| Title | : | Legacy of the Force: Exile (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, #4) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0099492059 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780099492054 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 |
| Publication | : | First published February 27, 2007 |
Legacy of the Force: Exile (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, #4) Reviews
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Interesting...but not the best of the series.
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- The cover is gorgeous
- Jacen is beyond irritating. He wants to destroy Lavint's hyperdrive just to see if she survives. Then he punishes people when he thinks they failed in sabotage.
Plus, he's incredibly disrespectful to Wedge.
- I love that Kyp wants to unify with Luke, even when he disagrees with the Master.
- Jag is awesome. Zekk's a little annoying by being jealous even though he's "over Jaina." But I get it. Anyone else, he'd be okay; but this is an old fling and old habits die hard.
- It's great to see the ladies - Myri, Mirax, and Iella - take charge.
My favorite scenes were on the Errant Venture.
- Ben's subplot was annoying and pointless. He's on a wild bantha chase to be tested by...Jacen? Lumiya? Both?
Whatever.
All that it shows is that he no longer wants to take a "What Would Jacen Do?" approach to life.
Oh, and Ship. Can't forget about Ship.
- The Corellia vs. Alliance scenes were brushed over too easily.
- I hate that there is very little about the Yuuzhan Vong or Zonoma Sekot. All post-NJO material seems to ignore that major war. *sigh*
- Han says "brix" as a curse. The hell? -
2.5 stars
For 2023, I decided to reread the post-NJO books set after the Dark Nest trilogy, especially as I abandoned the Legacy of the Force series after
Sacrifice all the way back in 2007. This shakes out to the nine books of the Legacy of the Force series, the nine books of the Fate of the Jedi series, three standalone novels, and five short stories.
This week’s focus: book four in the Legacy of the Force series, Exile by Aaron Allston.
SOME HISTORY:
Exile by Aaron Allston saw the return of one of the Sith worlds from the Tales of the Jedi comic. Ziost was not the actual Sith homeworld like Korriban, but it was still very important to the Sith Empire. Additionally, the ship that Ben commandeers on Ziost also comes from Tales of the Jedi--and who knows, maybe we’ll see that vessel again.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
All that I retained from Exile was that Wedge reappeared, because as I’m learning with this Legacy of the Force reread I only remembered the plot in its very broadest strokes.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
After the Hapan coup attempt failed, Corellia continues to seek out allies in the form of disgruntled star systems. Han and Leia, and Luke and Mara, separately come to the realization that someone is manipulating this war, and that he or she must be stopped. Luke is increasingly convinced that the Dark Lady Lumiya is behind this escalating civil war, but the greatest peril revolves around Jacen Solo and the others he has drawn into his orbit—like his young cousin Ben…
THE PLOT:
There is a lot of plot here! (More about that in the Issues section.) Even though Luke and Mara removed Ben from Jacen’s tutelage at the end of
Tempest, Jacen is still able to influence his cousin—so Ben ends up running away on a mission to retrieve a dark side amulet. Luke and Mara continue to investigate Lumiya’s presence on Coruscant and her possible motives. Jag Fel appears in search of Alema Rar, and Luke assembles a task force of Jaina Solo and Jag and Zekk to track down the fallen Jedi. Han and Leia limp their way to one of Lando’s businesses, and while the Falcon is being repaired they travel around with Lando on a ridiculous ship called the Love Commander. Wedge is booted out of the Corellian military, nearly killed, and escapes Corellia with his family and Corran Horn and Mirax Terrik. Wedge and co. and the OT trio end up teaming up on the Errant Venture to do some intel digging. Alema still plans to kill members of the Skywalker/Solo family and restore Balance. Lumiya is recovering her strength after the duel on Roqoo Depot, and manipulates other worlds into joining the Corellian conflict. Finally, Jacen continues on his downward track of being a straight-up jerk to the people around him.
