Lit Which Star Wars book series is better? Legacy or Fate of the Jedi?

Just wondering which one of the two is worth spending money on all of the books for one of the series?

Legacy or Fate of the Jedi? Which series has the most fun battles and some humor in them?

 

Given your last few words, I'd be inclined to say neither. Both are supposedly serious stories, fun battles (bit of a contradiction in terms) you're unlikely to find and as for humour....

I can think of a good few stories that fit for that latter aspect, but it wouldn't be these two.

 

Also... the "Legacy of the Force" book series should never be confused with the vastly superior "Legacy" comic book series.

 

Fate of the Jedi I feel has better continuity than Legacy of the Force, with character thread continuing through books rather than pop up for a single book by Author B, then wait until Author B's next book. But on the other hand, Legacy of the Force had a better conclusion that wrapped up most of the storylines. Fate of the Jedi's ending left a lot to be desired, and also left a lot of questions, and plot threads open, along with leaving small kernals for future stories.

 

Turd sandwich.

 

Most of the humor in both FoTJ and LoTF tends to be confined to the Aaron Allston books in each.

 

I prefer LOTF to FOTJ but I've only read the FOTJ books once and read the LOTF books multiple times. The LOTF books have character characterizations all over the place. No cohesive overarching plot. The so-called 2nd Galactic Civil War was finished in LOTF but we don't know how. The Confederation is still out there. Each book is better as a stand-alone. The Allston books were the best overall in LOTF. Traviss' books were alright but there is a lot of Mando love and if you don't like them you won't like her books since they don't really intersect with the main plot. Denning likes the YJK's.
FOTJ is supposed to go one way but ends up going another way entirely. I had certain expectations going in but was dismayed to learn we got something else. I hit a bit of a burnout early so I don't like it as much. Allston wasn't as good in this series I thought. Golden was alright and Denning made things wacky.

 

Allston did well in LotF, but not so well in FotJ. I loved Outcast, great start to the series, read the book at least three times. But I disliked both Backlash, and Conviction. My personal thought is that Allston's heart attack messed with his writing skills for a bit. Luckily he survived and seems to be doing fine, but they pushed back Backlash due to the heart attack, and then I thought it was pretty bad, even though I'd liked all his previous works.. Same with conviction, was excited for it, but didn;t care for it much. But with Merci Kill, he seems back to shape, IMO. Great epilogue of sorts to Fate of the Jedi.

 

Mercy Kill was very good. Not as good as the original Wraith Squadron books but on par with his LOTF books.
Outcast was pretty good and gave me hope for a good series. I was under the impression that Luke and Ben were to go on an odyssey type journey to find out about Jacen's 5 year journey to other Force sects.
The Lost Tribe should have not been in existence. Maybe one or two but not a entire planet.
Abeloth should not have been as powerful either. Or maybe they shouldn't have been as big a threat. Conquering Coruscant and becoming leaders of the GA and all that. I was also under the impression that we would have a small scale conflict. Not a a war that devastates Coruscant and forces the Jedi to leave.
The Unification Summit should have been enough to keep Han, Leia and everyone else busy. GA, Imperial, Confederation, Hapan, Chiss, Hutt, Yuuzhan Vong intrigue? Yes please! Daala would cause trouble and the Jedi would try to figure out the psychosis. The slave arc can stay as well.

 

LotF and FotJ are both deeply, deeply flawed series that have lots of issues. However, aside from a general incoherency dependent on the utter failure of the round-robin writing concept, they have rather different issues. LotF's overall storyline is better, but it's characterization is weaker than FotJ's. LotF doesn't fully flesh out it's secondary plots, FotJ spends too much time on them. One could go on.

In terms of battles, LotF has some fleet engagements, while FotJ basically does not, and settles for a series of rather drab lightsaber attrition fights instead, so I'd give LotF the edge there. As for humour, Allston has a hand in both, and he's probably the premier humorist among Star Wars novelists. I'd give FotJ the edge in humour, because Golden is a much lighter voice mood-wise than Traviss and at least tries to find occasionally funny moments between Ben and Vestara.

Neither offering is, frankly, all that strong, and I wouldn't personally recomend them to any Star Wars fan who hasn't otherwise exhausted the novels on offer (especially given the possibility that they may be erased from continuity in a matter of months).

 

As others have set, just don’t, buy a second run of the NJO or get the Legacy comics, something like that and read those again, your enjoyment will be greater.

 

If he wants humour and characters then there can only be one: KOTOR!

 

I enjoyed both, but am not sure I'd recommend them unless you've read much other Star Wars because LOTF is pretty depressing and while FOTJ is much lighter and more fun, it builds on the events in LOTF. Out of the two, I definitely prefer FOTJ which I straightout loved due to the Luke&Ben plot. The villains are not one but multiple (to put it mildly ) - and I found them very refershing. The rest of the plots are not that impressing but if you don't dig too deep it's eatable. Also the feeling in FOTJ is pretty much a clear the heroes-will-win-eventually kind of spirit while LOTF is more the-heroes-fight-impossible-odds kind of gloom. To me, the first is what I come for in SW. As said above, FOTJ's problem is that the last two books are far too paced - could possibly be due to the ST and a new agenda. I think Denning makes an impressive work with Apocalypse, though, and while many people complain the plots weren't finished, I don't agree.

 

Fun battles and humor? Buy the X-wing series instead.

 

Well I was looking in the Novel guide section on the main theforce.net site and it looks like the Fate of the Jedi book series is shorter than the Legacy/Legacy of the Force book series.

So I dunno. I still need to get the last 3 books of New Jedi Order and dunno if I should buy that series that takes place after where it involvest those sentient insects

 

Both LOTF and FOTJ are 9 books.

 

The title of the OP is like asking, "Which is better, a punch to the face or a baseball bat to the kidneys?"

 

Frankly, I wouldn't recommend buying either series. I didn't really care for either one. If you can get them at the library, I would go with that option.

 

Legacy of the Force would be my choice, but really I would read them all eventually.

 

To anyone that hasn't read either series I would say read both and make your own opinions.

 

The Dark Nest books suck. Read them if you're going for 100% completion, since I guess they are kind of important, but if you're just interested in a good or worthwhile story, it's not worth it.

 

The OP isn't asking if they're worth reading, though, but if they're worth buying. A question which is emphatically 'no'.

But then again I guess I'm a rarity as I think buying a book before you've read it is a dumb thing to do. As is buying a book you liked but wouldn't necessarily read again for a long while, if at all. That's what libraries are for. Not to mention I have no desire to pad the wallets of Del Rey and LucasBooks executives with my hard-earned money after all the trash they've put out recently. Prove themselves first, then they can maybe get my money.

 

I'm pretty easy-going about books. I like almost everything I read. No matter how wacky or terrible a book might be or how other people find it I usually like it. So I don't mind getting a book that I haven't read or turns out to be a dud. Makes it fun for me. I haven't been in a library in years so Barnes and Noble and Borders are my MO. I am one of the Completionist people so I buy it regardless.

 

I hated Denning's Tempest and Inferno but for some reason wanna check out DNT :/