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

Average score: 92.7/11 = 8.43

 

No worries, the overall score just looked off to me. I'm glad it got fixed early.

 

I just finished Outcast for the second time (I read an ARC back in February). I really enjoyed this book -- it was a very solid start to the new series. It felt much smaller and intimate in scale than a galactic civil war, which really allowed Allston to have some great character moments. I loved his scenes w/ Ben and Luke. Same with the Jania and Jag scenes -- great dialogue all around. The Kessel scenes frustrated me in the first read, but when i reread them, i looked for more clues and hints about how everything will connect later on down the road. Not sure i found much that was new or different, but i enjoyed it nevertheless.

Solid 9/10

 

Here is my review of Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston

As book 1 of a 9 book series, it seems clear that this book is designed to set up a series of plots and subplots to be developed during the course of the Fate of the Jedi series. In that, the book is a rousing success.
1. Jaina: Does she continue to be developed as a character we can believe in and root for? In Outcast she seems much more centered and Jedi-like than I have ever seen her. Will she marry Jag and set up the Imperial Knights? The first hints are here in Outcast with her organizing the Darkmeld underground. Stay tuned!

2. Jagged Fel: Will he become the Emperor Fel the first? Will he finally marry Jaina? Will he ever get over his stuffed-shirt syndrome? I foresee Jag getting down on one knee before Jaina soon. Stay tuned!

3.Valin Horn, Seff Hallin: Will the Jedi find a cure for this virus thing that is spreading amongst the younger Jedi Knights? Will they find a connection between the virus and Jacen? This plot has lots of room for development and will probably take many more books to be resolved. At least they can put the crazy, infected Jedi in carbonite until the cure is found. Sad they couldn't have tried carbonite on Jacen/Caedus, but too late now. I really feel the Horn family is in for some really rough times in this series, kind of like the Solos were in LOTF. Stay tuned!

4. Chief of State Daala: Does she have a secret agenda? Luke doesn't think so, but he is always too trusting. In the first book some of her efforts to corral the Jedi have already been struck down by the courts. How will she react and what further plans for hobbling the Jedi does she have? Stay tuned!

5. Bounty hunters: There were a lot of bounty hunters in this book and they even have names. I foresee they will have an important role in the Daala plot and will continue to plague the Jedi whenever possible. At least Boba Fett is nowhere to be found. Yeah! But stay tuned!

6. Tahiri: She really needs to grow up! I am sorry for her, but the simple truth is that she can't keep moaning for Anakin. She is sick-get her some help. Stay tuned!

7. Lando Calrissian: Multibillionare with the heart of gold. Lando was certainly in character but been there, done that. Move on.

8. Leia, Han and Allana: Han is certainly in character and it is nice to see that he has finally got over his fear of spiders on Kessel. Leia, however is another story. I wish they would all stop calling her a Jedi. She is clearly not a Jedi. She has learned all the techniques, but does not adhere to the spirit of the Jedi order. She does not act like a Jedi. She puts Han first everytime. At the first hint of trouble at the Jedi temple, she runs away with Han on another adventure. She abandons the Jedi Order all the time. The Jedi Masters treat her like a part time advisor or something, but not a Jedi. They should take away her lightsaber and robes. And Allana is starting to act a little spoiled I think. She is never going to get sufficient training in how to use the Force from Leia. She really needs more discipline, like she would get in the academy. Stay tuned!

9. Dark menacing voice from the garrison moon of Kessel: This is very interesting and of course will be developed much more in future books or I will be very upset. Stay tuned!

10. Ben: I really like him in this book. His banter with Luke kinda reminds me of the Anakin/Obi-Wan banter of The Clone Wars cartoon. Ben is developing into a fine Jedi, even though every once in a while his teenage sixteen year old boy snark gets the best of him. The eeriest part of the book was his conversation with Luke about what would happen if Luke got this virus or turned to the dark side. Luke made him promise to kill him if that happened. Ben agreed. Such maturity from one so young. Will he have to live up to that promise in future books? I sure hope not, but stay tuned!

