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

I agree s65horsey. I haven't enjoyed a star wars book as much as i've enjoyed this one in a long time. 9.

 

Average score: 219.8/28 = 7.85

 

Vestara was great haha

 

9/10

By far the most enjoyable book that takes place after The Unifying Force. I thought it was Allston's funniest book since Starfighters of Adumar and it felt overall like a really good Bantam book. I like where they're going with Vestara and Ben and I think Allies has the potential to be great. My only real complaint is the handling of the aftermath of the Mando attack on the Jedi Temple. The most serious government attack on the Jedi Order since Order 66 and it's just kind of dropped.

 

I'm not sure what it means that I don't have much to say about this book -- I've never really been this indifferent about a Star Wars book.

So, considering it didn't move me on any emotional level, I have to base my assessment on a technical basis. And I'm happy to say that I felt this was Aaron Allston's work from that perspective.

Where the book shined was its prose, specifically in its pacing. I got a real sense of immediacy -- not a lot of "he said" she said" happening. This tells me that time and care was taken in this effort, and I have to applaud that. This is important because the because it helps push along the overall sluggish pace of the story -- especially a very soft middle.

I also get the feeling Allston was aware that the middle sagged, because the first 75 pages and the last 100 pages popped.

In terms of characterization, I really liked the way Luke presses Ben to think critically and be independent. A lesser author would have the young kid educating the father, but Allston made sure you knew Luke was the wise elder with the experience, but also humble and open.

Han, on the other hand, seems to border on being completely emasculated at worst, and at best he's the crazy ex-jock, who still wears his lettermen jacket and clings to the glory days when he's not willing to just shoot everything. This isn't Allston's fault too much because Han has been beaten down by a lousy arc for almost 20 years in these books. I really would like to see him become like an Andrew Jackson-type character: the butt-kicker-turned statesman.

Good job Mr. Allston. I haven't read a Star Wars book in a while, so this was fun. I think the series concept is thin, so you did a good job.

8/10

 

Thank you for articulating perfectly how I've been feeling about Han Solo and his post middle aged rut. I don't know about statesman but some transition.

(sorry mods. just a comment)

 

Hi all - here are my thoughts on this one:

Overall, much better than Outcast. Solid start, interesting story hook (Luke and Ben chasing Vestara to Dathomir), a sorta laggy middle, and a good to great last 30 or so page ending (specifically, the Sith showing up, betraying the Nightsisters, and facing off against Luke and Ben).

Now, for a more detailed look at the book:

First, the characters (in no particular order):

Jag is still boring. When he is first attacked in the TIE simulator, he assumes it is sleeping gas that they attack him with and then plots a course of action from there on how to get ut of the situation. How does he exactly come to that conclussion? There really any detail and it made me think it was lazy on Allston's part to just have Jag make that assumption.

Zekk's return - WTH?? He is just suddenly back, paired up with Taryn (with no mention of the other chick at all)?!?! I understand that the Zekk returns novel was cancelled, but his reintorduction was poorly handled. once they knew his reintro novel was cancelled they should have beefed up his role a bit more in ths book, especially at the start. Maybe a few convos with Han to set him up again. And to explain what happened to the other chick from Invincible. Also, how does Janina feel about being back? And how exactly did he come into Han's services? One mintue he is just there on Dathomir...

Allana - I surprisingly like her a lot and am glad to see the writers aren't falling into the trappings that the Bantam writers fell into with the previous 3 Solo kids. Maybe it's because they only have one kid to deal with, but she's more well rounded and just plain fun. Also, it's nice that her parts are kept fairly breif. Putting her with R2 and 3p0 was perfect. And it was great to see r2 and 3p0 so well written with some nice back and forth between them.

Looking past the highly doubtful business of Han and Leia leaving Allana behind on a planet known for dark side users kidnapping Force sensitive kidds (so much for avoiding the trappings of the past) why didn't Zekk and Taryn do something when r2 was kidnapped? Okay, so they have to stay udnercover (why exactly) but even at the risk of harm coming to Allana?? And then, once Allana and the droids are free of Morlog and the dock, why don't Zekk and Taryn do sokmething against Morlock before he comes out of the dock to further harras them... they were actually kind of useless when it came to helping Allana. That was one of my biggest gripes against Allaston as a writer here, he comes up with these great storylines, but then doesn't follow through with the details and logistics, which keeps it from being totally awesome.

