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

I'll go with 7.5. It would be higher if the ending wasn't so rushed.

 

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, ven after the spoilers. I even got wet eyes when Han and Leia came to approach Jaina holding Jacen's body.

GOOD:
-Jaina was actually an interesting character to me in this book, and I felt for her a lot.
-Ben is a Skywalker, the only Jedi who seems to still believe in hope and redemption.
-Caedus was a great villain for the finale, and really was the same Jacen back in Betrayal, just a Sith now, he had gotten through his transition stage.
-Zel twins were great, both funny and mysterious. There's definitely something more to them.

BAD:
-Zekk's disappearance was bad, I have no idea what they're planning but Jaina should have at least chosen Jag before the battle.
-Daala as new GA leader was shocking and unbelievable at first, but it's definitely hilarious and a bit Palpatine-ish. Wouldn't be surprised if Daala planned this with Lumiya.
-Epilogue should have been longer, more reactions and a better view on the state of the galaxy now. Like the things below.

QUESTIONS:
-I wish we knew how the Jedi coalition and Confederation negotiated to bring everyone back to the GA, what was the compromise?
-Do they ever find the truth about Nelani? Lumiya and her role in the war? Vergere's true intentions?
-What about the Antilles family?
-Did the shatterpoint training help Jaina in her duel, or is it for the future?
-What's going to happen to Boba and Mirta? How badly was Mandalore assaulted, is their revival over? The Verpine seem to have definitely been crippled, but a word on their fate would have been appreciated.
-Han and Leia, especially Han, seem to be in denial and hopeully they'll snap out of it soon.
-What will happen with Tahiri? We know she is cooperating with the Jedi at the end.
-Did Jacen fully return to the light and redeem himself? Where's his body?
-I'm scared for Luke, he was both awesome but too cold and manipulative, seeming too "beyond" and acting like an Emperor, he must still be careful of the Dark Side.


I had a lot of questions, but they can be answered in time. I give this book a

9.6/10

 

I'd say 7/10.

Good conclusuion and both Jaina and Jancen fights where well written. Way too many dropped storyline at the end. Daala seems interesting but totally thrown in for shock value

My hope for a year or two of no mega series but instead single books dedicated to different groups of character. Millenium Falcon will deal with the past and the new Sith Threat. Lets get Karen to do a Mando Wrap up. Then we can have the Jag/Jaina/Daala Political novel.

Instead of doing a series you have free standing books that all hint towards the future. Then when we get the next Mega series dealing with the Jedi/Sith war that we all know is brewing.

 

Average score: 143.49/19 = 7.55

 

I liked it. My only big complaint was that the ending seemed rushed. I wanted Caedus to die, and when he finally did, I was sad. I liked the focus on Jaina, and seeing her finally transform into "The Sword"

9.5/10

 

Average score: 152.99/20 = 7.65

 

10/10

Another masterful work by Troy Denning. Is there anything he writes that I don't like?

The Good:
Luke being useful
Jaina finally gets to be the hero of the story
Ben gets to be a useful Jedi Knight
Good writing
Jag Fel as head of Empire

The Bad
Daala, war criminal and imperial, head of the GA? I want to see where this is going.
What is Fel's new title, again?
No Chiss

The Ugly
Umm...wth happened to the Korriban Sith?


Overall, I'll still give it a 10/10.

 

Can I make a comment for everyone who gave a half-way-stellar review for this book? Why aren't you even remotely bothered by the lack of redemption in the story? Why are you...okay with the Jedi ordering a murder-instead of a capture or an attempt on redemption? This fundamentally underminds what Star Wars is-a story of redemption. So why aren't any of you reviewers bothered at all by that?

 

The Jedi legacy of redemption lies in Ben now. He redeemed Tahiri and saw the conflict in her. The other knights obviously don't believe in it anymore. Those who don't will probably become Imperial Knights.

The purpose was to show where the Order is headed. It's going to get divided. Expect some sort of conflict and arguements between Ben and Jaina in the future about the methods on dealing with darksiders. It will explain why Fels don't like Skywalkers very much in the future.

 

Ben redeemed Tahiri.

Jacen redeemed himself before Jaina killed him, in my opinion.

