Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: CROSSCURRENT (Spoilers)

Oops, double post. Sorry.

 

Average score: 106.95/14 = 7.64

 

Average score: 115.95/15 = 7.73

 

9/10

Well written, self contained, has a Star Wars feel with zero appearances from any of the "Main" characters besides references. A lower decks story, which is refreshing compared to the destruction of secondary and tertiary SW characters in the big DR series.

Cloakshape, I can see it working with a sort of cargo pod addon to the belly about the size of the main body of the craft. Add a way to get to it from the cockpit, and make the interior modular, and you can easily fit a small landspeeder and a few stasis pods in a cargo space, or more passengers, or a living space for long range missions.

Z-95 with an astromech? Sure. Late model Z-95s are pretty close to early model T-65s, so I can see it done. If they can fit a full size astromech into a Naboo N-1 or a Delta-7, a Z-95 can hold one.
I liked the mind trick scene, best one since Last Command.

The reason it is not a 10 is I felt it would have worked better with another 70-150 pages. More time to develop the threat of the Sith Battleship and tie in Kell a bit better. Plus, reading it, it seemed to breeze by and was over before I really wanted it to be. That and I like longer books.

 

Average score: 124.95/16 = 7.81

 

9.5

It was really good. I particularly enjoyed the way the dark side is addressed. It's not just some amorphous, possibly unreal, aspect of the Force as it's often treated. "Oh, you're mad, that's the dark side." No. This one, the dark side has an effect. A dramatic one. It makes people PUKE! Reminds me of how Jim Butcher uses dark magic in the Dresden Files. It leaves you feeling yucky and tweaks you with the heebee jeebees. That's how the dark side should be treated more often. It shouldn't be like the same as the light side and the only difference is that a person is angry and that means they are tapping into the dark side, this "yuck" and "wrongness" factor should be present and played up. One has to have defenses up for it to not puke or have some other kind of gut punch effect from its presence. I like that.

Would've liked to see more interaction and exploration of ancient Sith and Jedi history between Jaden and the other dude(I already forgot his name). Like, the ancient Jedi was fighting against Naga Sadow and his boys... it would have been nice for Jaden not to have just known a little something about Naga Sadow, he should've been like "oh yeah, I defeated his Sith master's ghost when I was a padawan" or something. That'd be a mind kriff for the ancient Jedi.

At any rate, fun read. Crosscurrent and reading Isard's Revenge and Starfighters Of Adumar recently has brought the enjoyment back into Star Wars reading for me.

 

Average score: 134.45/17 = 7.91

 

I have to say, I highly anticipated this release, and it did not go wrong. I loved every moment of it. The only problems were the vomiting and the Anzanti.

My score, 9/10.

 

I found it hard to get into the book. Jaden's whinging was just... over the top, I think. Sure, he had orders not to leave any opponents at his back on Centerpoint. That is a logical tactic. However, spacing them was the method he chose to deal with the situation and he has no one to blame for how he chose to execute his orders but himself. He could have devised another solution. It would have been futile in the end as Centerpoint turned itself into a singularity, but his conscience would have rested easier.

Jedi should always question. That's what keeps them from the absolutism that is a hallmark of the Dark Side. It was good to see a Jedi questioning his own actions. Just maybe not quite in such an angsty way.

7/10 for not drawing me in well enough. I could put the book down. I like to pay money for books that are engaging enough to keep me with them.

 

Average score: 150.45/19 = 7.92

 

First, the parts I didn't like:

The Anzat's presence in the story was pointless. But, I enjoyed his parts, especially reading about the daen nosi.

I wish the villains weren't clones, but this is Star Wars and you either get Clones or Sith, apparently.

Kudos to Kemp for wrapping up the time traveling Sith ship in one book rather than turning the concept into a nine book series.

I liked Kemp's style. He addes flair to his writing, rather than give a straight play be play of the action. He overused some phrases, such as 'There be dragons' and 'I am a ghost' but I can forgive that. His original characters were interesting, I loved the caf addiction and the potential for Marr to be trained as a Jedi and his math abilities. I almost skipped this one - and I probably would have if it had been a hardcover - but I'm glad I didn't. This was a quality Star Wars book despite not featuring the Big Three and I look forward to his next one.

7.5/10

 

The plot was well developed. The characterization was believable and engaging. And the EU just benefited greatly from the addition of a fleshed out Jaden Korr and the addition of a talented writer like Mr. Kemp.

10/10

 

Average score: 167.95/21 = 8.00

 

It's always a downer when you like something less than you thought you would. Likewise, it is a great treat when you like something more than you thought you would.

This book falls into the latter category for me. I thought I would like it, but it's hard to tell from a writer you've never read. But I really enjoyed this book/story.

I like big-three books, but I also think it is important to have non-book three centered books.

But this presents a great challenge: interesting and engaging the readers in characters they don't know. A success on all accounts (for me at least).

