Gabriel

This is another wet-dream book for me.

Luke and Mara the whole way through! What more could I want?

Married couple Luke and Mara are amazing to read together. Their chemistry is at its best and they are so good for eachother. They are an amazing team, and I love their interactions and how they work together well in this book.

Finally uncovering the mystery of Outbound Flight in this novel was absolutely thrilling, and we also finally get educated about the unknown regions, something I am excited to learn more about in the New Jedi Order, hopefully!

This novel has a plethora of great characters, as any Zahn novel does, including the suspicious but incredibly talented empire from Nirauan (which includes the 501st!).

The Vagaari are brilliant villains, extremely evil, but without the knowledge they need, they truly struggle against Luke and Mara as they wipe the floor with them repeatedly.

Mara is especially badass in this novel - in one particular moment, the Vagaari attack with their wolvkils which seem invincible as they have no knowledge of the lightsabers, and Mara effortlessly kills one in a single swing.

This novel truly understands Luke, as he tries his best to avoid killing the wolvkils, at one moment using the force to make them unconscious.

A beautiful line describes his character perfectly, “Even as the years had grown and matured and hardened him, the inner core of idealism and mercy he'd brought with him out of that moisture farm on Tatooine had never faltered.”

I love Luke!

Dean Jinzler is a really good character, who starts off mysterious, but gets better as we learn more about him. He has a really good, emotional arc that actually made me feel something!

The survivor's of Outbound Flight are an interesting set of characters, and it's cool to see how a society could form and live in the remnants of the flight.

Although we learn a lot about what happened, most of the major details are still lost to time, which makes me excited to read the novel ‘Outbound Flight!'

There is an unnerving suggestion from Mara that Luke agrees to, which makes perfect sense, as everything goes according to plan almost unnaturally well for the Empire from Nirauan, as they suggest that maybe Thrawn is helping them, that maybe the clone didn't die, or that Thrawn has other clones.

But either way, Thrawn is on their side. For now...

Overall, a fantastic standalone novel that bridges the gap between the Bantam era of New Republic novels and the New Jedi Order, further developing Luke and Mara's married relationship, which is intensely fun to read for me!

NOW THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!

Except for the majorly cheap time travel twist, this book is a thorough delight through and through.

The character depth and focus are phenomenal. The drama is brilliant and realistically handled, and it is paced really well. It's just a brilliant book all around.

I won't yap too long like I do for some of my reviews here, but I'm really pleased with this! Got a little emotional towards the end for Harry, and I even managed to forget how much I hate J.K. Rowling now for a little while and get totally engrossed!

Exceptional.

A gripping beginning to a fantastic trilogy that was one of few cases where I couldn't sleep with how much I wanted to continue reading. Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn are two of the best Star Wars characters FULL STOP. In this book (their first appearances), they are absolutely incredible. All of the new characters are perfect. The returning characters are handled exceptionally well. The different storylines for the different teams of characters are all thrilling, but the sections between Luke and Mara were my absolute favourite.

At first, I wasn't so interested in this book. It is important to note that this isn't just about Darth Vader. It is both the story of Vader and a Jedi who survives order 66. Which is what confused and annoyed me at first. Quickly though, the books picks up with thrilling action acting as a great character study of Darth Vader and gives great insight into the Emperor, Vader, their relationship, and each other's thoughts, feelings, and motivations. A must-read for Star Wars fans that helps bridge the gap between the prequels and originals better than many of the shows and films do.

Traviss makes the bold decision to largely forgo action such as dogfighting, lightsaber combat, and even blaster combat, instead choosing to focus on family drama, espionage, and almost purely dialogue.

Surprisingly, this creates one of the most unique, and incredibly well-written Star Wars novels I have read so far. There is little action, yet each chapter is extremely entertaining as we mainly follow Boba Fett, Jacen Solo, and Ben Skywalker, and the tensions bubbling up between the Solo and Skywalker family, and Corellia and the Galactic Alliance.

Terrorism, military acts often bordering on violence, a complex but well-written conflict that is extremely original and topical is born. Meanwhile, Fett slowly forms a bond with a girl he has no idea is his granddaughter, and learns to deal with the loss of his wife, later his daughter at the hands of Jacen Solo, and long, long ago... his father Jango Fett.

Boba Fett is a standout in this novel. Expertly written, he isn't just a silent badass anymore, but an ageing, dying old man, secretly desperate for a familial connection, and unable to process decades of grief.

His story is a simple one, and is also one that beyond one assassination, is purely investigation and dialogue. Travelling with Mirta, his granddaughter, they form a unique bond by the end of the book, not realising until much later who she truly is.

You get very attached to these two, and you don't need to be aware of the other Traviss novels or know too much about Mandalorian culture to be invested in this plotline, as I am not. But it is amazing, and a testament to the quality of Traviss' writing as you become so in love with these two. It is like a more mature, complex variation on the now trope of an older man taking on a younger person in a fatherly role, popularised by the recent Mandalorian series on Disney+.

This book is what the Book of Boba Fett should've been. A deep dive into the intricately complex Boba Fett, not glamorising him in any way, but also not making up for his mistakes. He has been a terrible father, a terrible person for so many years, but the book goes into why, and makes it a goal for him to realise this, and begin to consider how to reconcile in his own way.

The death of Boba's daughter really hit me, and the fact that Jacen Solo tortured her to death is a really shocking, almost disgusting thing that really got a reaction out of me. I love how it deepens the bond between Boba and Mirta, and really makes Boba confront his failures as a father.

“But he'd failed to live up to him in the most important way of all: by being as good a father as Jango Fett.”

Mirta is a really likeable character. She's very complex and secretive, like Boba, and the similarities between them are more and more prevalent as the novel goes on. I suspected she was his granddaughter before the reveal, but I still love the detail and how it was revealed, in a very tense scene with Han and Leia present.

Their story is a highlight of the book and I didn't mind Karen Traviss diverting the reader's attention to those two and weaving them into the overarching story either, it feels strange that the Mandalorians haven't been present in most content set after Return of the Jedi!

Jacen Solo is even more compelling in this book. I've come to view Lumiya saying Vergere was a Sith as a lie, or that's my headcanon at least, and I really like how she's twisting Vergere's teaching to push her own agenda.

The truth is, Vergere's teaching (like Kreia's from KotOR II: TSL) could be misunderstood and share similarities with those of the Sith. Of course, Vergere (and Kreia too) are really neither. But Lumiya uses her knowledge to convince Jacen otherwise, and this preys upon him massively.

Jacen is particularly heartbreaking in this book. Only Mara has any confidence in him anymore, as he comes closer and closer to becoming another Vader for the Galactic Alliance, seemingly being groomed by their government a little too, but also grooming Ben to join him too, something that very much concerns Luke.

“You're probably about my only friend these days.” - Jacen Solo, to Mara Jade Skywalker.

I love that Luke isn't buying any of it, and neither is Jaina. They both know what path he is going down, but are conflicted by their family disagreeing, and their minds telling them otherwise, disagreeing with their hearts and senses.

Luke knows Lumiya is back, and she isn't hiding as well as she said she could, and that's another detail I love. They underestimate Luke, Jacen is growing a deeper animosity towards his Uncle, and I suspect it may be part of his downfall. He tries to control his ego, but in doing what he is doing, it is steadily growing.

Jacen does more despicable things in this book, such as firing at a retreating ship, giving Jaina a court martial, putting Ben in a position where he'll have to kill someone (at thirteen), and torturing Boba's daughter brutally until death. But now, he fears he may have to kill his own wife and daughter... he only knows for sure that he must kill someone he loves, and he has visions of holding a weapon and sobbing at what he has done.

Lumyia has twisted him into thinking that all of this is his destiny, and that he must sacrifice everything, including how those who love him view him, for the greater good.

When Han and Leia confront Jacen, it is a really heartbreaking, emotional moment. They are disgusted by him, and imagining the way that must feel, to see your own father and mother repulsed at your actions, is a horrifying thought.

“I don't know who you are, but you aren't my son anymore. My Jacen would never do the kind of stuff you do. Get out. I don't want to know anymore.” - Han Solo, to Jacen Solo.

Overall, I found this to be a stunning novel. I cannot wait for more entries by Traviss. I know she is controversial to some, but I am not entirely sure why, and I am glad as that has not clouded my opinion of this novel.

I hope for more of Boba, Mirta, and the Mandalorians in later novels, and I am obsessed with the family drama in these books, and the interesting take on war on display here.

The war is finally beginning, and I am eagerly awaiting more ferocious battles and some perhaps larger character moments.

Will Jacen become a Master before a Sith Lord? Will Boba find the clone he is looking for? What will Jaina do next? How will Luke help Ben?

I am excited to find all of this out, and more. This one has me hooked.

9/10

The characterisation of Anakin Skywalker in the Revenge of the Sith novelisation written by Matthew Stover is the absolute peak of character writing in the Star Wars franchise, and the ultimate depiction of the character, showing the incredible understanding of the character and care of presenting him correctly from Stover's prose. He clearly understands the character on a level much deeper than most media that portrays him, even good media where the character is written superbly.

“You killed her because, finally, when you could have saved her, when you could have gone away with her, when you could have been thinking about her, you were thinking about yourself...”

Anakin is a selfish, selfish man, and is clearly portrayed as a man who walks the dark path from the beginning of the story, his fall is inevitable because it is the result of his own actions, his own greed. His love for Padme is what makes him fail, but his love is not a selfless, unconditional love, it is a selfish love, it is about what Padme does for him, what she makes him feel, it is not as simple as him caring for her. Because whilst he does, ultimately, it is all about him.

