Luke Skywalker is still exiled from Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. He searches for answers to why Jacen turned to the dark side. His search takes him to Kathol Rift where he finds the Aing-tii, a secretive group that have rarely allowed others to come to them. In fulfilling his part of the agreement, Luke and Ben see the secret collection of the Aing-tii and touch the larger universe through one of the secret items. The disturbance created in the Force is felt throughout the known galaxy.

There is a second set of Sith that have been stranded on a planet and forgotten since the days of the Old Republic. They have survived and developed over the centuries. Now the Sith meditation sphere has gone to them and is helping them leave the world where they were trapped. Soon they too will play a role in the galaxy.

Han and Leia are back on Coruscant. They are helping Jaina and the Jedi council deal with the afflicted Jedi and the government of Chief of State Daala. Their activities are not as removed from the rest of the action as in Outcast.

Omen

is the sequel to

Outcast

, which was the first book in the Fate of the Jedi cycle. The series overall bridges the gap between the fall of the empire and its resurrection as well as the second fall of the Jedi. There are a huge number of Expanded Universe novels. As a sequel, you need to read Outcast prior to this one, but in general you need to read numerous novels before you can appreciate this one.

Although new to the Star Wars Universe, author Golden is steeped in its’ tradition and remembers fondly attending Star Wars at an early age. She also has extensive experience writing in shared worlds. That experience improves her ability to maintain continuity and mesh her work in with her fellow authors. She is writing three of the nine books in the Fate of the Jedi series.

I enjoyed this novel, even though it was setting up future events. The new set of Sith are an interesting addition and could lead to an strange confrontation as the two sets of Sith meet and their different beliefs are set against each other. This novel didn’t have a massive detailed space battle, but it did have good character development and set up. I will be interested to see how the two factions react once they meet. The lost colony of Sith has been isolated and have developed significantly different from the Sith in the rest of the galaxy.

There are a couple things to watch as this series moves forward. The main plots that are being developed are the dynamics between the Jedi and the Republic, the mysterious Jedi affliction, the hidden Sith, and the discoveries of Luke and Ben following Jacen’s path. As a long time Star Wars fan I intend to keep reading.