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

Some decent action pieces, but the book is ultimately pretty much a mess, done in by some bad pacing.

4.6 out of 10 (and that seems generous in my estimation)

 

I never did give my rating. .06/10 would be the best I could do. I've already reviewed, but I agree with most of what others have found lacking in the books (Jedi - Sith) and the over-inclusion of the Mandos. The "My name is Darth Caedus and I'm a Sith" bits made me cringe. But the author had no choice but to do this because she and the other authors have done an absolutely miserable job trying to show that Jacen actually is a full fledged Sith - the only thing that could be done was to have Jacen, the Jedi and hilariously, the non-force sensitives proclaiming that he is most certainly a Sith to convince us.

 

Average score: 189.91/27 = 7.03

 

6/10

Good
--Luke & Ben

--The Empire. The fallout of The Battle of Fondor 2 could set up the beginnings of the Fel Empire, which I'm really looking forward to.

--Battle of Fondor 2

--Jaina & the Mandalorian Ex-Jedi guy (i'm terrible with names)

Bad
--Mandalorians. Too much time is taken up with these guys. They're overpowered and boring at times. Their entire plot could have been used as a secondary role in one novel IMO. I liked them better as mysterious mercenaries for hire and could handle their own against Vong.

--Daala. She comes out of nowhere to help win a major battle?

--A cop outsmarting a Sith Lord.

--Tahiri used as a Sith apprentice. Couldn't a new character have been developed from the start of the series to fill this role?

Ugly
--Jacen being allowed to live by a couple of Mandos. Come on.

 

I wavered on the number to score this latest addition to LOTF. The part of me who really enjoys Traviss' ability to get to the heart of the characters, to see their POV really liked the book. Traviss does a great job of showing a bigger galaxy, sure she focuses on Mando's, but through them and others like Shevu (a character I really really like) we see what the "normal" beings are like. So that was good.

Other "good" parts: clearing up that Mirta was not only too old for Ben (I'm so sick of that kid getting "shipped, but that she got married......the Jedi illusion to trick Jacen!! Jaina and Mirta striking up a true friendship. And anything with Pellaeon.

Then there were so many "mixed" things:

Ben being too old. Why would Luke ask Ben to coordinate the Jedi pull out from Endor? You mean he couldn't have just asked Jag to do it and Ben to assist?

Caedus' mixed abilities, at one time able to drop a planet's shields, but later unable to sense deceit in Shevu? (I understand the exhaustion thing, but really)

Caedus and Tahiri (oh have a romantic fling! Maybe that might make you semi-interesting)

Daala...I've mixed feelings for her.

This was the first LOTF book I didn't read in one sitting. I just didn't feel the urgency. I knew there would be no surprises.

Traviss did create a setting that was easy to picture in my mind, from Beviin's farm to the Fondor battle to Tahiri's rescue. That and her strong characterizations are her best skill.

So, yes. I liked it, but not as much as Bloodlines. 7 out of 10.

 

My thoughts on this novel have been posted in the discussion thread. I found it to be easily the worst novel Karen Traviss has ever written, and by far the worst novel since the ending of the NJO.

Not to say that I didn't like some things. The way she handled Ben and his arc was very well-done. I enjoyed seeing how he has matured from the petulant unappreciative teen he was in the beginning of Legacy. The political relationship between Pellaeon and the Remnant Moffs seemed dead-on as well.

But there were far too many errors and things wrong with this book. Continuity issues, Daala issues, socio-political commentary issues, Tahiri issues, anti-Jedi issues...it was just a big giant mess. For as staunchly as I've defended Traviss in the past from what I saw as baseless accusations (blatant anti-Jedism), everything negative said about her came to fruition in this novel. I can only hope in the future she returns to how well she can write. The Republic Commando series has been fantastic, and her other two entries into the Legacy arc have been good as well. Revelation, however? 1 1/2 out of 10

 

Average score: 204.41/30 = 6.81

 

I finished the book this morning and man do I feel cheated!

The good...

-Pallaeon's death, while a bit too anti-climatic in my opinion, was well done.

-The return of Admiral Daala was a move I never saw coming! Niiice!

-Ben's investigation was kinda cool, especially with Mara's spirit.

-The space battle, while yet ANOTHER SPACE BATTLE, was fun and intense

The bad...