The motivations and events that lead to Anakin's turn are clearer, more defined and expanded upon in this book than the movie, and adds to the claim that this novel doesn't simply feel like an adaptation, it almost feels like the movie is the adaptation, and this is the full story.

Anakin's obsession with mastery, with the rank of Master, are not just his pride or ego, whilst that absolutely plays a part, he is truly furious because with the rank of Master, he can access information he believes will help him save Padme from his visions.

But he is still human, and the remains of his empathy and love are still clear on display, and whilst he is a very evil, self-centered man, I think the reason this story strikes such a chord with me is the personal attachment I feel to him here, because I can relate.

There's a moment when we really get into the mind of Anakin Skywalker, as he approaches and searches for Padme after defeating Dooku, and see how deep the roots of his insecurities lie.

“She wasn't here. Why wasn't she here?
Something must have happened.
He knew, deep in his guts, that something had happened to her.”

“Had something changed? For her?
In how she felt?”

Padme's nerves, her life being changed by her pregnancy, immediately spawns an immense suspicion in Anakin. Almost instantly, he jumps to conclusions, before settling on the one that serves him best, that there is someone else. That she is with another man. He is an incredibly insecure man, but this is written so superbly because I know what it is like to be Anakin here, I know what it is like to be a very pathetic, incredibly suspicious, self-conscious man, who allows his anger to get the better of him, who acts like Anakin does here, borderline emotionally abusive to a partner.

Not getting edgy, I was quite young, but I was similar with a partner, and years later I realised what I was, and it has shown great growth in myself, but it still disgusts me and saddens me to realise how I acted, and it makes me understand greater how different things could have gone for Anakin if he had the right help, the time to grow, how amazing a Jedi he could've become, how these flaws could've been tempered, like they did for me.

But not Anakin Skywalker.

The deep dive into his psyche is phenomenal, and shows the talent of Stover to be able to truly get into the minds of people of all different types, whether it's Vergere, Jacen Solo, Ganner Rhysode, Anakin Skywalker, or even Obi-Wan Kenobi, he truly gets people on a deeper level than most authors.

“Anakin and Obi-Wan would never fight each other.
They couldn't.
They're a team. They're the team.
And both of them are sure they always will be.”

The way Matthew Stover wrote the brotherly duo of Anakin and Obi-Wan was also shockingly good, they are a dazzling display of heroes who are worshipped throughout the galaxy, the most famous Jedi, possibly, in history.

“Two is enough because the adults are wrong, and their younglings are right. Though this is the end of the age of heroes, it has saved its best for last.”

They are the dynamic duo, they are the perfect team, and they save the day again, but watch as this relationship is deconstructed, their highs, their lows, their strong as steel best attributes, and the tension and flaws between them.

While Anakin is groomed by the omniscient Sidious, Obi-Wan's actions and words are twisted by his devious friend, and like he will also manage with Padme, his brother becomes his enemy.

Palpatine's manipulations are at their best here, he is a cruel and clever man, he seemingly knows all, using his knowledge of everyone's actions and even thoughts to slowly convert Anakin, and to gain his trust and obedience until eventually... it is too late.

The metaphor of a dragon for Anakin's fear was just spectacular, the dragon grows and gnashes its claws, it tugs at Anakin's heart, until by the end, Vader clamps down on it and kills it. Only to realise, yet again, when it is too late, that there was no dragon, only Anakin Skywalker.

The dragon remains, and he has failed.

Palpatine manages to come across as a loving uncle to Anakin, and you totally buy why Anakin loves and trusts him, beyond them telling you so. Sidious manages to frame everything that happens to and around him back to his own means, and used it to seduce Anakin very slowly and very cleverly.

“The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.”

Obi-Wan is just... godly here. One of the most talented Jedi Masters of his time, he is wise, loving, and caring in a way most Jedi of this era aren't, he's a talented swordsman, and a brother to his former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.

The truth is, Obi-Wan loves Anakin.

There's an extremely emotional moment where, concerned about his friend, Obi-Wan goes to Padme to inquire about his worries, seek help, and encourage Padme to assist.

“‘You love him, too, don't you?'
When he didn't answer, she turned to look. He stood motionless, frowning, in the middle of the expanse of buff carpeting.
‘You do. You love him.'
He lowered his head. He looked very alone.
‘Please do what you can to help him,' he said, and left.”

Despite his mastery of the Force, and what it means to be a republic-era Jedi, he has an attachment to Anakin, and not only does it cloud his vision of the darkness in his brother, it hinders him from accepting it, acknowledging it, and doing anything about it.

He hid and accepted his friend's flaws, he trusted him to do the right thing, and in the end, he failed...

“And here, and now, despite it all...
Obi-Wan still loved him.”


After their climactic duel, Obi-Wan leaves Anakin to burn. He notes that to put Anakin out of his misery would be the right thing to do, but he isn't feeling merciful. And whilst he thinks about it, it is too late, Sidious arrives, and he flees.

Hoping, but ultimately failing, to save Padme, Obi-Wan resigns himself to watching over Luke. Finally, he smiles, remarking that he cannot think of a better way to spend his life, than watching over Anakin's son. He declares that he wants to be an eccentric old uncle, and to keep him out of danger too dark for him to handle on his own.

Whilst the novel doesn't reach the pinnacle of Star Wars books just quite for me, and is definitely outmatched by the greats like Path of Destruction, The Last Command, Vision of the Future, the entire New Jedi Order series, it's a beautiful novel that just adds more to my favourite film in the franchise.

And whilst I may give this novel a lower rating than the movie, I do believe it improves upon it, adding depth and realism to Anakin's turn, and adding so much to the film it's almost its own thing, in fact, I'd argue it is.

But when I rate these books, I compare them to the previous books I've read, and it just doesn't quite compare to my all-timers.

It is, absolutely, a masterpiece in its own regard, and I think that to any fan of the movie, the prequels, or even the franchise in and of itself, this is an exceptional read, if not a gateway into the wider Legends universe.

Artistic, literary, Matthew Stover treats the film like a fine art, making you feel like you're reading Lord of the Rings, or some beloved literature ancient and old. He makes it feel biblical, like a myth.

‘Mythology' has never been a better adjective for a Star Wars book, than the Revenge of the Sith novelisation, written by Matthew Stover.

9/10

This epic collection took a bit of a step down.

It was still mostly a fun read, but it had quite a few really slow and uneventful arcs.

It picked up later on but was still filled with quite a few mediocre issues.

Good, but really very middling as it is truly the middle of this enormous series.

My original review of this book was awful and misguided.

This novel is absolutely fantastic.

Quite possibly the greatest characterisation of Yoda that I have ever seen, he is wise, he is kind, he is wonderful with children, and he is as mysterious as ever.

His growing disillusion with the current Jedi Order is apparent as he disagrees with various masters on various occasions, and shows noticeable distaste as to the treatment of certain padawans from particular masters such as Mace Windu.

Scout and Whie are a great duo, there is a small romance between them, yet they are quite opposite, whilst similar in many ways too. They have a great rapport, with Scout easily being the most interesting character.

Scout is determined, clever, and always thinks outside the box, whilst being very weak in the force, having to be taught among some of the youngest students which is both humiliating for her, and puts her at an enormous disadvantage as even masters look down on her (like Mace Windu). However, she is thorough, hard-working, and righteous.

Of course, Yoda sees the potential in her, and gives her a new master (her previous one died on Geonosis).

There is great tragedy in this novel, and I'll admit, it got me emotional at various points, the first novel so far to do that for me.

The way it is written is just incredible, with some of the most effective lines I've ever seen in a Star Wars novel.

“No greater gift there is, than a generous heart.”

“Life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.”

We learn a lot about when Yoda taught Dooku, and get to see a different side to him. You discover the humility he previously had, how inferior he feels to Sidious, and how he often dreads his own actions, and feels as if he is betraying those he cares about.

There is a flicker of hope for a moment, which is spoiled by Sidious. I truly believe for one second, Dooku considered joining Yoda again, but it is ruined as he feels betrayed when Anakin and Obi-Wan show up - which Yoda had no knowledge of - which was cleverly constructed by Sidious who, as Palpatine, demanded Windu send the two to assist Yoda.

No doubt, did he foresee something like this happening, and know that sending the two would break up this moment.

Overall, it's an extremely gripping narrative, with lots of fight scenes which are written really well and are thoroughly entertaining, never feeling repetitive. There are high stakes and there is plenty of character drama, with grave consequences and lots of tragedy. It is a near perfect novel in my books.

Rather good.

Clever, well put together, nicely written, an easy read.

Certain aspects are absolutely dated, and it doesn't help that J.K. Rowling is a known bigot now, but she's still, rather infuriatingly, a great author at this point.

Dig deep, and you can see the beginnings of her later politics (well, not later, just bolder), but it's hard not to love these books.

The magic isn't quite there like it is in the first one, and by that, I mean the wonder of it all - of course, magic is still present. But it doesn't hit quite as hard as the first.

I honestly think I might enjoy the film adaptation of this more, I could really lose Peeves without any qualms and almost every page of this ends up in the film some way or another, and much of what the film changes or adds I actually prefer.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna charge right ahead with the next book, but I'm eager to read more eventually.

INTRODUCTION

Star By Star, although with little issues I will touch upon later, is quite easily the best novel so far.

Troy Denning's first foray into Star Wars is an extremely bold behemoth, which amounts to six hundred pages in total, and it took me around four days to fully read.

Now did it need to be six hundred pages?

I'm not sure. But it definitely needed to cross the three hundred barrier every novel so far hasn't strayed far from, and I'm glad it did that at least.

There are various sorts of sections of the plot focusing on different aspects, different planets, different conflicts. A lot needed to be set up. So I didn't mind the slower pace on a whole.