CHARACTERS:
Jaina’s plot was more relationship junk, but I found it a little easier to stomach here—perhaps because Jag and Zekk’s stupidly competitive interactions felt a lot like some real world analogues. Jaina’s convinced that she can’t have a relationship because she’s the Sword of the Jedi and she doesn’t even know what that entails, but she’s definitely intrigued by Jag’s return. Jag is a hard character to sell: he can come across as rigid and dull, and I preferred his appearances in the NJO when he was forced to work with Jaina outside his comfort zone. There’s not a lot of that here, but you can see the way that losing his family has left him adrift.
Luke and Mara continue to investigate Lumiya on Coruscant, but it feels like the investigation is moving very slowly. In Tempest they uncovered the GAG safehouse, but then were distracted by the Hapan coup and the attack on Roqoo Depot and Ben’s situation. They’re finally following up on those findings here, and they uncover some info planted by Lumiya (basically, suggesting that Brisha Syo was her daughter rather than Lumiya herself). Luke and Mara + the rest of the Jedi Council discuss Leia, and decide that they’re not going to reprimand her or temporarily remove her from the Jedi Order because she’s doing the right thing. What?? She is currently trying to uncover this conspiracy, but she and Han were skirting the edge of treason for several books.
Luke is also summoned to meet with Chief of State Cal Omas and Admiral Niathal, and surprise! They want him to make Jacen a Jedi Master. Kyp Durron actually backs Luke up here, and the Council presents a unified front. Luke does suggest that the other Masters compile a list of Jedi they think should be promoted, though, and I’m hoping Jacen is not on it —although his lack of advancement would have strong Prequels vibes.
Han and Leia have teamed up with a bored Lando (I hope he asked Tendra first), and they head back to Corellia, only to escape in the dead of night and join up with Wedge and family on an information gathering trip. After three books of “Han and Leia toy with siding with Corellia,” it feels like they have finally accepted that though Corellia has genuine grievances, their current politicians are trash like Thrackan Sal-Solo and they don’t have Corellia’s best interests at heart. Someone is manipulating events, but who?
Wedge likewise has realized that he can’t remain the Corellian Supreme Commander, because leadership is not interested in achieving a diplomatic solution or lessening the number of casualties. I think Wedge is similar to Han here, in that he views himself as Corellian but doesn’t have a lot of ties to his homeworld. (I expected Corran Horn to maybe be the most gung-ho Corellian of the lot, due to his background, but I guess that now he’s a Jedi Master he has a greater allegiance to the Jedi Order.) I would have liked more with Iella, but at least she’s here! Myri Antilles is a fun character, cheerful and smart, and I hope we see more of her.
Poor Ben Skywalker continues to be the character that I am most worried about. I think that Jacen’s resentment towards Luke has carried over a bit to Ben, as he seems more receptive to his mother right now. And even though he’s separated from Jacen, he’s still very influenceable by him—Ben’s modus operandi seems to be “What would Jacen do?” So when a pretty girl gives Ben a secret message, he’s eager to escape the Jedi Temple to retrieve a dark side amulet from one of Almania’s moons. Unfortunately, the whole thing is a test implemented by Lumiya to judge his receptiveness to being Jacen’s Sith apprentice, and so Ben has to figure out where his morals lie. What is he willing to do (theft) and what he is not willing to do (kill a child). Ben has inherited his mother’s resourcefulness, but he has a fair bit of his father’s compassion as well. The Sith world Ziost is creepy and unsettling, and Ben’s plotline becomes a journey of self-discovery. Ben tries to live up to Jacen’s example, but he also realizes that maybe he doesn’t want to be just like Jacen. I think Ben proves himself to be capable far beyond his years.
