Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: FATE OF THE JEDI: ALLIES (Spoilers)

Fate of the Jedi has hit its midpoint. Allies, Christie Golden's second outing in the Star Wars universe, is here.

Some rules: rate Allies on a scale of 1 to 10, supplementing your rating with a review, if you want to (It's not necessary but is highly encouraged). However, please do not rate or review the book until after you've read the whole thing. Thanks.

Go for it.


Some previous review threads:

Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss
Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover
The Cestus Deception, by Steven Barnes
Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Jedi Trial, by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, by Sean Stewart
Labyrinth of Evil, by James Luceno
Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, by Veronica Whitney-Robinson
Tatooine Ghost, by Troy Denning
Survivor's Quest, by Timothy Zahn
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, by Aaron Allston
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, by Aaron Allston
Traitor, by Matthew Stover
Destiny's Way, by Walter Jon Williams
Force Heretic I: Remnant, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic II: Refugee, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic III: Reunion, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
The Final Prophecy, by Greg Keyes
The Unifying Force, by James Luceno
Dark Nest I: The Joiner King, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest III: The Swarm War, by Troy Denning
Outbound Flight, by Timothy Zahn
Republic Commando: Triple Zero, by Karen Traviss
Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, by Aaron Allston
Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, by Karen Traviss
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, by Drew Karpyshyn[/

 

Well, this is the middle book of the series in more ways than one. It's of middling quality, not as good as Allston's books but not the messes that Omen and Abyss were. Golden has definitely improved, and the missing-content problem is gone. Her prose is still pedestrian, sometimes bad, sometimes decent. The voice of the book is . . . strange, and frequently feels more like an e-mail from my mom than a professional science-fantasy novel. And I can't count how many times I shouted out "Dammit!" because I just realized the POV had just shifted radically right in the middle of a passage and I had to go back and reread a couple paragraphs to figure out what was actually going on. In summation, the mechanics of the writing are pretty lousy, but better than Omen.

In terms of story, though, it's a pretty decent experience. Nothing spectacular, but characterization is generally handled well, the Sith/Abeloth plotline is very solid and interesting and leads to a pretty good conclusion even if there are some issues with how it's handled, the slavery plotline shows a ton of potential, Tahiri's plotline is actually a real plotline that's going somewhere and features a Bwua'tu who's actually awesome, and at least it seems like Daala's plotline is finally building up to something. The problems come in a few areas. One is that the media aspect is getting kind of weird. I really, really, really, really don't want four pages of Jag enraptured by Nightline, especially since it's some of the worst actual writing of the book.

The Jaina/Jag breakup is infuriating in general, but it's also infuriatingly stupid in how it's handled. They've spent four books saying, "We know politics will get in the way of our relationship, but it's so much stronger than that and we understand the situation and can withstand the strain." And they spend four books withstanding the strain. And now Jag, once, says, "Well, I can't just send a whole frigging fleet out to fight something you won't identify and possibly cause a war with the GA, but I will do everything I can short of that," and Jaina says, "Well, I guess our marriage wouldn't work then. Bye." And she walks out, and Jag goes, "Well, I can't argue with that," and lets her go. WTF. It's just indescribably dumb and contrived.

I can't figure out what the hell's going on with the whole Daala plotline, though. She's an evil, insane, homicidal jackass who's giving off blatant dictator vibes to Bwua'tu and Dorvan, who are bothered by what a nutcase she is, but not bothered nearly enough. Daala's advocating muzzling the press and sending homicidal nutjobs to attack the Jedi and stamping out opposition to slavery and breaking up peaceful protests with Mandalorian shock troops and shooting unarmed negotiators . . . and all Bwua'tu and Dorvan can do is mumble, go "Are you sure?" and then roll over and go along with it. They show the slightest trace of spine once each, in the whole book, but they just go along with someone who's blatantly dictatorial and keep going, "No, no, I understand you're no dictator; you just want order." What the ****. And these guys are presented as guys we're supposed to be rooting for, because they have a very vague sense of decency that occasionally troubles them as they actively enable Daala's corrupt, authoritarian rule. But they're slime. I can't root for these pieces of ****, not as people. Root for them to eventually grow a backbone and a conscience that resembles normal and overthrow Daala, sure, the same way I can root for Daala to trip over an ottoman and break her neck. I'm not rooting for the ottoman; I don't like the ottoman. Hmm, that's a surprisingly good analogy, since Dorvan's a total footstool.