VOXYN

I think the Voxyn are a brilliant concept, with a magnificent design realised in the Japanese cover art by Tsuyoshi Nagano. Eight-legged, acid spitting creatures, they are extremely ferocious and a true threat to the Jedi.

Animalistic hunger felt through the Force is a magnificent concept to create a magnetic tension any time they're around. With how bold this series is anyway, Troy Denning takes it up a notch, and you are seriously concerned a major character will die to a Voxyn at any moment, as very often they take down Jedi built up through the book as major players.

Shock after shock!

YUUZHAN VONG

The Vong's perspective in this book was probably the best written it has been yet. With Vergere and Nom Anor competing constantly, and the warmaster Tsavong Lah pushing bold tactics and being the most ferocious he has been yet, everyone feels like a proper threat.

Their side of the story is more interesting than ever as we see them often struggle to predict and fight Jedi, but having much more success with the New Republic, continually outsmarting them and defeating them.

Their losses to the Jedi cement (to me) the superiority of the Jedi, as in one encounter they uttery destroy the Yuuzhan Vong and save countless refugees, even if this doesn't amount to what the Vong soon accomplish.

THE INVASION OF CORUSCANT

As I repeatedly mention in my reviews, I'm not one for the space battles in Star Wars. And I felt that whilst this book leaned a little too much into them at times, the battle of Coruscant was, for the most part, extremely engaging.

The plot with Ben being captured was a bit much for me, and felt kinda pointless. But Leia's fight with Viqi Shesh just captivated me, you really do want Viqi dead, and are even rooting for her recklessness.

Han gets to be a bit more of his old self here, and Luke and Mara are brilliant in this sequence of the novel.

I always love when the villains of something are winning and everything seems hopeless, so it's really, terribly devastating but also awe-inspiring for Coruscant to finally be taken, and taken so early.

It really feels like the New Republic are done for, and that the Jedi are the galaxy's last hope. I almost find it hard to believe Coruscant has been taken so early, and the amount of lives lost in the battle is just terribly shocking. Countless civilians, countless refugees, so many more Jedi and fighters lost in battle.

Things have never been worse, and I love it,

LEIA'S CHARACTERISATION

I felt that Leia was distinctly at her best here.

So far, she has probably my favourite design in the entire Star Wars saga, with her flowing white robes reminiscent of her costume in the very first movie, she looks extremely regal and powerful, and with her shorter, still growing hair, she looks really cool, more of a fighter than a princess than ever before, and it has to be my favourite look for her.

Her striking, crimson, ruby lightsaber is also just fantastic, and I love the idea of a Jedi, rather than a Sith, with a red lightsaber. Something I admire about the EU was how the lightsabers had more personality, more freedom, more individuality, and it really helps with Leia here. She basically looks sick as fuck.

I also adore that she finally felt so utterly done with politics. It has been a critique of mine in previous novels from the New Republic era that they always delegated Leia to mere political drama, and rarely any of the action she was known for in the original trilogy. And it more or less stuck as her status quo in these novels.

But with her declaring herself finished with the Senate, and engaging in various fight scenes with her lightsaber, she feels more like a Jedi than ever, and I pray to see it continue, or at least a positive balance.

ANAKIN SOLO

I always knew of Anakin's fate since before I read these novels, and I very recently had it spoiled for which novel it would be.

But I am happy to report that I still found it extremely upsetting when he died in battle!

Anakin was my favourite of the Solo children. In this book, he was seventeen I believe, which is my age, so I felt a bit closer to him. I loved how he was a bit more emotional, a little bit reckless, and has an obsession with becoming a hero.

He wanted to change the meaning of Anakin from Vader, to a great Jedi. And he most definitely succeeded. It's absolutely heartbreaking to have someone so young die in war, and I feel the novel better than any other does a great job of showing the horrors of true war, on a grand scale with the Yuuzhan Vong.

Leia's despair shatters me, and I never thought we'd ever see Leia like she is here. She feels totally helpless, and just screams upon feeling his death. It is terrifying, it is horrifying, and it really upsets me to think about, enough to feel myself tearing up typing it!

I rarely get beyond tearing up, or a single tear when anything in media upsets me, but this novel almost got me crying properly. I felt three tears roll down my cheeks, and I felt like I'd start sobbing!

I loved Anakin so much. I miss him too.

JACEN & JAINA

Jacen and Jaina take Anakin's death in two different ways.

There was Jacen's calmness, and the other - Jaina's reaction - I was ecstatic to have not had spoiled for myself.

As for Anakin, he was upset, crying even. But with his aspiration to be a proper Jedi, all of his beliefs on sacrifice and the rights and wrongs of the Force, I really admire his reaction. He is heartbroken too, but doesn't allow it to consume him or get in the way of his mission.

Ultimately leading to him being left behind as he fulfils the mission, ‘tricked' by Vergere (who I still don't believe is completely evil!) I feel really bad for Jacen. He doesn't get to shine as strongly as his siblings in this book, but he's still really great.

Jaina finally gets to properly, seriously shine in this one. Her absolute rage and fury leads to her doing some things very stupid, finally breaking her numbness with all of the death and loss of the war building up on her. I can see her never being the same again.

What I never, ever expected, was what she immediately did next.

Force lighting! Is it just me, or is Jaina the fucking coolest ever with force lighting? Leaning fully into her rage, she commands force lightning upon the Yuuzhan Vong, and kills many in her rage. It is a fucking fantastic moment, exceptional for her character, and completely, utterly unexpected. I am so thankful no one spoiled this for me!

I feel that her character and grief is to be more fully explored in the next novel, but this was already just amazing!

BORSK FEY'LYA

I really hate Borsk. But he almost redeemed himself in this novel.

Fully backing the Jedi almost the whole way through, surviving an assassination, politically assassinating Viqi herself, and sacrificing himself to deliver a blow to the Yuuzhan Vong, and to stay with Coruscant in his death, knowing his political career was over, and that he wouldn't be remembered well.

I don't believe he should be remembered well. He was a terrible person in almost every case, using the war and its inner conflicts to his own gain, but he really started to turn around towards the end, and it seemed like he was really trying his best to save everyone.

I almost found myself upset at his death too.

CONCLUSION & MINOR CRITICISMS

Overall, this was a fantastic book. It was heartbreaking, tragic, imaginative, gritty, dark, and utterly hopeless, perfectly in line with the series, and a true mighty blow to our heroes.

It isn't entirely perfect, though. Maybe Denning's later career with Star Wars, or his shorter books will improve upon this, but I found his writing a little bit of a mixed bag.

First of all, the book was definitely just a bit too long. There were a few sections that just went on too long, one of them being the space battle for Coruscant. He was very good at writing these sequences, and they were easy to follow at least, but they went on just a bit too long for my liking.

Another was that I found he didn't describe Yuuzhan Vong scenery, technology, the worldship, the planet of Myrkr, etc. For a lot of the plots revolving around the Solo kids and their mission to Myrkr, I found myself absolutely baffled at the scenery, and really struggled to imagine it.

I couldn't grasp for the life of me what the interior of the worldship looked like, and for absolutely ages, I hadn't even grasped that they had moved from Myrkr to a worldship, or how!

He did, however, perfectly handle an enormous ensemble cast of characters, and it did feel like he did an exceptional job with everybody. Writing Luke and Mara's romance wonderfully, Han and Leia's healing relationship, the Solo children at their best, Talon Karrde and Lando in on all of it too, he was really good.

He also came up with some brilliant concepts, such as Lando's Yuuzhan Vong killer droids, that sounded really cool when reading, and turned out to be really useful.

So generally, it's an exceptional book. It broke my heart and shattered it, and has turned things really, really dark for the New Republic.

I am eager and excited for more.

9.5/10

You can always depend on Allston to deliver a fantastic entry into a series, and he does possibly the most entertaining novel of the series so far here.

The novel starts out amazing, gets a little slow and uninteresting in the middle, but really picks up back into legendary stuff in the last about 150 pages with brilliant action, and an amazing plotline for Ben.

Although I had small issues with the pacing, the action is exceptional, and the characters are written really, really well. I love the way Force users are written in action, there's some great battles, and the ship stuff is more interesting than usual, thanks to it being written by Allston!

Kyp is back and at his best since New Jedi Order. He's mature, but funny, and a very intelligent and useful Jedi on the Council. I love his new look (long hair like me!) I love how he chose to support Luke over his own views, and his speech about the mistakes he mad as a teenager is powerful.

Allston just GETS Wedge and he is so, so good here as always. He is funny, clever, and I love his story of having to finally go against his own planet, something he really didn't want to do.

I love Jag coming back into it and his conflict and issues with Jaina. She did some badddd stuff and I love that they're treating it properly and letting them process it and sit with it. I love these two and can't wait for them to get back together.

This also reminds me why I love Jaina, and I'm glad she's getting treated well by this series. She is so, so flawed, and treats people quite poorly sometimes. She gets into bad situations and makes bad decisions and hurts people, but she's a person and we all do these things, she makes up for it and comes back from it and I love her for it. She's amazing.

“She had inherited her mother's sharp tongue, but lacked the diplomatic skills.”

I love Lando's return, and the TERRIBLE ship name “the Love Commander” that really made me properly laugh out loud!

I love how Mara asked Luke if he was physically involved with Lumiya, it was a funny but sweet moment. Luke has some interesting ex-girlfriends!


The battle with Lumiya, Alema, Luke, Mara, Leia, and Han was amazing. The visual aspect of it is amazing, I love Lumiya in a ripped gown, Luke with his two sabers, the hologram above them, jumping over tables, using interesting techniques to fight, Lumiya and Luke touching hands, it's so epic, yet so short and teasing, making me desperate for more and another proper final battle.