11. Luke Skywalker: While I ce

 

A good read. Except for the Han/Leia storyline, which seemed shoehorned in.
7.0/10

 

Garrison moon?

Wasn't that blown up in Champions of the Force?

 

Yup. That's already been confirmed.

Probably, barring the unexpected and unlikely death of the third and final Solo child.

He did a pretty fair amount in this book, but don't expect much more than that.

 

Parts I liked:
-Luke and Ben visiting the Baran Do Sages. I thought that was an interesting start to the journey of finding out what Jacen Solo learned along his 5-year sojourn.
-Jaina and her darkmeld. Starting with Valin Horn's insanity scenes at the beginning, and continuing during the Seff Hellin stuff, I enjoyed this part of the book.

Parts I was so-so on:
-The Kessel scenes. I'm a Han Solo fan, and I like reading about Leia, but to me, these dragged on and on and on ... and on. Unless I'm completely missing the point of these scenes, the only thing that remotely sets up future events for this series is that "voice" Allana heard when she was off being a mischievous little tyke. The rest of the traveling through the tunnels was boring, for the most part. I kept waiting for some big surprise to be revealed at the end, but it never was.
-I felt some of the humor went overboard. Usually, I love Allston's use of humor. But this time I found myself kind of wishing he'd toned it down a notch.

Parts that made me cringe:
-The entire scene with Daala ripping into Luke and the Jedi Order, bringing up Kyp Durron as an example of how the Jedi go unchecked, and how he was a war criminal for what he'd done. Yet all the while, not even once, did Luke respond with, "Uh, look who's talking, lady!". I mean, this whole ignoring what Daala has done in the past, and trying to make her into some level-headed individual whose past is something to be admired, really, really annoys me.

Final thoughts:
-I was a bit disappointed with it, actually. I actually preferred Allston's work with Betrayal as a lead-in to a series. I was hoping for more actual setup for the series' antagonists (which I'm assuming are the Sith).
-I'll read it over again, because I must be missing something huge. The Kessel scenes really did leave me wondering why that was written the way it was, and why it went on as long as it did.
-Last series, it was the portrayal of Mandalorians as Gods, the Jedi as evil fools that was an ongoing annoyance. I hope to God that this whole "Daala is such a great choice for CoS!" thing won't be this series' equivalent.

Overall Score: 7

 

I have not actually posted all that ,much on these boards but have been an avid follower for years. Charlemagne says it nicely, everything about the book. I personally liked the interactions with dalaa though. yes i know she is quite the vicious war criminal and has no business telling luke that he should have to pay, or the jedi should have to pay even if they repent or have sorrowful feelings and remorse for what they have done (THAT PART DIDNT MAKE SENSE TO ME) BUT OTHERWISE I ENJOYED LUKES REALization (sry caps) that the jedi have some inherent faults. Luke is no longer a Bizzle, Ben has come into his own, and JAINA! wow jaina...have hated her since after dark journey...Also once again i personally enjoyed LOTF but like charlamagne said i feel it was too grand a story for only 9 books. The worst part of that story IMO was jaina's magical appearance to save the day because she had been named "sword of the jedi" they had to do something with her wreck of a character. Now back to reality thank GOD she is finally a character worth reading about (maybe thats due to zekk and jags annoying kindergarten antics being pushed out...maybe they'll do something cool with the zekk novel!?) I enjoyed the book as a whole. Cant wait for the sophmore installment. Here is to hoping they dont senselessly kill off anyone else i care about!

 

I'll guess I agree with the majority about this book. Great to have a new series that doesn't have a dark, galaxy-shattering threat looming over it. Great to see characters act appropriate for their age and experience. Interesting build-up for the rest of the series.

The writing flowed well for me, and there wasn't a lot of continuity errors to distract from the story. (can only think of the Kessel moon and Kenobi's lightsaber for the moment) Daala's characterization is confusing, but that's obviously a deliberate choice by LFL rather than an author mistake.

Overall, I really liked the book. A few points goes away for the different plotlines not being exciting enough on their own, even though it was obviously setting things up for the books to follow.

8/10

 

This was an excellent book, and a great way to start off the series. I have a good feeling about this.