The good thing here, though, is that it's established that public sentiment is pro-Jedi, that Daala is losing it and things are looking like they'll come to a head. There doesn't appear to be any real effort left to portray Daala as someone with a good point who's just a little extreme. Also, sympathetic portrayal of Kenth. Thank god. The book gets a huge boost for that.

 

My take on the Jaina/Jag break up is that Jaina realized that she couldn't be Jag's fiance if she would constantly ask him to do things against what he stands for. He doesn't really care for Tahiri and her trial, but since Jaina asked him to get an attorney for Tahiri (after the previous two jumped ship, voluntarily or not), he got Tahiri an attorney. It's a big step for him because he really respected Palleon, and holds a resentment to Tahiri for killing him.

Then the break up scene had Jaina asking him to declare war on the GA. Of course he doesn't agree to something like that. Instead Jaina breaks it off with him right now to free herself from any obligations outside of fulfilling her duty to the Jedi (which at the time were surrounded by Mandos), and helping Luke.

It's a decision by her to not let Jag get involved in the Jedi business that he doesn't want to get involved in. Now he can decide to help the Jedi in his own way with no pressure from having a fiancé as a Jedi, only friends. Of course he's shocked when it comes up, and he doesn't do anything about it because he didn't have time before she walked out.

It's an understandable break up that comes during a crisis on two fronts (the Jedi in the temple, and the Sith with Luke and Ben). I fully expect that once Jaina gets back on Coruscant, which probably won't be until Conviction or later, Jag will call her up for a talk (barring any immediate crisis like what's in Allies) and Jaina will explain why she broke it off and maybe hope that once everything is over if they could get back together.

I don't think there was any sexist things going on. All the references to sex are brief and not mentioned outside a couple lines. Gavar tells Vestara to bed Ben, and Vestara experiences pangs about how her father is telling her to use her body like that. She wants to start a relationship with Ben, but she wants it on her terms. The same is true in the exact opposite, Ben wants Vestara but knows that it won't happen unless Vestara changes some things. The talk about Tahiri in a relationship with Jacen was brief and the narrative moved on right away. Leia wasn't portrayed poorly, and Jaina was portrayed really well, especially when everything moved to the Maw.

And finally the Mara/Castilla parts weren't a punch in the gut. Abeloth has been proven to be very, very manipulative. She used somebody from Luke's past to enthrall him and he wasn't even that enthralled. He talks about what could have been when he's talking about Castilla, but it's never at the detriment of his time with Mara. And if there was, it was when Luke was at his deepest reminiscence about his time with Castilla. But even then it was pretty much all Abeloth that was supplying those thoughts.

The Ben and Vestara interactions were good and believable. Luke was portrayed really well, a hint of the looking for the good (only in Vestara), but it's tempered by the sum of his lifetime experiences.

The Sith are portrayed about exactly what they should be, full of themselves because they've been the top dog of their small portion of the galaxy and are just now experiencing the fact that they aren't at the top of the food chain. I think it was very telling when we jump into the High Lord's perspective right at the end of the book and he's very shaken by everything and realizes just how strong Luke is. And then when Gavar and Ben are fighting. When they start Gavar is very cocky and sure that he's going to win and possibly turn Ben to the darkside for his daughter, then by the end he realizes just the type of fight he's in and he's fighting to not get killed.