Ben's plotline is at first slow, and a little uninteresting. I wasn't really enjoying it for a while, but once he landed on Ziost, wow... it really picks up. It's an emotional story, that does a lot of character growth for him, and has shifted him from being a little bit of an annoying kid at times, to a much more mature adult. Allston is definitely the best author for Ben so far.

Overall, it's an excellent novel and it might be my favourite so far.

I love how Luke and the Skywalker/Solo family are written in this book, and Allston makes it a really exciting read for the most part.

It has quite a simplistic story, hence why I have less to say, but Jacen's progression is interesting. He's getting closer and closer to becoming a Sith Lord and making his great sacrifice, and I'm honestly excited to finally see him make the jump to becoming Darth Caedus.

One of my favourites for sure and cannot wait for the next Allston book!

I'm nervous for the next novel though...

9/10

I think this novel could've done with just being another book from Greg Keyes, rather than a second in a duology, as they don't connect a whole lot beyond playing upon character stuff from the last novel, which all of these books do anyway.

This might be a shorter review than usual, not only am I ill, there's not a lot to say!

So I apologise.

I read this quickly again, as it was quite an enjoyable read. But it was nowhere near as good as the last book unfortunately.

There was a major glaring problem with this book for me, which was the extremely uncomfortable sexual tension between Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo.

Twice now, God awful romances have been forced with Jaina, and here's another. How fucking enormous is the age gap? Hasn't Kyp known her since she was very, very young, and seen her at a very, very young age. This behaviour has firmly ruined Kyp for me.

Not only has he been an absolutely terrible person in this book for other reasons, his disgustingly creepy behaviour with Jaina, literally flirting with her and calling her attractive, it all just makes him terrible.

The worst part from Greg Keyes, however, is the complete and utter terrible characterisation of Jaina. Why the fuck does she like it? And why does she consider becoming his apprentice seriously? Are you kidding me?

This much older man who is perving on her, who has been making terrible decisions as a Jedi politically and morally, who has been massively disrespecting her uncle and her parents who have done so much for him, I cannot, I just cannot grasp any reason as to why she would be attracted to him beyond mere looks. And I simply do not believe Jaina is that dense. It is written in a very gross way and I am hoping it'll never be addressed again, and that I can just remove it from my head.

Luke and Mara had an excellent, if minor story in this book. I didn't realise how far along Mara was, and although these parts were often scary, they were also lovely. I am so happy the birth went okay and Mara is now too. I knew they both would be, but I still got so concerned!

However, I do hope this is the end of the Mara illness plotline. It has been dragged on and on!

But I was saddened by Luke's vision of the future without Mara...

Han, Leia, and Jacen's plot was pretty good, but nothing fantastic. The best parts actually weren't the action, but the subplot about Jacen and Han's relationship, and Jacen gets a lot of nice development here for his internal struggles, and Han too.

Anakin and Tahiri are a cute couple. I'm not the most invested, but I do really like them together and find them both great characters. Their story with Corran was pretty solid and I was mostly happy to have him back too.

It was sick as fuck when Anakin and Tahiri tricked the Yuuzhan Vong, as Anakin had a brilliant battle with one of the fiercest warriors. Anakin is one of the best of this series for sure.

Overall it was pretty good, more back to the level of the early books in the series. I do love the Jedi being outlaws and more rogues again, and part of a bit of a rebellion.

But Kyp's characterisation was really wonky, beyond just a morally grey Jedi, he did some really evil and despicable stuff. I cannot possibly see how he can be allowed to be a Jedi after this, and I'm gonna chalk it up to Greg Keyes getting a little overzealous.

I can put aside the little age gap between Tahiri and Anakin. They made a thing out of her having developed quicker, which I feel isn't as common nowadays (or maybe that's just been where I grew up) but generally girls do grow up quicker than boys, going through puberty first, and I think they are mostly at the same level of maturity, so I can put it aside, especially considering it was probably much more normal back then compared to my generation's obsession with age gaps and predators and the likes.

But the romance with Kyp and Jaina was just filthy. It was uncomfortable, it was nonsensical, it was forced, it was out of character for both of them. It was utter shit.

Whilst the book was generally really good, nowhere near the level of my least favourite, Agents of Chaos II, the single worst plot element of these novels so far has to be crowned to Kyp and Jaina's romance here. Just horrible.

Luckily the rest of the novel is solid!

7.5/10

As far as I am into the Legends novels, this is easily my favourite. It is an incredible conclusion in which everything wraps up perfectly. The different plots are all intriguing in their own ways and manage to link up excellently at the end. All of the various plot threads, themes, and ideas explored in the trilogy are wrapped up by the end, and it makes for an amazingly satisfying read. I would absolutely recommend this specific set of books for ANY Star Wars fan who could enjoy a book. The action in this one is the best action I've read in a book, possibly, and kept me wanting to read over and over. It's truly hard to put down.

How can I even begin to review the masterfully complex conclusion in its own right, to an already staggering nineteen book series?

I'll try my best.

James Luceno, with only one misstep in writing that I have read so far, is definitely one of the best authors of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. He is the kind of writer that really slowly paces his books to create the best characters, the best tension, and the best setup in comparison to most other writers, and almost always delivers a satisfying conclusion.

But I was still shocked that he conjured up a satisfying conclusion to a nineteen book series. In fact, I'm shocked anybody managed it at all. The careful planning and execution of this series speaks volumes about how disjointed the New Republic era novels were, but also is a testament to how thoughtfully this series was planned out, the mysteries and enigmas sorted out, and everything explained and concluded in a manner only matched by ‘Vision of the Future' which had to weave together inconsistencies and explain away lacklustre planning and bad story decisions, none of which this book had to contend with, merely to build off of the brilliant novels and ideas from the rest of the series, and definitively conclude everything.

I am still left speechless. When I finished the novel, after not moving for what... an hour? Two? Three? I completely lost any semblance of time and just sat and read and read and read... and then I was finished. I laid in my bed for a moment reflecting, feeling as if I had come to the end of a long journey. And I have.

The Yuuzhan Vong have been some of the greatest villains ever conceived in fiction in my opinion. A deadly, terrifying threat, yet also an utter mystery, almost unsolvable. Complex enough to feel real, but so alien to be utterly awe-inspiring, they were quite possibly the most ingenious idea of the entire series.

Nom Anor shone as the most interesting character to me initially, and quite possibly still so. Cunning, conniving, pathetic and cowardly yet intuitive, unlike any other Vong, he came to not only care for his own life, but for nothing but it. He was changed from his time in the Star Wars galaxy, and he became quite an interesting character. A fascinating one.

He came closer and closer to his end, repeatedly just barely escaping again and again, finding new ways to preserve his own life longer, trying any last ditch attempt to save himself until even the very end.

Leading the Shamed Ones against Overlord Shimrra, quite possibly one of the most satisfying moments in the entire saga occurred when Mara Jade Skywalker chased him down, and they had their fiercest battle yet.

Mara, even deactivating her lightsaber, beat Nom Anor repeatedly, countering all of his attacks and utterly humiliating him, he begs for his life, desperate, pleading, completely pathetic, stripped of everything he has built up throughout the entire series, and in a true moment of her character, to show her true strength and change from her days as the Emperor's Hand, she allows him to live

Ultimately, he chooses to let himself die later on, but his character has been one of the most magnificent of the series, one of the most terrible for his actions, beliefs and personality, but one of the most fantastic characters of the entire story. His end was beyond satisfying.

Overlord Shimrra has long been a mystery to me, and I was shocked to learn that my major prediction about him was correct. But what shocked me more, was that there was an even greater twist waiting.

I had long predicted that Shimrra had access to the Force. What I could not grasp, and never would've... was that Shimrra was a puppet. All this time. All these books. Shimrra was nothing. Nobody.

Onimi was the true Overlord. This revelation still hasn't quite registered for me. All this time. Onimi. What? It is utterly fantastic, and absolutely genius, but it has so blown me away that I don't entirely know what to say. I can't believe it.

Firstly, I'm proud I was right about one thing. The Overlord was a force user! But this wasn't what I imagined at all. Secondly and finally really... I'm just gobsmacked to get all British on you for a second. Quite possibly the most insane reveal of the series. I love when something commits to building up an insane twist and pulls it off. I never imagined it could hit me this hard. Wow.

The Battle of Yuuzhan'tar.

What a spectacle. Sometimes hard to visualise, the dogfighting was absolutely insane, one of the largest battles ever, but it was still magnificent. The sheer scale of the battle was unmatched, twists and turns constantly, all hope lost, all hope back again, loss after loss, win after win. An absolute emotional turmoil.

But of course, for me, the true excitement was the ground battles. The Shamed Ones revolt, the Jedi versus Shimrra, what an exciting and well-written action sequence.

Luke fights at his greatest ever, killing an uncountable number, fearless, even tireless, Jacen and Jaina joining him in battle against the slayers, the final showdown with Shimrra. This has been the most exciting battle in the entire saga for me. Completely unmatched.

Still the greatest battle since Luke and Mara Jade defeated Joruus C'baoth at Wayland for me. Even greater. The most satisfying by far. If there was ever to be a time for Luke to die, I would be okay with it happening here in his greatest triumph yet, and it nearly does.

But I'm glad he lives.

Using Anakin's lightsaber, alongside his own, to decapitate Shimrra was not what I was expecting. Absolutely brutal, hard-hitting, and sudden. Like most battles end, it was surprisingly quick at that moment.

But the build up of fighting the slayers, how nearly indestructible they are, just comes to show how much of an absolute unit Luke and his niece and nephew have become, how far Jacen and Jaina have come since the beginning of the war, and how the Jedi are now reaching greater heights than ever before.

This story really could end the entire saga.

