Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade is an adult novel written by Delilah S. Dawson. The book was published by Random House Worlds on July 18, 2023.
When the Jedi Order falls, an Inquisitor rises.
Padawan Iskat Akaris has dedicated her life to traveling the galaxy alongside her master, learning the ways of the Force to become a good Jedi. Despite Iskat's dedication, peace and control have remained elusive, and with each setback, she feels her fellow Jedi grow more distrustful of her. Already uncertain about her future in the Jedi Order, Iskat faces tragedy when her master is killed and the Clone Wars engulf the galaxy in chaos.
Now a general on the front lines contributing to that chaos, she is often reminded: Trust in your training. Trust in the wisdom of the Council. Trust in the Force. Yet as the shadows of doubt take hold, Iskat begins to ask questions that no Jedi is supposed to ask: Questions about her own unknown past. Questions the Jedi Masters would consider dangerous.
As the years pass and the war endures, Iskat's faith in the Jedi wanes. If they would grant her more freedom, she is certain she could do more to protect the galaxy. If they would trust her with more knowledge, she could finally cast aside the shadows that have begun to consume her. When the Jedi Order finally falls, Iskat seizes the chance to forge a path of her own. She embraces the salvation of Order 66.
As an Inquisitor, Iskat finds the freedom she has always craved: to question, to want. And with each strike of her red blade, Iskat moves closer to claiming her new destiny in the Force—whatever the cost.
Jedi Padawan Iskat Akaris learns that a book that she and her master Sember Vey have retreived from a shop is a Sith text by reaching out to it with the Force. They begin traveling to Bar'leth with the text, which calls to Iskat, but are called back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Once there, Vey tells Akaris to go train with the other Padawans to prepare for something big that is about to happen. Akaris meets up with a friend of hers named Tualon Yaluna and spars with a Padawan named Charlin Plaka and then one named Onielle, but Iskat goes too far fighting Onielle and becomes very aggressive. Iskat, due to her species' exceptional hearing, overhears Charlin and Onielle gossiping about her after and recalls an incident from when she was a Jedi Initiate where she pulled down an entire column down onto another initiate named Tika with the Force instead of pulling the lightsaber on top of it to her. After, Sember reveals that they are being called to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi from a Separatist threat.
Iskat and Sember travel to Geonosis with clone troopers and a contingent of other Jedi. Their mission is to take out any canons on the top of the area where Kenobi is being held alongside his Padawan Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala. The Jedi sneak into the arena via a underground tunnel, but they are attacked by Geonosians, one of which kills a Padawan named Fvorn. Iskat kills a Geonosian that tries to kill her with her lightsaber, the act of killing shaking her. However, while protecting other Jedi, Iskat gets into a rhythm of killing the Geonosians and does not stop until all of the ones attacking them are dead. She is no longer shocked by killing and is pleased with what she has done. Iskat and Sember go to the top of the area while the First Battle of Geonosis begins in the arena below, the two successfully taking down a turret and then hiding. They are ordered to retreat and begin to, though Iskat hangs back and watches the battle, wishing to fight. Now slightly separated, a Geonosian shoots Sember and knocks her down to a platform below. Iskat finds her and Sember deliriously begins apologizing to a person named Feyra and saying that she did her best to train her before dying. Iskat is forced to leave Sember's body behind as she escapes with other Jedi, angered by the other Masters' insistence that she should rejoice that her master has become one with the Force.
Back at the Temple Iskat is instructed just to follow her old schedule. She also has to clean out Sember's quarters and in doing so discovers a hidden lightsaber that seems accustomed to Iskat's species large hands and long fingers. Curious about Feyra, Iskat looks the name up in the Jedi Archive and discovers that she is an individual that left the Jedi Order and whose species is unknown, just like Iskat. As weeks pass, Iskat becomes frustrated that she has not been assigned a new master. While training with Tualon, a bell rings throughout the Temple calling them to the courtyard. There, Jedi Master Mace Windu reveals that they are conducting a mass knighting ceremony where Iskat is chosen to be knighted alongside other Padawans such as Tualon and Anakin Skywalker.
After the ceremony, Master Kenobi tasks Iskat with leading a bunch of younglings back to Master Kelleran Beq. After leaving, she overhears Charlin and Onielle talking and saying that Iskat shouldn't have been knighted and killed too many people. Iskat defends herself and her actions before Noxi Kell finds her and tells her Master Jocasta Nu wishes to speak with her in the Archive. Iskat rejects Nu's offer for Iskat to work in the archive as Sember had wanted her to, knowing she was called to battle. Iskat tries to get more information about her species and Feyra from Kell and Nu, but receives none. Iskat goes to a garden adjacent to the archive where she meets, Heezo, a Temple worker and a Selonian. The two immediately bond and understand each other, and upon Iskat's asking, Heezo reveals that there are hidden locations with knowledge in the Temple but that they're all connected to the dark side of the Force. After thanking Heezo, who encourages her being different, Iskat is called to another garden where Yoda and Adi Gallia assign her a mission to destroy a Separatist droid factory on Thule alongside Tualon and a Jedi Knight named Josk Nivar.
Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones establishes that clone troopers were not part of the First Battle of Geonosis until Yoda arrived with the Grand Army of the Republic after the battle had already started and most of the Jedi strike force had been killed. However, Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade features a clone trooper pilot bringing the Jedi to Geonosis before the battle even starts, leaving it unclear where this specific trooper came from and how he got to the Republic before his fellows.
Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade originated with the question of why a Jedi would choose to become an Inquisitor of the Galactic Empire. The idea of telling an Inquisitor-focused story in a novel came from their inclusion across various forms of Star Wars storytelling, but most prominently their role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. The book was known as Treadle during production. Author Delilah S. Dawson put a great deal of work into the story.
Editor Tom Hoeler promised the book was full of references and connections to other Star Wars works but could be read by anyone without confusion. As an easter egg, Dawson included a reference to Disney Park secret tunnels via the secret hallways used by temple staff. The reference to Kelleran Beq was added late in production. Hoeler's personal favorite reference was a speaking cameo from Noxi Kell. Hoeler also implied the meeting between Akaris and Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine during the Clone Wars may not have been by chance, as Akaris assumed.
- ISBN 9780593598580; July 18, 2023; Random House Worlds; US hardcover
- ISBN 9780593600115; July 18, 2023; Random House Worlds; Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition
- ISBN 9780593598597; July 18, 2023; Random House Worlds; eBook download
- ISBN 9780593598627; April 2, 2024; Random House Worlds; US paperback