A lot of good thing with the book, probably the best FOTJ book along with Abyss. But where Abyss stumbled at times, especially when the plot was on Coruscant, Allies had none of those blocks. Nothing in the book is truly as exceptional as Abyss's mind walking scene, but the sum of this book makes up for the lack of truly awesome and awe inspiring moments.

9/10 if only because there wasn't anything that jumped out and made me remark, "wow".

 

Average score: 14.25/2 = 7.13

 

I enjoyed Allies a LOT more than Omen, and I'm glad that Christie Golden is getting better at writing for Star Wars as she goes. That being said, there were some things than really made me angry in this book.

-The plural of Jedi/Sith is Jedi/Sith, not Jedis/Siths.
-Its Kyp Durron, not Kyp Durran
-Where did Ben and Vestara's teenage crush come from? IIRC, at the end of Backlash, he admitted she was cute but was still a Sith. In this book they're making googoo eyes at each other and giggling at each other's jokes. (I'm not opposed to their romance plot, but it just came out of nowhere.)
-The Callista reveal seemed to serve no purpose. It was an emotional gut-punch to be sure, but there doesn't seem to be a real payoff to it. (I reserve whole judgement on this point though, The ending of the book implies that Abeloth isn't quite finished yet, and we may get more out of this.)

Now that my nitpicks are out of the way, I did really love a lot about this book.

-Tahiri's trial was emotional, can't wait to see its final conclusion.
-Raynar and Wynn's lunch meetings are a really nice character moment.
-I felt that Jaina and Jag's breakup was a realistic decision, and I can't wait to see how they work out their feelings.
-It was nice to see subplots that varied from the norm. I was getting tired of "Go to Force-using culture A and learn Force Power B". The Slavery/Klatooine subplots really held my interest.

I'm excited for the rest of the series, and I give this entry an 8/10

 

Average score: 29.05/4 = 7.26

 

I agree in large part with Havac on this one.

Here's my TF.N review.

5/10

 

Average score: 34.05/5 = 6.81

 

Well I was able to read this book straight through today with only food breaks and a nap, so it's safe to say I enjoyed it.

That being said, this book is not without it's flaws. For example, Jaina's whole thing with "I'm the Sword of the Jedi. Remember when my uncle said that? Yeah. I'm the Sword of the Jedi." Okay, we get it. Thanks.

Another was the Ben/Vestara plotline. I'm all for them and I love both charcters, but I would have loved if there was some sort of unspoken attraction here. Some romantic tension. But, I was disappointed there. Golden insisted on making sure we knew that Ben and Vestara had a crush on each other.

Also, I'm still annoyed with Daala, but everyone's pretty much covered this.

Despite this, there were several really interesting parts of this book. I loved the slavery plotline and I found it convenient that recently someone made a thread on these boards about no one doing anything about slavery in the GFFA.

Also, I really, really enjoyed Eramuth. He's awesome. I just wished he could do something more to help Tahiri because I would hate to see us lose her.

Finally: Dorvan. Havac nailed this part about Dorvan being a footstool and that its hard to root for him, but I'll say that I do like him and root for him. I do wish he would do something to stop Daala, though.

Anyway, a good book. I wish the Abeloth plotline could have been extended because I found it anticlimatic, but I have a feeling she might be back. I give this book a 6.5, if only because the flaws really stood out.

 

Average score: 40.55/6 = 6.76

 

Average score: 49.55/7 = 7.08

 

I've enjoyed the FotJ series and this book is my favourite this far. Much of my liking comes from a general feeling that Golden creates as well as her focus on the characters (with Jaina & Jag as the shining exception - but then she didn't waist much time on them either) I loved the interaction between the Jedi and the Sith, I liked that some of the lesser well-working plotlines (like Daala) got a twist of self-parody and I'm intrigued by Abeloth being killed here in the middle of the series. And for once I really enjoyed the sub-plot of this book: the slave issue - I hope they'll follow that one in some way of another!

Luke and Mara sucker as I am I also liked their little exchange, much better than the one in Abyss, and while I was sad to hear about Callista's fate, I'm sort of glad they brought that story line to a closure.