Jacen had given Luke, Jaina, Han, Leia, Tenel Ka, the Jedi and everyone in the galaxy many reasons to believe why he couldn't be redeemed. That he was another Palpatine, not Vader. He never admitted he wanted or needed help, either. He had severed his relationships with everyone, unlike Vader. Even Allana thought he was a bad guy who liekd to hurt people, and was scared of him.

 

At the beginning, yes. But then I remembered how mad I got when they spent at least four books sitting around and going "hmm, let's capture Jacen. I wonder why he's so evil." What was the last straw for me in that regard was when Luke didn't kill him in Revelation because he had to survive to Invincible. In my interpretation, Vader found the light side because his son's attempts at redemption recalled his love for Padme and his humanity. Jacen's love for Allana and Tenel Ka doesn't cause him to empathize with anyone else, proving to me that he is too far gone to be redeemed, although many disagree.

And this really belongs in the discussion thread.

 

This is not a discussion thread. I'm keeping a close eye on it. It's clearly stated that discussion belongs in the discussion thread; this is not the place for it. That's in the thread rules. Next people to discuss instead of reviewing get bans.

- Keralys

 

Okay, after deliberation I have decided to give the book a 4/10. My above review pretty much sums up how I feel in support of this score.

 

I liked the book. I'm happy that denning decided to leave out the extrainious political stuff, whihc allowed for a tighter focus on our main characters.

9/10

 

Average score: 175.99/23 = 7.65

 

I'd like to give this one a 4/10.

The good:

Jaina finally gets a somewhat important role (other than staring at Mandalorians like they're gods.)

Caedus finally gets it. I don't think there was really much chance for him to be captured. They had tried that, and had tried to end the whole war for the entire series, and it just wasn't going to happen. I'm sure if Jacen had been captured, he would have just become more and more angry, more sith-like, and far more dangerous, resulting in an escape, and an even larger and more explosive war.

The links to Legacy. I am thoroughly enjoying Legacy, and the nods to forming things up is nice, although alot of it seems without much preamble. Why is Jag leading the Moffs? We knew it was going to happen, eventually, but there is no explanation, no logic, and it would have fit better, I think, If Legacy had been scheduled to come out within the next few months, because then Denning would have had to make better excuses for why some things ended up the way they are.


The bad:

More Mandalorians. I never hated them more than when I started reading this series. They're out-dated, and belong in the Old Republic Era. Denning and Allston's biggest redeeming factors were that they essentially ignored the mandalorians. Period. In this one they get more time in the fore-front, and I absolutely hated it. I keep asking myself why Boba Fett isn't dead yet.

Size. Seriously, it was over too fast, and (I listened to the Audiobook at work) was over with it within about 6 hours. That's just far too short for a conclusion. Way too short.

No real resolution. Most multi-part series that Star Wars has given us has always had at least some of a conclusion, and this one did not. At all. It was too open, no real explanations for how things happened. It was rushed, and this (I think) speaks for Del-Rey's quantity over quality policy, and one of the reasons I've been disappointed with their books.

Admiral Daala. I thought her being brought back was simply a joke, and her being the Chief of State? Even worse.

Seduction. The Tahiri/Ben Seduction scene was revolting, at best. I think Denning was channeling some childhood fantasies, but it was absolutely vile, and something I just can't see something like that happening in a Star Wars novel, seriously.


Everything being said, I still enjoy most of Denning's books, but some of this was just...not even remotely enjoyable. At all.

 

Average score: 179.99/24 = 7.50

 

For the first time since Sacrifice I managed to remain spoiler free and even Sacrifice was spoiled for me accidentally when browsing Mara Jade's wiki page. Due to that, I am honestly still in something of a state of shock, as Invincible really, really hit me hard. I was so sad to see Jacen die. No, not Caedus, Caedus had it coming, but in that last moment he was Jacen, and... yeah. Just...

Thankfully, I have had a night to sleep on it, as after putting the book down at 3am last night I was close to coming on here and ranting about how I finally understood all the criticism others have given LOTF about the spirit of Star Wars having been lost and this no longer feeling like the films I once loved. While having slept I'm now not about to bash Invincible, I will return to my sentiments from last night after analysing it.

