We begin by being parly to the fall and destruction of the revered Jedi Temple on the massive planet sized city of Coruscant. The army of the Sith are led by the brutal and unrelenting Darth Malgus, who ultimately impales Jedi Master Zallow on his crimson saber.
Much to Malgus' disgust, the Empire enter into negotiations with the Galactic Republic, rather than reducing the world to ashes as originally intended. Peace negotations continue off world and Malgus' resentment to the situation spirals, almost as much as that of a Jedi named Aryn.
Having her Master killed during the attack, Aryn submits to the very un-Jedi mindset of wishing to exact her her revenge upon those responsible. In her attempt to return to Coruscant and shunning the direct commands of the order, she crosses paths with an old friend named Zeerid. Zeerid's background is as complicated as his profession of smuggler, company not suited to a Jedi, yet they join forces for their own reasons and make their ways to Coruscant, navigating through an imperial blockade. This is is where the real fun begins...
After a slow start, the book becomes suddenly very exciting very quickly and pushes you on through it's long chapters at a surprising pace. In particular I found the combat throughout battle scenes to be extremely well described described yet somehow realistic. Well, as realistic as battles involving laser swords and mystical telekinetic powers can be.
The story's conclusion feels resolved, with enough left open to the possibility of a sequel. An enjoyable journey through The Old Republic with interesting characters and a lot of action and emotion as long as you're persistent.