-Too much Niathal! Her presence made the majority of the book feel like a set up for the big action...that never really paid off....yes I know the Fodorian space battle got crazy, especially when Niathal and Caedus went at it, but at that point I sludged through so much pseudo-political pants that I totally lost interest....

-Jaina's training...I was very excited about this at the end of Fury, especially knowing that Traviss is the go to author for Boba Fett. But it seemed like her training consisted of getting punched in the gut and how to fight like you dont know how to fight. Weak!!!

-The mandalorians...okay okay, I know they are Traviss' bread and butter, but the mando-speak was just annoying!!! Totally thrown in their for the sake of the author's time and efforts not to be wasted.

-Boba Fett has been totally ruined in my opinion. He was my favorite since ESB and through the Bantam years/early DH comics, etc. But now he's basically a grumpy leader of a backwoods right wing militia group. And WE ARE READING ABOUT HIS MARITAL PROBLEMS?!?!?! Worst. Move. Ever!

-Tahiri...I dont understand all the praise her character has been receiving in this thread...I thought she came off like cardboard!!!

There are lots of other things about this book that bothered me that I dont feel like listing. Its all been said already.

But on a final note, it really bums me out that this is book 8 of a 9 book series....I feel like we should have been at this moment halfway through the series and left the last 4 for a more personal story, hence ROTS. Denning is awesome though and based on Inferno I totally have faith in him to pull it off.....and HALLELUJAH for this being Traviss' last LOTF book. May she stick with her video game books and say the hell out of the mainstream story line forever!!!

PUT ME DOWN FOR A SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED 2 OUT OF 10

 

Average score: 206.41/31 = 6.66

 

I've yet to pick up the book - and haven't read any posts in this thread (or any other with Revelation spoilers) other than Havac's updated ratings... but the ratings just keep plummeting.


...not filling me up with a lot of hope.

 

Well, mathematically speaking, that's what happens. The average score range runs from about six to ten. So early scores in that range will create an average in that range. However, even just a small handful of people giving it abysmal scores can, early in the rating process, drag the overall score down, because a one is always further from the average than a ten. It doesn't necessarily reflect overall sour opinion -- just that some people are decidedly sour about it. Probably as many people have given it very good scores as have given it horrible scores. It's just that since the average is already on the higher half of the one-to-ten range, even a perfect split between one and nine ratings will bring the average down. That doesn't mean that the book is therefore better than the score suggests -- really, the score doesn't suggest anything. It's just a number. It's up to the reader to figure out if they like it or not, which is why reading the reviews and the viewpoints and the issues raised will always tell you more than a raw number. And even that is no substitute for reading it yourself.

The score just gives me something to do.

 

The good:

Caedus
Luke
Niathal
Tahiri
The Mandos finally meshing in with the main plot and hopefully gone from LOTF

The bad:

Jaina and her training
The Mandos
How Jaina, Caedus, and Tahiri were written when encountered by Mandos
Ben going into long-winded explanations of how he is basing everything on the law. I understand he wants to be taken seriously and wants to be fair but it was taken too far.
Leia and Jaina defending Jacen against a 15 year old boy who just lost his mother
Never getting to see Jacen's crimson lightsaber in action
Tahiri not getting a Sith name

8/10

 

Average score: 214.41/32 = 6.70

 

I finished the book last night and decided to sleep on it before writing a review. I felt the beginning of the book dragged and the end of the book dragged. It took me forever to want to get through the last 50 or so pages. I wish the book had ended on page 371.

I've discovered that Traviss put a lot of fluff into this book. To get the page count up perhaps? A lot of phrases were redundant in nature and that bothered me. Also, sentences seemed written in to justify what the mandos could do like "She shouldn't have been able to beat the Jedi's reaction time, but she did." Is that supposed to make me feel better? If you know she shouldn't have be able to beat it, then don't write her as being able to beat it.

I was also very disappointed in Jaina's training. My expectations were different from what showed up on the page. It seems like Jaina has more training in the culture of the Mandos than anything else. Perhaps I'm missing the point. I understand she has to be a different person to beat Jacen, but I wanted more actual training scenes. Not psychological stuff.

I really tried to get into the Mando storyline and care, but I don't. I miss seeing Mandos as ruthless bounty hunters and nothing else. They were way more awesome that way.