On the bad guy front, Jacen continues to be just absolute trash. A smuggler mouths off to him, so he sends her off with a broken hyperdrive to die alone in the depths of space. He’s a little troubled by the fact that he fired on his own parents in Tempest, only to justify his actions in the end. The more time we spend with Jacen, the more I dislike him. He’s such a jerk to the people around him, and he’s so self-deluded that he can explain away anything he’s done “for the greater good.” I felt like Karen Traviss didn’t have any sympathy for Jacen in
Bloodlines, and I don’t think Aaron Allston did either in this book. Luke and Mara believe that if only they could talk to Jacen, he would see the error of his ways—but after four books of Jacen doing whatever he wants, I don’t think he can change and I have no sympathy for his plight!
I had wondered if this was the book where Alema Rar would finally bite the dust (she’s not a great fighter), but she weasels her way out of two encounters. Lumiya is still puppet-mastering this conflict, and her motives remain murky to me. She wants to set Jacen up as the Sith savior of the galaxy, she doesn’t care if she dies, and she leaves a lot of chaos in her wake. She seems more like a religious fanatic than your typical Sith.
ISSUES:
I’ve noticed some blatant similarities between the Legacy of the Force series and the Prequels. Episodes II and III had systems seceding from the Republic and joining the Confederation of Independent Systems aka the Separatist Alliance. In book four of Legacy of the Force, Corellia joins forces with the Bothans and Commenor to become a Confederation. That…sounds like something we’ve seen before. Other planets like Adumar and Bespin have thrown in their lot with the Confederates towards the end. Jacen, meanwhile, is constantly compared to his grandfather, what with his striding around in all black and leading a secret police force and having people request on his behalf that he be made a Jedi Master despite the will of the Council.
I think if you’re trying to come up with a galactic-wide conflict, your options are either an outside threat (the New Jedi Order had the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong invaders) or a civil war. Star Wars is full of civil wars, from the Republic vs. the Separatists in the Prequels to the Empire vs. the scrappy Rebels in the Original Trilogy to the New Republic vs. the Imperial Remnant in the post-RotJ EU. The Prequels ended in 2005, and Legacy of the Force began in 2006, so I do think that the Prequels were very much on both the authors’ and readers’ minds. However, it does make this aspect of the storyline feel very cyclical.
Second, while I did enjoy seeing Ben grow and develop as a character here, his plotline felt somewhat removed from the rest of the novel. It reminded me of Lando’s story in the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy: Lando is chasing after a treasure ship, I found it super enjoyable, but it was completely divorced from the rest of the narrative in those books. Ben's journey to Ziost felt like a wild goose chase, and while I’m sure it will have ramifications in future books, it felt so different compared to the Corellians and Lumiya and the big plot stuff.
Finally, there was a lot going on here, so my complaint is very similar to what I said in my
Betrayal review. I wondered at times if Allston was trying to do too much in one book. Not only do we have Lumiya manipulating Bothawui and Commenor into joining Corellia, but we have the surprise attack that ends the Corellian blockade, Confederate attacks on places like Gyndine, and only two chapters devoted to the Confederate summit that’s actually a trap. I thought the summit especially would have a little more build-up, but after chapters of “what is Corellia doing?” events escalated very quickly in the last few chapters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Exile transforms this galactic conflict from a squabble between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia to a schism involving multiple worlds like Fondor and Adumar and Bothawui. Leia and Han have finally reconciled with Luke and Mara, and it seems that Ben is starting to see the cracks in his cousin's approach. There is a lot going on here (maybe too much?) but it’s set up for future novels and especially for Jacen’s next steps as a Sith.
Next up: book five in the Legacy of the Force series,
Sacrifice by Karen Traviss.
My YouTube review:
https://youtu.be/dwZuPW_GDSQ
“Aaron Allston: Examining Exile” (February 26, 2007):
https://web.archive.org/web/200703011... -
Jacen Solo’s gradual slide towards the Dark Side continues in Aaron Allston’s “Exile”, the fourth novel in the nine-book Legacy of the Force series.
War is mounting between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance, and more planets have joined the faction attempting to break away from the GA. They call themselves the Confederation.
