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

Average score: 397.9/51 = 7.80

 

9/10.

This book rocked, and I couldn't get enough of the Ben material. I Looooved the Ziost parts, and I honestly find the Dark Side influence on him MORE compelling than Jacen's fall. More insidious and subtle. Still, I hope Jacen jets in that Sith Meditation Sphere and has a cosmic encounter with the Sith of Old. THAT's where his Sith name should be bestowed.

Bitchin'.

And I enjoyed seeing the Horn and Antilles families, and having the Solos and Skywalkers reunited. I would like to see more of Leia's growth in The Force, with occasional Saba references, though. She should have the same potential as Luke.

Yay, Kyp's in the story- it should be HIM to confront Jacen.

Finally: when is Ben gonna lose a limb? ALL the Skywalker men lose at least a hand!

I sure hope the rest of the series continues with the Ziost-type exploration of arcane knowlege/artifacts. It reminded me of TOTJ.

 

Oh, and C3P0 and R2D2 need to have bigger roles.

 

Average score: 406.9/52 = 7.83

 

Ummmmm...

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Ah, but he was an improved cripple. Plus, we had Palpatine to make up for it and he kicked a ton of ass.

 

I am at two minds about this book. On one hand hand, I have to say I liked it. I can not really describe why... I just enjoyed reading it. There was nothing that would have really annoyed me - except perhaps what happened to Lalu Morwan and Aurra Sing? And then on the other hand, it is pretty likeweight book considering the subject matter and the end felt rushed and abridged. There was no neat little knot in the end which would have tied the different subplots together and characters like Jaina, Jag, Zekk and Lando were just forgotten. Perhaps none was needed. Still, it was not as good as Betrayal and felt more like the Enemy Lines -duology.

I give Exile 8.

 

Average score: 414.9/53 = 7.83

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Betrayal, and had high hopes for this one.

I won't say it disappointed, but I felt it lacked that spark that Betrayal had, although that can be attributed to the slow build up to Sacrifice. The confederacy coming together is a big plus, although I'd like to see some worlds other than Hapes declare for the GA.

I liked that it was much more of a Ben book than a Jacen book. Jacen doesn't really need to do much more to prove how far he's fallen until Sacrifice, whilst Ben needed to have some experiences away from Jacen and the GAG to grow as a character. The Ziost scenes do this really well, and connect well with his (unfortunately small) appearances in Tempest. Having it be his parents who make him rethink his actions is a nice touch. Ben is an interesting proposition in that there are so many interesting ways he can be taken for the rest of this series and beyond, and he's being set up nicely.

Alema's continued presence is also good. I can't see her surviving much further in the series, but by taking the spotlight off Lumiya works well in it keeps Lumiya a much more mysterious character. Lumiya's roll in bringing together the confederacy was also well done, but it's becoming increasingly obvious (to me at least) that Lumiya is working for others, especially since she seems to have extensive resources...

As always, Allston does the Corellian crew well. Wedge, Iella, Corran, Mirax, Booster and Myri all shine. The return of Lando is excellent, especially his banter with Han, and the Masters are magnificent, especially Kyp, Kyle and Cilghal. I'd like to see those three have more action, rather than just sitting and talking, but you can't have everything. Bringing back Phennir as Supreme Commander for the confederacy was awesome.

Jaina/Jag/Zekk grouping had far too little screen time for my liking, but what we saw was good. The big development, in my mind, is the regrouping of the big 4. Allston portrayed the dynamics between Luke and Mara, as well as Han and Leia, quite nicely, and it'll be good to see them working together in the future.

No major problems from this book, but I'm glad the build up to Sacrifice is almost over. I'm greatly anticipating it, mainly because of all the possibilities for what could happen. I'm even looking forward to the (expected) return of Boba Fett.

Exile - 8/10

For Comparison
Betrayal 8.5
Bloodlines 7.25 (although subsequent readings have made this better in my mind - up to about an 8)
Tempest 8.25

Overall series grade - 9.5

 

Average score: 422.9/54 = 7.83

 

Interesting. That's the word for this book. Interesting. It certainly advanced the plot, and developed the characterizations forward. Allston demonstrated again that he can successfully incorporate humor into what is, overall, a much darker tale. And the humor wasn't overplayed, which was something I worried about with his being the third author for this series. Interesting.

Ben's development was spot on, again, as i was hoping to see carried on from Allston's first entry into the series. There were several moments that I thought simply nailed the character, most particularly his birthday analysis of his interactions with Kiara. The fact that his story interested me as much as any other speaks well of Allston as well, since it's a challenge to make the faked quest of a 14-year-old boy stand up to massive galactic intrigues.

Other characters were well executed as well. I appreciated not spending overly much time with Luke or Mara, and the time spent there was well used. Likewise with Lavint, who was another nice entry of an original character in the universe - something I rather appreciate that Allston does: sublte use of new characters who support rather than subsume the other characters. She was a nice fit - prototypical smuggler, who's more than willing to support different sides as she sees fit, regardless of the motivations of those trying to use her.

There were excellent hints of what's to come for Jaina, and I appreciated (immensely!) the use of Jag as a foil for her again; that's something we've missed of late. Zekk was amusing, too, and the trio's interactions were well done.

Action sequences were well executed, as expected from Allston, if not so memorable as those in either Betrayal or Tempest.

