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

YodaKenobi



Sad but true.
But surprisingly I enjoyed it more than Sacrifice and Bloodlines despite the Jedi bashing and the Mando glorification.
Traviss isn´t a bad writer, but her writing and Star Wars are to me like to puzzle pieces that don´t fit together very well.

5/10

 

Thank you so much for your post! The effort you put in is just amazing, and should go to show just how bad this book is. I couldn't agree more with about everything you said (I tend to cut Boba Fett some slack when it comes to "He's awesome" stuff...I mean, he's Boba Fett I also don't mind Ben as a "cop", it's making him that much better a Jedi as well. I do have issues with his deifying Lekauf, however.) People who actually liked this book need to read your post and then go back over the book and see if they can really live with liking it. There was just so much wrong in the book, from continuity stuff to overblown levels of anti-Jedi sentiment, that I can't see how anyone could like it. This book does so much damage to the Star Wars universe and its characters; everything you listed about Tahiri, about the mishandling of Niathal, about anti-Jedi attitudes in people that attitude should not exist in, about no one daring to defend the Jedi against numerous slanderous assaults (most of which are contradicted by the reality presented in the movies and other EU works), about Jaina just taking it and delving near the Dark Side in doing so, about Daala magically gaining everyone's respect instead of disdain & her subsequent use as an anti-Jedi mouthpiece, about Mando invincibility against a Sith Lord was all dead-on and does real damage to the universe. I still maintain that there were books in the NJO worse than Revelation, but that's a personal thing. Revelation is still one of the worst ever published.

This is exactly what I was trying to point out. For the last time, since people still think this, I am not a "homophobe" or fearful of "liberal mind-controlling". I'm looking at it from a literary and common sense perspective. There's no plot or storyline or other reason for this specific gay relationship to exist other than for it to exist. It's there to be political. It's there to be politically correct for the sake of being politically correct, and dare to stir up anti-gay sentiment. That's not what these novels are for. Make your statements some place else.

More than agreed as well. I absolutely love the Republic Commando books, and the other two Legacy entries worked as well. Sacrifice may even be my favorite of the arc. But quite literally every bad thing ever said about Traviss, that I've ever defended Traviss against, came to light in this book. It's not only horrible because of what it does to characters and the Star Wars universe, but to Traviss herself. Her detractors baited and set a trap, and she didn't just walk into it she ran into it. She's much better than this, and I hope she learns and grows from the experience.

 

Average score: 278.71/43 = 6.48

 

Should there have been no mention of Shevu having a wife seeing as it didn't add that much to the story? If the lines about Medrit had been about him being a ladies' man nobody would have cared and it too would have added nothing to the story beyond establishing his character the way this does. I didn't even realise there were comments that could be interpreted as Medrit being gay until just now. If you want to see blatantly unnecessary references that are there just for the sake of having them there to be politically correct go watch an episode of Torchwood, you'll realise that the occassional one liner about Medrit is trivial.

We're well past the age of gay characters turning up "just to make a statement". They turn up all the time in TV, literature and video games these days and this isn't the first example in Star Wars. I don't recall this kind of criticism to Juhani being lesbian though, that was met with the usual wolf whistles and curiousity lesbians tend to recieve. That was no less "unnecessary" though in that it really didn't add anything to the plot other than being put there "because we can". You could practically write a thesis about the kind of "statements" being made in Legacy about single mothers, adultery, promiscuity and so on. Nobody seems to really care about any of those either though.

 

Except Juhani was not canonically a lesbian, so your point falls flat there.

However, there's no point in most of Star Wars for us to find out ANY of the relationships of any of the other characters but... yet we do. Sure, it may be in there for the sake of being there but that's not an egregious dampening of the Star Wars universe the way the death, dark and despair is. Star Wars has always been about love and hope and conquering the darkness with both. It shouldn't necessarily matter to you where it comes from, should it?

 

Great review YodaKenobi.

Maybe someone should resurrect the sex thread if the is Juhani a lesbian in canon or not debate is going to show back up.

 

Except Juhani was not canonically a lesbian, so your point falls flat there.

Yes she was.

 

My point wasn't really so much to do with the canonicity of it as simply the exposure. If you take Mass Effect as an example, Commander Shephard can be female and can have a lesbian encounter with Liona. The way these things usually go, Shephard is probably canonically male, but thats irrespective of the exposure the game gave to the issue.

Admittedly Mass Effect was criticised in the media but that was more to do with the sex scenes and the nudity than the existence of a lesbian romance subplot. It highlights though how homosexual characters (particuarly female) aren't uncommon anymore.

 

6.48 is absurd...just absurd. It deserves a atleast a 7 just for being well written.