Boba Fett had a grand return, if brief, Kyle Katarn was finally included properly, every single Jedi in the Order had an appearance, everybody still living from any of the movies or books had their return, even some unliving!

The reveal that the voice Jacen heard in his vision was actually Anakin Skywalker almost got me emotional too I believe. Of course, for a moment like this, for the spirit of Anakin to speak to him, it is poetic.

Jacen totally becoming one with the Force for a moment and battling Onimi in a Force battle unlike any we've ever seen was astonishing, hard to grasp at times, but so bold and different and climactic. We have never ever seen someone use the Force like this, someone so powerful.

I know from what I've heard that ultimately Luke will become the greatest Jedi to ever live, and in each other book, I'd agree. But it's clear that whilst Luke quite possibly has his greatest moment here too, Jacen for a single moment was the most powerful Jedi ever. What he accomplished was just... something else.

365 trillion lives lost.

I can't imagine the Galaxy truly recovering from this war for a long, long time.

I feel like I've been on a very long journey with these books, and I honestly feel like they've changed me. I'm sorry but like... the movies cannot compare to these books.

I hate to sound like a miserable teenager but I enjoy really gritty, miserable stuff, with tragedy and losses, but a touch of optimism and a hopeful ending. This is what the series accomplished.

So many heartbreaking losses, irreversible stuff that will change the saga forever, but there's still hope and love and righteousness. They won in the end, even if much was lost to get there.

I feel like there is too much to properly say about these books and this conclusion properly. So I think I'll save ALL of my thoughts for the mega video I hope I can manage.

This book totally blew me away and CHANGED me. The entire series has. There's just nothing quite like it.

R.I.P. Chewbacca
R.I.P. Anakin Solo

I hope for more Jaina and Jag, and I'm saddened by how they've left things. I am really curious to see how the Jedi operate in future, and I'm really curious about the state of the characters, their relationships, the government, just... everything.

I hope I become a Troy Denning fan!

Onto the Dark Nest trilogy...

I'm adding this to my review loud and clear that I'm giving this book a rare...

10/10.

Damn, this book felt like a movie.

The pacing was just on point, immaculate, I read this in two days, today, I did two hundred pages. It is just that gripping.

Everyone is at their peak form in this one, but two definitely shine, Darth Caedus and Jaina Solo. The book centers on the two and just handles them both so well.

It's a brilliant conclusion, but also a really sad one, and does leave me upset and unsure by the end. Definitely effective.

The opening of the book is explosive and exciting, following Jaina and the Mandalorians, mainly Mirta and Fett. There's an immediate improvement as we don't see them through rose-tinted glasses, and Denning writes the Mandalorians as awesome yet flawed as they really are.

Boba doesn't entirely care for Jaina, and I love that she sees right through him, using him to her own ends and even having an upper hand against him more than he realises.

The tragic decision is made to begin each and every chapter with a joke from young Jacen Solo, and it is really sad to begin every chapter with a reminder of the sweet, lovely, pacifist Jacen we used to have, and is upsetting almost every single time.

It's especially sad as the time comes where everyone finally agrees it is time to kill Caedus - the Jedi Council, Luke, Han, and Leia. But this begins a really great story for Luke where he is extremely determined, mysterious, and scheming.

I love this side of Luke, and he is slowly becoming more and more like a Yoda-type figure, which makes him so good here. It's great to finally see someone else doing a lot of the main action and stuff, here it is Jaina, and Luke being in charge and teaching her and preparing her.

This mysterious Luke is very Doctor-y if you're a Doctor Who fan, as there's always this element of him knowing more than he's letting on, and putting everything into place and manipulating behind the scenes in order according to his devised plan in an amazingly complex and clever manner to set up everything as he requires it to defeat Caedus.

Darth Caedus is more powerful than Jaina Solo, so even with the learning she has done recently, it's an incredibly difficult fight for her when it finally happens.

The fight is fucking amazing, Jacen gutting down Mandalorians whilst Jaina tries to snipe him, watching Caedus finally embody some of the power we have been told he contains, he is presented as a proper threat rather than the bratty type he has often been shown as so far.

Luke manipulating Jacen throughout the book is gold too, using the Force to give him false visions of the future, and even convincing him that he's fighting Luke instead of Jaina, it's brilliant and darkly tragic too.

Jaina cutting off Jacen's arm with a beskad was absolutely shocking, even if I had the moment spoiled a while back, and I love how clean, quick, and clear a moment it is, and how it's horrifying to see how perverted things have become.

Jaina has her ribs broken, she is burned by Force lightning directly to the chest, and Jacen's blood stains her face, a Dathomiri trick he uses to track her to the Jedi's hidden base, something Luke knows and lets happen, all according to his cryptic plan.

In this confrontation, we learn just how powerful Jacen has become, even using Shatterpoint. I really love how we find out that rather casually how Luke has already mastered the ability!

This leads to a great sequence of Jaina training, managing to fend off a bunch of the most well known Jedi Knights to most of the readers, and use Shatterpoint, mastering the ability even with Beskar.

The big final battle at the end is epic, we seem to have lost Zekk, and even Isolder was killed by Jacen, showing just how awful he has become. But this begins to slip away as the big fight finally comes ahead.

Immediately, Caedus takes a lightsaber to the chest, just like Qui Gon. This left me totally gobsmacked (running out of ways to say shocked)! And begins the duel between Jaina Solo and Darth Caedus, instantly crutching Caedus.

It's a really sad fight, as all Caedus is now trying to do is truly save his wife and daughter, but why would Jaina believe him? She has no reason to! So it's really sad as throughout the fight, he slowly begins to return to the old Jacen Solo more and more, and she has to kill him. Her own brother.

I cried a little when she cradles his body and Jag tries to talk to her, Han and Leia eventually arrive, and she's very incoherent. It's so sad and I miss Jacen very much. It got me a little upset.

Jagged Fel is now in charge of the Imperial Remnant, which is a fucking awesome decision as far as I'm concerned. Love it! Teach those absolutely pathetic excuses of humans who's fucking boss, Jag.

Han's absolute fury at the seeming death of his granddaughter, Allana, was also a tear-jerker, and I was honestly convinced that Allana was dead here, so it was a really satisfying but tragic moment.

Luke and the Masters almost letting him just so he can see what he's about to do was even sadder. No one blames Han and I don't either. Such a good moment.

Daala in charge of the Alliance is... an odd decision. I'm a Daala lover but I'm not sure on that!

I was so glad to see Allana still alive, now under a different name. Lovely little bit to keep her going, and I'm so happy she still lives on.

Jaina has a retrospective moment that really hit hard, which is the idea that Jacen won after all. She sees how the galaxy is being shaped into one large coalition and how Jacen's actions lead to this. It's really messed up but true.

This book wasn't perfect, one thing I was unsure on, was Tahiri trying to seduce Ben into giving up the location of the Jedi base.

Luckily, almost all of Ben's imprisonment plotline was brilliant for him, we got to see how mature he has become, how clever he has become, and a true punch to the gut as we lost Shevu.

The price of this war is something I love, and how it all stems from the hubris of Caedus.

I don't mind a Sith Lord being a terrible person, or a Sith Apprentice, but Tahiri of all people doing something as fucked up as trying to seduce a fourteen year old... just doesn't sit right with me reading it.

Generally, Tahiri's story in this book is pretty solid, but that was maybe a touch too far for me.

Overall, it's quite a short book for all it accomplishes.

But it accomplishes a fucking lot. It's a thrilling conclusion and a real page-turner, so much so I've read it in two days, reading almost the whole book today.

Chapter after chapter is tragic and gut-wrenching, but so entertaining and action packed, filled with exceptional character moments, and really sad but satisfying scenes.

It's a far more somber novel than I expected, but I think it was the right decision for the series.

A spectacular entry even with my few little issues, and I really loved my time with this book.

Maybe I now need a break!

9/10

I'm so glad that (for my tastes) this book cut down on the elements of the trilogy I didn't enjoy, which were Jaina and Zekk (I do love Jaina but not here), the young Jedis' arrogance, and too much focus on the Killiks.

And it buffed up the elements I enjoyed, Han and Leia, Leia and Sebatyne as Jedi, Pellaeon, Jag, and the Chiss. Oh, and also, the star of the show, Grand Master Luke Skywalker.

I'm a sucker for Luke getting good writing, and he definitely did in this novel, as he shined as the best character and the true focus of the book.

Jaina and Zekk's plotline was incredibly slow and not much actually happened for the two of them once they left the other Jedi, but I was glad we rarely actually had much of them.

Most of the Jedi were solid, but after a tense meeting, are now under the command of Luke Skywalker, who has decided to declare himself Grand Master of the Jedi Order, something clearly needed with the way some Jedi have been acting, also making his Jedi put the Order before anything else, and asking them to leave if they cannot.

I feel for the way things are at the moment, that was a good decision, and Luke leading and truly showing off the power he has to stop the war before it starts was what I really wanted from his characterisation. What can I say, after so much hardship, I'm a sucker for a powerful Luke. He has earned it.

Let's talk about the action with Luke. He had two fights with Lomi Plo in this book, the first one a fatal mistake as he nearly lost, and Jacen and Mara nearly died, pushing him to confront his fears and conquer fear completely.

The next fight is with both Raynar and Lomi Plo, and this is where he really kicks arse. In his fight with Raynar, who wields a ‘gold' lightsaber, Raynar eventually loses an arm, and is properly defeated by Luke, who knows in that moment that he can save Raynar without killing him.

Lomi Plo's fight is different, wielding her white lightsaber (she had a purple one which she lost) and Luke's stolen lightsaber from the last book, she puts up an epic fight which is intense, exciting, and just a magnetic duel that shows how good Troy Denning is at writing force user duels.