Faults? Yes, plenty, but I'm not expecting a SW novel to be faultless - the movies certainly weren't! If I want great literature I can go elsewhere than GFFA. I was entertained and felt I got my SW fix - I give it 9/10.

 

Average score: 58.55/8 = 7.32

 

Well, I have to give this one a 9/10.

I LOVED most of it. The Treaty of Vontor/slavery stuff was awesome. Loved seeing Ackmena. I liked Ben/Vestara's relationship. Loved the end with Abeloth/Callista and Luke. Liked the stuff with Tahiri and her lawyer, who oddly reminds me kind of a Romo Lampkin from BSG. Loved the siege on the Temple, and was shocked how KP was killed. Finally, remorseless Mandos!

Did not like the constant spelling errors with names. Durran was annoying, and it was the whole way through the book. C'mon!

Overall, a great addition to the series, great to see Christie Golden shine after being a wee bit let down by Omen.

 

Average score: 67.55/9 = 7.51

 

I've already given my ongoing opinion of Allies in the discussion thread. Time I gave it an irrelevant number.
I've reread each book in FOTJ save Allies and I've crunched some numbers. As in I'm re-rating each book to give an idea where I think Allies stands. Pretty much what 2ndQuest has done.

So...
Outcast-(I was more of a fan the second time around but still not crazy about it) 7.2
Omen- (points off for length) 7.4
Abyss- (liked it better the second time) 8.5
Backlash-(acknowledging certain plot problems brings it down to a respectable) 8.0
Allies- In need of humor but not more action. 7.8

 

I have read it, and yes there are typos and small snafu's, but its not a bad book...

But it?s no "Star by Star" either.

I liked the Slavery side story. I found it more compelling than Allston's "Allana Gaiden" 4th grade super sleuth. And as a fan Of Jacen and Tenel Ka (Both as individuals and as a couple, and a reader with high hopes for Allana) that saying a lot for me.

Unfortunately the sith fall flat, Besides Vestra they are all uninteresting, personality-less darksiders. I really am starting think delrey should get a Japanese translater and call up either Tite Kubo, or Ken Akamatsu. Because they both seem to have a far easier time creating a squad of villains with Personality far better than most writers in Star Wars.
Nor flail or whoever it was who was dragged into the ?Celestial Pool? or the dumb sith shmuck she had take the fall for her trying to steal a piece of the Fount of the Ancients, stood out even slightly.
As for Callista?damn they didn?t even kill her ?On Screen?, I know she was not a well liked character. But?damn that was cold.

As for the Jedi?wow, I see why a lot of people call Kennth?s pet K.P, because she is also totally unmemorable. Just like every other post Nelani Dinn 1-book-wonder jedi. And Nelani was a freaking red shirt Jedi, basically made to die. And she is more interesting than all the Got-sick/killed in fate of the jedi combined.
Probably because she also had more characterization combined.
They need More Ganner Ryshode?s and Wuth Skidder?s in these novels, I mean damn Each Myrkr strike team Jedi has something to stand out. All I can remember is, Human female blond, Chev male, Falleen female, Bothan female, big leaf eating thing male.

I liked Ben in this book, Jaina seemed more likeable in this book. She actually showed a bit of wisdom.
Allana?is 8, pretty much thought dead by the Hapan leadership sans Mommy, and is all ?I?m Chume?da!? I seriously don?t think it?s that easy to claim a throne. But she?s, 8 but also clever. Except seeing her situation, not a problem more of a nitpick.

But the Allana/Jacen thing will they just Pick one? In Allstons? LOTF she is all ?I love you daddy?, in Denning?s she is ?I use to love you but now I?m afraid of you?, in Luceno?s Millennium Falcon she is ?I loved you, but now I fear you- but I am getting over it.? And now Golden?s ?I never thought of Jacen as my father.?
Wow she is already following daddy on the way to being characterized different by every author. You could say its character development but it only shows up when Jacen is mentioned. It?s not like we see her spending time thinking about him.

