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

I totally agree. Anakin Skywalker had a lot of issues. From losing Qui Gon to losing his Mom, to being a slave. Jacen had nothing but love and support his whole life. To me that makes Jacen way worse than Vader. Vader could never bring himself to kill a member of his family.

 

If I had to review only the first half of the book I'd give it a 4/10. Almost nothing happens and for probably the first time in the series that actually bothered me. I didn't care for several things in the book such as Luke's instant cure psych session.

Luckily the second half pretty much saved the book in my eyes. I still don't like either Denning or Allston as much as Traviss but that isn't enough to effect my enjoyment of the books in a very significant way. The second half was great tons of action and the ending was very satisfying with a nice cliffhanger. I'm glad they put in the preview of Revalation too or I'd have went insane waiting.

Overall, I'd give it a 7.5/10.

 

6/10

Had its moments but really dragged in some places. Continuity seems a little weird (Caedus' lightsaber was taken from him at the end of Inferno...).

However, Caedus really truly feels like a Sith Lord for the first time in this book (before he just seemed 'evil') and I loved every scene that involved him. Especially the last one. Funniest moment in the novel?

"You obviously inherited your intelligence and political acumen from your grandfather".

BURN.

Caedus doesn't even recognise it as an insult. Beautiful.

That said, I didn't appreciate Luke's opinion that Ben is smarter than Anakin Skywalker. Ben continues to be the Mohinder Suresh of LotF.

I'm also convinced that Jaina and Jag will be on the way to hooking up by the end of this series, the overt reference to Jag's white lock of hair for the first time in the series - as well as his "having once seen the future of his name, his line" in Jaina - has "Imperial Family" written all over it.

As for the Revelation preview. Well, I think we can safely say that "Optimus Prime", the Greatest "Autobot" of them all... WILL return. I just hope it's not via flowwalking.

 

Average score: 315.85/38 = 8.31

 

Having been tough on Aaron Allston in the past, I'm very happy to say I think he has turned in an absolute gem in the Legacy of the Force.

Most -- if not all -- of my criticism of Allston has centered around the absolutely ridiculous prose featured in all of his previous works. Now, I don't know if he got a different editor or what, but this book easily his cleanest to date (oddly enough, I thought Karen Traviss also turned in her most well-crafted work with Sacrifice): Most notably, his usual reliance on sentence fragments is gone -- in fact, I only saw a handfull in the entire book. Now, in Fury, Allston actually uses real puncuation, and works within gramatical rules to create timing and rhythm -- amazing! I don't care how this transition happened, I'm just glad it did. It all worked to create a MUCH smoother read.

By cleaning up this aspect of his writing, all of his skills have become stronger. I've always thought Allston is sound in construction, and Fury shows it: The plot always moves forward, is driven by action, and is never weighed down by fat.

As for the story itself, couldn't see any problems at all. To me, Troy Denning has done a lot to help this series resonate with me, and now in the first part of the last leg of this series, Allston has helped this. I now believe Jacen IS a Sith Lord (I love the fact that Allston pounds the theme of Jacen's real death happening in the Yuuzhan Vong War). And I love the feeling of numbness that surrounds Han and Leia: They've accepted the situation, but they're never going to be the same. Because of this, a feeling of joy rushed through me when Leia discovers that Allana is her granddaughter; in that moment, Leia knew the little girl was all that was ever good in Jacen.

And if Allston had any doubts about his story, he just added lightsaber action. It was absolutely awesome to see as much Kyp, Kyle and Jedi action in this book. ut again ... it all served the story -- that's why it was all so effective.

I loved it -- Allston smacks this one out of the yard.

9/10

 

9/10

I just finished the book. I love Allston's writing style and his sense of humor is second to none in the SW universe. Some of the little digs just had me chuckling. I also loved the ending with Jaina and Jag - it felt beautifully right.

Jacen was really evil in this one, full of emotion. Almost a stalker to his daughter, he kind of creeped me out. I loved Jacen's lightside character and it just about kills me to see him this insane. Ah, well....

My only quibble was with the Centerpoint demise and him leaving his ship in the midst of battle. What was that all about? It wasn't a smart move on Jacen's part and I could see that it was written for a plot point rather than moving the plot along with characterization.

But otherwise, stellar!

 

Average score: 333.85/40 = 8.35

 

Finished it and liked it. Was a quick read and entertaining, but I was confused on the Commenor plot line that didn't seem to go anywhere. Overall pretty good. 8/10

 

Average score: 341.85/41 = 8.34

 

I thought the book was well written, however, it is clearly filler to prepare us for the last two books. Also, I really feel like Celchu or Katarn should have been actually killed instead of resurrected in the next sentence (yes, Allston fooled me both times on that). Additionally, Alema should have been offed in Dark Nest, so I'm thrilled that she was finally ended.

8/10

Oh, and I do like that Ben isn't a complete tool (literally and figuratively) anymore. I think I enjoy his scenes the best really.

 

Average score: 349.85/42 = 8.33

 

I think this book did a real job of bringing the minor characters to the foreground. We have Seha, Kyle, Thann, Valin, Jag, Kyp, Zekk, and Wedge all doing really important things in this story. It was really nice to see someone besides a Skywalker/Solo do something. Also, I agree with Caedus actually feeling like a Sith Lord in this book. I think it was best shown when Saba gets burned and the two Skywalkers look at Caedus and he just says "One down." I also really felt for Caedus when Allana gets taken off the Anakin Solo. He still has some of his humanity in him, even if it is really twisted and most likely insane.