It is also absolutely brutal. Luke cannot save Lomi Plo, so he doesn't hold back, he breaks her leg, and when she pulls together all of her physical strength and the Force to attack, in a single moment, she is dead. Luke Skywalker cuts her into four pieces, and the war is over. I just have to describe it because it is just so fucking good. This is the type of content I want from these books, and I'm so happy with how that turned out.

A slightly new status quo is established, another Jedi Council, they serve the Galactic Alliance differently now, and I love that Luke is the true Grand Master of the Jedi now.

Overall, Luke really makes this novel what it is. But it's still a really good and easy read. It starts off entertaining and rarely falters, the relationship drama between Jag and Jaina is done a little better and I'm glad she still clearly feels for him.

I'm praying for better characterisation of Jaina soon, but everyone was much better here. There are still mysteries now. Where is Alema? I doubt she's dead, no matter what Leia thinks. Now Leia is a Jedi Knight too! She's a great Jedi and will make a new lightsaber! That gets me excited.

I'm happy with how this book turned out. Extremely entertaining, much better characterisation, better focus on the more entertaining characters, less of the not-so-good stuff, some of the best action so far, and a lot of good development on previous plot points and arcs.

Luke Skywalker shone as the best character of the book and got some of the action I've been praying for. He's not a show-off, even if I sometimes wished he would assert himself more, but he really has outdone himself here. There is no doubt now that he is not the greatest Jedi Master in the galaxy.

Absolute legend. I will never, ever be satisfied with Disney Luke. The more and more books I read, the worse that characterisation gets!

9/10

After the last entry from this series left me frustrated, I was a little worried I would find the rest of the series totally derailing, and maybe I'd surrender to pure Denning hate!

I am happy to say, however, that this is quite possibly one of my most beloved Star Wars novels, and easily one of my favourite Star Wars books that I have ever read.

From page to page, the book manages to be extremely entertaining and well-paced, only ever slowing for a moment in the middle, setting up the events to ramp the pace back up, it's really great to have a shorter entry in the series, not even managing 300 pages, but it doesn't really need to be any longer.

Whilst a miniscule plotline, and a large element of it, annoy me and cause me to put the score down just a tad, almost everything else about the novel is immaculate, and I'm honestly shocked to have found this such a fantastic book.

I miss Mara Jade, but like with the fallout of Chewbacca's death changing my mind, I have started to enjoy the fallout of Mara's death and the impact it has had on the characters, and what it has inspired in Luke, and one particular moment which made me feel a whole lot better about it all...

The prologue to the book explains more of a background element of the plot now, as Darth Caedus flow-walks with Tahiri, which is both a disturbing and emotional moment. Every now and then, I remember Anakin Solo's death, and I still seriously shiver at the memory, Leia's reaction, the brutality of it all, it still hurts me and always will.

It was a raw reminder to read portions of it again from another perspective, and set off the tears almost immediately. But what really got me, is the change they made. So Tahiri could make sure she kissed Anakin instead of denying him that kiss.

It's a wonderfully sad moment, and a clever way to pull Tahiri back into darkness, through an addiction to seeing the person she lost. I think that whilst she may have previously gotten over Anakin's death, Caedus' actions here pull her right back into that trauma, now knowing she has the ability to revisit moments with Caedus' help, I can see someone becoming desperate and latching onto that again, and Caedus has purposefully reopened that wound.

Mara Jade Skywalker's funeral is one of the most well-written segments I have read in a Star Wars novel. It is tragic, yet buzzes with the fire of Mara herself, alit with the tensions between Caedus and the Jedi, and seemingly, Mara's final message.

When Caedus steps in, something begins to happen which really shocked me. One of the most traumatic elements of Mara's death for me was not just the brutality of it, but how she just... died. Not even becoming one with the Force. But then, as Caedus enters the funeral, she starts glowing, and she DOES become one with the Force!

They take this as a message, and I love Mara's clever nature still coming through, as she allows her body to stay as a warning, and then to disappear at that moment as another. Even more reason for me to love her, but also a little healing moment for me too.

Saba Sebatyne's eulogy is a beautiful one, but also with how she uses the moment to threaten Caedus. Whilst this annoys Luke, I think it is exactly what Mara would have wanted. I don't see her caring for a sappy funeral where everyone is miserable for her, she would've wanted a funeral as explosive as she got, and I love that Saba uses this opportunity to explain why Caedus will fail. It made me gain even more respect for her.

Luke Skywalker struggles, and I love it.

When people say that Luke in the sequels has flaws and struggles, boy, they have no idea what they're missing.

Absolutely heartbroken, Luke finally begins to falter, but upon seeing how needed he is, how the Jedi need his guidance, whilst still making flawed decisions, he steps up when he is most needed, and veers the Jedi back to victory.

He has already made mistakes, and will not allow anyone to follow in his footsteps. And he will not take anyone leaving him to grieve, even if that is what he wishes he could do.

The loss destroys him, has broken him, yet he still picks himself back together for the good of the galaxy and his son, Ben.

Jacen Solo, Darth Caedus, really begins to show his true colours in this one, and it's a very rewarding read to see him finally begin to show his true self, but also to see him falter.

He is not purely winning now, he is making mistakes, he gets things wrong, and he fails. Yet embracing the person Lumiya has shaped him into, this also shows how weak he has become, and how weak anyone like him is.

As always, I get why Caedus annoys fans of the character, Jacen Solo, but I can also see why many like Caedus. For me, nothing will match Jacen Solo in the New Jedi Order books, but I am also loving the character we are getting here.

I am putting aside the issues to try and appreciate what we've got, and I'm loving what we've got. The difference with the sequels, for example, is I put aside many things to try and enjoy them, but still didn't like the movies as standalone movies.

My point is, these are good books, even if flawed in consideration of what came before them. Alone, to me, they are good books, and this is one of the bangers.

Ben Skywalker's story in this book is phenomenal, from his amazing manipulation of Jacen, to his determination as he realises how awful his Master is, he isn't anybody's fool, and whilst still uncertain of himself, and still flawed, he is brilliant.

The sacrifice of Cal Omas will probably stay with me forever. Like Fey'lya, he was the ultimate politician, if more of a righteous one. The job obviously stressed him furiously, and he faltered at many points, but was still - according to the Jedi - a decent man, if flawed.

What he does in this book proves that to me; sacrificing himself to give Ben the ammunition he needs to manipulate Caedus.

In that moment, he became a hero, and it is heartbreaking in all the right ways.

So shocking too, it reminds me how good an author Troy Denning can be.

He wrote this sequence so, so well.

Luke Skywalker turns his fury to good, as he begins to play with Darth Caedus. One of the best moments of the series so far, is Luke tricking Caedus to think he was in the room with him, making him extremely paranoid and uncertain.

Later, showing up personally to talk to him, without showing a single sign of exertion, a movement, or even a facial expression, he pins Caedus to his chair and humiliates him, making him look like a spoiled brat, breaking his chair and pinning him to the ground.

An extremely rewarding moment, and it shows how Luke is slowly being broken. Not only is it badass, it's a reminder of Luke's faltering beliefs, and also a moment to show how far he is now willing to go, to add to his development and redemption throughout the novel.

One of the coolest and shocking moments occurred soon after, as Luke agreed to help Caedus with what should be the final battle of the war, rallying the Jedi to fight in their StealthXs, they flew off... only to abandon them at the last moment!

I read this in college, and damn. My jaw dropped.

What a fucking awesome moment. The Jedi abandoning the Alliance to press the war on longer and build up to their fight against Caedus is immaculate, and again, so rewarding and epic.

Darth Caedus is further humiliated and made to look a fool, and I love them all for it.

Jaina Solo's defence of Ossus was also a highlight of the novel, as it is also shockingly brutal, losing the lives of children as the Alliance stoop lower and lower, whilst Jaina, Jag, and Zekk work together to save the students and other Jedi.

It's a difficult battle, and one a lot more grizzly and raw, but one that's so brilliant to read. Slowly but surely, Jaina is being built up more and more as a major player, and maturing even more as a person and a Jedi.

I can see her building up to a favourite soon for me.

With the Jedi meeting on Kashyyyk, Han and Leia joining, they formulate a plan that almost wins them the battle, but are sold out by Tahiri who is under Caedus' influence more and more.

However, it still hits hard, and even works.

If I hadn't known that Luke survived the outcome of this novel, I think I would've bought it here. Troy Denning really plays it out as if Luke Skywalker has died, and it is heartbreaking. After the losses of the previous novels, I see why it would be believable too! And what a sacrifice.

But it is all a brilliant ploy!

Sneaking around the Anakin Solo, Luke has already mastered hiding his presence, and even manages to reveal himself to only Ben, fooling Caedus as he puts Ben in the Embrace of Pain!

This then bursts out into one of my favourite duels in all of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Caedus.

Brutal, primal, bloody and magnificent, the two duel and match each other repeatedly, but Caedus is more and more surprised to discover he is still no match for his old Master, the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker, proves himself again once more.

Bones are broken, venom injected into bloodstreams, Caedus' skull showing, the battle is intense, and if it weren't for Ben interrupting, Luke would've killed him there and then.

Although there isn't a death, there's a clear victor, and whilst the ship is sabotaged, Luke and Ben escape together, leaving Caedus to heal himself and gather strength, determined not to lose again. But lose, he did. Gravely.

Gathering support from Tenel Ka, Han and Leia turn the Hapans against Darth Caedus, whilst still loyal to the true Galactic Alliance, they are not loyal to the man in charge now, and fooling them into thinking they arrive to assist, Tenel Ka withdraws support and attacks the father of her own daughter.

