Gabriel
I just finished reading this and can not explain how utterly disappointed I am. I felt the whole book was poorly written: characters not often feeling like themselves (Luke often expressing rage at small things); incredibly boring stories for each character; a love story I really WANTED to like but couldn't get into; new characters introduced without much time to get into them or care for them; and a bizarre and unsatisfactory conclusion. I hated reading this book. I hate being so negative, but I was severely disappointed with this book. Really off putting after having so much fun with these books.
Not a fan of the crossovers, but the usual Spidey stuff was excellent. The Aunt May issue was absolutely fantastic, and the one about MJ's home issues was brilliant too. Emotional stuff.
Finishing this with a stomach ache on a late night when I need to get up early in the morning perfectly encapsulates this book for me.
Spending like two weeks on the audiobook, going back when I fell asleep on nights, I seriously only remember 1 character's name and a basic few elements of the plot.
This book is making me take a short break from the High Republic novels for a bit now. I really think this is one of my least favourite reads, ever.
Claudia Gray writes a far more entertaining and easier to follow novel than the opener of the series, Light of the Jedi, with really fun characters, a great story that manages to be lengthy without overstaying its welcome, and really nice insights on this new era without it feeling like an onslaught.
More consistent than the last book, the highs didn't hit as hard, however, and there are still a few characters I have little interest in - Orla and Cohmac, namely.
Reath Silas is a really good character, I loved Affie, Leox, and the iconic Geode. The cast of characters is mostly wonderful, all interesting and fun.
Gray is a really tight writer. Everything feels purposeful. It's a damn good story with little to no filler. She absolutely takes the Stover approach of not saying any more than is needed.
But with the small little, not really ‘issues', but things that could be better, it still wasn't a total knockout for me. We're still in the early setting up stages of the big event, and we're lucky they got Claudia to write what could've easily been a really simple do-over of introducing the High Republic.
Tragedy doesn't hit as hard when you haven't had too long to know the characters, but Claudia Gray makes up for it with her wonderful writing, and the story, while a little slow, is really engaging and interesting. It's not as devastating as it could've been, but I can see how it would be quite shocking for some. Another novel going for ‘The Empire Strikes Back' vibes, and I love that.
Ugh.
Maybe if it didn't have so much of that infuriating kid, Ram, I'd be able to stomach it.
But no.
The bits with Yoda were cool, but the novel had lost me at that point, and I was just listening to the audiobook on 2x speed to get it done and over with.
No more like this, thanks.
The mainline comics about Starlight Beacon were the peak - epic, awesome art, and brilliant character writing, even making Avar Kriss complex and truly nearly breaking her.
The Eye of the Nihil was a decent storyline, nothing spectacular, though.
Solid, the first part was the peak, but I simply loved Lourna's time in prison and the arc she gets so close to completing before sabotaging herself. It's too long for an audio drama, in my opinion, though.
A vast improvement over the first few issues.
It was great to see Master Cohmac, Orla, and Reath from the YA novels!
I'm still not sold on the main character, Keeve Trennis, but she has grown on me a little here - pun, not intended, because they make me cringe!
The Drengir threat is resolved, for now. And... I am glad. They were a little goofy and I'm not really too sad that they are gone for now.
I'm eager for the comics to focus more on the Nihil in future!
What a fucking step up.
Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann take the reigns as the main characters from Avar Kriss and many of the others in ‘Light of the Jedi' and make a much more lasting impression.
More complex, relatable, and interesting, the charterers of this book are far more engaging and well developed, and you truly get engrossed in them all eventually.
Cavan Scott has a really great style that flows really well. It is easy and fun to read, and his character writing and action are superbly well done.
The bulk of the book is an enormous battle that is repeatedly exciting and traumatic. It is extremely engaging while also being very tragic, and it hits so hard so early in the series, which is wonderful.
The ending may be a shock to some, but didn't hit me as hard considering a lot of the old EU books pull much harder punches and tragedies, but I was still impacted by the ending even if it wasn't so much of a shock.
The Nihil are all-time brilliant villains now, with Pan Eyta, Lourna Dee, and especially Marchion Ro as truly exceptional characters and villains.
As a whole, the book is wonderful and is an amazing early entry into an already great multimedia publishing initiative. I cannot wait for more from Cavan Scott, and I'm desperate for more now with the setup of the new creature unleashed at the end of the book, and to journey further with my new favourite characters, Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann.
Not my thing. Not overly impressed by the Drengir, and I do not care for the main character.
