stories' was written. It becomes more 'Star Wars' as you progress through it. By the end, you are wondering why John Jackson Miller didn't make the book longer.'Lost Tribe of the Sith : The Collected Stories' is the first of John Jackson Miller's work I've read. As a Star Wars book, the novel is undoubtedly unique in not only how it's laid out & organized, but also in the narrative it tells. The first eight short stories were originally published as e-books, & the ninth, which is more along the lines of a short novel, was written specifically to be released with this compilation. To give you somewhat of an idea of their length, I'll provide a couple of examples: The first story, 'Precipice', is 30 pages long, & the novella at the end, entitled 'Pandemonium', about 130 pages. The author also supplied a couple of maps which assist in fleshing out the planet Kesh for the reader. I always appreciate it when the author throws in a couple of well-illustrated maps. The book is close to 400 pages in length, total. Each story is divided up into easily-digestible chapters which make putting the book down easier if you have to stop & take care of something. But, 'Lost Tribe of the Sith' is so much fun to read, you won't want to put it down.The main storyline of 'Lost Tribe of the Sith' isn't something I am going to go overly in depth in detailing for you, because you probably don't want a plot summary so much as you want to know if the book is worth your time & money investing into. The few details of the book's plot that I mention here are so general they shouldn't spoil anything for you. The timeline of 'Lost Tribe of the Sith', which would be the beginning of the first story 'Precipice', commences in roughly 5000 BBY, or five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin which occurs at the end of Episode IV, & it goes all the way up to around 2975 BBY, which would be the opening of the final story in the collection, 'Pandemonium'. Yes, you're right, that's a span of 2,025 years. A very long time. If you want to get technical, it's well into the lifespan of the Old Republic, past the time of Darth Malak & Darth Revan. Although it's not quite up to Darth Bane's era, which is roughly 1,032 BBY. Why the long span of time to tell this story? I'm going to explain why, provided you can bear with my overly verbose exposition of Star Wars history.Around 5,000 BBY, the Dark Lord Naga Sadow chose two groups of Sith to man two separate Sith cruise ships, the 'Omen' & the 'Harbinger' to acquire resources for a war on the planet Kirrek against the Republic. The 'Harbinger's captain was a Dark Jedi named Saes, 'Omen's a Sith, Yaru Korsin. Korsin's crew consists of human, Force-Sensitive Sith, Red Sith, or Sith Purebloods (this is the species Xo'Xaan & the other eleven original Sith exiles subjugated when they first landed on the home-world of the native Sith.) & a warrior race known as the Massassi. The two ships were attacked by Republic forces while orbiting the planet Primus Goluud, & 'Omen' malfunctioned while in hyperspace, causing it to splinter & eventually crash land on an unknown planet, into the side of a mountain. It is quickly ascertained by the 'Omen's leadership that their ship cannot be repaired, the damage is catastrophic. Communication with their Sith masters is also impossible, there is an electromagnetic field surrounding the planet which makes any transmission unintelligible. The Lost Tribe of the Sith is on their own. There is a native species on the uncharted planet whom Yaru Korsin's Sith soon encounter, & in true Sith fashion, they soon have these primitive inhabitants worshiping them as gods. The native Kesh are lied to, deceived, manipulated, exploited, & enslaved. And this is only what happens during the initial chapters of the book!As the stories of 'Lost Tribe of the Sith' are told, the years continue their inexorable advance within the timeline of the book. Every two or three short stories chronicle the exploits of a separate group of characters living in a particular era. The initial portion of the story involves Yaru Korsin's tribe of 'original' Sith from the year 5000 BBY, & once that story has been told, the timeline advances to the year 3960 BBY, where the taint of the Sith has been allowed to contaminate the native Keshians for over 1,000 years. There are new characters, the descendants of Yaru's 'original' Sith tribe, who have now established a ruling hierarchy which is now irrevocably entrenched in positions of power & authority that they utilize to ensure their dominance over not only the Kesh but over their political rivals within their own ranks. After these stories are told, the era moves forward once again to 3,000 BBY, where the final portion of 'Lost Tribe of the Sith' takes place.The further into the narrative Jackson Miller gets, the greater the degree of corruption the Sith tribe's destructive influence visits upon the Keshian indigenes. The natives aren't exactly the prototypical embodiment of a virtuous, utopian society before the 'Omen' crash lands, but once Korsin & his tribe of Sith arrive, the status quo gets taken to an entirely new level of immoral behavior. Some of the actions that the Lost Tribe of the Sith precipitate on the native inhabitants of Kesh will have you shaking your head in disbelief.The male & female Sith numbering among Yaru Korsin's 'originals' & their subsequent descendants, prove to be arrogant, domineering, spiteful, aggressive, subversive, vainglorious, manipulative, superficial, deceitful, & possessive. And a good portion of the ruling-class Sith are inherently Force-Sensitive as well, making them even more dangerous, not only in their destructive capabilities but in their talent in effectively dissembling with the inferior Keshian indigents to acquire power, land, & influence, all usually achieved with a minimum of personal risk. No matter which characters, or at what point in the action Miller's focusing on in this book, you can rest assured in the knowledge that there's almost always a deception or dissimulation of some sort transpiring at any given time. A number of the Sith descended from Korsin eventually become fanatics later on in the story arc of the novel, & view Korsin & the other 'originals' who landed on Kesh as deities whom they name themselves after & attempt to emulate by following in their footsteps. These 'Sith zealots' organize themselves into warring factions idealizing specific 'original' Sith & whichever offensive personality traits the corresponding person possessed while he or she was alive. The final portion of the narrative involves a colossally-immoral mass dissimulation which is so skillfully-implemented by Jackson Miller, it truly impressed me.The Sith in this story are among the most well-conceived, believable 'antagonists' to be found in the Star Wars mythology. This really is a testament to John Jackson Miller's talent as a writer, more than any other contributing factor.There is a second continent on Kesh discovered late in the storyline, which is at a technologically superior level of civilization compared to the isolated landmass the 'Omen' crashed on. Anyone who has read C.S. Friedman's 'Coldfire Trilogy' will probably see similarities between John Jackson Miller's planet Kesh & Friedman's world of Erna from her own stunning trilogy. All in all, I would recommend 'Lost Tribe of the Sith : The Collected Stories' to you without reserve. After getting about 45 pages into the book, I was thoroughly immersed in its fiction. There are very few lore connections to the greater Star Wars universe, mainly due to the era in the Star Wars timeline in which this novel takes place, but there are enough to make it interesting. Naga Sadow, Ludo Kressh, & Darth Revan all are integrated into the plotline of 'Lost Tribe of the Sith'. This book is most assuredly, recommended.