9.8/10

 

Just finished it, thought it was great. Could have used those Mandos Daala supposedly hired back in MF. But perhaps their absence here means that they will have a rather big/significant role in the future. Hopefully.
9/10

 

I found the book pretty boring. Kessel put me to sleep. Literally. Luke and Ben didn't find out anything earth-shattering,as I thought they would. Instead it's just, we'll go somewhere next to opefully find something.... Why couldn't they have made some of the 50+ crowd go crazy instead of the youger, potentially more cool Jedi? I'm lookin' at you fish-head... Thank the maker that all those ex-Rogues/Wraiths were around to fly into another Allston book. Hopefully the series will pick up speed with Omen.

7

 

Average score: 158/19 = 8.32

 

I for one actually enjoyed the Kessel scenes. The references to the Celestials was interesting and I hope they dive into that mystery in this series. The voice calling Allana from the Maw is obviously the lost Sith tribe. I'm looking forward to more visits to obscure force using groups, particularly the Aang Tii. The book did feel a lot different from past Del Rey books, and can sort of be compared to Bantam as some other users have said. It was an ok story overall, I was interested throughout the entirety of it. Overall I give this book a 8/10.

 

Average score: 174.8/21 = 8.32

 

Outcast was not a fantastic novel, but it did go a long way to partially restoring my faith in the current EU novel-era. Aaron Allston starts the series off quite well, much in the way he did with Betrayal. (Force willing, FOTJ will not end up like LOTF, but I digress).

In many ways, this book is a throwback to the old Bantam books. Threats are less galactic, political battles are as interesting as any major fleet engagement, and the characters are engaged in a struggle that doesn't have to be life or death. At first glance, this may seem boring. However, after repeated galactic warfare since the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion, it is nice to take a breath and simply enjoy the characters.

Allston really came through with his significant use of the "second string" cast. The most shining example of this is seen in his usage of the various Masters of the New Jedi Order. In addition normal supporting characters like Cilghal and Kyp Durron, Jedi Masters like Kenth Hamner and Octa Ramis get some surpisingly good scences. I have been a longtime fan of Kenth Hamner, so seeing him get the treatment he deserves was enjoyable. I was especially drawn to the chapter with Octa Ramis and her apprentice. Her reference to her past love for the deceased Miko Regalia was a nice bit of continuity. It had been so long since I read the NJO that I have to go to Octa's entry on the Wookieepedia to remember which Jedi she used to love.

Another area that Allston does quite well is in his writing of the Galactic Alliance. The Unification Summit, Bothan Senator Tiurrg Drey'lye, and little bits of new government information really came off quite nice. Allston also did great justice to the Galactic Alliance High Court. Many forget this now, but the GA's independent judiciary was one of the major changes between the old NR government. True to old Cal Omas intention, the High Court serves as a major check and balance on the GA's other branches, namely the executive. Allston's usage of the High Court displays his mastery for the smaller details.

The Kessel plotline felt a bit forced to me, though it had its moments. Seeing all of those old Rogues, especially Hobbie, was fun. Heck, the inclusion of Nrin, Narwara Ven, Koyi Komad, Inyri Forge, and Rhysati Ynr reminded me that many old Rogues and their support staff are still around and kicking. Hell, by my count, there are enough living former Rogues to create a full squadron with.

The part that really drops my score is the way Chief of State Daala was portrayed. Don't get me wrong, I am probably the biggest fan/supporter of a stable and democractic Galactic Alliance. However, Daala is probably the last person in the galaxy who would deserve to lead the GA. Plus her characterization is SOOO off that I am convinced that all the EU authors need to take a weekend and re-read KJA's Jedi Academy Trilogy and Darksaber.

All in all, I give the book a solid 7/10.

--Adm. Nick

 

Outcast is...special. It starts out FOTJ rather strongly IMO, similarly to Betrayal for LOTF, though without so much...how do I put it...Drama? Darkness does not seem like the right word. The book is plenty dark if you look at it the way I did(obviously most people will not).

I feel kind of bad. After LOTF started out so strong then seemed to leap characters based on author, I feel like I should wait to give this book a score until I have read the next 3 or so FOTJ books and how this ties/flows into them.