The first entry to Fate of the Jedi is a very welcome tonal shift from Legacy of the Force, that feels more in the vein of the best of the New Republic era, it is still serious and demands your attention, but isn't edgy and needlessly dark where it isn't necessary.
The book has three main plots, really, Coruscant and the political intrigue between the Galactic Alliance - more specifically, Chief of State Daala - and the Jedi alongside the slowly increasing number of Jedi being turned mad, the Kessel subplot with Lando, his wife and child, Han, Leia, and Allana (later involving Wedge and a bunch of X-Wing legends), and the best of all, Luke and Ben's mission to discover all the different Force abilities Jacen learned on his travels, and what ‘broke' him.
While I found the Kessel plot getting more and more mind numbingly boring, the Coruscant plot mainly with Jag and Jaina was very entertaining, and the Dorin plot was absolutely brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable!
Generally, Aaron Allston is in peak form as ever, and the series is a nice refresher after the last, and a great one to return to after my break. It makes me even sadder knowing how close I am to the end!
The main plot of this book revolved around Luke and Ben, but also Luke getting some possibly well-deserved punishment for not foreseeing the actions of Jacen Solo. Exiled from Coruscant for ten years (like that'll last), not allowed to interfere with the Jedi or the Galactic Alliance, Ben has joined him in his exile to discover how Jacen turned to the dark side.
“Forty years ago, there was one practicing Jedi in all the galaxy, and the Order and the Temple were just ill-formed notions taken from suppressed rumours. Today, what you see before you - this is your doing, Master Skywalker.”
This excerpt from the beautiful scene where Luke leaves and all of the Jedi who can come say goodbye, got me to tear up as you realise the journey Luke has gone on, and all that he has accomplished, and also all that he has failed.
Despite contrary belief, Legends Luke is far from perfect, and he has truly earned all of his great power he now has, his journey is one of hardship and great struggle, he falls again and again, yet he powers through it with his defining attribute of never giving up. It is awe-inspiring and why he is such a legendary character in the Expanded Universe.
The planet Dorin is a really interesting one where pretty much all of Luke and Ben's story takes place, they have their own set of Force users and powers, where we learn that the Jacen that left that planet was a man at peace, not the man he ended up as.
There's this really great idea of basically what is a Force cult that Luke and Ben get themselves wrapped up into, which they have to expose and enlighten, leading to a really good fight between their leader, the Hidden One, and Luke.
The Hidden One has really cool white Force lightning, which Luke deflects even though it is very powerful, and Luke steps through Force whirlwinds, also safely dropping structures of rock thrown at him, only kicking him to knock him over once the battle is done.
I love how effortless and wise Luke has become, there was a part earlier when not long after Corran's son, Valin, who is going insane like other Jedi now, fought Luke, and Luke split his lightsaber in two without hurting him in a second and captured him. He's truly the Grand Master.
I'm quite happy Jag and Jaina are back together, they've got really good chemistry, and I like that Troy Denning realised how much people wanted them together, and actually listened even though he thought Jaina should be with Zekk. He wasn't this horrible guy who just went against anyone else's wishes for what he thought was right, he actually listened to feedback!
And that's a point with this book as a whole, while I enjoyed Legacy of the Force for what it was, it feels like they have listened to feedback, dialed down or removed much of what the past series was hated for, and made up for a lot of its flaws and mistakes with an even more interesting and more complex narrative.
Luke and Ben's relationship is stellar in this novel, they have really good banter and are such a lovely duo that are really sweet to read after all that has happened in the last series. Mara is missed but her presence in their lives is still felt. I love the ongoing joke of Luke making Ben fight all the time.
Another little note, I have really adored Cilghal since Jedi Academy, and I really like the EU's execution of Jedi healers, but with her being so present in the book, using the Force to convince an incredibly agitating governmental person intruding on the Jedi that he needed the bathroom, I found her a real highlight of this novel.
Her development since Jedi Academy has been another one of those insanely well-written and expansive character developments over many years like that of Pellaeon. I just really like her character and her being more present suddenly made me think of that!
Sadly, the Kessel plot was pretty dire.
I liked all of the conversations in this section, as always with Allston the humour is great and the characters are all written really well, but the plot on Kessel just isn't interesting and wasn't a fun read.
Whilst I rarely skimmed the dialogue, I skimmed a lot of the fighter action in this part of the book, and especially their stuff underground on Kessel. It just wasn't gripping me and felt like a waste of time by the end. I made sure not to miss anything major, but I was glad to have skimmed a lot of it and not waste my time reading something I didn't like.