On the whole, Invincible was a wonderful story. I felt it was paced well and easily one of the better written episodes in the LOTF saga. Nickel One was great, the Nickel One duel was absolutely brilliant, despite my fears that the whole "Luke masking Jaina" idea would be completely silly. It served as a wonderful "ESB moment" for Jaina and the only thing that I felt bad about was that we didn't see the prelude to their final duel earlier in the series.

However, I felt the second half of the book felt a lot more rushed than the first. Another 30 or 50 pages would have made it so much smoother. Despite loving the Nickel One duel, I felt it made the Anakin Solo duel look terrible by comparison. The Anakin Solo duel was just so short and felt so less intense, I just wasn't feeling it the same way I felt the Nickel One duel. Likewise, I felt the ending was rather rushed. We had so little closure, which is fine in the middle of a series, but as the concluding part in such a long story I expected them to draw a line under everything, so was a little disappointed that not only was the ending a sad one, but that I felt absolutely no sense of a finish. I kept wanting to turn the page expecting there to be something more. I can only conclude that that cannot have been a good sign.

The Epilogue... eww. Talk about rushed Legacy setup. Jag becoming leader of the Remnant totally out of the blue? Daala? DAALA?! What. The. Kark? I am all for having the Remnant and Alliance get along. I am all for letting bygones by bygones. There is nothing wrong with a member of the Remnant becoming Chief of State, sure. To risk a Godwin, there is nothing wrong with Germany holding the presidency of the EU. It was be something completely different to let a Nazi war criminal hold the presidency of the EU. Daala is a war criminal. So, sorry, but no, just no. Any suspension of disbelief I may have with Star Wars completely fell apart with that and I have a huge suspension of disbelief and usually sigh and shake my head with a lot of the nit picking problems I read around Lit.

Jaina. Tainted by the dark side much? I honestly felt sorry for Jacen when he died. The guy was a jerk and clearly useless at explaining himself but Jaina was an assassin in that duel not a Jedi. All that talk about Luke worrying that if he fought Caedus he'd fall to the dark side, so Jaina goes instead, and what happens? Fall to the dark side or not, she wasn't acting like a Jedi. Now, maybe I'm being unfair, I don't know. The trouble is this is really the first time we have ever seen the life story of an unredeemed Sith Lord. Usually they're evil from when we first see them, e.g. Palpatine, so their death doesn't shock us. This is the first time I can think of where we've watched someone grow up and fall without ever being redeemed. But, heck, even Darth Malak got a chance at saying sorry. The fact Jacen didn't have any final words was just... hurtful. Especially when Tahiri got a redemption.

I also felt the way they wrote him walking around with a stab wound and needles in his face was just a bit too much. I'm all for blo

 

Finished it last night, but I knew my review would be a little lengthy, so I saved it for today.

The Good Stuff

Luke: Finally Luke is been portrayed like he should have been for a long time. I would argue as early as the beginning of the NJO. Luke Skywalker, Son of Anakin, Son of the Chosen One, Son of the Son of the Suns. He uses his power and foresight primarily to guide the actions of the Order. I thought the way he was clouding Caedus? visions was a brilliant touch. I thought the way he made tough decisions, but didn?t shirk from what needed to be done, even when it included risking his own son. I love that he could see many possible futures and was able to act so that the best possible one occurred. I thought the way that he used the Mandalorians? nature to his advantage and against themselves was brilliant (more on this later).

The Jedi Council: I really liked how the JC was handled at the beginning of the book. They knew how the conversation was going to go, but they still had to go through it and let Jaina figure it out for herself. When she figures out what they?re doing after the fact, Kyp?s just like ?Yeah. What?d you expect? We?re Masters.? A funny way to spin just how powerful they all are. I?m glad we?re finally past the days of them squabbling like a bunch of kids and Corran and Kyp always at each other?s throats. They give Han the same treatment when he wants to take out his anger on the Mofference at the end, letting him figure out that it won?t help any.

