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

I'm just going to post a link to my review in the spoiler thread: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=26646235&brd=10003&start=26822245

My score was 7/10.

 

The 'ae' probably looks weird because its a real world variation of the Latin word 'caedes', which means to kill, slaugher or cause bloodshed (according to wookieepedia, anyway).

 

I believe Tawnia goes by the username motherofcaedus. See the Darth Who? thread. Several people claimed submitting Caedus, but she was the only one credited.

 

The Short Review: Excellent nine tenths of the time and mediocre one tenth of the time.

The Long Review: The Mandalorian plotline was one hell of a botched story. It was boring, self indulgent and not very well written. It had some good parts but overall I groaned whenever one of their sections came up.

Now to the good stuff.

Mara Jade's death was not a surprise it was telegraphed from the beginning. I don't think that was a mistake, though. A sense of dread permeated throughout the book and it grew the closer we got to the end. This was definately one of Mara's best books and I'm glad Karen did well by her. My only complaint was that poisoning her to death seemed a little... blase, I guess. However, I think the poison will lead to revealing Jacen as the killer.

Lumiya's death DID surprise me, though, and it was just as well done. Luke killing her was very telling as is the fact that he did it in cold blood.

The after effects of Mara's death was what worked do well. The small Luke passage after it brought a few tears into my eyes. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. When Han tells Luke to hang in there I loved Han more than I have in a long time.

Jacen also fared well in this novel. After a sense of feet dragging in the last book things really took off with this one. Bam. He takes out Gejjen. Bam. He takes out Omas (another very effective scene). Bam. He kills Mara. Bam. He names himself.

The political plot was extremely well done with Cal Omas being portrayed beautifully in this novel. I really felt for the guy when they arrested him. We've been with him as a leader since, if I recall correctly, Destiny's Way. Sad to see him go even if he wasn't as good lately.

A very, very good book that would have been so much better without the Mando plot.

9.5

 

Out of the previous four books in the Legacy of the Force series, I found Bloodlines to be the weakest. So, I did not have high expectations for Sacrifice. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book was possibly the best so far in the series.

The prologue, written in Mara?s first person, was a little out of place with the rest of the series, but a nice touch nonetheless. This book was a quick read for me?I started at about three in the afternoon and was done by ten at night. Of course, I?ll admit to having skipped most of the Mandolorian parts, because they simply don?t interest me. However, I found that this book was an easier read than most Star Wars books; previous contributions have their moments when there?s a space battle or lightsaber fight or political discussion and I tend to glaze over the words and get confused later on. The writing was smooth in Sacrifice, though, and I was able to read it in a leisurely manner without having to re-read a paragraph five times in order to get a mental picture of a certain scene, which was very nice.

In Betrayal, Jacen?s character made sense to me. I cannot say the same for the next three books! The characterizations were either completely different or slightly different from each other in Bloodlines, Tempest, and Exile. However, I thought Sacrifice blended the existing elements we are shown on Jacen?s fall and the character made more sense to me than he has in a long, long time.

And, of course, the two best characters in this book were the ones that ended up dead. Lumiya and Mara were different yet alike, and they were both brilliant. What damage Karen Traviss did to Mara?s character in Bloodlines was, for the most part if not all of it, healed in Sacrifice.

Ben is a character of great potenial, and he always has scenes that touch me?in Betrayal, his interaction with the Anakin-bot at Centerpoint, his realization that Jacen may not be such a hero after all in Bloodlines, and his eventual softness to the little girl in Exile. In Sacrifice, his reaction to firing on the gel-form and the death of Lekauf, a character I had no interest in until now, is sad without being melodramatic.

Luke, as well, gets some character development he was long due for. While you can debate the morality of his decapitation of Lumiya, I for one think it was freaking awesome. His reaction upon finding out that it was not Lumiya that killed his wife did wonders for making him interesting again, in my opinion.

This book may have also brought about the turning point for Jaina. She has so much potential; I can only hope that soon, she?ll use it.

And, while Allston is generally seen as the funny one, this book had some scenes that made me snicker. Whether they were supposed to be humorous, I?m not sure, but honestly, between Shevu saying that having red hair in the GFFA is a ?genetic minority? and Jacen taking a bubble bath while eating takeout, I got a few laughs in.

