The Unseen Queen

A surprisingly filler entry with some exceptional action, and very important plots to set up, but the book goes about it in a way that makes it a still entertaining read, but a bit of a slog.

To enjoy this trilogy and the later books, I've got an idea so I can try to enjoy aspects I might not before as a fan of the previous series; I'm seriously going to pretend it is an alternate universe.

There is some characterisation (Jacen) that just doesn't align with the last series at all, and some changes (the Force philosophy) that go to show these books don't understand the complexity of the last series or its themes or ideologies.

So I'm just gonna pretend it's a different thing. An alternate universe. I want to have fun reading these. I will still critique many things but this way I can hopefully enjoy Jacen, and I think I have when viewing him as a little bit of a different character.

Firstly, Jacen is brutal in this book. The motivation being the safety of his daughter is quite effective, but I do think it's a little bit unoriginal as it just screams Anakin Skywalker trying to protect Padme and his unborn children. It still works as well as it did with the prequels, but is a little unoriginal.

Also, a vision of the future being his motive? Again, not only is it similar to Anakin, Jacen has first hand experience on believing his visions. Remember when he had a vision of saving the Vong slaves in Dark Tide and it almost got him enslaved and he had to be saved by Luke? That was a valuable lesson for him, and part of his arc, to learn to live in the moment AND be mindful of the future, but not to let it consume him. You could argue it's a flaw he never entirely conquered, and in that regard, sure. I do just think it's too little of a motive for the way he's acting.

And the way he's acting? Viewing him as an alternate take, I love how horrible he is! Giving Ta'a Chume a brain haemorrhage! Provoking the Chiss and arguing to kill Raynar. I like to imagine lots has happened since we have last seen him, and he's becoming quite a brutal person. I do enjoy, though, that Luke listens to him and lets him explain his reasons rather than just discounting everything he says because he doesn't entirely agree.

Leia gets to shine quite a bit in this book now she's finally a Jedi in formal training, but her best part was when she got to duel Alema. Alema is over-confident and shocked at how good Leia is, and Leia almost kills her before someone else ruins it.

I love how good Leia is already, I imagine she has similar potential to her brother, and I continue to enjoy Saba as her Master. I also appreciate that Denning hasn't forgotten Saba's heritage and still has her doing things and acting more like people of her culture, when some writers kinda just ignore that and treat her as a human, forgetting she's an alien species.

I really enjoy Leia's confidence as a Jedi already, considering her seeming insecurity about her ability for so many years due to her inability to practise, she's sure of herself and her skills now and it leads to many great moments, such as her saying to Alema, “I think I need to teach you some manners.”

Luke and Han have a really boring story in this novel sadly. They do get some major moments, but almost every scene of theirs is them talking, being captured, or talking while captured. When they finally do escape and get some action, it's towards the end of the novel.

Luke makes a makeshift lightsaber, and I like the idea he can make spares if he has to give up his own one, but he does little with it. Han gets to use Mara's for a bit, but barely.

I think the big fight with Lomi Plo is long overdue, and doesn't happen in this book, but he does have a small fight with her, where she's invisible and extremely powerful. I'm praying Luke gets to kick her ass in the next book.

Overall, it was another good entry that makes up for the mistakes of the last book by sidetracking Jaina and Zekk, and focusing less on the uncomfortable aspects of the Killiks.

I still do not care for them at all, however. They are boring and have zero personality or anything too interesting about them by design.

I couldn't care less what happens to the Killiks. In fact, I wouldn't mind (for the sake of story) if they were just wiped out and no longer a problem by the end of the next book. I'm tired of hearing about them.

The conflict in the Jedi and with the Galactic Alliance was sorted out in the New Jedi Order. Bringing back the political conflict is unoriginal, and nothing interesting is being done with it other than to create more conflict for the sake of tension rather than anything actually good being done with the idea.

Never trust a politician is something that I agree with, but I am a little saddened with Cal Omas' complete 180 in characterisation. You could argue he is getting stressed with everything going on, and furthermore (which I do think is true), that you cannot trust a politician, they only do what is best for them. But I feel like the Jedi would've sensed that in the last series. We only got the impression from Luke that he is a decent guy, and him changing like this is a little uninspired.

A solid book but nothing in it will impress anyone, except for maybe Luke seeing Anakin storm the Jedi Temple during Revenge of the Sith and killing the younglings.

7/10