Overall, this is a brilliant start to the series, and has me even more excited for it than I already was.
It is shaping up to be greater than the last by a major mile, and is the kind of brilliant and fun storytelling I think many of us wanted after NJO.
While there are still flaws and a major plot I didn't jive with, there's enough awesome stuff here that I have to credit it.
The conclusions to all plots were executed really well and I especially enjoyed the first one hundred pages which blew me away.
Allston also really landed the ending very well.
It's a great book and opener to the series and I'm excited for more!
8/10
Unlike many other Doctor Who novels I read in school, I quite clearly remember this one, title, cover, and aspects of the plot, and I remember it being absolutely fantastic.
I feel that there isn't a lot to say about this book, so I'm sorry to drop a short review on everyone!
Aaron Allston continues to be a really great writer, even if this book doesn't come close to the last book for me.
There are some interesting concepts explored in this book, and some good storylines, but also some stuff I plainly found a little goofy, and it was a bit too slow for my taste.
Lord Nyax. I am in two minds.
One, I found him pretty cool and felt sorry for him. But two, I also found his design a little silly, and the whole big Force stuff he was doing just felt a little ridiculous and almost campy.
I enjoyed the undercover mission as an idea, loving Luke in the Yuuzhan Vong armour, but it didn't feel like any of the characters that weren't Luke did much on the mission, and it also felt like the mission didn't actually accomplish anything at all.
Some big manbaby died... then they left.
The dogfighting, as always with Allston, was often entertaining to read, but I didn't enjoy the latter part of the big just being one big massive dogfight.
However, I did love the outcome of the battle, I just found that the actual battle itself went on too long.
A good book but nothing special. Sorry for the short review!
7/10
Whilst any attempt to kick-start a brand new series and entire era like this is always going to be a challenge, especially when compared to the likes of Vector Prime or Heir to the Empire, Soule does a brilliant job and even if it doesn't rank as a favourite of mine, it's a great read.
A surprisingly filler entry with some exceptional action, and very important plots to set up, but the book goes about it in a way that makes it a still entertaining read, but a bit of a slog.
To enjoy this trilogy and the later books, I've got an idea so I can try to enjoy aspects I might not before as a fan of the previous series; I'm seriously going to pretend it is an alternate universe.
There is some characterisation (Jacen) that just doesn't align with the last series at all, and some changes (the Force philosophy) that go to show these books don't understand the complexity of the last series or its themes or ideologies.
So I'm just gonna pretend it's a different thing. An alternate universe. I want to have fun reading these. I will still critique many things but this way I can hopefully enjoy Jacen, and I think I have when viewing him as a little bit of a different character.
Firstly, Jacen is brutal in this book. The motivation being the safety of his daughter is quite effective, but I do think it's a little bit unoriginal as it just screams Anakin Skywalker trying to protect Padme and his unborn children. It still works as well as it did with the prequels, but is a little unoriginal.
Also, a vision of the future being his motive? Again, not only is it similar to Anakin, Jacen has first hand experience on believing his visions. Remember when he had a vision of saving the Vong slaves in Dark Tide and it almost got him enslaved and he had to be saved by Luke? That was a valuable lesson for him, and part of his arc, to learn to live in the moment AND be mindful of the future, but not to let it consume him. You could argue it's a flaw he never entirely conquered, and in that regard, sure. I do just think it's too little of a motive for the way he's acting.
And the way he's acting? Viewing him as an alternate take, I love how horrible he is! Giving Ta'a Chume a brain haemorrhage! Provoking the Chiss and arguing to kill Raynar. I like to imagine lots has happened since we have last seen him, and he's becoming quite a brutal person. I do enjoy, though, that Luke listens to him and lets him explain his reasons rather than just discounting everything he says because he doesn't entirely agree.
Leia gets to shine quite a bit in this book now she's finally a Jedi in formal training, but her best part was when she got to duel Alema. Alema is over-confident and shocked at how good Leia is, and Leia almost kills her before someone else ruins it.
I love how good Leia is already, I imagine she has similar potential to her brother, and I continue to enjoy Saba as her Master. I also appreciate that Denning hasn't forgotten Saba's heritage and still has her doing things and acting more like people of her culture, when some writers kinda just ignore that and treat her as a human, forgetting she's an alien species.
I really enjoy Leia's confidence as a Jedi already, considering her seeming insecurity about her ability for so many years due to her inability to practise, she's sure of herself and her skills now and it leads to many great moments, such as her saying to Alema, “I think I need to teach you some manners.”