I appreciate Traviss' attempt at humor in her novel. Some of it was appropriately placed and others were not and definitely made me roll my eyes as opposed to laugh. More of it was inappropriately placed, but I guess if it was her first time trying humor than I can understand not quite getting it.

Too many Naboo references. Seriously...not that many people are going to have fond Naboo memories. I was annoyed.

I liked the Fondor battle. Best part about the book, imo. Loved the illusion trick pulled on Jacen, Niathal finally breaking free from Jacen, and the Imperials showing up. I think this sets up perfectly for someone to come back and take control of the Empire. They now need a new leader.

I thought there could have been other Jedi named to be around. This is probably a Corran bias coming out, but it wouldn't have hurt for Jacen to recognize which other Jedi were with Luke when they were taking his ship apart. I almost think there was a point to him not recognizing them, but I can't figure it out. I need bluntness sometimes, I guess.

Ben was good. Loved the Ben parts. I still hate that he's a 'cop' or CSI detective, but I accept where the authors have placed his characterization thus far and hope he turns into a Jedi at some point soon. Mara showing up was a nice touch. I like how the Ben/Luke relationship is back to Ben caring for and liking Luke.

More GFFA, Empire, Jedi please and less Mandos touchy feely stuff would've made this book stellar. Instead I give it a 6.5/10.

 

Average score: 220.91/33 = 6.69

 

I agree that the book was a bit slow, but i still enjoyed it. I like the mando's, i feel like they have finaly been integraited into the central plot. The book losses a few points for the mados not killing jacen.

7.9

 

Average score: 228.81/34 = 6.73

 

I'd give it a 6.

The worst part of it is the obsessive worship of Mandos. Especially Gorab. Ex-Jedi turned Mando, and all he is is a mouthpiece for Karen's own distaste for the very thing that makes Star Wars truly unique in the sci-fi/space opera world. His story about putting down a hunting dog because a brain tumor drove it to attack everyone was poinent for me since I had to put my cat to sleep yesterday(she had a huge tumor on her shoulder), and it was afterwards that I'd read that part of the book.

I still can't get my mind around how a bunch of mercenaries slash Viking berserkers can come off like they've got some sort of moral superiority over the Jedi. Sure they've got some neat points to their culture, but they've still been warmongers for most of their EU career when they haven't been amoral bounty hunters. Most of their warmongering was in the employ of the Sith at that.

 

10/10.

This is the best LOTF book I've read. It had everything, space battles, civil wars, Mandalorians, Jedi, Sith, it had it all. I like how Boba made it clear that Luke and the Jedi could have taken Jacen out at any time, but because he's family they let him run lose and kill millions. I like how Traviss shows the average person's perspective on the galaxy, the kind of people who just want to make ends meat and protect their families. I like how Gotab was fine being a Mando, why is it that every force user has to be a Jedi to not be evil? I like how Mandalorians don't like Jedi, what have the Jedi really done to make the Mandalorians like them recently?

I like how there are people who don't trust the Jedi. I think governments really would like having a contingency plans if the Jedi tried to go back to the Jedi Lord days. I like how Pelleaon, though unfortunately dying in the end, ended up making a moral stand. I like Daala returned, say what you will about her she still beat Jacen.

I like Jaina's training with the Mandalorians, she didn't really learn any fighting methods, which she could probably learn from a holovid, but instead learned more in the arts of psychological fighting.

I also like Ben's portrayal. He acts like what a Jedi should be, an investigator. He keeps his mind in the real world and not meditating on every single thing. He thinks things through but he trust his instincts. Ben reminds me of a cross between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, he's going to end up being a great hero of the Next Next Generation.

I also loved the political side of this story. Niathal isn't a nice person, but she's also not evil. Jacen isn't a nice person, but he's evil. They seem similar but they're so different not by what they do, but by how they do it. Traviss get's Jacens personality the best. He actually seems like a threat and not his usual Cobra Commander self. He takes down a planetary shield with the force, when has he done something like that in previous books?

All in all this book is the best of the LOTF series. I hope Invincible is just as good.

 

Sorry about your cat. I couldn't have put it better. I came away feeling like the author truly disliked the force, the Jedi, lightsabers and the Sith. But that...that is Star Wars! The fact that Jacen never lifted his new and zany crimson blade during a 400 + page book was frankly incredible to me. It is these little details that just make his Sith persona seem like a farce.