Not ?Allies? Is not a bad book, definitely not return worthy.

I give it a 7 out of 10 a solid c?But it won?t rock your socks off.

 

The good:

--Luke/Callista/Abeloth
--The Ben/Vestara relationship is growing on me.
--Eramuth Bwua'tu is full of win and awesome.
--The slavery subplot looks like it is full of potential.

The bad:

--The author kept mixing up the Chevs and the Chevin. It changed from page to page which race was doing the enslaving and which race was the enslaved.
--"Kyp Durran", "Dyon Stad", "Pallaeon", "Alanna", a formatting error on one of the section heads, and many more typos and grammar errors...geez, whoever edited this one half-kriffed it.
--Jag and Jaina breaking up...really? I mean, REALLY?! It's taken YEARS (both IU and OOU) for her to finally pick someone, and THIS happens? It's just so...anticlimactic. Barring a reconciliation between the pair in a future novel (which is getting old and played out by this point), I guess Jaina is not the IWOD.
--Daala still sucks. (Not that she was ever NOT sucky, but she's getting worse :S)

Overall: 7/10

 

Allies, the current installment in the "Fate of the Jedi" series, penned by author Christie Golden is the fifth, and therefore, so called critical book in the series. The story takes place immediately after Backlash. In this book, we have two Jedi go crazy off-page, Daala having the Mandalorians blockade the Temple, Tahiri's trial, then we have the Luke/Ben/Sith team hunting down Abeloth, the slave uprisings, and the start of the search for the origins of Abeloth.

-2 First off, the Luke/Ben Vestara/Sith team hunting down Abeloth. This is supposed to be the main plot of the entire series, right? If so, then how come it feels like a subplot? Because it's not the least bit interesting. They make a pit stop on Klatootine and what for? just to show Ben and Vestara "falling" for each other. The prose for the entirety of Klatooine had me grating my teeth. I mean, seriously, couldn't Golden have shortened the whole thing and moved onto the the Abeloth/Callista vs. Luke and Tribe fight? Clearly, she could have and upped the whole Coruscant plot more.
-0.5 Ben and Vestara. I could actually see them being together if it didn't feel do darn forced.
-0.5 Jaina and Jag. What more needs to be said on this matter?
+3 Tahiri's trial actually feels like it's going somewhere. The trial scenes were well written, used superbly, and was very engaging.
-0.5 Daala's handling by the authors is getting worse every novel. I can't even read any of her scenes in the book without rolling my eyes or gritting my teeth.
+4 The Jedi Temple scenes were excellent. Most of the Master's actually seemed to be like themselves this time. I was captivated by the Jedi Council asking Kani "K.P." Asari to negotiate with the Mandalorian Belok Rhal.
-0.5 I hated the moment when Kani was killed. What a waste of a new character.
-0.5 Other than the always misspelled Kyp "Durran" Durron. Seriously, how did that escape the editors? Are they going brain-dead?
+3 About time that Nek Bwua'tu came to his senses and started helping out the Jedi, even with words. Can't wait to see what takes place in Vortex, if his help is still there. If it is, seems like Daala is losing another one to the Jedi.
+5.5 The slave uprisings was a nice touch, and felt natural. Clearly Daala now has something else to moan about.
-4 The death of Abeloth came about rather fast. I hadn't expected it to some until at least the last three books, but not the fifth. And it was a disservice to Callista to be used so cheaply. There were others that Golden could have chosen from that I would have believed, but Callista? No, it felt ver OOC to even think that Callista would have gone to Abeloth or have been absorbed by her.

All in all: 15.5 - 8.5 which comes to 7. 7/10

 

This is going to be a long review so I?m going to post my score first so that those that are more numerically minded, plus poor Havac, are not forced to read the whole post looking for my elusive score?9

I?m going to divide this into topic heads; my brain just works that way.