Vestara - why didn't she kill Ben and Luke exactly? But I did like her and I like that they get you thinking she has a chance of being redeemed and then sort of pull the rug out from you by having her do something really insidious. I only wish her first alone conversation with Ben hadn't been so flip. I'm sure Allston thinks he is being clever, but way too many conversations were trying to be like that in the book, like on Page 59 with "who shot her? oh, that's right, it was Han." It keeps the genuinly funny parts from being that funny cause it is overused. I aso think in the middle Allston should have given us a sense that Luke and Ben were keeping an eye on Vestara.

Some other random stuff in no particular order:

like having the big three go to a planet and not be recognized. They weren't recognized in the outer rim in the movies, why would they be here? It makes it interesting to take a break from the "celebrity factor" stuff once in a while.

Allston's fight scenes have become briefer (good) but still maintain good visuals and are clear as far as who is where and what is being done. Althought they could be a little less technical for my tastes. And I will admit to skimming the rancor stuff because it got repetive... Also, how exactly did Lord Gaalan get away from Luke??

That said, the ending was pretty great... with the Sith reminding us how evil and badass th

 

THE GOOD
*I liked the slower pace of the novel, and of the series so far. It is nice to see the galaxy in a state other than war.
*It's good to see Ben come into his own as a character. It's also nice to see that he isn't a run-of-the-mill Jedi, but rather a sort of Jedi Detective. Props to Jacen for making Ben into an interesting character.
*This runs contrary to my normal feelings, but I actually was interested in Daala's story this time around. I'm curious as to how she'll turn out; whether she'll actually be a good CoS or will return to her old ways.
*The sections from Allana's PoV was well written. Allston really seemed to understand the mind of an 8 year old.
*The Allston humor.

THE BAD
*Zekk randomly showing up, doing nothing, and no one bats an eye. The first part wouldn't have been a problem had Blood Oath been published. Since it hadn't, his adventures and reappearance should have been delved into in this book. As for the second part, if he was supposed to be watching Allana (Which is what he was doing, right? I never really got that.), he should have actually been watching her, not hanging out two ships over, probably making out with his Hapan girlfriend.
*Jag's storyline. This isn't as much a problem with this book, but with the series in general. I liked Jag in the NJO, but he has become boring since becoming a diplomat. He didn't really do anything besides really get assassinated twice.
*Despite knowing how an 8 year old thinks, Allston doesn't know how one speaks. She sounds a lot older than that.
*Ending the book with a cliffhanger only to have it spoiled on the next page in the preview of the next book.

THE VERDICT
8.5/10
A good book, probably my second favorite of the series after Abyss.

 

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I cracked and bought the audiobook even though I have the book on order. The joys of living on an island in the middle of no where.

The Good

Luke/Ben: I have been loving their relationship over this series and this book continued that love. It is great to see Luke gently guiding Ben along the Jedi path, acknowledging when he has done well, correcting him when he has began to stray a little. They work well as a team and I looking forward to how they fare under the more intense situations ahead.

Ben: Kudos to Allston for his characterisation of Ben, it was perfect mix of teenage/ young adult. Not too whiny, not too wise old man, not too needy. He also had a great role in this book, playing investigator and solving the mysteries surrounding the Falling Leaves/ Broken Columns clan. And quite a funny young chap.

The Clan: Did anyone else cheer when something good happened in the story. Finally a happy ending, though I suppose about 100 of their clansmen died in the process, but still they united with Luke/ Ben's help and didn't inexplicably hate the Jedi at the end. How quaint.

Vestara: Hello young Mara, welcome to the Star Wars canon. You're awesome in a wicked way.

The Meh

The Sith: I thought the Sith (Lord Gaalan?) were a little cheesy with their, "I'm going to kill you Luke Skywalker and be the most awesome Sith EVA " lines. I got the feeling Luke was rolling eyes at that one too. I almost expected them to descend into smack talk. Which would have been awesome.

The Middle of the Story: It got a little plodding but the beginning and the end more than made up for it.

Verdict Another great Allston story, better than Outcast, though I liked that one too. 9.5/10

 

Average score: 262.3/33 = 7.95

 

The Good:
- Always good to see Raynar Thul in action.
- Dyon Stadd, what a kickass new character.
- Ben/Vestara interactions in this book were great, can't wait to see where their story leads.
- Story moved along at a good pace, reminiscent of classic star wars books.
- The entire battle with Luke and the Sith Lord at the end. From Luke's PoV, it was AWESOME. ("He was good, I'll give him that") LMAO

The Bad:
- WAAAAYYY too much Daala. What was Allston trying to do, make us sympathetic to her?
- Jaina and Jags story is beginning to get stale.
- I dislike the way this book showed how totally ineffective the jedi council really is.


Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this book.

Score: 9.5/10

 

Average score: 271.8/34 = 7.99

 

DarthDragon, I fail to see how a slow pace could be a good thing? I also disagree that this book was slow paced. I actually thought it was tons faster than Outcast and maybe even Omen, though it's been a while since I read the later.

Also, this series doesn't seem to be able to make up it's mind with the Jedi Council vs. Daala's government conflict. They are at a stalemate and I hope it boils to some sort of resolution than simply fizzles out, as it seems to be heading towards since the Jedi basically did nothing after getting attacked by the Mandos. We didn't even really get any discussion about it from the council. Hopefully we get more Jedi Council scenes where they discussion the, you know, fate of the Jedi and the galaxy a bit more. When I heard Luke was being kicked out I was really excited to see how the Jedi ran without him, but we really aren't being shown that. Bummer.

 

Hm, what to say about this novel. I would've reviewed earlier, but... just couldn't care enough to reread the book except over the weekend. I'm not sure I really have anything good to say about this novel. That's not to say it was horrible, it didn't suck, and it isn't the worst Star Wars novel I've ever read, far from it, its just... so much of it was annoying or frustrating.

Let's see, where to start, well, might as well start with Coruscant. Coruscant is like a cesspool of everything wrong with this series, and in some ways its even gotten worse than during LotF.

The Jedi still aren't really doing anything. Sure, they get a message warning of Sith, get ready to launch a StealthX wing secretly (huh, thought Denning was the one who loved StealthXes, looks like its spread, unfortunately), but after the Mando attack, they're stuck, so after 300 pages... nothing.

And then there's the biggest problem which is Daala of course. Why are we getting so many damn Daala POV chapters?! If its to attempt to convince the reader to like her more, well, they failed miserably on that point. She's still unlikable as ever, not to mention she bears little to no resemblance to the Daala I remember back from the Bantam days. And its not just because Del Rey completely redid her character from the beginning, like with Jacen or Kyp, they got Daala mostly right in the Death Star book and even in Revelation (well, she was no more distorted than any of the characters in that book at least), but here? And she really cares that much about public opinion polls? Argh, whatever happened to the lady who just gassed a dozen warlords? And then even after worrying about polls, she launches a full-scale Mandalorian invasion of the Jedi Temple in broad daylight?

Not to mention, I know there were at least two references to the Death Star, including that holo-drama at the "what's left of the Solo family" dinner, and mostly sure there wasn't even one joke linking the Death Star or Tarkin to Daala. It was bad enough in Outcast, but seeing it continued in Backlash is just depressing.

Ok, on the upside Jaina isn't just being romantic with Jag, but hearing her say the Sword of the Jedi is ready is giving me bad LotF flashbacks. Not that she did much anyway. Sure, she fought off Mandos, but other than that? Same old thing she's been doing since LotF and DNT even.

It was nice to see Raynar show up- a sign of better cooperation between the authors, as Raynar seemed like mostly a Denning character in recent years. Its nice to see Tyria alive too, though she's an old Allston character so its not that surprising.

The one Tahiri chapter represents the book perfectly- its basically saying "hi, I'm still here, in jail, doing nothing". Well, Luke and Ben do something, but not much else happens. Of course, not much happened in Omen or Outcast either, but after how exciting Abyss was, to go back to this plodding pace is very annoying. We don't even get a Nawara cameo as he's been dismissed. Not that it matters much since trying to fight Daala fairly in the courts will probably just be a waste of time.

And I know quite some time has passed since Outcast, since just in the last book Luke spent weeks beyond shadows, not to mention all the travel time between the Force sects. Back in Outcast the Unification Summit sub-plot seemed like it had some potential, but by now, it seems like it was just a convenient excuse to get Jag and Lecerson to Coruscant and keeping them there forever. Doesn't Jag have a Remnant to run? Or Lecerson a sector? With how powerhungry Imps usually are, you'd think they wouldn't be able to stay away forever, or else they'd be deposed. Nice to see Jag fight off assassins, but just throwing in random fight scenes doesn't make up for lack of plot.