 

9

One of the best LOTF books so far, coming second to Inferno. I actually liked the Mando scenes in this one. Boba Fett was more like the old KW Jeter Fett. Great battle scene over Fondor. Niathal, who I did not like in the beginning, has grown onto me. Pellaeon was awesome, as usual. Daala returns, which was a pretty good inclusion. Ben + Shevu = Win. The only thing stopping this from being a 10 was that there was not much Han/Leia action and there was only one battle (I was hoping for a galaxy-wide conquest by Jacen in this book).

 

Average score: 253.81/37 = 6.86

 

I'll apologize now for the length of this post, but I have a lot I wanted to say and I want to explain this as clearly as possible. I've divided this review up in more sections than I normally would, simply because I'm afraid it becomes a jumble otherwise.

The cover: Jacen looks like the lovechild of Andy Warhol and Dieter from Sprokets, with Skut Farkus' eyes and a mouthful of those wax vampire fangs we've all worn at some point or other on Halloween. He also looks more and more like he's wearing a green Holiday sweater every time I look at it. I guess we know what Jasa got for Christmas... and he's pissed.

The photoshopping of the space battle in the background and the SD hull look worse than things I've seen users here make for fan fics. That seems fitting, as Revelation is the worst fan fic I've ever read.


What I liked: Unfortunately this will be a shorter section than I would have liked.

The thing I liked most about this book was some of Jacen's characterization. There seems to be an attempt to dial things back to the Betrayal days (I would like to see more of a natural continuation from TUF, but this is definitely improvement).

For example, we see Jacen analyzing his actions in killing Tebut and finally making the connection that he's doing what he set out to stop! Still waiting for him to do similarly about Nelani, Mara, all the Wookiees, and, ya know, the whole vision of fighting Luke he didn't want to happen... But as I said, this is improvement. And I really appreciated the extra effort to get us away from the days of mustache twirling we've become accustomed to.

Some other things I liked in relation to Jacen were the scene where he realizes his eyes have changed to yellow, and also the way Jacen lost Luke in the X-Wing dogfight by putting the lives of civilians at risk and getting him to back off. I especially liked the way in which his influence over fleet commanders was presented through Niathal's POV over the comm, hearing them curse and scream at their crewpeople to motivate them with hatred? very effective.

There were also some elements of Tahiri's characterization that I liked, but I'll address that later.

Pellaeon's line about a gesture and two words was kind of cute.

And another thing I thought was good was the way Ben put pebbles in his shoes to change his gait and fool the security systems when he was looking for Shevu's girlfriend. I think Traviss is doing her best writing when she includes this kind of clever detail and would really like to see that level of care put into the rest of the story.


What I Didn't Like:

Traviss' writing style is all small, simple sentences, almost always turning inwards on the character than outwards. Some people may like this? I do not. I don't see much in the way of art to it, and it kind of reminds me of something I might see in a youngsters creative writing class. It does remind me of when I took journalism way back when, and the emphasis put on writing things so simply that a 4th grader could understand it.

There's rarely anything that's shown to us rather than told. If Caedus is sad, Traviss says that Caedus is sad? instead of say, having him look longingly out a viewport and letting us piece together what he's feeling.

The introspection takes a turn for the worst when it seeps into the dialogue. Most of the dialogue in Revelation is really pretty solid, but there are often moments when the characters start telling each other things that seem to intimate, like the way they think rather than what they're thinking. It's very awkward, like a soliloquy even though they're talking to another person.

As in Sacrifice and Bloodlines, there's a rhytmn to it all: Two paragraphs of introspection followed by a line or two from the character's thoughts, almost always closed with something sarcastic. The pattern and voice results in most characters sounding exactly the same.

And that's another problem that continues to be pervasive in Traviss' writing: All the characters

 

You have no idea. But even after many, many years, hearing customers remark "it must be so great to work in a bookstore, you must have so much time to read" - that never gets old. Although it's better than a chocoholic working at the Fannie Mae factory (at least for my waistline).

Thank You, YodaKenobi for a great review, and a perfect summary of this PT-like attitude towards the Jedi that seems to waft through LOTF. Mr. Angry Ex-Jedi's rant at the end of Revelation is a big reason I'm holding off on buying it. It's like Palp's "certain point of view" moral relativism all over again. Except in this case, it's worse. KT seems to think the Jedi are in fact worse the Sith, and make the Mado's look like the unsung heroes of the GFFA.