 

8/10

I enjoyed the hell out of this book. It was great to see Daala come back and take everyone by surprise with the MCPS on her ships. I thought Ben's stuff was exceptionally well done, showing his maturation into adulthood. I really liked Niathal's personal dilemma with her situation, and I like that she's set up a government in exile.

Sure, I had a few problems with the book. Not nearly enough Luke/Jedi action. I'm not really sure why Jacen cared so much about rescuing Tahiri (who isn't getting the greatest character treatment herslf). And I thought Jaina's training could have been more in depth, though I do get the impression most of it was "off camera."

Admittedly, this book focused a lot on Fett and Mandalorians, but I've sort of made my piece with that a long time ago. It's what she's best at writing. And she does it well. So let her. Do we begrudge for Allston bringing Wedge, Rogues, and Wraiths into the stories? No. Do we hate Stackpole everytime he has Corran as a central character. Not that I can recall. So what if she favors them?

Yeah, more Jedi action would have been nice, but she more or less accounted for what they've been doing in the mean time. Most are moving them to the new base, the rest helped the Fondorians with their sneak attack and then covered med ships and the like during the battle. Sure, they could have taken a much more active role (again), but I'm not going to blame one author for that when it's pretty clear that it's a flaw inherent in the LOTF. Jacen could (and should) have been stopped back in Sacrifice, if not earlier. All that needed to happen was for Ben to suck it up and tell someoone other than his mommy. There you have it. Jedi team up and take him out. Instead, we have to deal with four more books of Jedi largely wussing out and not doing what needs to be done, which all comes to a head with Bard'ika laying the verbal smack down on Jaina at the end of the novel.

The problem isn't with one author abusing the Jedi, it's with Del Rey expanding three books worth of plot into a nine book series.

But when all is said and done, I enjoyed reading the book. I couldn't put it down and I enjoyed the ride. So sue me. Bring on Invincible.

 

Cool. I was wondering when I would finally win these things

Thanks, everyone else

 

Except one of our main gripes is that it wasn't well written and YK's post points these out.

 

I have to say that, without doubt, this was one of the most well put posts I've read. It put into words what I couldn't, about my feelings on how Traviss' writing reflects the Jedi poorly and Mandalorians as near-perfect entities.

If Traviss never writes another Star Wars novel again (other than her little RC series), I'll be ecstatic.

 

I seem to recall Ben reflecting on how blessed the Jedi are that they know they will see their loved ones after death. That other species say they will, but only Jedi know they will see them. That to me seems like a big plus she pointed out the Jedi have. One that I haven't seen other authors point out. Not even the Mandalorians have that kind of assurance.

Also the Mandalorians seem like great people becuase from the Mandalorian perspective they are great people. The Mandalorian POVs are not going to be, "We are evil, we are nothing compared to the great Jedi." It's going to be, "We're great, Jedi stink." Also when a person enters a new culture they tend to look for good things about it. I've been to numerous countries and I know how Jaina would feel being a stranger in a foreign land. One tends to look at the benefits of the new culture, simply to try and fit in.

Also since most of the Anti-Jedi speech was from Imperials and Mandalorians, who are supposed to dislike Jedi. It would be out of character for them to be saying, "You Jedi are great!" And I know a lot of people complain about people acting out of character. So the fact that Imperials and Mandos aren't the Jedi's biggest supporters should be a relief in a series that is accused every day of having out of character characters.

 

How does that explain Jaina's POV? Or Luke's?

 

Average score: 286.71/44 = 6.52

 

Can I change my original score of 7.5? After re-reading the book, and after reading similar viewpoints on here, who were better able to put my feelings into words, I can't, with good conscience, give this book a good score.

Drop my 7.5 down to a 3.5. The 3.5 is for the fact that, in and of itself, the novel was a good read. But in the context of the 9-book series, and in retrospect of Traviss' attitude toward the Jedi, I can't score it what I originally did.

 

I will review later. Even though agitated with Mandos, I fgive it a solid 8. Ben's struggles brought me to tears several times. Poor kid. And jaina ia a rock. She always was. She is her mama's girl. Go SWORD!

 

Average score: 294.71/45 = 6.55


No changing scores. Don't even ask. If you didn't like the book as much as you thought you did (I'm not sure how that works) you shouldn't have scored it as you did. If you're subject to changing your mind, you should have waited before you put up a score. We're not revising the score every time anyone changes their mind and wants to drop .03 off their score.

 

YodaKenobi's post was one of the best I have read in all my time on these boards. Supreme kudos, YK.