One of my favorite SW book a long time. And I tend to generally like most of them.

And Kudos to DR for continuing to seek out and bring in quality writers. Makes me feel a little better about Karen Traviss's departure. I'm not comparing them, mind you--their writing styles are completely different. But I guess one similarity is their focus on non-big three stories.

Getting off topic, and I hope to not start another KT debate.

I'm merely trying to say I'm glad to have Kemp writing excellent SW stories, and I hope he sticks around for a while.

Looking forward to the sequel and the TOR tie-in.

10/10

 

Average score: 177.95/22 = 8.09

 

It's great to see LucasBooks take on a project with minor characters in big adventures. I just wish the execution was as sharp as the idea.

With such a large timeframe, and characters thin on history, Crosscurrent had to be a big challenge for any writer. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to me that Paul Kemp was up to it.

Having slogged through a narrative that wondered for almost 200 pages, I hoped for a big payoff to save the book ... but it just didn't come to me. That's sad because all of the elements seemed to be there: Characters were drawn well, themes were established, and there were flashes of really elegant prose. Everything going for the novel, however, was squashed by poor construction. Nothing could be cultivated because of the swaths of exposition and conversation that neither revealed anything about the characters nor advanced the plot.

A loose narrative and faulty construction aside, I didn't get a sense that this book was about anything. Troy Denning, Matt Stover, Aaron Alston, James Luceno, R.A. Salvatore, Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn -- even Karen Traviss have contributed to this universe because their books are all about something. That alone can carry a book over its weaknesses.

The book really reminded me of some of Kevin Anderson's work -- but with better prose. And like Anderson's work, this just didn't work for me.

4/10

 

Average score: 181.95/23 = 7.91

 

I hadn't enjoyed a SW book so much since Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. I think there is no better compliment for a SW book than this, and this is why I think Paul Kemp can become one of the best authors Del Rey has offered us.

First of all, we finally have a reintroduction to underground characters: Fhost/Farpoint/Black Hole and its inhabitants. Khedryn and Marr are very good characters, with three dimensional personalities and their own concerns. Relin?s fall to the dark side, how he deals with it and all the wisdom he spreads in all the characters regardless of his inner turmoil is also great. So is Kell Douro -even though we could kind of know since the beginning that he was going to die-, if only because we get to know Darth Wyyrlok I. Regarding this, I especially liked Kell?s vision when he first meets him: that of several snakes engulfing the galaxy. Very well written!!
I am really thrilled about the clones' plot, it makes for an interesting sequel and is an original way of using the idea of cloning. The fact that Thrawn is somehow connected to it makes it all the more awesome, and makes me wonder if they were going to be his personal Jedi army, just like the Imperial Knights are for Fel's Empire.

As for Kemp as an author, he has done an excellent job: his writing style is very good (the imperial facility description gave me the chills, and the battles scenes were excellent), he knows how to make good characters (Khedryn and Marr), he has a surprisingly good grasp of the EU (Memit Nadill, Odan-Urr, the battle at Kirrek, Thrawn, the Empire of the Hand?), and seems to care for continuity.

There are, however, some things that could be improved upon its sequel. The general plots felt kind of disjointed: Relin?s and Jaden?s stories were not as connected as they should have been, and while interesting in their own terms, they didn?t feel like they belonged to the same novel. Also, I expected to learn more of Jaden?s backstory. We know how he feels about the Centerpoint mission, but I don?t feel like I know him more than I did before. It is weird considering Kemp offered nice backstories to Khedryn and Marr.

Now I am looking forward to what Kemp has to offer us in the future. As for Crosscurrent?s sequel, I only want more of Jaden?s backstory and perhaps a role for Kyle Katarn.

9/10.

 

Average score: 190.95/24 = 7.96

 

8.5 / 10

I'd put most of my thoughts in the official thread, but an additional one (which I don't think I've yet said). I generally think the X-Wing novels are a good template for "how to make a non-Big 3 SW novel." Interesting characters, good plot hooks, enough familiarity that we're not uninterested and the occasional cameo/mix-in of the Big 3 (in an organic fashion).

This book is very, very similar to that template. And that's a good thing.

 

Honestly, I didn't like this novel.

I loved Jedi Academy. It's a great, simple game that I've played a dozen times and will probably play a dozen more.

But, like eight out of ten books coming out now, this one was just lacking. The plot was so-and-so. The pacing of it was really lost. Sometimes it was action-packed, then it would be people sipping caf around the table talking. It felt very rushed. I was actually forcing myself to pick up and read it, not wanting to give up. Unfortunately, (in my opinion) it never really got back on its feet.