Everyone is beginning to believe that an unknown force is choreographing the whole thing, and Luke Skywalker is now certain that it is his arch-nemesis, the Dark Lady of the Sith known as Lumiya, someone that he thought long dead.
Indeed, Lumiya has been playing all sides. To what ultimate purpose is still not totally clear, although the eventual turning of Jacen Solo into a Sith Lord is an obvious goal.
Lando Calrassian, bored of being rich and happily married, joins the excitement in this one. With his wife’s permission, of course. Hell, everyone joins the party in this book: Han, Leia, Luke, Mara, Wedge Antilles, Corran Horn, and others.
Ben Skywalker, sent on a mission by Jacen, finds himself alone on a hostile planet with no starship and a young girl that he must protect. Ben does a lot of soul-searching in this one, and he starts to see what his dad was trying to tell him about Jacen. His older cousin really is an asshole.
As is expected, there is plenty of action and excitement in this one, but Allston may have been over-ambitious with this, as there are almost too many things going on at once. I was having a hard time keeping track of the multiple characters and storylines.
(I know it’s cheating, but the plot summaries in Wookiepedia can be occasionally useful…) -
Ugh. After a couple of not-great, but at least including intriguing plot twist books this was yet another unnecessary waste of time that just contained a lot more of the same repetitive story that added pretty much zero to the overall story line. It's a shame that Lucas allowed all these books that were nothing but filler to generate more money just to keep a series going longer than it should be.
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So far, I've rather enjoyed the Legacy of the Force series and have eagerly devoured the first three books of the series. Exile, however, took me almost two weeks to get through and then didn't leave me feeling particularly satisfied. I'm sad to say that this is probably my least favourite book of the series so far and, for the first time, I'm starting to doubt if the LotF can really span out over five more books and still stay interesting. Spoilers follow.
There honestly isn't a lot that happens in this book; or nothing of great importance, at any rate. The main points are Ben being sent on a secret Sith test, the Skywalker- Solo families coming together and realizing the significance of their unity, and the siding of a few key planets with Corellia. Between these points is some well-written filler, ending with a failed attempt by Jacen to infiltrate a conference of the new Corellian Federation.
The main problem is that nothing really happens. Don't get me wrong, the book isn't absolutely horrible; in fact, what is important is very well done and will most likely have a significant impact on future events. The main points are surrounded in filler and some interesting, but ultimately unimportant events (such as Leia, Han, the Antilles family, and Alema doing their thing on the Errant Venture). Ultimately, the plot isn't really developed any further than it was at the end of the third book.
Still on the run from the Galactic Alliance and the Corellia system, Han and Leia find their way to Lando Calrissian, who repairs their ship and aids them in travelling freely via disguise. From there, they meet up with the Antilles family and board the gambling ship Errant Venture in hopes of gaining access to Corellian space. Somewhere in this line, Leia comes to the realization that only the unity of the Skywalker-Solo clans can bring the galaxy together and keep it at relative peace. Alema, still on her quest to bring Balance to the galaxy, also secures a place on the Errant Venture and eventually squares off with some of the Jedi. Predictably, no one is hurt, Alema flees once again, and everyone is right back to where they left off at the end of the previous book.
Ben, now back at the Jedi Temple, receives a secret mission from Jacen to retrieve a powerful artifact and eventually ends up stranded on the Sith planet of Ziost. The planet pushes Ben to his physical and mental limits, testing him for his ability to become a Sith apprentice, while, at the same time, Ben struggles with wanting to please Jacen and wanting to fulfill his duty as a Jedi. Unbeknownst to him, the mission is really a test orchestrated by Jacen and Lumiya to determine whether or not Ben will make an acceptable apprentice for Jacen. The attempts on Ben's life are foiled by the young Jedi and he escapes the planet safely with the amulet. The ultimate failure or success of his mission is not yet known.