And while I don't mind Lecerson too much, as he's just an old-fashioned bigoted greedy Imp, ugh, why did they have to introduce Senator Treen? Oh, evil female Kuati Senator, that sounds vaguely familiar... yeah. Viqi Shesh was far more interesting, not to mentio

 

I don't understand all the people that say they need to reread the book to review it. Is it just that you don't trust your first impressions, have a bad memory (in which case why don't you try taking notes?) or what?

 

Average score: 276.8/35 = 7.91

 

I just don't have a lot thats positive to say so I'll try to be brief.

Pro's:

-Trying to include C-3PO and R2-D2 in some fashion as a part pf the story.
-Allana and Anji, though I think it would have worked way better in a YJK style story.
-Ben using his detective skills and having some character traits that daddy doesn't approve of.

Con's:

-The authors as a collective seem to have absolutly no clue what to do with Daala and are apparently making it up as they go along. This books was the worst of the bunch.
-Rancors, lots of them. They attack, they attack again, they attack a third time, they attack a forth time, they attack a fifth time.............I think I lost count.
-The Dathomiri Olympics..........Which seems to go on forever.
-The Empire/Jag Fel - This(the series including this book) is just the most boring, least inventive take on the Imperial Remnant ever. Jag=good, Everything else Empire=bad, thats the message. The Empire is so full of of people trying to off poor Jag that he needs Chiss security to keep him safe...............
-Luke Skywalker- I don't think I've ever read a worse depiction of Luke. He is emotionally void and very worried about breaking laws in the middle of nowhere. Then he does some foot races and beats up a woman for fun.
-Leia and Han - I just won't even start. I'm so sick of them and believe they are becoming mentally unbalanced in their old age.
-The Sithlings...what a waste of time
-Ben taking a shine to Vestara/ Jedi-Sith Alliances.......lol
_Luke thinking during his fights. "Wow, this guy is a level 12 character like Kyp and Kyle, not a level 10 like Cilghal...but he's sure not a level 15 like me.."
-Ben musing that Luke doesn't like sitting around and talking because its just a forum for people to air their grievances......even though thats largely all he did for the past 20 years
-Abeloth-Not really from this novel but the excerpt of the next........She makes me miss Waru.
-Allston, writing, too many, sentences, with, a lot, of comma's and - dashes - so as not to, make the prose, flow - very well.

2.3/10

 

I loled.

 

Average score: 279.1/36 = 7.75

 

Slow paced really wasn't the right way to describe it. What I meant was that instead of another galaxy-wide war, we're getting a different kind of conflict; one that, while crucial to the Jedi, doesn't affect the vast majority of the galaxy. As for this book specifically, it took time off from Jacen and Abeloth to show Luke and Ben chasing Vestara and becoming involved in the problem on Dathomir. It's nice to see a change from books where there is war and the fate of the galaxy depends on its outcome, and to get the occasional one that's interesting, yet not galaxy-altering.

 

I liked it. The pacing was ok, I even liked the Imperial plot, I hope Lecersen does not die at the end of the series as he appears to be an intelligent and cunning Moff, case in point how he manipulated Han, Leia and everyone else. I also liked their conspiracy, raceist reasons aside, some of what they wanted was very resonsable, a strong government but not to strong, a better plan than anyone in the GA seems to have.

My favorite pats of the book we defiantly Be and Ves, I think the book would have better if they had more interaction. If they stay that after they get together then I will be very happy, "aiming at a moving target".

I did care about Allana in home alone 5 lost on Dathomir, what was the point to that any way?


over all i give it a solid


8

Now to May and the next book

 

Average score: 287.1/37 = 7.76

 

Let's see . . .

The Good

-The including of the droids, who've for some reason dropped off the face of the galaxy since the Dark Nest Trilogy.

-The Lost Tribe Of The Sith have finally done something resembling what an actual Sith would do!!


The Bad

-The entire Allana Sub-plot. It's cute, but fails on a logic level from the moment it starts. Also, I think the first time she flies the Falcon could have been a bigger event then it was played out, instead of just trying to run from a mechanic. Ooohhh, so scary.

-Han and Leia. What's happened to them? Abandoning their grandchild for days, possibly weeks, with only a couple of droids for protection? These two just aren't being represented correctly anymore. Even Denning is writing them poorly.

-The Dathomir games were dull and many a time, pointless. The interactions were bland, and the fact that they were walking up to Vestara and chatting with her, made this feel like something from Final Fantasy, not Star Wars.

