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Reviews Books THE JC Lit Reviews Special: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: EXILE (Spoilers)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Havac , Feb 21, 2007.

  1. dp4m

    dp4m Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2001
    Meh.

    As much as I usually love Allston's work, this one fumbles a bit. Felt too rushed, felt like it lacked any sort of editorial control (way too many terminology/canon issues) and completely destroyed any semblance of possible sex between Luke and Lumiya.

    On the plus side, however, Lando is just as awesome as he's ever been.

    I'll rate it a 6 with a +1 for Lando -- so 7/10.
     
  2. Ulicus

    Ulicus Lapsed Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2005
    How?

    The book has Luke tell Mara that sure, but the book also establishes that Luke can lie to Mara. The Balance is served.

    Though it seems Allston thought that Lumiya and Luke had been lovers, but he was told that they hadn't been... at least, that's what I got from reading the IRC log (if only I'd been there! Curses, why didn't I check on that night!?)
     
  3. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 296.9/38 = 7.81
     
  4. wade1972

    wade1972 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2005
    I liked the book - esp the Ben parts, and I'm intrigued by this "Sith Ship".

    It did have the feeling that it was filler to a great degree. Overall, it's not too bad but it's not outstanding either.

    7/10.
     
  5. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 303.9/39 = 7.79
     
  6. dp4m

    dp4m Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2001
    I don't recall Luke lying?

    I tend to take Farmboy at his word whom he's slept with...
     
  7. King_of_Red_Lions

    King_of_Red_Lions Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2003
    The title fits the story: Everyone is in exile (perhaps none more so than Jagged Fel.)

    Lumiya abandons Ben as a Sith candidate because he helps the little girl Kiara. Why? Lumiya shouldn't call herself a Sith if she can't twist a good-hearted young boy into a hateful-vengeful killer. And Ben's not all sugar and spice: he kills when necessary, pickpockets and hits girls. Jacen has done countless good deeds, but that doesn't make him a bad candidate.

    A lot of characters and plot direction disappear toward the end. Maybe a lot was simply set up for Sacrifice. But I doubt Traviss will pick up on any of the loose ends.

    And that sith amulet has no real power, right?:rolleyes:

    There is too much hyper-hype talk about Jacen's pending sacrifice; I hope it happens early in the next book b/c I'm sick of reading foreplay.

    Jaina gets only slightly more screentime than in previous books. As Allston has said: it's best to keep the sword sheathed until it's needed. Jacen wasn't even the biggest player. Ben should have been on the cover.

    Lando was superfly. I anticipated the secret-hidden-weapon in his penguin stick.

    Anakin Solo is bigger in this series than he's ever been! ;)

    I enjoyed the broad cast of characters, minor and major. And I enjoy Allston's style. He is always funny. And brief when he needs to be: Luke and Mara's investigation of Lumiya's apt and discovery of the message relay was concise. Timothy Zahn would have stretched that into 47 pages of 'points' and 'ah's' and a brainstorming session over stimcaf to review the facts again.

    Typical enteraining Star Wars outing. 6.5 out of 10.






     
  8. Crox

    Crox Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 30, 2006
    9/10

    Very enjoyable. I was a bit worried that LotF would become the authors playing around with their own favorite characters (Allston with Wedge, Traviss with Boba, and Denning with Alema), and so I appreciate Alema's prominence. Ben's adventure on Ziost was well-done, particularly the moment in which he shows himself to be more than just a mini-Jacen. It was nice to see Lando return, and in such good form.
     
  9. Corusca_One

    Corusca_One Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 24, 2005
    9.5

    Greatly enjoyed this book, and i found it a much more enjoyable read than the previous three (and i enjoyed them). Allston hit almost all the right notes for me, and from sheerly a Star Wars enjoyment point of view i can't fault it too badly. One of the most impressive features was the characterisation which was superb across the board, i particularly enjoyed Ben's portrayal, which i felt worked well in conjunction with both of Ben's personality traits (the Jedi Pupil descendant of Luke, and emotionless GAG assistant to Jacen).

    I might post some more thoughts on this later on, but its kinda late now where i am.

    Superb read though, i highly recommend it.
     