Lumiya, in the meantime, has been setting up an alliance between Commenor, Bothawui, and Corellia, leading to the formation of the Corellian Federation. Jacen attempts to infiltrate a conference of the new federation, failing miserably and abandoning his parents (who eagerly rush to his rescue) and other family members in the scuffle the follows his failure.
There are also a few side plots unfolding. Jag is back, seemingly for good this time, and has teamed up with Jaina and Zekk on a Jedi-aided mission to stop Alema from carrying out her evil intentions (and he introduces a nifty little invention the transfers things immediately into the long-term memory). I thought the strained relationship between Jag and Jaina was refreshing to the series and brought back and personally well loved aspect from the New Jedi Order series. Now that Zekk has abandoned his infatuation for Jaina, I'm eager to see if the love that once existed between Jaina and Jag will be rekindled (I've always preferred that couple to the Jaina/Zekk pairing). The tiresome "Sword of the Jedi" prophesy returns, much to my dismay. This idea didn't work that well in the New Jedi Order series and, honestly, I don't see it doing much for the Legacy of the Force, either. It seems like a half-baked idea invented and brought back just for the sake of throwing something else into the mix. I, for one, hope it either proves to be a deciding factor in the conflict (and finally proves its worth) or fades back into obscurity.
Luke and Mara continue to play a rather small role in the grand scheme of things. Despite not being a fan of Mara, I have to wonder why the two aren't stepping up and rising to the occasion like they usually do. They have the motive (their son possibly turning to the Dark Side and throwing the galaxy out of balance) and the skills; perhaps it's their age holding them back? Whatever the reason, it seems odd that they more or less just sit in the background while the events of the first four books unfold around them.
Allston is a great writer and contributes great things to the Star Wars universe, but Exile just failed to deliver. Nothing really happens, the characters don't develop past where they were in the previous book, the plot doesn't really develop, and we still don't know why the Galactic Alliance has suddenly become so Empire-like or why the rift between it and Corellia has formed. I now wonder how the LotF can continue over five more books without becoming stale and uninteresting.
This review is also posted on Amazon.com. -
I like to call these novels "bridge" novels. They are the novels in a long series that wrap up some ideas previously suggested in earlier books and introduce new plot lines for forthcoming endeavours. That is what this book does as we see Jacen continue to evolve into a Sith Lord, Luke & Mara continue to suspect he is becoming a baddie, and young Ben Skywalker continue to follow his cousin orders. Han & Leia find themselves being hounded by both the Galactic Alliance and Corellian forces as they continue to bounce back and forth between sides. The newest plot lines involve Wedge Antilles' dismissal from the Corellian military while other planetary systems join their cause, and the discovery of a Sith meditation vehicle that Lumiya seems quite interested in owning. Draggy at parts, this book was a necessary read if I want to continue the series as a whole, and I have heard that the later books are very good.
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This one felt like a filler story. Not much happened.
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I like the slow decent of Jacen to the dark side. Ben's quest is also intriguing. There are still many questions to be answered.
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I like Ben in this book because he doesn't know what to do. He wants to follow his master Jason and fights against what he thinks is wrong and justifies his wrong doings. He is a teenager so he doesn't want to listen to his parents even though he wants to talk to them, but he feels like he can't. I am interested to see what will happen to him next. I have a guess and if I am right, then this series will become amazing.
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Let me start by saying "the cover is stunning!" That's the nice part of the review, but overall this one was boring and very long for no reason. ;(
However, I did enjoy the final scene between Jacen and Lumiya. -
It's mostly talk-talk-put-pieces-in-place...spiced up with a bit of action. It's good piece-moving storytelling, but some of these longer story arcs always feels like they have too many moments of standing still and treading water until the right moment.
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Oh look, it's another volume of people running around frantically and a whole lot of forward motion not really happening. Granted, we see some fallout from the climax of the last volume, and the book ends with another similar climax which even the book describes as a minor incursion in the overall theme of war. Characters run around randomly pushing plot threads, and going off on tangents, but almost everyone somehow manages to end up at the same place for the 'climactic' battle. I think nine volumes without being broken into smaller sections may have been a bit much.
