The Swarm War

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