  10. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 328.9/42 = 7.83
     
  11. DVader316

    DVader316 Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2000
    Pretty decent book but probably the weakest in the series thus far. Not enough tension between Jacen and everyone else in this one, which has really made the series what it is up until this point. Im also finding Alema's constant escaping at the last minute to be borderline ludicrous, too. I dont really understand why they decided to bring her back, and unless they're planning on making her Jacen's apprentice (which doesnt make any sense when Ben is factored in) they might as well just kill her off. All she really is is an annoying sideshow that grinds the main action to a halt.


    6.5 / 10
     
  12. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 335.4/43 = 7.80
     
  13. Loclown

    Loclown Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 10, 2005
    1-I liked the book, but it could have used a bit more fighting, space and hand fighting.
    2-I liked the J-J-Z love triangle scences. You just know Zekk is going to end up biting it, but not until he gets real pissed off.
    3-Did anyone else think Ben's mission was like LOTR and get bored by the long walk?
    4-I used to like Jacen going bad, but now I'm just getting bored by it's slow process and hate how he is so favored and always controls the Gov's decisions.
    5-Loved all the friends getting back together, and love any scene with Lando, Han and Leia back together. So funny.
    6-Glad some other Jedi finally got some mention, as well as Wedge and his family.

    The rest of the series needs much more of the remaining NJO characters. For all we know now, they have matured and should be great Masters. In this time of war and Sith trouble, they need a strong, united, Jedi front. It will be interesting to see how ends up having to fight in the end.
     
  14. sidious618

    sidious618 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2003
    I'm only going with a little review this time as I'm feeling a bit lazy at the moment.

    Personally, I think the book could have lost about a hundred pages worth of material as the middle of this sucker dragged like hell. Also, is it just me, or does Allston seem to write the female characters as extra bitchy?

    To be honest, I was hoping for some more from this book. The last fifty pages were outstanding but what came before it lacked depth. Another problem is that this whole thing doesn't seem big enough for a nine series book. A civil war is good but surely that could have been a trilogy? Plus, our two main villains, Alema and Lumiya, are both cripples. Not very threatening.

    I think it's time they uped the ante a little bit. Sacrifice sure will be the big test.

    7.5
     
  15. JMJacenSolo

    JMJacenSolo Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2006
    My knee jerk reaction to that that I agree that the series needs a more clear antagonist and the pacing is too slow. But that's really more out of frustration at having to wait than anything else. If you take a step back and look at where the series as a whole, its going to end up as four books of buildup, the pivotal turning point in the middle book, and four books of all out war to wrap it up. A very good balance. Considering my biggest complaint about the PT is the horrible decision to waste a whole chapter on Anakin's origins and the chosen one nonsense instead of fleshing out the Clone Wars and Anakin's fall to the dark side, I like the direction they took.

    But as for Exile on its own terms, I think it was a bit bloated and seemed to meander at points, although not near as much as Bloodlines. But I think there was enough humor at those times to make it at the least bearable, and there was enough forward momentum at the end for it to leave a good taste in my mouth. I give it a solid but no spectacular 7/10
     
  16. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 349.9/45 = 7.78
     
  17. dianethx

    dianethx Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2002
    9/10

    I enjoyed this one as much as Betrayal. Although I'm still hoping for a Jacen turnaround (yeah, like that's going to happen), I'm enjoying the long slow slide into Sith madness. I especially liked the Ben character this time. His choice to abandon the girl and then rescue her shows that he's still a good kid but needs to be removed from the monster-in-training as quickly as possible. My only quibble was the Luke/Lumiya battle when Luke had the chance to kill her and didn't. [face_shame_on_you] At least Mara is now aware of how bad Jacen is getting.

    I'm reading it again!
     
  18. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 358.9/46 = 7.80
     
  19. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Finally finished this one. The short version of my thoughts: Allston has his strengths as a writer. Unfortunately, his style is not conducive to the greater tone that LotF requires, a tone that is being exhibited through the work of Traviss and Denning. Exile is by far the weakest book in the series thus far.