-This forced relationship developing between Ben and Vestara. "A shame, I was just starting to like her." That's not foreshadowing for anything....

-The Big Three aren't apparently aging at all. Han can still shoot ten pots in three seconds! Limber for a man in his 70's!

-The Lost Tribe Of The Sith. Are we supposed to fear these people? I guess not, since LUKE AND BEN CAN TRASH THEM WITHOUT MUCH TROUBLE!! Don't these authors know how to set up villains? Isn't your main villain (Term applied loosely with the Tribe.) supposed to have power, or in Thrawn's case, genius to take your hero down? Guess they missed that chapter of Writing 101...

-Way, I repeat, WAY too much realism in this. Every one of the juvenile jokes and set ups could have been lifted from a PG movie or a children sci-fi novel. Which is basically what the books coming out amount to, so I guess it works. But for god's sake, Allston, lay off the dashes! They don't have to be in every single chapter. Also, who was that in the Falcon with Allana? They keep telling me it was C-3PO, but after reading the dialogue, I'm convinced 3PO has been kidnapped and replaced with an impostor.

-The Corusant chapters were just boring. Dull, dragged out conversations between people they are trying to make me care for and failing. The Raid was a fun scene, but everything else for me might has well been dropped.


The Ugly

-Cha Niathal. Was that really needed?


In the end, this was the easiest of the Fate of the Jedi books to get through, but it was still mediocre. My hat's off to Allston for continuing to write after his medical troubles, but this was below-par work. But so are the others, so I guess he's not alone.


3.8/10

 

First of all, kudos to Allston for having finished the book in his state. I like to call this kind of things as impressive. However, this is the FotJ book I have enjoyed the least. So:

The good:
- Han being a general again (in spite of what I will say in the "bad" section).
- Kyp's POV chapter. He is my favourite character, and it is always great to see more of him. Also, that Luke recognizes him as one of the finest in the NJO.
- Dyon Stadd. He needs to get trough the series.
- Ben. Loved his detectivesque way of thinking. Also, how he is starting to become a different Jedi than Luke.
- All the new Jedis, and seeing Raynar in action again. Jaden Korr's mention and his mission regarding Black Sun interested me a lot. Could this be one of those subplots intended to beef up future books?
- Seeing the droids again.

The bad:
- The pace was slow in Luke's plot. I enjoyed seeing how he affected the nightsisters culture and how it works, but having all those trials wasn't necessary. The Coruscant plot has the same problems from the same books, but I found myself enjoying it more than Luke's.
- Han. He acted like a brat, making jokes in every situation.
- Allston's humor, overall. This is his first book where I don't like how he uses his jokes. There were a lot of situations were charcaters made funny comments and it looked really uncalled of.

The ugly:
- Cha Niathal's dead. I liked her in LotF. A lot. So I am putting this here just to see how her death repercutes in the plot.
- Allana's plot. I enjoyed having more of the robots, but it was careless to leave her with them. I think now would be a good moment to bring back the Noghri oath to protect the Solos.


All in all, I am giving this a 6,5.

 

I have to agree with what others have said regarding this book just 'stalling' and not advancing the series any.

-Mad Jedi (This wasn't expanded upon in this book, they just threw in yet another example of a Jedi going crazy)

-Luke/Ben search for reasons behind Jacen's fall (Admittedly, I'm willing to accept that this story-line ended in Abyss. Like it or not, the Throne of Balance seems to be the last thing the authors will throw our way as an attempt to justify how badly they wrote his character in LotF)

-Sith Tribe (I was really excited at the very beginning of this book, Alston wasted no time and right away we were thrown into Vestara's POV trying to figure out a way to avoid the Skywalkers. Then we got trapped on Dathomir and her POV vanished until the very end of the book, and we don't see any of the Sith until the very end, with an ok lightsaber fight)

-Abeloth (Ok, so Mad Jedi/Abeloth are really the same story-line. Still though, the back cover of this book mentions Abeloth and I think we were all excited to see that story expanded upon...but we got absolutely nothing. To me this was blatant false advertising )

-Politics/Daala/Lecersen (The whole story with Lecersen is really just starting to bore me. They decided to add another layer in this book with the Kuati Senator. I was really hoping for some conclusion to this plot, not making it more complex.)


I suppose I was just excited after what happened in Abyss. Abyss just did so much for this series, and now it feels like FotJ is dull again. Still though, an entertaining read.

7/10