This moment is a shocking revelation to Caedus, and another gutwrencher, an absolutely shocking moment that is exhilarating to read, and Caedus realises how he has been forced to truly sacrifice everything for what he thinks will gain him peace for the Galaxy and his family, even if it includes their hatred of him.

But I do have one issue with this book...

Alema Rar.

Her plotline is not bad enough for me to skim through or truly hate, but does take away from the rest of the story, and starts to get a little ridiculous.

She discovers a whole group of Sith still living on Korriban, around thirty, following older Sith culture and lore, unknown to the Jedi. This is already quite preposterous, but also, Alema finds them by pure chance, landing on Korriban and immediately meeting people who not only know where they are and who they are, but one who immediately directs her.

Whilst I think the idea of old style Sith returning is cool, this explanation is extremely cheap, and how it is executed is also very, very poor, and a shame as the rest of the novel is done so expertly well.

Alema continues to have insane plot armour, breaking the illusion created by the series that characters are unsafe as whilst other major characters die, Alema continues to live by spectacular events that often venture into the imagination of a child with action figures in a playroom of other children.

Total stupidity in a sea of genius.

Whilst that element leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth, the rest of this novel is truly spectacular.

It is paced expertly, the story is the most engaging and shocking yet, shock after shock, exceptional and tasteful action where appropriate, emotion is great and the characters are written brilliantly, Troy Denning really out-does himself here.

A lot of elements of the series are flawed, but this novel is a shining example of how good these books can be, and particular characters shine like Luke Skywalker.

I adore who Luke has become, and his struggle with what is clearly him teetering on the edge of the dark side again, as he saves his son, Ben.

And in return, Ben saves him too.

These books are back on track, and while I wish that one particular element was better, this novel was truly a masterpiece to me, and made me feel excitement and sorrow and shock like I haven't for a while.

9.5/10

Here we go.

The sacrifice is at hand, the prophecy fulfilled, but... does it make sense?

There's a lot of good in this book, but also a mix of... strange decisions, and stuff I really didn't enjoy.

Traviss doesn't bring the A-game she did here as he did in Bloodlines, the pacing is all over the place, and the book isn't nearly as thoroughly gripping or as entertaining as her last entry was.

And it just goes to show that the people in charge of the new stories here, as talented as I think they are, do not know what to do with - or even how to do it - my favourite character, Mara Jade Skywalker.

I do not blame Traviss for her lack of knowledge, she wrote this the best she could, but was this the best decision?

At least the decision was written well as she is a talented author...

Mara Jade Skywalker

Since the moment I read “Heir to the Empire”, Mara Jade has been a standout for me. There's something about her I love, her ferocity, her sarcasm, so much I relate to, her previous bad decisions, trying to move on and become better, and how she brought out the best in who was my favourite character before her, Luke.

She has a wonderfully striking design, fiery red hair like her personality, further striking green eyes, practical combat outfits, and impractical, but admittedly attractive catsuits, and I loved her use of her past for good, and the lightsaber that Luke gave her, Anakin Skywalker's.

A problem not with the character, but with a lot of the different novels I've read, is that outside of Timothy Zahn and maybe Stackpole, a lot of authors often don't know what to do with her. That's okay, you're not going to get every character.

It was fine in the New Jedi Order, as authors could weave in and out, tell the story they wanna tell with who they want to, and let someone else do what they didn't want to.

But it has been pretty clear to me for a while now, the guys behind this series just don't know what exactly to do with my beloved Mara Jade Skywalker...

Did she have to die?

The prophecy, “he will immortalise his love,” makes it increasingly clear that the authors don't entirely know what it means.

No matter the mental gymnastics I can do with what they give us from Jacen at the end, how on earth does this add up to killing Mara? It just doesn't add up.

But does it serve the story? Her story?

Not really. She still has a lot of potential, and her character being wasted has bothered me for a little while, but now she's gone? It is like they weren't sure what to do with her, so they chucked her.

I can imagine that the treatment of her death might be wonderful, and maybe we can get a lot of good stories out of it. But I think we'd have better stories with her, rather than without.

When we lost Anakin Solo, the loss of potential was heartbreaking, it was exactly what the series needed, and it shattered me. It was the perfect tragedy, and it was horrifying.

I find it hard to define what is different here, though. Maybe it's how it feels more like a copout than a masterful decision.

I know already that Timothy Zahn didn't even know about this, and I also know of the novel he had planned that sounds brilliant. The family road trip with Luke, Mara, and Ben. I want that more than this.

I will allow the other novels time to see if they can make up for this, but this hurts.

Otherwise, as little as Traviss knew about Mara - and believe me, it shows with how she is written so un-Mara-like sometimes - she did a good job with what she was given, and I do not blame her.

I still cried rather than feeling angry or incredibly disappointed.

One thing I loved is what it does to Luke.

Furious, he duels Lumiya, believing he is delivering justice. But the fight, whilst ferocious, is quick, almost a disappointing read.

This is beautifully intentional. As Jacen Solo murdered Mara, and when he discovers it was not Lumiya (still unaware of who truly did it) it all comes crashing down as he realises he killed her almost purely out of anger for the death of his wife.

Breaking Luke like this is something I love in Legends, as I cannot wait to see how he bounces back even stronger, unlike a certain guy in The Last Jedi for many years...

I do love how this was written, and this made it even more tragic for me. I feel so sorry for poor Ben and poor Luke, and I am hoping for more of a focus on Luke in the next one.

Now back to focus...

The Mandalorian side-story in this series gripped me in Bloodlines, but to continue it in this novel in particular led to it feeling extremely intrusive and often annoying. I love Boba and Mirta, but when Mara has just been murdered... I don't give a shit.

I had to skim a lot of it. The first half was great, and I'm glad we got Boba healed. I'm curious to see what he'll do with a longer lifespan now and I am excited for his story later on. But we kept cutting back to them selling Beskar and talking business and I just couldn't care less.

They get ready to fight towards the end, and we get a bombshell reveal, but it just wasn't the time to do it, it felt like nothing to me because at that moment, I wasn't interested.

It's clear that Traviss wants to write about the Mandalorians and not the Jedi here, and that's fine, but let her do that and don't make her do all this. It's clear, I'm sorry, that she's just not the best at writing this stuff.

The action was superb with Jedi however, and I will say the fight between Jacen and Mara was deliciously brutal and rough.

As it said in the book, this was a brawl, not a duel. I loved how grimy it was and I'm glad they let Mara put up a kickass fight and how she allowed herself not to become one with the Force as a warning, a message to Luke and Ben.

And I love that she was content knowing Luke would stop Jacen.

A final note, really.

Jaina has taken on her duty as Sword of the Jedi!

And I cannot wait to see what she'll do.

I know she'll get Jacen, and I'm excited for her arc across the next books, and I'm really excited to see her come into her own again.

Darth Caedus is born, and I am eager to see him bested by the Sword of the Jedi...

In conclusion, really, I'm conflicted.

There's a lot of good, and a lot of bad. I'm not happy with the decision made, but I think they're doing a good job of writing it.

I'll probably prefer the way they deal with it than it actually happening, but that means right now, I'm not really happy with it happening.

It was nice to have Alema out of the way for a while, but picking someone who had little-to-no knowledge on Mara Jade Skywalker writing her final appearance and just get her wrong and right again repeatedly was a bad decision.

At times, I was thinking “this is not Mara.” And at other times, she felt perfect, especially when she spoke to Ben about her past and how she understood what he had done, how Ben said he had never loved her more at that moment.

So yeah, I'm conflicted.

Let me know what you think about this one and why, I know many of us will have strong opinions... thanks for reading.

6/10

I should've known that the writer of ‘Knights of the Old Republic' would be an excellent novelist too, but I was still shocked at how well-written this book was.

The writing style is possibly the most addictive that I have read yet. I found myself last night sat up for hours reading, and today I got through the entirety of Part III rather quickly. His style is fascinating because he describes everything just enough that you can visualise it perfectly, it isn't complicated at all, but is also short and snappy.

The pacing is superb, even though the beginning is slow, it never feels boring, learning about Bane is fascinating and I'm happy that the book explained his origins before becoming a Sith Lord as it made him much more compelling.

Bane as a character is one of the most well-written villains in Star Wars history, but with him being the protagonist, he's hardly the villain is he? Well then, who is the antagonist? Everyone. This book feels very much like Bane against the Galaxy, as he has to fight and kill almost everyone he comes across, even the woman he falls in love with.

Path of Destruction is far more rewarding if you've played the video game ‘Knights of the Old Republic' but should be fine without doing so, after all, I still haven't got round to playing its sequel. But it leans into the lore of that game, and it is easier to comprehend for having played it. I could visualise planets like Korriban much easier, and the Sith troopers and such were easier to imagine having seen them.

I love that the importance of Revan is prevalent even thousands of years later, and this book really shows the vastness of the Star Wars Galaxy, not only linking to the past thousands of years ago, even tens of thousands of years ago, from ‘Knights of the Old Republic' to the ‘Dawn of the Jedi', this book sets up events that won't come to play fully until the fall of the Republic and the Rise of the Sith with Darth Sidious and Vader.

The true and proper final lineage of the Sith is formed as Bane paves a new path for the Sith, revolutionising them forevermore and becoming not just one of the most powerful Sith ever, but one of the most influential and important.

There are many other compelling characters, Githany, for one, who is his lover at the Sith Academy on Korriban. Equally cunning, but not as powerful, like everyone else, she must eventually fall under Bane.

Bane's rise to power is extremely well paced, it feels earned, he suffers many failures and humiliations, but comes out on top the ultimate victor. He also does quite a lot of vile things in this book.

One of the most brutal moments is when he is poisoned, and nearly dying. Trying to use the emotions left by the corpses around him isn't enough, so he murders a child, then the child's younger brother in front of the father, and then the father, using their intense emotions to keep himself going.