Jaina: Jaina finally gets her time to shine as the Sword of the Jedi. I thought her own personal struggle while still accepting what needed to be done was very well handled. She loved her brother Jacen, but Caedus is a threat that can only be exterminated. Also, I liked that she saw a clear difference between what she learned from Fett with what her own true beliefs are, and what it means to be a Jedi. She?s not just constantly in awe of the great and amazing Mand?alor. It was funny that Jaina asked Jag and Zekk to bunk with her while she was delirious from a concussion. Who says the authors don?t read fanfic? I also liked the interpretation of the Sword of the Jedi prophecy that Denning introduced. She?s not just a great Jedi warrior (though wars do not make one great ), but she has become a weapon to be used by the Jedi. Luke needs her to take on Caedus because he cannot do it without bringing vengeance. Therefore, she needs to do exactly what he needs her to so that the goal is met. Also, I thought her state of mind after killing her brother was perfect. She couldn?t bring herself to stop holding his corpse, telling herself that he?ll always live in her heart. Very beautifully done.

Darth Caedus/Jacen Solo: Caedus gets his act back together and realizes that he kind of lost in the last few books. We get him doing what he thinks needs to be done. He treats Tahiri as an actual apprentice. He takes out some Mando bucketheads to get in good with the Mofference. The Nightsister blood trail thing was an awesome new power. Glad to see he learned something other than flow-walking and Force hiding during those five years. At first I thought Jaina was having a Lady Macbeth moment, which I felt could have worked well on its own, considering the guilt she felt. I thought he was really bad*** when fighting Jaina, especially with only one arm. I liked how she was even thinking ?I just stabbed him through his chest with my saber! How is he still fighting!?? I probably could have done with all the needles getting stuck in him though. *shudder* Even as he died, he did everything he could to protect his daughter. Could this have been a sign of possible redemption? Or was he beyond hope? I?ll discuss this more a little later. And of course, I can?t talk about Caedus without discussing?

The Flashbacks and Jokes: What an amazing way to really bring home the emotional impact of what?s going to happen. We get Jaina?s love for her brother to expand upon the turmoil she feels ab

 

The Good:

-Allana not dying/joining the family.
-Jacen being responsible for saving her (and, I think, revealing that Jacen was still in him).
-Jaina finding her purpose.
-All the nods to Legacy--very nice.
-Boba (and the Mandies) being de-Karenized, just a smidge, and brought back to being heartless sleemos instead of "noble warrior nomads who have it all together"
-Ben. Always Ben.
-Tahiri's redemption.

The Bad:

-Han and Leia. They are so busy being "in love" that they don't seem all that bothered that their children keep getting butchered. I know they've written off Jacen, but still. This is their LAST SON. I thought their lack of feelings was very cruel and unrealistic.
-No Kyle
-Awkward conversations/dialogue
-The weird "We all know Allana is alive except Han " scenes at the end
-The Tahiri seduction scene. Ick.

The Odd:

-Those Hapan twins. What? Kind of an odd time to introduce new characters, but I'm sure they'll play a role in upcoming books.
-And that dialogue! Man, I just can't over how off-putting the dialogue was in this book. For the situation the crew was in, all the main characters seemed very detached from it and able to joke or make small talk. Yeah, yeah, "He's no longer Jacen", but he IS. A lot of denial going around. Not a lot of warmth in the Solo family right now--especially from Han.

9.5/10

 

The good

Caedus was brilliant.
Jaina was surprisingly entertaining.
The clear explanation of flow walking was greatly appreciated.
Ben Skywalker continues to develop nicely.
The duels (especially the first one).
Jacen smashing the Mandos.
Another aspect of the shatterpoint ability been revealed.
The revelation of what it means to be the sword of the Jedi.
The rather gritty death of Darth Caedus.
Tahiri rocks my boat (as much as a fictional character can)


The Bad
Not enough Luke
To much Han & Leia
What the hell was happening in regards to the rest of the galaxy?
The Jedi where far to ruthless for my liking (sending Jaina to assassinate Jacen, screwing the mandos and killing GAG troopers indiscriminately)
Jag Fel promotion was rushed and a tad ridiculous
Chief of State Daala ? absolutely bloody ridiculous


Rating 8/10

I have to say after this book I don?t really know if theirs any interesting stories that can be told in the immediate post legacy era.

 

Well, let's get this started then.

