Betrayal

The New Jedi Order series, for its faults, did a lot to advance the Star Wars universe by shifting the focus from the characters in the movie to the next generation of Jedi, and by introducing some interesting moral relativism that forced the characters to think beyond the good/evil dichotomy of Jedi and Sith. Betrayal seems to undo a lot of that - the kids are still there, but the focus seems to be primarily on Luke, Han, and Wedge.

Jacen's Sith turn also seemed sloppy and rushed - although Lumiya presented it as a continuation of his studies in moral relativism, it clearly isn't, because it requires him murdering a former apprentice in cold blood. I may be biased, because Jacen has become one of my favourite characters in the entire saga, but he just seems out of character here.

Like many of the star wars books I have read this one was really enjoyable.

This is the star of jacen solos path to becoming a sith. The theme of betrayal is covered from a few different aspects of the story and is not all connected to Jacen

Good read

So, I'm finally here.

The infamous ‘Legacy of the Force'. It's finally time to see what I think of this controversial series, which has many lovers and many haters, not much in the middle.

I unfortunately have a lot of spoilers. A lot.

But I'm still eager. I've also taken on a bit of a different mentality, trying my best to enjoy these books whilst also addressing flaws I see, viewing it as an alternate universe as to not align with what we gleamed from the New Jedi Order series which the ‘Denningverse', as dubbed by many of its haters, seems to discard or just not understand at all.

Luckily, Aaron Allston is familiar territory for me, in fact, I really love his writing and he even makes me enjoy dogfighting a little better (even if I still don't really like it).

I thought this novel had its high points and its low points, but was still ultimately an enjoyable experience for me.

The opening, in my opinion, was the best part of the novel. Let's call it the ‘first act' even if I'm not the best at determining how long each act is, and when each one begins and ends.

There are various battles with all of the main characters, and the action is very snappy as we jump from person to person engaging in all sorts of fun activities (when reading). It's a really enjoyable segment that is extremely gripping and a blast to read.

I love how it jumps you in the middle of a conflict building up, and you have to piece it together from what you get here, and it works surprisingly well, and is in perfect Star Wars fashion, as George always loved jumping in with action.

As we get to the middle part of the story, it slows down a little, but is still mostly engaging. The plot gets kinda muddled in the politics of Corellia and the Galactic Alliance, and this is kinda where it lost me.

I found it very hard to grasp the politics here and to understand motivations or really what was going on at all. I went suddenly from feeling perfectly introduced, to being a little... confused.

From then on, I found dogfighting a struggle, as I ended up not really understanding why they were doing what they were doing, and as always, the usual struggles of reading a dogfight were present, if not, more prevalent.

There's some good action with the Jedi that is more fun, and I like seeing more of the Jedi again, but there were some important people absent, I felt. Like, as much as I am annoyed by the guy, where was Kyp Durron?

The climax of the story is much more exciting, a lot of the Jedi battles are really engaging, and the reveal of Lumiya being behind it all, whilst spoiled for me, was still really effective. I liked her in the comics, so I am actually excited to see her here, but I see how it might not have landed for some.

I found the Sith stuff in this a little confusing, like there being people taught by Palpatine who weren't part of the Bane lineage, and went off to train their own students? A little confusing. I know Lumiya says she was taught by Vader and Palpatine, but she still goes on about that one other Sith Lord.

The dogfighting towards the end of the book totally missed for me sadly. I was a little bored when reading Han and Wedge flying, and found myself wanting those bits over quite quickly. I do love their conflict, and I like the idea of neither side being truly “wrong” in this conflict, though.

Nelani being brutally killed by Jacen was really saddening, and his manipulating and using the Force on Ben again surprised me. I'm more than a little surprised at his actions here, but I do enjoy that he really doesn't feel good about them but truly believes he's doing the right thing.