Luke/ Compassion: Pretty spot-on characterisation for Luke, a good blending of powerful Grand Master where needed, caring father when Ben started bouncing off the walls and human in regards to Mara/ Callista/ Abeloth.

I loved Luke?s snarky side coming out around the Sith; especially Gavar Khai (more on him later). The exchange about the overuse of the Force (?Maybe it?s easier to dress appropriately?) had me laughing. I?m glad the authors are acknowledging that the Sith are pompous idiots. I was worried during Backlash that this was an unintended characteristic, good to see Golden having a laugh about it and I have no problems with the Sith being portrayed as such.

The line about compassion gave me pause; I think it could have been expanded to something more along the lines of, ?Compassion is for those that are willing to accept it.? Golden wasn?t too far off the mark, Luke has always been selective in those that he offers compassion to; he would have happily cut Darth Vader?s head off pre-?No, I?m your father? and I have no memory in the novel or the movie of Luke ever considering extending compassion towards the Emperor, if anything he quite emphatically stated from the beginning of their meeting that he would offer none (?Soon you will be dead?).

IMHO, Luke?s moral mind-frame has always included the idea that evil must be dealt with with force. I may be mistaken or have missed a story somewhere but Luke has never embraced the idea of persistent compassion if the recipient is a willing, competent agent of evil and unwilling to change or reform their ways. Even in the tightrope walk exchange that he had with his father in RoTJ, he offered his compassion to Darth Vader?s good alter ego, Anakin Skywalker and not his dark counterpart. When Darth Vader rejected said offer, Luke bluntly told him that his father was dead, a declaration of intention, plan and conclusion. Luke was not going to sacrifice the needs of the galaxy and the duty of a Jedi in exchange for perpetual compassion towards his father.

Maybe the Sith needed to be better established as agents of evil here, maybe Luke needed to give at least one warning/ chance to the Tribe or maybe Golden was assuming that we didn?t need the fact that these Sith are proud to be evil and dismissive of redemption to be verbalised by Luke. Maybe we could consider Luke?s willingness to ally with them and not kill them on the spot as a quasi form of compassion. I don?t know; I just know that I couldn?t completely dismiss this line on afterthought, however rough it came out on the page.

Gavar Khai/ Parents: What a slimy piece of worm-ridden filth, so glad that Luke thought so and that Ben and him collectively put Gavar in his place. Also, glad that Vestara has begun to realize that her father may not be the shining model to emulate (I have a feeling this might shape up to be a sacrifice/redemption scenario in future books but I digress). It was also great to have someone to contrast with Luke?s parenting style, however extreme they may fall on the good to evil scale. For years people have been complaining about Luke?s parenting skill portrayed in DNT and LOTF. It felt good to be proud of Luke in this novel/series about how well he is guiding Ben.

So glad we have a villain here that we can truly despise without guilt or any attachment issues. Sometimes, I want the 2D Sidious type.

Mara/Callista/Women in the refrigerator: The accusation of sexism was thrown around before this book hit the shelves so I went into this novel waiting for the flinch moment but I never felt it. Maybe I am one of those women that can never spot sexism unless a man is handing me a shirt and telling me to get on with it but for my part I didn?t feel that women got short shifted or side-

 

I am officially done with Star Wars for the time being. This book pissed me off so much, this is the first book where I read and then immediately took it back to get my money back. I wanted a refund, and got my refund. That being said, I am done with this series and the rest of the books. I might read synopsis on them, but I am not going to waste my money on some crap like they have been throwing out lately.

Allies-1/10

 

Average score: 105.35/14 = 7.53

 

As for the Jedi?wow, I see why a lot of people call Kennth?s pet K.P, because she is also totally unmemorable. Just like every other post Nelani Dinn 1-book-wonder jedi. And Nelani was a freaking red shirt Jedi, basically made to die. And she is more interesting than all the Got-sick/killed in fate of the jedi combined.


Hey, I resent that!!!!