Overall, 9/10

 

I have to say that I found Sacrifice to be a mostly enjoyable if very flawed book. First of all, we'll start with the pros and cons.
Pro
-Jacen finally starts doing something. Yeah, he's still seeming to be little more than a power-mad bureaucrat, but that's better than nothing.
-We have a name for our new Sith Lord. It's only at the very end, but now it's official.
-Luke vs. Lumiya. This was a good duel, and one that will have ramifications for the Skywalker clan in the future.
-Ben starts to think twice about his GAG affiliation. It should have happened sooner, but at least now we are finally seeing some independent moral reasoning. Someone needs to every now and then.
-Jaina starts to get proactive. she was the prophesied Sword of the Jedi, and for once she starts to take that seriously.

Con
-Jacen as almost pure bureaucrat. So far, we haven't seen him really take advantage of any sort of superior mastery of the force to do stuff. At this point, he seems more like someone else's tool than anything else. As much as he craves admiration, the almost universal reaction to him seems to be one of disdain, even from his allies.
-Luke and Mara in "How Not To Raise Your Child." I don't know whether this is willful ignorance or just honest-to-god stupidity, but either way, I had a hard time not yelling in the middle of the library "HOW DO YOU NOT GET THAT YOUR SON IS IN THE CARE OF A DARK SIDER?!?!" Fortunately, my more rational side realized that this would not be prudent at this juncture. Nonetheless, as some have pointed out, it seemed like Luke and Mara were bending over backwards to try and appear "cool" and "hip" for their son so that he would not resent them. However, there's a bit of a difference between letting your 14-year-old son have a beer now and then, and letting said 14-year-old participate in government-sponsored paramilitary police raids. Neither one of those is particularly smart, though the latter crosses a line between something that does no harm to anyone outside the home and something that undeniably causes harm. In any case, as a friend of mine once told me, if you're a good parent, at some point, your kids will probably hate you, but they'll respect you, and eventually get over it. Luke and Mara seem to have not learned this lesson.
-The choice of Mara as the eponymous sacrifice. This seemed to be made more as an attempt to find someone suitably shocking to the fan community, but not one that will really piss off the vast majority of the fans (i.e., avoid the "Chewbacca-Killer" death threats sent to R.A. Salvatore). This is as much a commentary on the sorry state of certain members of the Star Wars fandom as it is on the fecklessness of LFL in their story choices.
-More Mandalorians, More Troubles. Yes, we get it. Karen Traviss likes the Mandalorians. However, I'm not entirely convinced that this love is shared by the rest of her collaborators. After all, they haven't even been mentioned in any of the non-Traviss LotF books. As a result, this seems more like one author's determination to shoehorn in her favorite characters in spite of the wishes of her collaborators. Thus, this plot thread seems doomed to obscurity. It would almost be better to write a series of novels after LotF finishes up detailing just what, exactly, the Mandalorians were up to during this time period than to try and force them into the front and center of the galactic conflict.
-No Han and Leia. Seriously, they are in many ways the heart and soul of the GFFA, and serve to make any book in which they appear more enjoyable. Han provides both wit and a healthy dose of perspective from the ordinary mortal, while Leia has enough wisdom to see things as they really are. They seem to have a much clearer perspective on events than Luke and Mara, and anytime they are removed, the first couple of the Jedi seem to get dragged down.
-The continuity errors. These have been noted in previous reviews, so I don't nee

 

Average score: 252.2/35 = 7.21

 

YodaKenobi - great review

 

I know that

But it doesn't look weird because it's derived from a real word (take every other Darth but Zannah, for instance) it looks weird because it is the only Sith name to feature an "ae".

Once I see the same sort of thing cropping up in other Sith names throughout the ages though, it'll be better.

 

And yet not.

Anakin had a lot of time to comprehend what he was doing. The entire scene as he sits agonizing over it in the Jedi Temple, mirrored by Padme's own reflections, as that haunting theme plays in the background is a chilling piece of cinema, made all the better because there is no dialogue. SHOW, DON'T TELL.

When he arrives at the Chancellor's Office he knows the stakes. His friend of many years is a Sith Lord. The Sith killed Qui Gon, his first hero and father figure. The Sith took his hand. The Sith are behind the war.

But the Sith Lord, his mentor, is the only one that can help him save the woman he loves.

Anakin's sacrifice is his whole life, the Jedi Order, his best friend/brother/father in Obi-Wan, and what is left of his innocence. He does it for power, out of a selfish desire. There is no going back. And he has time to think about it. To debate with Mace. And he CHOOSES not to block the lightsaber or pull Palpatine to safety. He cuts off Windu's hand and commits to the Dark Side.

