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

Lightsabers deflect bolts, absorb lightening.

 

So a bowcaster bolt is more like lightening?

 

Just finished it. 9/10

 

9.5/10


I appreciate the fact that Allston is the only EU author that can actually make me laugh aloud. Allston's use of minor characters was also very much appreciated. The novel went by incredibly fast and it was great to see some plot points actually get resolved.


I wonder what role the New Sith Order will play. Will they show up in the next series or stay in obscurity until the events of the Legacy Comics?

 

Average score: 133.85/15 = 8.92

 

Alright, I've read it. Now, first off, I've never been one to exaggerate, but this is the best Star Wars book in a long time. Probably before the NJO, even. It had everything, it tied up numerous loose ends and gave mention to many minor characters. Even Jaden Korr and Lensi! The characterization was almost perfect, the storyline advanced considerably, loose ends tied up (finally the bug queen kicks the bucket), many references to past characters, even Jacen going arguably mad. I honestly can't give this book anything less than a:

10.0/10.0

 

Average score: 143.85/16 = 8.99

 

9.6/10

Everything was perfect...seriously. Allston knew what he had to deliver, and delivered it. I'll take off a 0.4 for the questionable scene on the bridge where Jacen and 8 ubiquitous YVH droids only wound one Jedi Master, as well as a few other intensely minor gripes

The Good:

Everthing, but here are a few specifics;

See Artoo and C3PO get some more page-time...I yelped with joy at Jaden Korr's 'anonymous behind his GAG disguise' bit, loved the Rakehells and the little details such as Lensi and Kral Nevil, as well as the many references to the finally admitted presence of the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Finally realising Jacen was completely utterly gone was when he referred to Anakin Solo as a 'brat'.
The Tebut scene was awesome, I don't know why, as was Alema vs. Jag. Tenel Ka wielded a lightsaber, so I guess that anachronistically vindicates the Tempest cover!
Kyp Durron, Katarn and Cilghal all demonstrating their prowess and Han shows he can still do what he's famous for!

To get the gist of what I'm saying...we have a serious epic on our hands here, with Allston obviously making his mark in his final LOTF novel. It was great.

And of course the resurrection of Kam Solusar!

The Bad:

Alema's phantoms just had me confused...and I didn't much care for Dician, who merely seemed like a rubbishy Dark Jedi
Sadras Koyan and Rikel (or 'Vibro' ). Both were written in Allston's 'insane style'; thus they acted like they had IQs of about 60.

The Ugly:

The cover, and the terrifying moment during which I thought they'd slain Kyle Katarn.

The I'm Not Sure:

I wanted Tarla Limpan to die in Exile, during the Dodonna's assault on the late, the great Centerpoint Station. For some reason I always want Admirals to die.
Yet, when Centerpoint obliterated Limpan and her proud fleet, I felt really sorry for the Duros Admiral. 'Be careful what you wish for'. I suppose that's just me.

 

Average score: 153.45/17 = 9.03

 

Surely you know that's impossible.

 

Definitely one of the better books of the series right behind Inferno. Allston has redeemed himself for earlier mistakes in the series. I didn't like how far the authors have taken Jacen's character. He's now on Alema's level of craziness. He was a much better villian when he wasn't Darth Caedus, he used to be cold, calculating and a menacing foe. Plus you had the inner conflict of him being somewhat right in his decisions on what was right for the galaxy. Since taking the title he's just become a pyscho, and all his decisions are illogical. The writers have blown the ability to do a Lighside Sith thing. Good things though: Great mentions of former characters, finally some minor one are getting screen time.

I give it a 7.

 

A bowcaster bolt is a solid projectile, and thus would disintegrate when it hit a lightsaber blade.

The point seems to be that Jacen is in over his head. At the core, he's a half-baked Sith who has lost control of himsef and the situation. When he and Lumiya were running both sides of the war, everything was going thier way. But without Lumiya to bounce ideas off of and to pull strings on the Confederate side, it's just Jacen and a dwindling number of supporters against the galaxy. With some more training and, quite frankly, a little less ego-stroking by Lumiya, Jacen could have been one of the greats. Now, he's just doing a long, slow descent into self-destruction. The shame of it is how many decent people he's taking with him on the way down.

 

Average score: 160.45/18 = 8.91

 

I'll give it an 8.5. This was one of the more fun books of the legacy series. It felt very much like star wars. That said, I think the fights could've been better, and some scenes could've had more detail.

 

Average score: 168.95/19 = 8.89

 

9.5/10

Best Star Wars book I've read in a while. Thank God for Aaron Allston! It kept moving, and we finally god good characterisations of Luke and the gang for a change.

The Good: Way too much to say. Luke acting Lukeish, Jaina maybe turning normal, Boba Fett's gift, Allana learning her lineage, Ben shaping up, Lando's galactic pimphood lineage secured.

The I'm Not Sure: Tycho going against the grain of his friends and doing something he though was right. I liked the conflict it created but I don't see why they put him in an X-Wing in the first place like idiots, and for a guy who defected from the Empire because they used a Superweapon to destroy his homeworld, he sure flipped on his friends quick to do his "duty" to make sure the new Darth Vader was safe from the Jedi and the GA had the opportunity to put a planet destroying super weapon in his hands.

My few criticisms:

The Bad: The cover. Isn't Ben like a young teenager? Why does he have the receeding hairline of like a 40 year old and resemble neither of his parents?

The REALLY Bad: The preview out takes from Traviss' Revalation book, particularly the conversation between Ben, Leia and Jaina. Wonderful, it appears after everything Jacen has done, burning na entire world, murdering a bunch of individuals to kidnap his daughter and hold her hostage, executing his own lieutenant, torturing Ben, and trying to kill his parents and other Jedis, suddenly Jaina and Leia seem too set against the blatantly obvious idea that Jacen killed Mara.

