So, I gave this book three attempts

The first two times I dropped it because it was simply boring. But after reading and thoroughly enjoying Path of Destruction, I decided to give it another go, thinking it might get better as I progress further into the book. It does get a little bit more interesting at some point, but ultimately still boring.

The thing that made Path of Destruction so good was that it delved into the Sith philosophy and practices. The entire main conflict was philosophical in nature. But this thing is more plot-driven. And as such, it has to acknowledge the nonsensical events of KotOR 2 and give them validity. There were ways to reinterpret them in a way that would reduce the damage they'd done to the SW universe, but that was not done here.

Instead, this book only adds more nonsense, further ruining the lore.

What the fuck is Nathema?

How can an individual literally suck the Force out of a planet? This is idiotic. Path of Destruction made the impression on me that Drew Karpyshyn understood the SW universe well, but apparently he doesn't. This is the equivalent of saying "A man sucked God out of New Jersey." The Force is omnipresent and more powerful than any individual, and it doesn't exist in places like some kinda resource. The Jedi and Sith can use the Force, but the Force is always there. They can suck life out of living things or "influence the midichlorians to create life," but they can't literally remove the Force from a planet. That makes no sense.

I've made it through half the book, tolerating the boring characters, and it was a slog. Clearly Drew Karpyshyn is only good at writing the Sith because every Jedi, Mandalorian and civilian here are one-dimensional cartoons. The Jedi repeatedly act like emotional teenagers and have to repeat the Jedi code to themselves as a reminder. There is nothing Jedi-like about either Revan or Bastila or any other Jedi character we encounter in this book.

Just a horrible book altogether.