That said, why does the book still manage three stars? Because Allston writes well, and he brings lots of characters he always wrote well (Mirax and Corran, Wedge, Booster, even Tycho briefly), and lets them shine. And he brought Lando back into the story, which was a nice surprise. So even though not a whole lot feels like it happens, at least it doesn't happen with enjoyable dialogue. I'm less fond of Ben's side-story, although it actually feels like it may have some real ramifications.
Ultimately the fact is it still feels like pieces are being shuffled on the chess board rather than an actual game is being played. We're in Book Four - we should have at least passed out of Act I of the overarching story by now... It just feels really drawn out. -
Lando Calrissian with a ship called the "Love Commander".... need I say more? :) haha
Anyways, this book had some great moments (loved seeing a bit of Ben growth), but I found that it jumped around a little bit more than I would have liked between "important" parts and "political" parts (you'll see).
Would like to have seen a little bit more of Jacen and his parents flushed out and developed... felt a bit "Episode III Anakin Skywalker-y" and abrupt.
Love the Jag, Zekk, and Jaina moments as always, although I really wish there was more of a Jaina focus throughout this entire series (it's not only this book that's guilty of it). You'd really think that Jaina's turmoil and twin-bond with Jacen would be a focus point throughout the series, and I really hope that it gets flushed out a bit soon.
Still, good book, series is still going strong :) -
This was the longest I've taken to finish a Star Wars novel, nothing to do with the novel, but it's that time of year where I have to travel to see family, and where winter starts to slow everything down. So it was a different experience than most of the SW books I've gone thru lately. I feel like the last novel left off in a space that was so much more melancholy, and it seems like this novel doesn't carry thru the consequences of the last one. That said, it's pretty good for SW fare. Lots of cool subterfuge, the looming war, and some hilarious memorable bad-writing quotes, etc.
The best part of this novel, the part that takes it to 4 stars for me, is Ben's little solo mission. It has dreaminess, and a strange hazy frontier feel, reminding me of Blood Meridian (but infinitely more PG, obviously). Pretty cool thread for the book. -
I'm still not entirely sure why there is a war between the Galactic Alliance and the newly-minuted Confederation. If planets or systems want to secede then let them. It's not your place to fight it. If Centerpoint is the reason, then destroy it. I also don't understand why a Force-user needs to kill someone they love in order to become Sith. That would just eliminate any desire to become a Sith. With those two major issues hovering over the storyline like a dark cloud, it makes it more difficult to enjoy the book. But Exile had it's moments. The Wedge storyline was nice, as well as Ben's survival on the Sith planet Ziost and how a young girl helped him with his hold on the light side. A necessary book to push the overall story along.
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Exile marks the fourth installment of the Legacy of the Force series, which unfortunately breaks with its predecessors’ trend of becoming better in terms of quality moving from one installment to the next. Still, Exile is a decent novel. Compared to Tempest, i.e. the novel directly preceding it, it just isn’t as captivating as it takes many pages for things to finally become interesting.
Plot-wise, Exile extends upon the conflict between the Galactic Alliance and the Corellian sector, which is becoming ever larger and more of a threat for peaceful coexistence in the galaxy. As before, the protagonists find themselves in different places across the spectrum of this conflict. In contrast to how things have evolved before, now all the main cast – except Jacen (and maybe Ben) – have found a common ground and are back to cooperating a little more. The overarching plot remains interesting, although at this point each new galactic conflict has a sort of been-there-done-that feel to it.