Oh, and great, once AGAIN we're going to have a family member run off and do something stupid on his/her own (Ben now, Mara before) because they have to protect the feelings and such of one of the most powerful and wisest people in the galaxy. It wasn't realistic the FIRST time it was done and Mara ran toward her Death while Luke slept the Sacrifice book away, Traviss. For the love of God, I don't want to see Ben do it too after we just got to see him act somewhat balanced an intelligent in Fury. Its like we're taking a step forward and two steps back.

 

Average score: 178.45/20 = 8.92

 

Overall, a rather eventful read for a paperback. Much of the stuff in here could have easily justified a hardcover, IMO. It was very well written, with a mostly good flow, although it had a slight "Event A, then Event B, then Event C" type feel." This didn't really bother me though. And since it's Allston, there was good humor at times. Overall, a great read! 9/10

 

Average score: 187.45/21 = 8.93

 

Well, I will agree that much more happens here than Inferno and I loved Inferno to an insane degree. And though less happened I loved Inferno more just for the Jedi action. That being said Fury was a great read. It seems *crossed fingers* that perhaps LOTF has taken a turn for the better. I love Allston. He'd dependable.

The ending did come off a little too perfect and as planned. Bit anti-climactic that way. I loved the twist at the end where Jaina suddenly realizes who she has to talk to about Caedus, her old master! That has me more than drooling for Revelation.

9.3

 

Average score: 196.75/22 = 8.94

 

8.5

It took me a while to get into it, even though the opening segments were fairly action packed. Colour me odd, but I've generally preferred the slower, more politically grounded books of LOTF, like Betrayal and Bloodlines to the "Adventure" type ones. This, like Inferno fits into neither category, but in terms of enjoyment, it's like a middle ground for me. Great to see Katarn graduate from the College of Dramatis Personae, (thought it would have been nice to see Jan) Allston's dialogue is quite good, and the series is consciously kicking into a higher gear for the final stretch.

Five Worlds Prime Ministers seem to be LOTF's "Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers" though. On that note, the introduction of Teppler and his little storyline felt a little forced, as opposed to Betrayal where it had flowed naturally. I like Jacen as a villain, frankly; the mix between mustachio-twirling, and terrifying stark raving nutter. One of my favourite moments was on the Anakin Solo bridge, when he realises that they're taking Allana. Allston ratcheted up the tension there beautifully.

The ending was quite abrupt, but I quite liked it all the same. Can't wait for Revalation. I'm not ashamed to admit that Traviss is the only author of the three who has consistently entertained me through the series (Exile and Tempest really didn't do anything for me). Still, great read...maybe reading it after the exemplary Death Star hampered its true quality in my eyes...I'll have to wait for the re-read somewhere down the line.

 

I'm gonna give it a 9 because it was a thrilling read and I didn't want to put the book down for a second!

 

Average score: 214.25/24 = 8.93

 

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Sniper_Wolf here reporting live from Bizzaro World. In this odd and backwards land Allston provides the best novel he penned in the last part of Star Wars' worst story arc. How did Allston manage to bring most of his faults under control despite the overall terrible material he had to work with?

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Great novels, regardless of if they are commercial or literary works, contain no filler. Fury does have some filler in the form of the scene at Commenor and the Korriban Sith POV though it is minimal compared to other LOTF novels. The novel moves at a brisk moving the players into the positions they need to be and bring closure to running plot lines to set up Invincible. The novel lacks the massive amounts of logic gaps that was rife in Inferno and Sacrifice especially (see YodaKenobi's fantastic review of that massive ball of stupid). So far this is the best constructed LOTF novel from a technical POV.

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From one very hot sociopath to a former hot sociopath I am extremely pleased to see Alema finally die beyond any doubt, and by someone other than Denning. Alema should have stayed dead at the end of Dork Nest. Most of the pages she sucked up should have been used to develope Jacen's fall and the Confederation/Alliance conflict. Glad to see Jag off her. Besides giving Jag a reason to exist in the series it shows that Force users are not all powerful. Jag's and Zekk's interactions are amusing though Jaina needs to fix her love triangle soon.

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Fury had quite a bit of pwnage happening. In particular the lack of cohesion between the Confederation members. Yes Aaron, I know you are from Texas you old Reb. The squabbling between Confederate States members did almost as much to hurt their war effort as the Union Army did. Seeing the rest of the Confederation embargo Corellia because of Centerpoint shows an inherent weakness in the Confederation that will hopefully lead to its downfall and readmittance to the Alliance.

The "civil war without a clear good and bad side" theme that LOTF has struggled with through the entire series actually worked this time when the Corellian Prime Minister wanted to destroy Coruscant to counter Darth Stupid's random bombing and asteroid throwing. Jacen, Niathal, and the rest of the illegal usurpers are not in much of a different position than the Confederation traitors. I just wonder why this type of ambiguity was not done back in the first novel.

Fury does have a few weakness. The largest one is the most obvious.
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Colonel Jacen aka Darth Stupid still sucks. He apparently picked up some more overacting inbetween the novels since he acts like even more of an idiot. Wow! You killed another red shirt Jedi! You now realize your little brother was irritable, oh my! Jacen now spouts a neo-Imperial ideology to his mother despite never harboring any admiration for the New Order. Darth Stupid brain cell counts fall even more since the fall of the Empire lead to his birth as Karen Traviss love to use italics. We all know that Jacen, this thirtysomething evil creation of doom desperately wants to be evil like the other great thirty superpowered villain of our time.

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Darth Stupid desperately wishes his name was Gabriel Sylar. Sylar represents what Darth Stupid should have been doing during LOTF. A cerebal threat linger over the entire arc besides having the ability to defeat our protagonists instead of shoot