Bane doesn't kill without reason, he doesn't like killing out of pure anger, hatred, revenge or anything like that. He believes murder should serve a purpose, and eventually grows cold to killing for what he needs, totally different to how he feels when having killed an opponent at the academy on Korriban, where he felt a conflict for many days afterward.

I love that Bane hates everyone. The current Sith, the Republic, the Jedi, everyone. There is only one person that he can trust, and that is himself. He forms the iconic Rule of Two, “Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it.”

Path of Destruction is one of the more artistic Star Wars novels, and one I would highly recommend to even the most casual fans. It breaks down the Sith at their ultimate core, and the man who shapes what they will eventually be known to be.

It is an addicting read, superbly written, a masterclass in Star Wars novels. A vastly different era, brand new characters, it is extremely fresh and still relevant and perhaps always will be.

Peak Star Wars as far as I'm concerned.

9/10

A decent book that rather overstayed its welcome. I would've preferred it stop around the 300 page area, as I feel it definitely went on a bit too long. But a young Thrawn was fascinating, and I loved his friendship and mentor role with Jorj Car'das who was exceptional too. I honestly preferred Thrawn's plot to the Jedi plot!

It took me quite a long time, but finally, I've started reading the New Jedi Order.

Firstly, I'll start with the characters.

Jaina is a standout. To me, she seems like the perfect mix of Han, Leia, Luke, and Anakin, and I can see her being a favourite character of mine as she gets developed.

I can't help but feel the sorta rivalry between Jacen and Anakin is a little cliche, but they are compelling enough characters, with both of them having great moments to shine. They both nearly sacrifice themselves many times.

Mara is at her best. She is Jaina's master, and they are just perfect for each other. She truly brings out the best in Jaina, and seems to be a really talented Jedi now.

There is an exceptional fight between her and a Yuuzhan Vong, where she battles her illness, various brand new weapons unheard of from the warrior (Yomin Carr), and still beats him, which solidified my love for her even more.

Han and Leia are really solid, but don't seem to get a whole lot of depth until later on for Han.

Chewbacca, who dies in this novel, is just kinda there unfortunately. His death is really upsetting and treated very well, but until near the moment of his death (where, to be fair, he does many heroic things) he is just there not doing a whole lot.

The Yuuzhan Vong as villains are really, really good. They come off as to me the Star Wars version of Sontarans, but much better. Absolutely vile, I love how sickening they are, but also how insanely powerful they are. A true threat possibly bigger than anything else in Star Wars so far.

The main issue I have with this book is the inconsistency in the flow of the writing style from R. A. Salvatore. A lot of the time, it is paced very nicely, dialogue is entertaining, and description isn't too much.

But there are particular sections that are kinda a slog to get through, and this book has a lot of flying stuff that really isn't my thing, where when it went on for long periods of time, I'd end up kinda speed-reading and only taking in the valuable information to me.

One last thing is maybe just because I'm the biggest Mara Jade simp in the world, but her illness here genuinely upset me! I was so disappointed it wasn't sorted by the end of the book and whilst I know it probably will be eventually (because I know how she actually dies - spoilers!) it did feel kinda like a nothing plot to me.

I'm way too invested in her, haha, and she feels like a real person to me, so maybe it's my dumb obsession with her making me feel sorry for her!

Overall, it's a really promising start. Most of it is set up, which I will forgive, as this is going to be a long saga.

There are plenty of really entertaining action sequences, lots of really great new concepts, and it's generally one of the most imaginative entries into the Star Wars universe.

I can tell this is going to be totally different and unlike anything else in Star Wars that I know, and for that reason, I am excited!

8/10

I actually still have saved images of this book on my phone somewhere from the summer I read it.

Dalek Time Strategist, my favourite Doctor, rather enjoyed this one, I seem to recall!

Wow.

This started awesome and ended absolutely perfect.

The final arc, “Claws of the Dragon,” was stellar, seeing Krayt's entire origin, the culmination of all of our character arcs, and Cade's greatest moment yet.

“That which can heal can also break.” - Kol Skywalker.

Superb.

After my last review, I had some accusations from a few people that maybe reading the books as fast as I have been might've spoiled it for me.

I've had that happen before, but was certain I didn't need a break to enjoy these books properly.

I was right, as I fucking loved this book. Williams' writing is addictive, like many of my other favourite authors of the series, and he brought the series into a new ‘era' for me regarding the current state of the characters, the New Republic, and the Jedi Order.

All of which I love.

The book opened with a really engaging ship battle with Han and Leia, Jaina and the various squadrons she works with. Intercutting between these, we got a really good interaction between Han, Leia, and an Imperial, where Han made me burst out laughing, making fun of the Empire's superweapons, as he made one up called, “The Nostril of Palpatine.”

The romances in this book were perfect. Just the right amount of hornyness for it to feel realistic for people in love, without going so far it felt uncomfortable for a Star Wars book, and it was never weird.

Mara calls Luke ‘Master' in bed? Han and Leia have intercourse like normal couples too? Finally, another writer that actually knows romance and can balance it well!

I loved every scene with Overlord Shimrra, as we see the Yuuzhan Vong for the first time in groups meeting their Overlord. It is excellent timing to show this, as the Vong are crippled for the first time in the war, and seem to be losing battles, so it is very effective to show the various Vong grovelling at the feet of Shimrra, terrified of him.

The worldshaping failing is an aspect I am really happy has been properly carried over from ‘Traitor' and I love how it is handled here, their plans for the planet aren't working, they are all getting sick, it's used to both great comedic purposes and to create frustration in the Yuuzhan Vong ranks.

I find it very interesting that Shimrra seems to have force abilities, however undefined and mysterious they are. Probing the minds of the Vong and even igniting particular feelings in them. I'm eager to learn more about him...

Danni and Jacen's small romance here was lovely, and I really do like the idea of the two together. I personally just want more Danni, as I loved her in ‘Vector Prime' and have loved her great scientific discoveries since, but do wish her to be more prevalent.

I love this New Republic under Omas, and I adore the current state of the Jedi. They are warriors in the right way, and I think they've struck the perfect balance between when to act and how to act, compared to the dissent between the Jedi previously on how to act in the war. They're all really coming together and I love it.

The knighting of various Jedi being a ceremony was something I actually liked, and it was almost emotional having Luke say specific things to every one of them, making them tear up and me too! But then came the Sword of the Jedi prophecy... alongside Luke already having said mysteriously without even knowing it that this is the turning point, I love what the writers are cooking up and I love these characters.

Vergere is the ultimate “back in my day...” in this book at times, and I found that funny rather than frustrating. Her being outraged by Luke's Jedi family was funny, and I like that they took no shit from her.

Furthermore with the weirdness from Vergere, when learning of the Alpha Red weapon the Chiss come up with, Vergere mentions the Jedi are looking for her to Jacen, and doesn't choose to mention that they don't consider the weapon even for a second. This, to me, was weirdly manipulative and another sign of why she can't really be trusted. She's working for strange gains but it is interesting at least. But she doesn't have Nom Anor's charm!

I love Ackbar's plan and how well it works, but I do feel for him when he misses one thing. You can definitely tell he feels he is too old or not worth helping them any longer in case he makes any more mistakes. I'd love for more grand plans from Ackbar like this but I will understand if he returns to retirement! His return was exceptional.

Nom Anor is excellent in this book, and I cannot possibly guess what is coming next for him! Not even sure if his superior is dead, he betrays the Vong and escapes. What a good villain. Whilst Vergere's motives are unclear, I love that Nom Anor clearly only cares for himself, and although I get why some may not like it, I love how prolonged a villain he has been! God, I hope he has a satisfying conclusion!

The entire battle between Vong and Jedi in the tunnels towards the end was brilliant. Purely the imagery was enough, thousands of Yuuzhan Vong against a few Jedi is cinematic as fuck, especially in dark tunnels.

But Jacen has some really cool moments, challenging Tsavong Lah and fighting in the tunnels alone for a while, wielding force lightning against them! I really hope these books allow for more wild force abilities to be used to aid the war. I love this kinda thing, even if I get why some may not.

Jaina vs. Tsavong Lah. His end was inevitable, but I really thought it'd be against Jacen. But I was not disappointed. I love, love so much how fierce Jaina has become, how she enjoys fighting and is completely vicious. She has gotten so good the past few books, and I love that whilst the battle was intense and difficult, she still defeated Tsavong Lah, with both Lowie's lightsaber and her own, not even allowing him another glance after defeating him! Simply artistic.

I love that Omas has changed his mind and decided not to use Alpha Red, and that Jaina has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Shimrra and Onimi are “betraying the Gods” which really interests me. What is coming soon? I am very excited.

I won't miss Vergere, but I liked her death. How she chose compassion in the end and saved Jacen, to let the old die for the young to live on. I'm sorry to say it, but I'm glad she's gone from the series. She became annoying to read often for me after she became more prevalent, and she had served her purpose.

Her philosophical debates were much better with Luke in this novel. I felt he could argue better but also concede when she was right, changing his mind on a lot of things that will affect the series to come, and in this case I loved the psychology and philosophical aspects of this book. I also like that it didn't come through torture, and they addressed the torture properly!

Overall, a stunning book. Up there with my other favourite of the series, ‘Star By Star', I loved this book beginning to end. It was so gripping, I have sped through it quite quickly for a nearly 500 page book.

I really loved Walter Jon Williams' writing, and I am sad to say I probably won't see it again in Star Wars! It was really gripping, fun, and I love where the story is going.

I'm in love with the characters at their current stage in development, I love the relationships, I love the battles, I love the current New Republic government, the new ‘Jedi' council, the tide turning in the war finally.

An absolute blast.

9.5/10