For a considerable time, Exile sort of ripples on without really adding anything useful to the plot. Granted, there are a number of enjoyable sequences (e.g. the Jedi mind-trick scene featuring Leia and Lando). Yet, a fun scene here and there is not enough to carry a novel. It is only towards the last third of the book or so that the story becomes really gripping. At that point Ben’s own little storyline – my personal highlight in this book – gains traction, while everyone else comes together for a showdown-type situation. These two things make for a very intense ending, which heavily contributed to my three-star rating.
While Ben’s behavior often is rather annoying, his emotional journey is a compelling element of this novel. We see him practically turn into Jacen 2.0 before realizing that, perhaps, his chosen Master is not omniscient and that it might not be the worst idea to think for himself every once in a while. Meanwhile, the authors of this series have made a very good job so far of making Jacen unlikeable (I guess this way his fall to the Dark is easier to stand). For me, it is the hubris that is so aggravating about him. Somehow Jacen thinks himself to be this incredibly smart, rational person, who constantly is morally superior. At the same time, he is consistently being selfish and acts like a total jerk towards everyone else. On top of that Jacen does not even realize how heavily he is being influenced by Lumiya and thinks all the change he goes through stems from his own beliefs and the decisions based thereon. This perception just does not fit with the alleged Sith mastermind that Lumiya is more and more made out to be. Granted, I do think this development is kind of annoying as Jacen’s fall to the Dark being orchestrated to such a heavy extent takes away from himself being at fault, maybe even absolves him a little. I think it should be made clearer that everything Jacen is going through is his own fault and that there is no one to blame for the negative consequences from his actions but himself.
All in all, Exile is a mediocre Star Wars novel, which is salvaged by a strong ending. It contributes only a little to furthering the series’ plot, but gives some interesting insights into the core characters, most importantly Ben. I am hoping that the next installment is going to pick up the pace again. -
If you can’t tell from how long I’ve been picking this up and putting it back down, it was a SLOG to get through. It’s more of what I’ve now realized is the standard for Star Wars novels, though. Heavy on political influences and hidden motives and intrigue that doesn’t actually really go anywhere, and light on action and answers.
I honestly don’t even remember all of what happened in this book. I know that Han and Leia are trying to clear their names for an assassination attempt that seemingly should have been obvious it wasn’t at their hands. Jacen continues his obvious descent toward the Dark Side, though I think this book had fewer explicit examples of him sacrificing his morals until toward the end. Luke and Mara struggle with not taking sides and pursuing assassins across the galaxy. Jaina eventually shows up to sort of help them. Ben gets into a ton of trouble, almost makes an absolutely horrifying choice because of Jacen’s influence, and then finds his way out of it. There’s a star destroyer casino.
All that sounds like it should be at least somewhat interesting, but it just isn’t. It’s a chore to get through. It feels like there’s a ton of really indirect and frustrating communication because there’s so much political posturing. That honestly makes me understand how so many people came to really love Han. He’s one of the few characters to routinely try to cut through all the filler.
Unfortunately, it’s hardly enough to make the difference. I keep hoping that the next book will be better. Maybe some of the momentum I had from the last couple of weeks would help carry me through another novel. We’ll see, but I might take a diversion through another series for a while first. -
The previous books in the Legacy of the Force series made me really mad at everyone for not all siding with Luke and the GA. Now, however, I think I've just resigned to the fact that Jacen is falling to the dark side and there is nothing that I can do about it.
This book is in many ways just a filler book. This book exacerbates the conflict between the Corellians and the Galactic Aliance by adding in more allies to the Corellian side. The book also advances Jacens decline into the dark side and sets up "Sacrifice" well, which is intended to be one of the three tentpole novels in the series.
For some reason, I liked Han and Leia's story in this better than I have in the past. I think it's because Han wasn't stubbornly supporting the Corellians like he has in the previous books. The interaction with Han, Leia and Lando was so funny that I audibly laughed at several times. Aaron Allston was a master of humor and wrote their scenes perfectly.
Jag and Zekk annoyed me throughout the book. I wish one of them would just act mature(particularly Zekk) so that Jaina will choose them and abondon the other and get this silly love triangle behind them. This plot line seems really boring and at times just too cliche.