Denning has always been a hit-or-miss SW writer to me. His Dark Nest trilogy was basically a giant miss, while Star By Star, Tatooine Ghost, and his two previous LOTF novels ranged from pretty good to spectacular. After the way Karen Traviss basically screwed up the LOTF plotline in Revelation, I knew that Denning had his work cut out for him just to have everything make sense, much less conclude a nine-book series. When I saw the length of the book I was not exactly encouraged.

But I bought the book and read it anyway.

First off, there is no filler at all. This is a concise, to-the-point novel. The story moves relentlessly from scene to scene, never allowing the reader a chance to breathe. It was a long time in coming, but having a novel that is nothing but payoff is gratifying after collecting the previous eight books in the series.

Now for the rest, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly/So-So.

The Good:

Jaina Solo. It is about time Jaina was portrayed as an adult and finally shows signs of being the long-awaited Sword of The Jedi. Throughout the novel, the psychological effects of having to kill her brother were well-handled, and she showed a fantastic amount of versatility and strength. However, she shows she is also human. Realizing that fraticide is the only way to stop the war has to weigh on a person much, and I think that Jaina's internal struggle was perfect. I also liked she just wasn't putty to the Mandos, she was her own person, respectful of the Mandos and of what they taught her but realizing there was a clear difference between the Mando way and the Jedi way. In the end, though, even though she defeated Caedus/Jacen by traditional Jedi tactics, she needed to call upon Mando-like stamina and fortitude to win. That was perhaps the best way to handle what Traviss did in the previous book and yet maintain Jaina's identity as a Jedi. Finally, Jaina temporarily breaking down, holding her brother's body in her arms, was heart-breaking. One of the most poignant scenes Denning has ever written. It was just about time Jaina was treated decently, and I hope Jaina continues to progress as a character in the new galazy.

Luke. Yeah, he didn't take Caedus down. He didn't need to. This was Jaina's novel, but Luke still played a big role in the novel, confusing Caedus and using his foresight and the ability of Force visions to outwit Caedus and force the best possible outcome. The old war strategist in him also comes into play here, as he uses the Mandos to the Jedi's advantage in an uneasy alliance.

The Quotes and Flashbacks. Wow. What a poignant way of driving home of what was going to happen. The quotes made me reflect, because this is the eleventh year I've been reading SW books, and the first ones I read was the YJK. Reading those old quotations really resonated with me, and the flashbacks showing a kinder Jacen that we all know, from before Star By Star, was just awesome. They were handled really well, but also showed that Caedus wasn't really Jacen anymore.

Caedus. After the last three books, where he didn't do much besides cackle and decide to do something vicious, rash, and evil, it was about time he got his act together and become a real villain. He shows mastery of the shatterpoint and uses a brand-new Force ability, giving us a trace of what he learned during his five-year sabbatical. He treats Tahiri as an apprentice, he strategizes, but he is also clearly insane, as he proves much in the novel. His final stand, and his will to survive, was eye-catching. I couldn't mentally look away as Jacen stands up again and again and again from all the abuse Jaina gives him and it takes a final strike to the heart to finally do him in. At the end, he finally reverts to Jacen to save his daughter, the one person he still loves. A tragic, yet fitting, conclusion, that gives some hope that he forcibly redeemed himself for love. If that isn't a SW theme I don't know what is.

Ben. There is hope for the future o

 

i'd give the book a 9/10 and the whole series a 7/10

 

Well, the series sucked and completely ruined my favorite character but there's not much as can be done about that now.

THE GOOD:

Luke Skywalker:
Was amazing. Interfering with Caedus' visions (why couldn't he have had a chat with Jacen about visions of the future WAY back? This would've prevented him from even becoming a sith) plus he did an amazing job of letting go of attachment to end the war. Though he did seem a bit heartless using people and ordering Caedus' death. More on that later.