Luke and Han have a really boring story in this novel sadly. They do get some major moments, but almost every scene of theirs is them talking, being captured, or talking while captured. When they finally do escape and get some action, it's towards the end of the novel.
Luke makes a makeshift lightsaber, and I like the idea he can make spares if he has to give up his own one, but he does little with it. Han gets to use Mara's for a bit, but barely.
I think the big fight with Lomi Plo is long overdue, and doesn't happen in this book, but he does have a small fight with her, where she's invisible and extremely powerful. I'm praying Luke gets to kick her ass in the next book.
Overall, it was another good entry that makes up for the mistakes of the last book by sidetracking Jaina and Zekk, and focusing less on the uncomfortable aspects of the Killiks.
I still do not care for them at all, however. They are boring and have zero personality or anything too interesting about them by design.
I couldn't care less what happens to the Killiks. In fact, I wouldn't mind (for the sake of story) if they were just wiped out and no longer a problem by the end of the next book. I'm tired of hearing about them.
The conflict in the Jedi and with the Galactic Alliance was sorted out in the New Jedi Order. Bringing back the political conflict is unoriginal, and nothing interesting is being done with it other than to create more conflict for the sake of tension rather than anything actually good being done with the idea.
Never trust a politician is something that I agree with, but I am a little saddened with Cal Omas' complete 180 in characterisation. You could argue he is getting stressed with everything going on, and furthermore (which I do think is true), that you cannot trust a politician, they only do what is best for them. But I feel like the Jedi would've sensed that in the last series. We only got the impression from Luke that he is a decent guy, and him changing like this is a little uninspired.
A solid book but nothing in it will impress anyone, except for maybe Luke seeing Anakin storm the Jedi Temple during Revenge of the Sith and killing the younglings.
7/10
Exar Kun is a pretty fun villain. I was bored by a lot of the time we spent with Jacen and Jaina, but the other stories were very good. Luke's was especially gripping, and I was a big fan of his students in this book particularly.
This is probably gonna be another short review as there isn't much to say about this book.
It's impressive that two writers still manage to make a book a little tricky to read sometimes and as slow as it is.
I think generally the book starts off really solid and ends up a bit boring. It has its moments for sure but doesn't rise above those few good moments.
There is one element I appreciate as these books tend to really tackle almost everything; treatment of refugees, religious war, the philosophy behind war, how different people interpret grief, and now... self harm.
Romance.
This book was solid with its two romances, Jaina and Jag, and Jacen and Danni.
Now let me say, I am fully invested in Jacen and Danni, and really like these two. I hope Jacen's allegiance towards Vergere doesn't stop him from getting into a relationship with her, as I really like the two.
Jaina and Jag get some decent moments but are mostly kept apart unfortunately. It doesn't seem like the writing duo are too interested in the pair.
A similar sentiment can be said with Luke and Mara. I don't think Sean or Shane really care for her, as she doesn't do very much in the book and is just kinda there unfortunately.
Now there is one element I can say shines in the novel. Just one character.
Pellaeon.
He really, really shines in this book and I think his development all the way from ‘Heir to the Empire' up until now has to be one of the most impressive ways a character has been treated by the EU, and has been an exceptionally prolonged development that has not been mishandled even once so far.
There's a particular scene where Pellaeon decides to join the Galactic Alliance, and the Moffs retaliate, which culminates in a brilliant argument where a Moff pulls a blaster on Pellaeon, and he stares down the barrel fearlessly whilst picking him apart. He manages to turn everybody on his side, and massively help form an attack to save the Imperial Remnant, with a great retrospective moment on the failures of the Empire and how he plans to do better.
What a fucking character.
Unfortunately, that's all I have to say really. I've heard bad things about these books and I can't say I agree really, just that the trilogy is gonna be a bit of a slow read.
I found myself skimming towards the end and I don't think the decision to forego chapters really added anything to the novel. I guess it was nice to be able to just stop when there's a line break, but I like to stop on chapters usually.
If you're anything like me, you won't love this book, but you won't mind it. It has its moments but also its shortcomings. Meh.
6/10
One of my many school reads, and one I remember not quite getting at that age. Deserves a re-read.
Another one I read in school, however, as a teen towards the end. I strongly remember loving this and was recently reminded after hearing Sophie Aldred discuss doing an audiobook for it.
Brutal cybermen, classic 7 & Ace, it was a joy.