    The slightly longer version:

    Characterization. It?s so important that I?ll say it again. Characterization. In Exile, this intrinsic area of story development is continually weakened thanks to Allston?s ever-present desire to have just about every character sounding like a comedian during the direst of circumstances. This style may have worked the X-Wing books, where a sense of common man?s camaraderie reflected on the atmospheric tone of the running narrative, but I simply can?t accept Luke Skywalker offering a wisecrack over the fact this his wife was lucky enough evade both a booby trap and certain death. Nor can I see the character of Leia being so joyously light-hearted when the Falcan engages a Bothan squadron, and she proclaims ?Yes, we?ll go shoot down the bad furry people for you.? True, Han and Leia always maintain a flirty, loving byplay, but this particular instance was too closely related in both situational and timeline terms to the events of Tempest when Jacen ordered his parents to be shot down. Given this, and Leia?s former standing as a peace-seeking politician and current role as Jedi Knight, I just don?t see the character marginalizing imminent deaths by employing humor in such a manner. Moments like this occurred all too often. In fact, Allston has it that every couple portrayed in the book is pretty much exactly the same. Mirax accuses Corran of dressing up in her clothes and using her makeup. Comedy ensues despite the fact that the players are in the midst of an important planning session. Wedge, in his X-Wing and ready to embark on another mission where death for at least one side is imminent, is spurting out ?sweetie this? and ?sweetheart that? over the comm.

    I could go on, but I won?t, other than to say that humor has its place, even in a decidedly more serious backdrop such as LotF. But with Allston, every character is an Allston character. This doesn?t work in shared-world fiction. Luke can?t be an Allston character. Luke has to be Luke.

    To Allston?s credit, however, Jacen Solo was pretty much the only character in this book that didn?t step out of a Seinfeld episode. Unfortunately, this integral character didn?t really do anything else either, other than stray from established characterization parameters. An early scene where Wedge so easily gets under Jacen?s skin got the Solo Sith off to horrible start. We?re talking about the cockiest, most egotistically confidant man in the galaxy. Regardless if Wedge was the snide hero from the X-Wing books, Exile is not an X-Wing book. Jacen shouldn?t be pumping his first in frustration over Wedge?s banter. Jacen should be walking all over this character, whether verbally or physically. In terms of the more inner, psychological aspects of Jacen?s continuing descent, nothing new or noteworthy is portrayed. Jacen, more than at any other point in the series thus far, is relegated to a caricature. I needed something more than some examples of the aggressiveness that has already been well-documented during three prior books.

    Unfortunately, Allston was too busy having characters blast their way through exciting chases and narrow escapes. Allston is very much a point A/point B type of writer. He exhausts the bulk of his sentence construction on physical descriptions of characters and their movements, yet rarely stops to engage these characters on an inner level that delves into the perception of the (often distressing) reality they?re currently engaged in.

    I want to know what Han and Leia really think about the painfully evident truth that their son has become a violent maniac. I want to know why Luke has taken notice of the circumstances involving Jacen some time ago, yet con
     
  20. Whizkid

    Whizkid Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 11, 2003

    I agree with you about some of the wisecracks that seemed out of place, but the Jacen/Wedge confrontation was fantastic. Wedge has had 40 years of military/political experience compared to the few months Jacen has had since he joined the GA military. Jacen is no Vader yet.
     
  21. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Average score: 363.9/47 = 7.74
     
  22. LucasBuiltMeHotRod

    LucasBuiltMeHotRod Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 28, 2002
    ill give it a 7.5, it was enjoyable and i like Allston a lot, but nothing really eventful happened!
     
  23. ConservativeSoldier

    ConservativeSoldier Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2005
    8.5/10

    Allston did a great job tying up continuity, expanding it a bit, and bringing back things from the past where they made sense (Fyor Rodan's cameo was brilliant--I hope he becomes a major antagonist to Cal).

    The problem with Exile was its rather straightforward plot. There was little deviation and little in the way of surprises. Denning, IMO, happens to be quite good at surprises, which makes his novels more exciting.

    P.S. Where in the hell did Aurra Sing go?
     
  24. J_K_DART

    J_K_DART Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 2001
    I really enjoyed the book, several scenes were "laugh out loud" moments; especially the taras-chi, that made me hoot - "Talk about off the topic." The whole book felt well-constructed and refreshingly so; well-written. I'd go so far as to rate it at 9/ 10, an unusually high score from me.
     
  25. colojedi7

    colojedi7 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2007
    I felt like Exile was a return to an earlier era of Star Wars. I loved the return of Lando, Wedge, Iella, etc. It felt like Stars more than Bloodlines or Tempest. I guess I really like Allston's style of writing. I didn't feel the humor was out of place like some people did. The whole LOTF series is extremely dark and depressing and a little taste of humor here and there keeps it from becoming maudlin.

    Overall I rate it a 9/10.