Revelation

Traviss does a much better job with this book than her last, in my opinion.

Whilst a little slow, it's quite an enjoyable read although I think it focuses too much on not very interesting characters, and the Mando story, whilst good, is a little slow-paced and I'm not as interested in the other Mandalorians as I am with Boba, Mirta, and Sintas.

But, as I'll comment on more properly later, Traviss is actually incredible at writing Ben Skywalker, and his story is awesome in this book. His development in this series is truly one of the highlights.

Whilst I think Traviss' Mandalorian bias shows a little too clearly sometimes, she writes both Jedi and Mandalorians from their own perspectives quite well, and although I wish Jaina would bite back a bit more and prove the good the Jedi do to the Mandalorians, she does get the balance much more solidly.

“He missed Luke, and couldn't imagine why he'd spent so much effort in the past trying to escape his attention. He cherished every second with him now.”

Ben Skywalker is easily one of the best characters in the series, and Karen Traviss writes a lot of his best stuff, and does a superb job of it. His development from his defiance with his parents and desperation to get away from them, to now seeing his Master for who he truly is, and loving his father Luke and embracing the Jedi way properly has felt so natural and earned.

Every step of his journey felt very realistic and well-written, and I've loved how Traviss has handled writing most of his arc. The culmination of this arc has been him finally proving Jacen's murder of his mother, and whilst I do wish this story had been resolved earlier, it was written very well here and I enjoyed how it was handled, but I am glad it is done with now.

“Doing the right thing isn't something special. It's the minimum. It's where we start each morning, not where we try to end up one day in the future. You taught me that.”

Ben's development almost makes me emotional at times, and I love the connection he now has with his father. He is truly a lot like Luke, and he's so loveable and such a great person for it. Now, he's calm, collected, dutiful, and always does the right thing. He's honourable and far more self-assured, he's mature and a great Jedi.

Darth Caedus has truly finally transcended to being an open Sith Lord, his eyes are often the yellow, hate-filled eyes of a Sith, his apprentice is Tahiri, and he now goes by his name, Caeuds.

I agree with a lot of people that they could really do with writing more badass moments for Caedus. I do love seeing him be bested, but there isn't enough, so far at least, for me to truly believe he is as powerful or as threatening as we are being told, as he is constantly wiped the floor with. He's humiliated and made to look like a bratty kid a little too often, and could do with more epic moments.

However, I do enjoy the version of the Sith presented in this series. Rather than living on hate and revenge, they do believe they are better for the galaxy, and are doing what they think is right, rather than craving power or ownership, Caedus truly believes it is his destiny to rule the galaxy for justice and fairness. So slipping into falling for his hatred is part of his arc for this book as he controls his anger and masters the dark side.

Pellaeon is really good in this book, at the end of the road in his life, over ninety and still kicking arse like the legend he is.

I felt very sorry for him when he was murdered by Tahiri, especially how he was killed, but I love how he didn't stand down. The whole sequence where the GA was split between Niathal and Caedus, and Pellaeon turned on Jacen, dying knowing he had another trick up his sleeve was awesome.

I'm one of the few Jedi Academy enjoyers, and part of the even smaller crowd of Daala lovers, so I was so fucking shocked and excited when she returned. I do love that she's much more the tactical genius we were told in the Bantam era than what we saw her to actually be at that time - psychotic and desperate.

Now, she's ferocious and intelligent, with a million tricks up her sleeve. We get a hint at the incredible life she's lived since we last saw her, a husband (sadly killed), children, grandchildren, and I love how more tempered she is, but I also love her desire for vengeance.

She was exceptionally written by Traviss. I love how she managed to embrace the femininity that defined her in an almost uncomfortable, sexualised sense in Jedi Academy, this time written as a power she controls and utilises to her own ends, rather than mentally undressing herself and thinking about how attractive she is, she's powerful and knows it, and is unafraid to make use of it.

I love the relationship between her and Pellaeon, their care for each other, their secret code, the admiration and nostalgia between the two, it was a highlight of the novel and I love how she seeks revenge for Pellaeon, destroying most of the people involved in his death, and cleaning the Chimaera.

And oh yeah! She returned with the fucking Chimaera! How fucking awesome.

“Oh... sweetheart... you found me. You found me. Stay awhile.”

I tear up even writing about it, but I was so happy that after Ben saw the Force ghost of Mara earlier in the novel, Luke finally got visited by his wife.

It's beautiful that we didn't get to see the moment, just to know it happened, and I love how Luke reacts here, how Ben knows what is happening and doesn't interrupt.

As much as I wish Mara was still around, I have really enjoyed how her death has been written since, and I am elated to know not only does she live on in the Force, she got to speak to her son and her husband again.

I'm praying to see her ghost again sometime soon.

Although I have mostly positive things to say, the book is absolutely maybe even a hundred pages too long. It's a little boring at times, and I found myself skimming through large portions where little happened.
But when things did happen, they were great!

Mirta and Jaina's relationship is a highlight for me, I think I might even prefer Mirta to Boba Fett. I love her character, and seeing her marriage was lovely. The story with Sintas was also quite nice in this book.

Like I mentioned previously, Traviss' bias for the Mandalorians could be quite clear sometimes just in the lack of arguments Jaina would return the Mandalorians' critiques with, when they often said just wrong things about the Jedi and the Order.

But it was still a solid, good book with some incredible moments, it just ran on way too long and had a lot of filler. A good effort though, and an overall positively enjoyable read.

7/10

Jacen has finally revealed himself as jaina has a revelation of her own

Good book. Good story and good read all around.

I might add more to this review in a bit