The first eight of these collected stories were released as free e-books with the ninth, and final, story being finally released in this book. It appears that the free bits may have disappeared with the collected stories version coming out. What a pain - I wrote reviews for those stories that are now marked "unavailable". Such is life. Anyways, as this is the collected stories, here are my collected reviews with a review for the ninth story added at the end. (spoiler alert level - medium).Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1: PrecipiceHere come the Sith - A Sith ship (the Omen) crashes and the kindly sweet Sith emerge to teach the locals how to get along in peace and kindness. Actually, the Sith are nice at first.This "Lost Tribe of the Sith" episode gives a nice view of how the Sith under Naga Sadow thought and acted. It is also interesting in that it details some of the interplay between the human and Sith races. Overall, this is the tale of arrival and setting up to take control of a new planet.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #2: SkybornMeet the Natives - The Sith arrived and set up camp in the previous episode (Precipice), now it's time to say hello to the neighbors.A local woman introduces the Sith to the local powers that be who are, essentially, dragon riders and the top caste of Kesh society. It turns out they worship deities called the "Skyborne" (opportunity knocks). The Sith form social alliances with various locals to both protect themselves from the far larger local population and to gather some local power. The Sith are also busily trying to gather resources to fix their ship and get back to the war.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #3: ParagonMeet the New Boss - In this episode, the Sith have take over Kesh and have mostly given up on ever leaving. It is the effort to fix the ship, however, that had them cooperating so well with each other. Now they are indulging their normal tendencies to fight one another and decide just who is the new boss of Kesh. As long as it isn't a Kesheri (Kesh native), of course.It's nice that the eugenics program is making the Sith so easy to look at, and a lot less red.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #4: SaviorThe Locals Strike Back - The Sith have taken over. Most of the Kesh locals now believe that the Sith actually are the "Skyborn" deities and should be prayed to. The Sith, meanwhile, have figured out they aren't going to be leaving anytime soon.As this episode progresses, some locals recognize the Sith for what they are and try to undermine them. Interestingly, the local Kesh use Sith-style deceit to advance their cause. Maybe they've learned to well from their new masters? Good luck with deceiving the Sith.Side note - the tension finally disappears between the human race and Sith race. It's all part of a eugenics program.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #5: PurgatoryLet the in-fighting continue - The earlier episodes of this series detailed the Sith taking over the planet. In this episode, they've ruled Kesh for a thousand years. Things are a bit different. For one thing, the original Sith shipwreck contained a bunch of relatively weak and untrained Sith. They were soldiers and sailors, not Lords. No one was even close to being a Sith lord.Now things are different. The Sith don't seem all that stronger in the Force, but they've grown into their mantel of power. In other words, they are a bunch of scheming psychopaths but force choking isn't a big thing.Into all that, an oddly serene dirt farmer catches a young Sith's attentionStar Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #6: SentinelThere are two sides to the force - This installment follows immediately from the fifth (Purgatory). It turns out that it's pretty hard to completely deceive a Sith who has risen to rule an entire continent. It's much easier to blow them up with a little republic ship.Meanwhile, an ex-Jedi (not fallen, just separated) and a Sith hook up and tune out.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #7: PantheonDust to Dust - The first few episodes of this series covered the rise of the ship wrecked Sith to rule Kesh. The next couple episodes cover events a thousand years later when the Sith run the place and are at the top of their game. With this seventh installment, another thousand years have passed. The original shipwreck crew have become mythical beings and the nearly complete lack of natural resources on Kesh has brought the Sith low as they no longer reach for the stars or understand their own birthright.In other words, it's kind of like the dark ages in Europe with less opportunity for reprieve. Meanwhile, a scholar tries to tie things together, keep the peace, and preserve what heritage remains. It isn't an easy task with either barbarians or with Sith. Sith barbarians are even nastier to deal with.Another chunk of interest is how wrecked everything is from lack of care.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #8: SecretsLosing their religion - The Sith have completely lost faith in having any reason to cooperate. The last one standing is the winner. The Sith have pretty much decided to wreck the place and kill whoever is available for killing. That and maybe it's time to finish off the old abandoned temple.Meanwhile, that scholar heads back to the Omen to discover some secret knowledge. What he finds is a map. A camera on the Omen had survived the crash and had also recorded images of Kesh as the Omen headed in.The Sith decide to curb their murderous rampage return to that old school style of treachery and assassination.Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #8: PandemoniumLet's do it, do it, do it again - It turns out that the Omen had crashed into about the worst place on Kesh. It's a continent of pretty much dirt and Keshiri. No decent metals and there isn't even good enough wood to go sailing and looking for more stuff to take over. It left the Sith with little to do but breed and in-fight for a few millenia.But... in the previous story "Secrets", they turned up a map showing a second and much nicer continent and decide to head on over for a little how-do-you-do (conquest). A Sith Lord (Sithepher Columbus?) and friends make their way to that bigger and more resource rich continent that is full of unconquered Kesheri. In the negative column, all those unconquered Kesheri know about the Sith, really hate them, and have been preparing. What's a Dark Lord to do? Infiltrate, of course. After all, love and hate are different sides of the same coin.