Judging the book solely on it's own material, I have to say I did not enjoy about 1/4 of the book, The Kessel scenes to be exact. This may be from severe Arachnaphobia on my part though.

Regardless, it starts out FOTJ strongly(besides spiders), I just wish it explored Darkmeld and the Baran Do a bit more. And I cannot help but speculate that Allana's "Voice" is Ship from LOTF.

My thought are kind of jumping around so I'll stop with the score here: 7.5/10, enjoyed 3/4 of the book, so I feel it should get an equivilant score.

 

A solidly written book that definitely sets events in motion. I have to say that some of the best parts were the Luke/Ben scenes, their interactions between the two and others, especially the Kel Dors, were just amazing. Really enjoyed seeing Luke written so well in this time era, with some of the more enjoyable lines coming from him. The scenes with the other Jedi were handled well, and I am looking forward to seeing what causes the Force psychosis, how it will be resolved and the affects on those under its influence. The Jaina/Jag scenes were eye catching since they give us a glimpse into the Empire and Imperials we see in Legacy. The only portions of the book that did not quite mesh the Han/Leia parts, though they were fun to read, but then this is the first of nine books and will hopefully bear fruit late in the series. Especially Allana's little run in with the unknown entity.
Overall this was an enjoyable read and rate it 9 out 10. I look forward to the rest of the series.

 

Average score: 198.3/24 = 8.26

 

I wanted to write something good and lengthy or detailed about how I felt about Outcast. I was really looking forward to it. Even more than LSatSOM! I will say that elements of this series is reminding me of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix and Daala it's Professor Umbridge. But instead of the Order of the Pheonix we have, Darkmeld. This portion of the book, the Jedi madness/Jailbreak-in portion was fun. Jaina and Jagg aren't overly interesting on their own but it was fun.

Ben and Luke's adventure with the Baran Do Sages was a nice little story. I love Ben and Luke together. Clearly the best part of this book was this plot but there was so little of it. I understand. They're pacing themselves. With these books all being hardcover, there will be no time for filler!

And now the filler. The Han/Lando/Kessel/Leia plot bored me to tears. To bloody tears. I don't know if it's EU burnout or what but I wasn't really feeling Outcast. This plot pulled me out a book I was mildly enjoying otherwise. Even the Rogue Squadron appearance wasn't inspired, quirky or particularly funny. (And that's really strange for an Allston book)

I'd like to go on and I'm sure I will in the discussion thread, but really, this wasn't close to Allston's best. That's fine. Was it a good start to the FOTJ? It was a start. It was no page turner, it was no Vector Prime or Betrayal but it was a...start. Honestly, I really wanted to love it as a whole. As it is...

7.0

 

Average score: 205.3/25 = 8.21

 

This was a fun read overall. I enjoyed the Luke and Ben sections the most, thought they really carried the story in a strong way. Dorin was really cool, as were the Baran Do Sages and their little Wizard of Oz tricks.

Luke's exile wasn't handled nearly as cleanly, but I guess its what they had to do to get Luke out of the picture for a bit. I still think the better angle would have been Daala going after Ben for his actons in the GAG, but Luke it is.

Han, Leia, Lando, Tendra, Allana, C-3PO and R2-D2's part in the story was hard to swallow and a little contrived. Obviously Allana's voice from space will tie into the rest of the series but other than that the whole Kessel plot seemed like filler to me.

And of course the Solo's idea of what parenting is hasn't improved that much in my eyes...it may have even gotten worse.

Though I did like the suspence Allston built with the spider on the Falcon, only to have the spider prove impotent. The ending of the Kessle arc was easily the highlight, with Han allowing the spider to live. Other than that it was blah...........

Jag and the Empire had a great little opening in this book, very ROTJ'ish, but it didn't go far from there. I was actually upset at Jag in the first chapter for not correcting Jaina when she called the Empire "The Remnant", but that was corrected a couple times later allowing me that Jag was just allowing her to get away with one freebie

I would have liked a little more Imperial Development in this book. We got lots of the pretty boy, Jag Fel. We got a mention of a spy named Gerhold Razzik, but little else. How cool would it have been if instead of having Maarek Stele appear as a retired pilot at Kessel, he appeared as an Admiral in command of the Gilad Pellaeon?