Ben's story at first was incredibly dull, but picked up substantially. Something clicks and his story drastically changes about half way through and I was very pleased with it and was actively engaged by the end of the book.
Overall, this is a solid entry into the Legacy of the Force, but for me just doesn't stack up to the previous three that I've read. 7.7 out of 10! Good job Allston. -
Aaron Allston's second installment in the Legacy of the Force series, and the fourth overall, suffers from the usual middle chapter problems. It expands more than progresses the tale, repeating themes and motifs from the previous books, and bringing nothing to a head because . . . well, it's too early to do so. We have five more books to go!
Jacen continues to gain power and popularity in the Galactic Alliance, but the war against the Confederation is not going well. More systems are joining the Confederation, and the Alliance is stretched thin. Information is leaked to the Alliance about a gathering of Confederation leaders, but it may be a trap. Luke sees Force visions that suggest the dark figure manipulating things behind the scenes is Lumiya. Meanwhile, Ben is sent on a mission to retrieve a talisman, that leads him to a planet oozing with Dark side energy and an unexpected artifact.
I found it hard to muster up any enthusiasm for this novel. Allston remains a competent teller of Star Wars tales, but despite crisp movement from plot point to plot point and despite solid characterizations (his take on Lando is hilarious), none of the plot machinations feel particularly meaningful. Han, Leia, and Jaina barely appear in this novel, and other characters do things that have no impact. There's a lot going on, but none of it seems to mean much. The stakes are low.
I'm hoping that the series starts to build to a crescendo over the next several books. -
Warning in this book for use of Blackface.
Unless I've missed something The Millenium Falcon does not have turbolasers. Which is maybe a bit nitpicky, but I think I've seen Alston do this before in x-wing books, and in Star wars the technology is pretty important, a laser cannon and a turblaser cannon are very different and slipups happen, but it seems to happen a lot in this book.
Also the use of blackface, and oh she's pretty and not wearing makeup thats how you know shes a catch lines are just very bad.
The plot itself is decent I can't say that I didn't enjoy the book overall, but these elements just pull you out of the story either by confusion or disgust.
Overall an okay story, could do without the women have to be pretty but can't fool me into thinking they're pretty with makeup, and with white characters disguising themselves with blackface. -
A great novel. This one ends on a chilling note. Jacen Solo realizes that to become a true sith, he must sacrifice someone he loves. And he comes to the scary realization that he never loved his parents, and yet believes that the galaxy would be better without them. Jacen Solo is a far more compelling villian than his movie counterpart Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo. Jacen wants o bring about peace and justice to the galaxy, and he loves both his wife, daughter, and apprentice Ben Skywalker.
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Its quite hard to rate the indivudal episodes as they are all very much a part of the larger whole and while there are distinct elements between different authors the main story is fairly seamless. Things are deteriorating further and Jacen's fall is becoming more pronounced and noticable. Luke and Mara are getting involved and Ben is being led further astray.
Loads of action, great characters and interesting twists. -
Auch der vierte Teil der Wächter der Macht Sage ist für Star Wars Fans ein spannender Zeitvertreib. Literarisch betrachtet ist es jedoch nichts besonderes. Auch in diesem Teil finden sich etliche Fehler in der deutschen Übersetzung. Das Buch endet zudem relativ abrupt. Die Handlung der letzten 50 Seiten ist deutlich dichter als der Großteil des Buches und ich werde das Gefühl nicht los, der Autor hat das Ende unter Zeitdruck so schnell wie möglich schreiben müssen.
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This Legacy of the Force series may quite possibly be the worst 'Star Wars' collection across the board. I put that in single quotes, as this does not feel like the universe I have come to love so dearly. This feels like something else... and I do not like it.
Sincerely not enjoying this serious. I am doing my best to get through these... and hopeful to move on to better material upon completion.