This is a well-written collection of stories about a 'lost tribe' of Sith - consisting of 8 short stories and one lengthier novella, all by author John Miller (who's also written the very good  Star Wars: A New Dawn ). Each tale is connected, and the adventures are presented in chronological order. The first story is set some 5,000 years prior to destruction of the Death Star by Luke Skywalker. And the final story takes place around 3,000 years before that event. As such, this book focuses of the distant past - as compared to the original Star Wars trilogy of films. Consequentially there's no Darth Vader or Han Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead, we enter a remote era when the galaxy was divided between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire.A starship carrying hundreds of Sith is involved in a hyperspace accident, and is flung across the galaxy - crash landing on an unknown world. Unfortunately no one comes to help ... and the survivors must fend for themselves, with dwindling supplies and very little working technology. Against the odds, some Sith capable to living in the hostile environment they're forced to endure. And, over time, these Sith become masters of this world - cut off from the civilised systems elsewhere in the galaxy.Each tale was originally released as a short e-book. As they were very popular, they were re-released as a collection - published in print. If you're a fan of Star Wars, and you especially enjoy adventures involving the dark side of the Force, then I highly recommend this book. Star Wars: A New Dawn

I really Enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to read the Fate of the Jedi Series which is set at the opposite end of the Timeline, but still ties in.I read this book in stages, I was having an Old Republic reading marathon, which encompated the Old Republic series of books. This book being a collection of ebook, is set at various points around those books, spreading out over 2000 years. It was great to read it like this and the auther showed remarkably well how the facts can be distorted over a 2000 year period.Other than the very beginning this book doesn't effect anything in the Old Republic time, so it could be read as a prequel to the Fate of the Jedi Series. I am just sad enough to read it the way I did. For me personally it added to the book, as it took even longer than normal to read.Anyway. A trully awesome read. Can't wait to get into more of the authers work, and the Fate series.

After reading Kenobi I thought I'd give this a try. It was immediately hard to follow and i almost lost interest but after giving it a go it expanded into a very interesting novel that left me wanting more. Definitely worth a read if your a star wars fan as it shines a completely different light on the Sith.

The best thing about this book is the insight and background knowledge you get on the sith's orgins,way of life, their culture and belifs,However at times i found this book very hard going and didn't feel my self getting gripped to any of the storylines or attached to any of the main charecters within this book like i have in other books or novels of the star wars franchise.I feel most of the Storie's are long winded and take a long time to get to the point or conclusion of which most were predictable or a bit of a let down in my opioion.This book is well worth reading through once but i wont be picking it up again.

I'm reading the Star Wars books in time order, and so this was the second book that I read. Although the last three books in the series are actually set after The Old Republic series of novels, due to the story's nature there is no crossover.The story is really interesting, focusing on a group of Sith miners who find themselves stranded on the planet of Kesh. The books jump forward in time from 25 to 1,000 years, detailing the changing state of the Sith tribe on the planet.I particularly enjoyed Purgatory and Sentinel which focus on the controversial relationship between Ori Kitai, a Sith High Lord's daughter, and a human slave named Jelph. Unfortunately I lost interest a bit during the next book, Pantheon, set 1,000 years in the future and by which point the tribe's hierarchy structure has fallen into disarray. I felt it picked up a bit during Secrets and the finale, Pandemonium, only ruined in part by the particularly annoying character of Korsin Bentado.Anyway, in summary certainly worth reading :)