I didn't actually expect Jacen to go back with Ben. I guess we're gonna see him lying to the Jedi some more, and I really thought he'd stay with Lumiya or something. For some reason, I expected him to be a true villain by the end of the book, but it continued to play with moral greyness and how uncertain things are in this war.

The big controversial decision other than Jacen's portrayal, is probably Vergere.

I can understand how a misreading of the New Jedi Order could lead to this interpretation, in fact, I might've felt this way if I hadn't had been educated on the Force and Vergere later by people as I started to get those books more.

But it feels like a very surface-level look on Vergere and her philosophy, and her intentions for Jacen. It's also pretty clear that it wasn't the original plan, as the authors have gone on record saying many times, and therefore it does come off as a little lazy.

I do like how they treated the reveal, it was well-written, but the idea is inherently flawed. They could omit that and I think it would help Jacen's turn rather than hinder it possibly, as it could be seen as a misreading of Vergere's teachings.

Now, let's get to Jacen's continually ever-inevitable fall to the dark side.

Starting with what I like.

Firstly, when viewing him as a different character, and also thinking of all that has happened to him, it is easy to see someone like him going bad.

Another point was a line in The Unifying Force, that Jacen would forever seek the power that he had in that moment against Onimi. It felt like that could be interpreted as a possible little hint or idea of Jacen seeking power in future.

I also like how the thing that made Jacen kill Nelani was not anger or hatred or even a strict “better for the future decision” even though that factored into his choice, it was the vision he had of him killing Luke. He saw that he would kill Luke in every timeline if he let her live, and decided to kill her to save his Uncle. It's hardly morally correct, but from his standpoint of doing what's better for the greater good, I can see a little where he's coming from even if I don't agree, and I really love how it was done out of his love for his Uncle rather than an even more out of character killing.

Lumiya also plays to Jacen's flaws very effectively and uses him expertly, which I really like as you can tell a lot of thought has been put into how she will use him and manipulate him. Her influence was quite good, and I actually like the idea of her playing a similar character to Vergere to tempt Jacen, the prospect of having another Master like Vergere perhaps sticking especially hard with his strangely firm attachment to Vergere that bordered on a little obsessive.

Jacen's conscience just doesn't add up with who he used to be. He was a pacifist through and through, and the idea that learning of different cultures didn't enhance this, but instead made him more ruthless just doesn't add up to me as who we knew him to be in the New Jedi Order.

I can accept that people change over time but the radical changes to his character off-screen (or off the page) just make this turn a whole lot less believable, as he repeatedly does things and justifies them mentally that you know go against his past presentations from other authors.

I don't need to spend page after page explaining why it doesn't add up, it is a character betrayal, that's all it is, and I'm just trying to not let it ruin these books for me. As I said, I can also see it in a way, even if I don't personally believe it'd happen.

I have to mention Jaina and Zekk again too. Never since Luke and Callista have I felt two characters so supposedly in love have absolutely zero chemistry. I cannot for the life of me see why they love each other, except for a childhood crush or lingering feelings.

They really just don't work at all and the longer they go on the more annoying they get. Luckily, they're less insufferable than they were in the Dark Nest trilogy, but they were sorta forced together by the Killiks, and the way the books refuse to acknowledge that so far really irks me.

I'm never going to like these two anyway, a much better relationship was in their lap for Jaina with Jag, and I'm not going to accept these two until that one is fulfilled unfortunately. I wish someone would write them as a compelling duo, but so far, I just cannot see it.

They're so unfit for each other, no one can even WRITE chemistry for them. It's insane.

Overall, it's mostly actually a really enjoyable book, with some proper good highlights that rise the score up for me a lot.

But it is let down by various things I didn't enjoy, and various ideas I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with.

I'm excited for the rest of the series still, especially some books, but I hope for more improvement in certain qualities as I pray that the aspects I enjoy most get more focus and the aspects I like the least are improved upon.

Generally, a more than solid entry with just a few niggles that bring down my enjoyment.

7/10