Inara posted:I also posted this in the Outcast discussion thread, so apologies to those who read it twice. 1. I loved Luke and Ben's relationship. They make a great pair, and it was nice to see so much of Mara reflected in Ben. I didn't feel her absence as keenly as I thought I would. 2. While I also found the three separate story lines disconcerting at first, there are eight more books to go, so hopefully they'll be tied together sometime soon. I'm also kind of glad the book explored Kessel - it's such a weird planet that I've always wanted to know more about it. 3. I'm really really really tired of this Tahiri/Anakin thing. Let the girl move on for goodness sake. It's been YEARS since Anakin died. And yet her obsession with him is turning into a running gag. It'd be nice if the profic authors could stop beating this plot line because it should have died ages ago. I'd be happy to see her settle down with some ordinary guy on some ordinary planet somewhere. Really, just anything to end this needless Tahiri torture. Even this Dab/Tarc/Creeper is in the story just to revisit Tahiri's Anakin issues. If they end up together, I'll be pissed. 4. And since I'm griping about Tahiri...I'm also getting tired of the repeated mentions, either by her or the other characters, of her past actions and how people are still mad at her about it. What about Ben?!?! He's being treated as a normal teenager despite committing so many crimes of his own. I don't buy the "oh he was only 14 and therefore not really responsible" nonsense. Padme was a queen of an entire planet at 14 and Leia was a senator at 16. So the fact that no one has any hard feelings towards Ben but only towards Tahiri is troubling. Plus I was hoping to see Ben a bit more affected by Jacen. It's been three years, but you'd think that he'd still bear a little trauma as opposed to being a perfectly normal teenager whose biggest concern is not being seen in public with his dad's haircut. 5. For the first time since the Thrawn Trilogy, I find myself liking Jaina. I never thought it would happen, but I guess if anyone can resurrect a character, it's Allston. On the other hand, I'm now creeped out by Jag. I don't know if it's his political maneuverings or his incessant horniness, but something doesn't seem right about him. 6. I was totally disappointed by the Baran Do storyline. I was hoping for some interesting insights into their unique Force philosophy, which might have explained some of Jacen's later viewpoints. Instead, all Luke learned was how Jacen could block a brain scan and that the Baran Do Sages are insane. I can't believe it took Luke an entire book to figure that out. Jacen journeyed for five years - I don't know how Luke plans to piece together Jacen's travels because even ten years doesn't look to be enough. 7. I was thrilled to see Kenth Hamner do more than show up at Council meetings with a long face. He's got a biting personality, which is awesome. I think he'll play a bigger role as the series progress. It looks like Allston was setting him up to eventually be in a position of conflict with Luke's crew, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. 8. After I got over the ridiculousness of Daala being in charge of the GA, I realized that I missed the sadistic Daala of the JAT days. Not that she's particularly nice in Outcast, but I sense character whitewashing. Sure she had Valin imprisoned in carbonite, but the Daala in the past would have pushed him out an airlock. The quality of the writing was superb, the characterizations were mostly great, and the pace was quick and kept things interesting. Most of the issues I'm irritated with have more to do with the direction Del Rey is taking the series than this one single book. No doubt Allston is writing what he's been told to write. So I give the book an 8/10.
JediMatteus posted:C'mon man this is a good book. no it's not Vector Prime or the first book of the Thrawn trilogy, but it is very good. It is a very refreshing departure from what we have gotten the last few years. i give Betrayal a very slight advantage, but this is a good book.
GrandAdmiralJello posted:IWoD. 10/10