Legacy of the Force: Invincible

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

This one truly is a great ending to the legacy of the force series. Epic battle between twins Jacen (aka Darth cadeous) and twin sister Jaina while the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance

If you are a star wars fan I highly recommend this series as a whole. Well worth it in my opinion.

while not a major plot point I loved the idea presented of one species in the galaxy using biological radio within their minds as a natural radio for telepathic communication I just thought that was a really cool idea and very plausible.

The only question we have is was Jacen truly redeemed at the end. I will let the reader decide