JAINA SOLO:
Finally a book that centers on her, she was marginalized to dueling practice or getting shoved around by Jacen for the first 7 books, and was subordinated to Mandalorians for the 8th. It was about time that she showed her true power, fulfilled the sword of the jedi role, and got the job done. Though I REALLY wanted more DIALOGUE between her and Caedus during the fights. Yeah he's evil and pretty near unredeemable but still, there's ALWAYS dialogue, even when Windu came to arrest Palpatine, and the jedi are NEVER the first to attack. Why should anything change now? But at least Jaina got banged up enough for her trouble. Plus she felt bad, I was glad that she at least seized upon any excuse she had to try redeeming him only to see that he was using her to get to the rest of the jedi. I'm glad she finally took a step back from Mandalorian thought but for Heaven's sake she was vicious, especially compared to Ben. I gotta feel like dialogue with Caedus could have at least accomplished SOMETHING but she never even tried. Of course given what Caedus has done to his other victims this is somewhat understandable. The scene where she's cradling him after he's dead was heartbreaking and I felt that that was a great way to show her regret and angst.

Caedus:
While I strongly disapprove of this entire series RUINING my favorite character, Caedus finally stops whining and letting his emotions get the best of him. He's still completely morally unacceptable, running 1984 style prisons, killing Isolder, darkening Tahiri, all with no remorse, but at least he's not killing willy nilly like the last few books. Plus his physical and force powers are absolutely unbelievable and could have been put to so much better use. His death as he warned Tenel Ka of the danger was gut wrenching as was the subsequent scene.

The flashbacks and jokes:
Corny and sentimental as some of them were, I loved the hearkenings back to the good old Jacen, the character who remains my favorite. I still feel like I can pretend that the books ended with TUF.

The Solo Skywalker family: At least they're back together and stronger for it. I loved the scene in the blastboat before they shot Jaina out. And whatever anyone says, i think the solo parents have already expended so much grief on Jacen's behalf that they're sadness on seeing his body was more or less appropriate.

Tahiri's Redemption: I hated her since Inferno but finally she gets it right.

Tenel Ka: What little we saw of her, putting her throne at the disposal of the jedi and blasting the moffs was quite good.

Ben Skywalker: At last a true jedi who can shoulder the burden, come back from the brink, and pull others back as well! If only he could've worked his magic on Jacen...

THE NEUTRAL:
The twins: Um? They were a welcome comic relief I'll give you that but they still seem a bit odd when you consider everything else that's going on.

Jaina's personal life: Finally Zekk's over her and she admits her love for Jag but... I dunno, I just can't classify this as good.

The Jedi Order: Way too ruthless and utilitarian for me, but at least they can let their emotions go when necessary, and they ended the war without taking over the entire galaxy or becoming sith. For now.

The end of the war: Thank God it's over but, what happened? Did the Remnant's forces magically force the confederation to stop fighting? Why is everyone all the sudden in such a "let's hold hands" attitude, was Caedus really that successful? Daala? I don't know much about her but really? A war criminal and vi

 

LOtF was a major letdown for me. Being a fan of the NJO I was hoping LOtF would solve the few problems I had with the NJO by being a shorter series. It didnt. That being said, I must say that Invincible did all it could to try and wrap things up, and it did a very good job of it IMO.

The Good:

- Luke, Han and Leia's role in the story. I loved how while they played an important role in the story, it was an important background role, and I feel that it is time for them to move into important background characters and let the youngsters have their moments.

- Jaina vs Caedus Pts 1 & 2. I enjoyed both of their duels. The first one was good with Caedus being led to believe he is fighting Luke, and then his confusion when he sees Jaina. The second fight was a little short, but still exciting. The aftermath with Jaina holding her dead brother's body, head in her lap, and promising him he will live on in her memory was very emotional and well written IMO. Even though Jaina knew Caedus had to be stopped, it still showed she loved Jacen.

- Ben's need to redeem and save Tahiri. This is the redemption story of LotF. Ben knowing what Tahiri has gone through, and knowing she can be saved just like he was. Then going about and redeeming her. Great!

- Luke deciding on a future and doing everything he can to make that future happen. Grand Master indeed.

The bad:

-The length. It was a bit short, it could have been longer and could have delved into some things they left open. But even though I didnt think it could be done. Mr Denning was able to basically wrap up the story in that page span.

-Daala. Whats the point? Why would everyone be okay with this mass murdering former Imperial warlong being GA COS. Couldnt they have made someone else COS? Even a new character? I didnt need to know what Daala was up to.

The ugly:

- Tahiri being a pedophile to get the job done. Gross.


My rating :
9/10