My only significant complaint: The book was too short. Half again as long would have been about right.

8/10 (new rating style for me... don't compare to old ratings for older books)

*swirls cape about him and vanishes again into the night*

- Keralys

 

Average score: 430.9/55 = 7.83

 

Good Lord Lit posters, Sniper_Wolf here after watching hell freeze over. The icey shards have appeared in that fiery dominion over Exile, written by the typically incompotent Allston, is the most effective Legacy of the Force novel so far and the only one I would consider buying.

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Sniper_Wolf_the_Warmaster/thegood.jpg]
"Tut, tut. Such ingratitude after all the times I saved your life."

Exile's greatest strength comes from it moving substantially moving the narrative forward unlike the previous two entries- which will be touched upon when Lee Van Cleef shows up. The Confederation's formation added some urgency to the conflict instead of the idiotic Corellian Sector against the hundred thousands worlds of the Galactic Alliance. Making the standoff between the Alliance and the rebellious worlds somewhat credibile increases adds an element of tension to the ongoing political plotline.

This book also feels as if there is some cohesion between the various LOTF novels instead of the continuity clusterfrack that happened. Seeing the Alema plotline continued from Tempest implies that he actually read that manuscript along with Allston advacing his plots. Antilles is somewhat tolerable since his dismissal from Gejjen's administration is a nice shift away from his typical Gary Sue status, although him having the talkdown with Jacen still shows Gary Sue's stink. Captain CorSec himself, Corran Horn, doing something is long overdue. Corran is the best known Corellian non-film character, and why he was shoehorned into the corner instead of Han's nonsensical turn that defies all in-universe logic.

Luke and Mara acted far less idiotic compared to earlier entries in the series. Their hunting of Lumiya, inquiring about Nelani's death, and the Master's meeting should have been done back in Bloodlines, but it is nice to see them do something in regards to those actions.

Exile thankfully continues Tempest's lack of political preaching. Have the context done more by the actions than lectures helps make reading the novel easier.

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Sniper_Wolf_the_Warmaster/thebad.jpg]
"But you know the pity is when I'm paid, I always follow my job through. You know that."

My associate Jedi Vince is dead on in his review when describing Ben's plot as a bad video game. The stakes are never raised, the little girl on Ziost is a cheap attempt at pathos, and its dull nature distracted from the drive towards the climax in the other plotlines. The Almania section should have been cut with Ben going straight to Ziost to keep the story from dragging in worthless fat.

The ending just popped out of nowhere, which leads the reader to think that Allston hit a word limit. Something that does not equate to running into a brick wall should have replaced what was given.

Jag's Alema hunting team sorta just pops up now and then instead of playing a larger part it needed to. His interaction with Jania and Zekk was abysmal. Considering Jaina destroyed Jag's entire way of life and hurted House Fel raises the query on how Jag could even look at her.

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Sniper_Wolf_the_Warmaster/theugly.jpg]
"God's with us because he hates the Yanks too!"

Allston's characterizations suck. That simply is the only way to put it. Characterization is more than just how the character acts. The character's speech plays an important part. Everyone in Allston's little universe speak exactly the same with the most serious situations undercut by stupid puns and jokes. Joss Whedon's characters speak with idiosyncratic humor, but him and the writers on his shows can give distinct voices to his characters. Allston lacks that at all. Another major voice complaint is how the character's speech patterns change from novel to novel. Everyone in Allston's works refer to the Alliance as the GA when that never happens anywhere else for example.

Jacen/Lumiya continue to morph into completely different p

 

Average score: 437.9/56 = 7.82

 

Unlock and bump.

 

Thanks, Havac.

Very good book. It didn't quite reach the level that I thought Tempest did, but still a high quality entry in the series. It was nice to get back to a bigger scope after the more contained story from the last book and the continuity issues from the previous books seem to be largely absent from this one.

My favorite scene in the book by far was Ben's choice to leave the girl behind. I was completely shocked at what he was doing and almost cheered when he turned back and went to get her. In some ways, his storyline on Ziost reminded me of Anakin's journey on Yavin in Conquest, though it never quite reaches that level.

It's also nice to see Mara finally coming around on Jacen. I know she was happy that Jacen drew Ben back into the Force, but it was really getting frustrating how she was refusing to see what he was doing. Nice to see that she's no longer in denial about that.

Jacen's slide is still somewhat interesting as he seems to act without even trying to justify it these days. It's hard to believe that just over ten years ago in story time, he turned down ZS's power to use against one of the greatest threats the galaxy has ever seen. How far he has come (or not).

And it's so nice to see Lando back. He fits well into the story, and fits a purpose that is well beyond mere relief from a dark storyline. It seems like people forget he can do other things beyond blowing up Death Stars and saving infants from the Vong and it's a shame he's not used more often.

On an amusing note, seeing Indiana Jones a couple of days ago made me appreciate Leia's use of the Force to push the blowdart back into Alema's mouth (though I'd wish they'd kill that Twi'lek off already). I also liked seeing the female Duros admiral with the Sullustan aide since it reminded me of Stazi and his Sullustan XO from Legacy. That was a funny little coincidence.

Another solid entry, so I'm interested in seeing when the quality takes a nose dive that everyone else seems to say it does.

7.5/10

 

Average score: 445.4/57 = 7.81