Allston uses the mass of characters very well. It was nice to see Telki again specifically for me. That said the Jedi Madness is a little weak and Seff Hellin and the Mandalorians seems to be in complete re-write mode in this one. Seff is now a madman, whe he clearly wasn't in Millennium Falcon.

Armand Isard Correctional Facility and Grand Master Whango Mittphool and Sparky were great little additions as well. Though I thought it lacked emotion, Outcast was overall a fun read really carried by Luke's journey with Ben.

6.5/10

 

Hm... how to score it... well, the book was written fine, though maybe I'm just a bit tired of reading Allston books, considering he wrote a third of LotF (although he probably wrote the best third of LotF). The Kessel scenes weren't that interesting, although I understand with the ancient tech, spooky voices, the Maw, and Centerpoint's destruction, it'll probably all be relevant sometime in the next three books. Or in the next Allston book. Its hard to really grade the book as we don't know how well it'll mesh with the rest of the series, style and continuity wise. At least some things changed already between the Millennium Falcon book and Outcast, as MF ended with one thing, and Outcast didn't seem to acknowledge it. And I thought Mandalorians would appear- not that I miss them, hated them after LotF, but instead of Mando commandos here to counter the Jedi, they've instead got some trigger-happy bounty hunters as the main lackeys. Oh well, guess we'll see in future books whether the plot changed between MF and now, or if other authors will remember them. I'll start with the bad, since that stood out more in my mind.

Bad- Well, Daala as Chief of State sums up my biggest complaint about FotJ so far. Not bad enough that she was Chief, with little to no explanation how she got the position, and now that we know the Confederation is still around, I wonder whatever happened to Senate election or something like that. What really galls me is how they seem to be literally rewriting Daala's character, since last I checked, she worshiped Tarkin, and adored his "rule by fear" doctrine, even after she left the Maw, and now... she gets to threaten Kyp Durron over old crimes while in the same trilogy she was out causing havoc? And Luke counters by bringing up shame she felt after finding out about Tarkin? What shame?! Not sure if its an error, or they're just rewriting history- considering how much else they got from the JAT (Lando owning Kessel, the Maw, Kyp blowing up several stars), something like that seems too blatant to just be a mistake, especially given how in the recent Death Star novel she visited Tarkin and was the same old evil Daala.

Although Imperials seem to be back in charge anyway, without a big war, since the major heads of state in this book are all Imperials, and funny enough, the actual Imperial Remnant leader is the nicest of the bunch. Jag's still ok, loosening up more, but just not interested in his and Jaina's continuing romance now that its been about 20 years since they met? The Unification summit was nice to see that at least the galaxy hasn't started killing itself again yet, but it also reminds me of how incomplete LotF's ending was.

And the Jedi insanity seems to be spreading now. Interesting Valin POV, starting normal than shifting to crazy paranoid person. Its not really interesting, since the infected just go insane and start attacking everyone they view as a threat (which is everyone else), and its definitely not just Valin going crazy on his own considering Seff instantly recognized Valin as the same as him. And I'm mostly sure I won't like how it'll probably lead to a retcon of Jacen's fall from just manipulated by Lumiya to being mystically corrupted by whatever Luke will eventually find. Seff also became more boring though, since now he's just the same as Valin. And with both of them using Force tricks that only Jacen showed before... this isn't going to end well.

Might just be me, but saw some elements from older Allston novels too- the crazy Jedi reminded me of the brainwashed aliens from Solo Command, one moment rational, the next crazy. And the Darkmeld group was ok, even if it just struck me as another incarnation of the Insiders, with how old Rebellion veterans being the only trustworthy people (or at least most dependable). Although glad to see more Jedi Knights other than just Jaina too, that was always a strongpoint of Allston books.

And I guess I'm just sad that Luke allowed himself to be kicked off Coruscant for the sake of the Jedi Order, even if it was for