Paul Kemp's writing to me is either great, or not. And its usually the latter. While I cringed when that mad Jedi clone came out (haven't we seen enough of these, yet?), I loved the clones unstable hand-made lightsaber. The Die Hard line: Wrong place at the wrong time, kind of applies to Paul, also. He will not describe the captain (his name escapes me at the moment) when we first meet him, but Paul will spend literally a page and a half telling us of his journey from one end of town to the other. That just seems weird to me. But he has many, many fans, so I suppose he's doing something right.

The way Jaden was played out I think, was a waste. I was very happy to see he didn't give him a very defined face, but I didn't like the mentioning of brown hair, a beard, gray eyes, ect. To me, Jaden, like Revan, like the Jedi Exile, is an everybody's character. So I would say leave him up in the air for the most part. Give the Stephen King approach to it. Tell us a few, specific factors about him and let the reader do the rest. (not just saying her is so-and-so tall with a medium build...)

Or, maybe, if you can't do that, don't say anything. Put a little Author's Note at the beginning of the novel, explaining that. But perhaps that's just me . . .

The other characters were hit-or-miss also. Most of the protagonist's were interesting, (mostly) especially Relin. He was new, fresh, a great dynamic between everyone else. So of course he had to die. But like Jaden, he had a bit too much angst.

But on the other side of that coin, I found the villans to be boring, predictable and completely forgettable. Saes was unoriginal. Another Jedi-turned-Sith that hates their master. Seen it.

The assassin was a faint character, weak. He shows up less then anyone in the book, but I don't think it mattered. He could have been in every chapter, and I doubt I would have grown to like him.

Another problem I found were the continuity issues with the book. Paul didn't play Jedi Academy, having stated so in his blog, and by the sounds of it, didn't bother to do even research about the events in the game, because Jaden lost his first lightsaber on Vjun about Mid-way through, yet Paul has him still have it all these years later.

Now, I'm not one of those people who will just yell because this certain thing wasn't like how I read or saw it before. But what gets me, IS THAT HE DID NOTHING WITH IT!

Look, if you're going to change something, you use it. But here, Jaden only uses it as a flashlight after his battle with the clone. So in short, Paul messed up, and nothing came from it.

There are others too, but many have already stated them. And I'm starting to sound like a broken record.

This book never truly felt like Star Wars to me. If you pull the Star Wars label off the cover, changed the names of people, planets, and factions, take the lightsabers out and switch them with swords or something, and give all the Jedi/Sith characters a crystal that gives them telekinetic power, and I don't think you would miss anything. This was Sci-Fi, not the fairy tale, the mythic story we all fell in love with.

3.5/10

And as my final word, I will say, that as the first new novel of 2010, the one that starts it all off, was disappointing. (In My humble opinion)

And honestly, I believe 2010 is off to a weak start.

 

Average score: 202.95/26 = 7.81

 

I wasn't going to buy this, then it was said to be a paperback, that means it'd be a few quids worth of an experiment, just over the cost of a couple of comics really - hell yeah, what's to lose?

Fortunately I found a very smart book that was adept at using continuity without drowning in it, a book that had a deft skill at enabling readers to get the state of the galaxy without requiring them to read the actual series that covers the referred to events ie. LOTF. That's a rare skill. Add in some very smart use of the One Sith, who's MO is to stay hidden and use agents - which fits in very neatly and this is looking good.

Unlike some, I'm finding the expansion and revisions done to the Great Hyperspace and later Sith War to be quite welcome - it was a weakness of the time and fanbase that DHC could only do a couple of 5-6 issue series on such huge events, so the correction on both cases actually works well. In that respect the Sith killing a moon to get weaponry is quite fitting and the two stories dovetail neatly.

Jaden is a new character to me, but what I liked was his consideration of the Force and his disagreement with Katarn in perception of the Force was well-done, he was respectful of the man who taught him but nonetheless had to disagree with his outlook, that there's more to the Force than it being a tool. At the same time the book wove a careful course between the internal and external dark side concepts - why not have it be both? The films did.

The generally style is of an adventure mystery, with long forgotten secrets and the legacies of the past looming into the present. One of the things I love about SW is that it invests locations with a mystical element - planets and places of light and dark, which is good to see here. From the moon to Korriban, the places have a sense of character that is well-conveyed.

Talking of revisions, this also adds to the Thrawn trilogy by revealing he established research labs in the Unknown Regions, which arguably was implied in VOTF but not explicit. More interesting is the nature of that research which was cloning force-sensitive individuals, presumably with a view to controlling them. Thrawn was a control freak but the Force was always outside of that control and the ysalamiri was a temporary fix at best.

The only thing I didn't care for was the casual generating of Force Lightning to indicate dark emotions like fear or anger. There's just something about Force Lightning to me that says that should have to be generated by hate, not just by feeling hacked off and certainly Sith Lightning should be something special, but this is a small point.

All in all, this was a very entertaining read and I'll certainly be getting the sequel.

9/10

 

Average score: 211.95/27 = 7.85