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

Average score: 386.9/55 = 7.03

 

Unlock and bump.

 

Quite honestly, Backlash might be the height of the Fate of the Jedi series to this point.

Aaron Allston managed to do something with this novel I haven't seen from the post RotJ era since portions of NJO, craft a novel that could be described as fun. Since the Dark Nest and the Legacy era began, I've felt that the EU has shifted away from the adventuring grandeur that brought me into the fandom in favor of settling for an overly gritty, dark, and oppressive tone.

Backlash was a welcome break from that, almost a callback to the Bantam Spectra days.

The plot on Dathomir was a blast. Allston, as always, writes exciting and easy to follow action that never outstays its welcome.

Characterization was surprisingly competent, another welcome development. For the first time in I have no idea how long, I didn't find myself despising the actions of the Solos. Han actually resembled the character he used to be before Troy Denning got his hands on him. I think out of the current batch of EU authors, Allston might have the best grasp of his character. There were moments where I was getting Solo Command vibes, which was definitely a good thing (The flamethrower bit, anyone?

Leia, while not exceptional in this book, didn't come off as out-of-touch and incompetent like she has for the last several years.

Even Allana, who I've been completely and utterly indifferent to coming into this novel, was enjoyable this time around.

Of course, I'm obligated to mention that every plot on Coruscant was absolutely miserable. That has been the great failing of this series and if Allston can't make it tolerable, there's really no hope for it. One small positive for this area, however, was Allston's handling of Natasi Daala. At least someone in this writing crew is willing to portray an antagonist with some depth.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and that's something I have not been able to say for a long time. For breaking away from the wangst and absolutely horrid characterization that's plagued the EU since Dark Nest, I give Backlash a solid 9/10

 

Average score: 404.4/57 = 7.09

 

Aaron Allston wrote half of the X-Wing series, the Enemy Lines duology, and Betrayal. Starfighters of Adumar is, according to the Lit Forum hivemind the best work of the EU ever.

Aaron Allston is better than this.

Star Wars is not a realistic franchise. No one expects realism from it. However, in order for a fantastic story to work, it must be internally consistent and plausible within the bounds of its fantastic elements. In order to make a story with magic and impossible technologies work, you must clearly define and limit the fantastic elements in a consistent way. It's foolish to expect something like Star Wars to be true to the real world, but not to expect it to be consistent within the bounds of its own "reality". Mr. Allston does a good job of this, certainly a better job than a lot of other EU authors, but that is not all that a fantastic story needs in order to work.

In order for the characters to be taken seriously, especially when you're trying to set them up as clever, savvy operators (*cough*Vestara*cough*), you must have them make decisions that make sense within the framework of their "reality". If they just make nonsensical decisions with only a handwave explanation superficially based on the fantastic elements of the setting, then that is simply bad writing. The fantastic elements of a setting like Star Wars make for compelling stories when they provide the background for a plausible plot with characters who act like real people would if they lived in a fantastic world. When the fantastic elements simply provide buzzwords to be used in trite contrivances to move the plot forward in an implausible direction, then you've just got a fantastic montage of nonsensical and poorly connected (or entirely disjointed) events.

That is to say, you get the Fate of the Jedi series in a nutshell.

* In the very first chapter of the book, we have Vestara running from the Skywalkers and deciding to hide on Dathomir, because there, Force use on her part won't attract attention. This is idiotic. It's a planet full of people who will be instantly able to sense any Force use on her part, whereas if she had fled to a planet without any Jedi or other Forcely people, so long as she didn't start blasting away with lightning in front of a crowd of people, she could have used subtler powers to her heart's content with almost zero risk of being caught.

*This is a blatant and transparent contrivance to get Vestara on a planet that's already a relatively big name in the EU, and to throw some more filler-- I mean, put another exciting examination of alternate Force philosophies in the Ben and Luke plotline, which totally isn't a pointless sideshow to help pad out the plot to nine books, honest!

*Once we're actually on Dathomir, it's almost criminally under-utilized. Wolverton gave the place a lot of depth and development in The Courtship of Princess Leia, almost all of which is totally ignored. If you're going to recycle someone else's world-building, the least you can do is actually use it. Aside from the Rancors and witches, they might as well be in Florida, given all the depth and impact of dumping the characters on Dathomir.

*Speaking of the witches: they're matriarchal Force users on an undeveloped planet. Some of them are all Sithly and called Nightsisters. There are some rancors hanging around, too. That is the total extent of both Allston's use of Wolverton's worldbuilding, and the total extent of the characterization and development of the Dathomiri witches.

* Oh, and when the Nightsisters lay siege to the hill camp, everyone is totally flabbergasted by the use of Rancors.

* I'm giving this two bullet points because, in a book full of contrivances, stupid plot points, and nonsensical decisions, this is quite possibly the single most idiotic part. This is a planet whose two biggest, most basic characteristics are Rancors and witches. In Wolverton's

 

Average score: 406.4/58 = 7.01