Jacen Solo kills Mara because he is trapped by his own arrogance and stupidity. Because he is going to die. Out of instinct he jabs her with a needle. Then he rationalizes it later, adding layers of complexity to a simple act of self preservation. Was he going to kill her before? Sure. But he doesn't see it as his Testing until after. Anakin knew what his choice was, embrace the Sith and the Dark Side for more power? Or remain a Jedi and accept the will of the Force.

Now who has a more interesting, believable, and compelling Fall?

 

It might help if you actually talked about the turning point of both characters rather than just Anakin's. Jacen had turned to the dark side long before he stabbed Mara.

His sacrifice of Ben's devotion was the point where Jacen passed the threshold into Sith Masterhood. Where he progressed beyond having sworn himself to the dark side to having, in a sense, become one with it.

Besides, you're hardly being objective. One can argue that Anakin was trapped by his own ignorance just as much as Jacen. It's all a matter of perspective. Have you forgotten how much negative criticism Anakin's switcheroo attracted?

 

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what happened. As evidenced here I came up with the name long before I could have talked with her (she registered in January, I posted the name in September) so chances are we just came up with the name independently. I am not sure if I read the rules wrong or something happened with the submission but I was under the impression that everyone that submitted the name would get recognized. I am not the only who claimed to have submitted the name (although I have the post history to prove it was a brainchild of mine). Either way I am not too concerned, it's just cool to have Darth Caedus be an official part of the SW EU.

-The Rebel Gungan

 

Heh, maybe you went briefly braindead and accidentally submitted one of your other creations?

It does seem odd that they wouldn't credit you as well.

 

I specifically remember picking out Cadeus as the name I wanted but who knows. I could have typed Cadeus by mistake or something stupid like that. It could be me or it could just be that the Darth Who rules led people to believe that everyone who submitted the name would be creditted. There were more than two people that claimed the name Caedus.

-The Rebel Gungan

 

Darth Cadeus could have actually been interesting (reference to the Cadeusius, the staff of Asclepius, and symbol of healers). He who heals?

 

Cadeus would be soundign cooler.

 

Oh god...

That would have been better.

JASON
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical

Pronounced: JAY-sun (English) [key]

From the Greek name Éáóùí (Iason), which was derived from Greek éáóèáé (iasthai) "to heal".

GAH! GAH! GAH GAH GAH!

 

Hah, now that would have been a catch. There's still the symmetry of the healer becoming the one who sheds blood in name-terms, though.

 

True, though I think Jacen just heard it wrong...

Dark Side: You are Darth Cadeus...
Jacen Solo: Caedus...
Dark Side: No! NO! Aren't you listening!? CADEUS!
Jacen Solo: My name is Darth Caedus
Dark Side: Urg. I never had this problem with Palpatine.

 

As evidenced by the above post, it is quite easy to think Caedus and write Cadeus so maybe thats exactly what I did.

And Cadeus is much to close to Cade from Legacy to be used (although that must be where Cade Skywalker came from, he does have the healing ability)

-The Rebel Gungan

 

Well, at the same time, isn't Jacen's ostensible goal to heal the galaxy by placing it under a unified rule? Thus, he becomes the healer who plays god.

 

Ok, just did a bit of reading and it turns out that it's the "caduceus" not the "cadeusius", so it's not quite so bothersome.

 

Ah, very good catch with the 'Cade = healing' thing.

 

I was more referencing the final act that transitions them from what they were before to Sith.

Up until right after the fight itself Jacen still doesn't have a clue that Ben's devotion is the sacrifice. And frankly that seems weak to me. He gives up one friendship/student relationship to become a Sith? Its not like he was a real part of the Jedi Order. Or he is giving up his family (already did that). Or stopping his service in the GAG/GA. I understand that the relationship was strong between them, but it feels hollow to me. Tacked on. Killing Han or Ben or even Luke would have been far more of a test. Your sacrifice is supposed to hurt, to strip away pieces of you, change you. Make you stronger. Running on an intellectual hamster wheel after the fact to justify yourself is hardly any of those things. Jacen is pretty much the same even after. The author has to TELL us he is different, which is one of her major flaws as a writer IMHO.

And I have always thought Anakin's choice was well done in terms of story. HC's on screen portrayal aside, the novelization does a better job conveying why he does what he does. Anakin was ignorant to a point, but at the moment of truth he has the facts.