I could probably write a post as long as YK's about why I dislike this book, but it wouldn't be nearly as eloquent. I'll try to keep it relatively short:

- The Mandalorians might well be an interesting culture. However, they have little place in this series, and Traviss has worked so hard to hammer it into our thick skulls that they are the rightful overlords of the galaxy that I am heartily sick of them. And frankly, for all Traviss's condemnation of Jedi and their powers, she's built the Mandalorians into worse Mary Sues than the Jedi ever were.

- Fett. Good heavens, everyone either reveres or fears him, yet what exactly has he done to deserve either reaction? Traviss spends a lot of time telling us how great Fett is, but precious little time showing him doing anything worthwhile. And he's sure not the epic Jedi killer that Jaina keeps saying he is.

- Even Traviss's non-Mandalorian OCs are Completely Awesome. Take Shevu, for example. Now, I don't personally mind Shevu. He's a nice enough character, and I can see how he could play a role in the story. But Traviss takes care to make sure that we know that Luke, Ben, and even Jacen all trust him implicitly. Yes, your OCs are the tops, all right. We get it.

- Daala. Really, was this necessary? Why don't we just bring Bevel Lemelisk back, too?

- The blatant, over the top, incredibly obvious way this novel served as a vehicle for anti-Jedi propaganda. Over and over and over again, in every possible way, at every possible turn, we read how inferior the Jedi are, with hardly a single word offering another viewpoint. I'm honestly left wondering why Traviss is even writing Star Wars if she holds such an amazing level of active hostility toward one of its core concepts.

- In relation to the above, YK is absolutely right when he says that this book feels more like Traviss's personal voice than that of the characters. I find that very disruptive. I can respect her point of view, but that's not why I read Star Wars books. Write the characters, please, not yourself.

- Jaina is more or less ignored for the whole series, then finally brought in for a leading role in the eighth book. Does she do anything worthwhile? No. She spends the whole book being treated like the subservient class dunce.

- I don't buy Tahiri's characterization. Wait, let me phrase that more specifically: I could see her behaving this way if she were a Sith apprentice. However, I don't see any reason for her to have gone that way. I don't even see any reason for this continuing, all-consuming obsession with Anakin. No proper groundwork was laid for this transition.

- Jacen is not a convincing Sith Lord. At all. He's either very forgetful or mentally unstable, to change opinions and contradict himself so often; worse, I can't figure out whether the authors want us to read him as a madman or whether this is their attempt at portraying a Sith Lord. He's rarely intimidating. Everyone and their brother seems to have him figured out, and at the very least, he could have been killed three times now in the series, by Luke, Carid, and almost certainly Jaina if Fett had let her (and since when does anyone let Jaina Solo do anything?). Yet here he still is. Yeah. Not exactly the sort of villain I feel like cowering before.

- Pretty much everything that touched on Mara's death. There were a few touching remembrances of her from Ben and Jaina, but everything else was insulting. Mara falls for Jacen's illusion trick and dies (even though she faced almost exactly the same thing in Betrayal and didn't hesitate for a heartbeat), but a random Mandalorian doesn't blink. Right. She reappears as a singularly ineffective Force ghost. What's with the charades deal? This whole angle could have been dropped. Thank whatever powers exist that the reunion with Luke was offscreen and I didn't have to read that being botched any more badly than Luke's ridiculous words of greeting

 

Average score: 297.71/46 = 6.47

 

I did not like this book. In fact, when it got to the Battle of Fondor, after Luke's Force tricks, I just started skipping over large parts of it. Also skipped over most of the Mando stuff, except for the bits with Jaina. I do not like the Mandos at all, and they took up WAY too much of this book. Too much has been made of them and Boba Fett. I would have preferred that he stayed in the Sarlacc.

The only bright spots in this book for me was Ben's investigation of his mother's murder, and his interactions with Luke.

Star Wars is about JEDI and SITH, not Mandos!

My rating: 1 (only because of Ben, otherwise it would have been a 0)

 

Well, I personally stand by my previous rating, but I never imagined there was this much sheer depth in this novel. I usually read Star Wars for escapism, and I never thought to look so deep into thinks like YK mentioned. I for one will be re-reading some of my old favorites just to see if there is as much hidden commentary as there was in Revelation.

Also, YK, you rock. Just for taking the time to write your review. This was a triumph.

 

Just finished the book, so time to chime in with a review.

Aside from some pacing issues, I found the story to be pretty solid. I've enjoyed the entire series so far, and while this isn't my favorite chapter, I think it was a good quick read. The author has a way of expressing emotion and emotional tension that I greatly enjoy. And it's refreshing to see some situations from new and different points of view. I know that there is some disagreement about the value of what characters say, but I take everything to be an opinion. And it's good to see so many opinions and ideas presented throughout the narrative.

8/10

 

Fair enough. I should have waited to give my thoughts after I re-read it, as I often catch stuff I missed the first time.