9.5 out of 10

 

Average score: 368.85/44 = 8.38

 

Not to get side tracked here, but I think you are missing a key component here. Yes, it is true that Jacen had nothing but love and support his whole life, but it is also true that Jacen was greatly traumatized by his imprisonment by the Vong. It obviously changed him and how he looks at the Force (and family) forever. It also resulted in him seeking a different path than the average Jedi, which led to his five year sojourn and a great change in his powers and overall abilities. All of this has led to the slow death of Jacen Solo and a rebirth in the form of Darth Caedus. In many ways, the opening of Legacy 1 is very apt here: Caedus was indeed 'born' during the Vong war, although of course no one knew it at the time.


Anyway...

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice seeing the Big Three kick some ass with the help of the younger generation (particularly Jag, who Im liking more and more as the series goes on). Wasnt crazy about how easily Katarn recovered from what should have been a mortal injury, although I loved Alema getting her neck broke. Glad they finally closed the book on a character who had become worse than a parody and was nothing more than a distractant from the main action. Im also looking forward to reading about the fallout to the Allana reveal, too.

8 / 10

 

Average score: 376.85/45 = 8.37

 

The GOOD

I really enjoyed this book and it was a page turner definitely. The best parts of the book were the Jag parts as well as the Jedi missions. The parts with Saba, Ben, and Luke carving their way to the bridge of the Anakin Solo reminded me of Qui-gon and Obi-wan in Episode one on the Trade Federation cruiser at the beginning of the movie. That kept coming to mind.

The BAD

The battle in the asteroid with the mynocks was random and at parts I was confused. I wished Katarn got more page time and really duked it out with Jacen and it happened to quick. I'm glad he didn't die though. I admit I was a little sad Alema died.

The UGLY

Jacen stalking his own daughter.


I give it 9/10

 

Average score: 385.85/46 = 8.39

 

Finally got my review up, one can read it here: http://theforce.net/books/reviews/r_Fury.asp

Frankly, I enjoyed the read, but thought the book was somewhat weak despite that.

I ended up giving it a 1.9 out of 4, which translates to a 4.75 out of 10

 

I do enjoy dissenting opnions, but... really, I found that review as terrible as your Inferno one. It seems to miss a lot of points about the book, while focusing on things such as the cover, the back blurb, and a lack of spelling errors, which is a real shame when you consider that, whether intentionally or not, it represents theforce.net to hundreds (if not thousands) of readers. For years before I began posting at these forums, I would always read the reviews here on theforce.net after reading a SW novel, in order to compare them with my own. And for years, even if they disagreed with me on a book, the way they wrote their dissenting opinion was coherent and well thought-out, but I really can't say that for your last two LOTF reviews, Stephen. Sorry if I sound like a pessimist, or even like a jerk, but it's a real shame that nobody else is providing a different opinion on those pages.

 

I actually quite liked the reveiw, and thought it was kinder than my own.....................

 

Average score: 390.6/47 = 8.31

 

Things that I liked:
-Luke and Ben's conversation atop the abandoned Imperial base.
-Vibro, the anti-Tenn Graneet.
-The chapter with the K-wings brought back many fond memories of the scenes with Tuke and Skids in the Black Fleet Crisis.
-The final moments of Alema Rar, especially her final words.
-I'm not sure how to put it, but even though it was a small part of the book, Zekk calling upon the dark side was one of my favorite moments. Up until now, I thought that he would be the last person to do that sort of thing, but it seems to emphasize the desperation that he felt. The end of that scene, where he tries to set it aside but only hears it laughing at him creeped me out. "Forever will it dominate your destiny" indeed. Well done.
-Maybe part of it was anticipation, but the scene where Leia and Han discovered Allana's parentage was like the icing on an already delicious cake (well, that was the best metaphor that I could come up with )
Things that I didn't like:
-This was really a quibble. I understand that there is a chance that organs can be missed, which is pretty much what happened, but Kyle's survival felt a little this side of unbelievable for me. There were some other fairly minor things that brought it down in my estimation (as have brought it up too), but I can't really articulate them.

Overall I liked this book and I hope to see Mr. Allston writing Star Wars again.

9.7 out of 10.

 

No, you don't sound like a pessimist or a jerk, if people do not think I'm providing enough details, or thoughts, in my reviews then I need to hear that.

If you look closely, I follow a distinct format to every review I write.

1) Details about the book - title, isbn, page count, author
2) Comments on the Blurb - because that's important for a book, and getting the thing sold. It's a teaser for what the story contains if you will
3) Plot
4) Characters
5) Mechanics -- grammar, typos, spelling, continuity
6) theme
7) overview

And I can admit that those last two LotF reviews were not as long as say the Sacrifice review. Fury was about 500 words shorter, while Infernos's was nearly a thousand words shorter. Of course, that could be part of the reason why I gave them lower scores than earlier books as well.

Additionally, I notice that you focused on my last two LOTF reviews, was it just those, or did you feel similar things on my earlier reviews, or event he Death Star review which sat between the two LotF ones.

Anyways, what exactly were the points that I missed? Because I clearly state that I couldn't see a stand-alone plot for the book in my review. Just chess pieces being moved around on a board for the LOTF overarching plot. There's a lot that happens; there are some 'feel good moments' and even a couple of good fight scenes. Yet, despite the fact that I liked reading the book, I don't think it was that good of a book, and I'm certain it wouldn't work as a stand-alone novel.

thanks.

 

Kidan, I think your review could have spent less time talking about what you didn't like and more detail on what failed to hold the book up. I would have found informative the level of action, credibility and realism of storyline, knowing what new factors developed the plot forward, satisfaction of finale and depth of new characterisation for characters undergoing dynamic change.