This is not one of the main stream Galaxy’s Edge books. It’s a stand-alone so you can read it just about anytime, but I’d advise reading it somewhere around Book 4, “Attack of Shadows”. Let me tell you, IMHO, this is a very strange book. About as strange as Casper Sullivan, if you even have a clue as to who that is. If you don’t, you’re going to find out all the details of who he is if you can make it through this book. I did, but I don’t know why!
Right off the bat, you’re going to be involved with Goth Sullus, Emperor. He is fighting off the expected takeover of his empire by those who should have been loyal to him. After defeating the Legion of the old Galactic Republic, Goth Sullus was attempting to make it into what it should have been all along, a place of peace for all. But no, men, other men were drunk with the idea of power and especially the power that the new Emperor held in his hands. But how did he get to this point?
Long ago, Casper Sullivan was on a quest. He has to find some kind of power he has witnessed being utilized by a mysterious figure called the Dark Wanderer. Who or what the Dark Wanderer is is never truly explained nor does it make any difference to the story. What Casper seeks is not the Dark Wanderer himself, but the power he wields. Casper believes it will allow him to correct the mistakes he has seen in the part of the world he has known as the Galactic Republic. He has crash landed on a planet far, far out in the Dead Zone where he believes is the Quantum Palace resides. He believes he must first find the Temple of Morghul which will lead him to the Quantum Palace. He has no way back since the starship that brought him to this planet was destroyed in the crash. All he has with him is some bits and pieces of the starship and his droid, THK-133.
So, how do you find one single temple some where on an entire planet that you have no idea about? Well, you begin by walking. And then you start remembering other experiences you have had that brought you to this point. Those experiences include the starship Osbidia. On that ship he had been a slave and they had done terrible experiments to him. Now he lives much longer, thousands of years longer! You’ll find out that the Osbidia was one of the original colony ships that left Earth before faster-than-light (FTL) drive was discovered. Now those humans remaining on Earth were curious to see how these original starship had faired. It was very unfortunate for Casper Sullivan to be on that particular mission. He survived only to be rescued and again sent on another mission to rescue Dr. Reina Benedetti. She was on another of those original colony ships that had gone so terribly wrong. He had to search the Moirai until only he, Tyrus Rechs and Renia survived. But he did survive and now he has to survive on this lost planet far in the Dead Zone. No one knows he’s there, there won’t be any rescue.
So, he tells his story of how Casper Sullivan became Goth Sullus and it’s a strange one. All of the books in this series are strange! I don’t know why I keep reading them, but I do. I’ll probably read more, but man these stories are strange. Add this one to the collection!