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

I've been pronouncing it Kaedus.

 

I've been pronouncing it saydus.

This book was a hard one for me to rate. I enjoyed reading it, but i felt a lot of things in it didn't ring true to me. I understood MAra's desire to handle JAcen herself, but i can't believe she didn't tell Luke. In all of the other star wars books teh two of them seem really close, not too mention, that she is going after a sith, you would think she would want the grand master of the jedi with her. I also didn't buy that poison could take mara out the way it did. Mara was infected with some type of Vong poison for half the NJO and managed to keep it at bay, also in the NJO, the learned ways to expel the venom from the vong staff weapons from their system.

The mandos were cool, but they felt tacked on, like they weren't part of the overall plot.

7/10

 

As others have said, it's not as good as Star by Star, but it's close, and I don't think it deserves the bad rap it's getting, so 9.5/10

 

1/10


Tis book threw out continuity. Mara and Luke were portrayed as idiots. The're horrible parents. They let they're 15 year old son join the Secret Police Of The Galactic Alliance. Ben's spewing crap about how the Empire was not so bad. Mara was too stupid to tell Luke that Jacen was a Sith....what?!! Mara is portrayed as an overprotective,obsessive, mother, but only when it comes to harming those that harm her son. This book goes out of it's way to shed a negative light Jedi parenting. From the Boba Fett...what the kriff does he know about parenting, to GAG operatives, the guys working for a Sith Lord. Everyone in the books accept the Mandolorians loses about 1/3 of their IQ points. The Mandolorians are written well in this book, with the acception of Boba Fett. Why in the world are you still crying over your father...he died doing what he loved to do...your an old man...you should understand this. Luke sits on his but for most of the book. Also, why the hell did he get his both his wife back....what purpose does it serve? I don't know why everyone hates Jacen in this book, he's the only one that acts like he has some commonsence. Lastly, but not least this novel makes it seem like Jaina's been chasing guys all her life. WHen she hasn't. That's the opposite of what she's been doing.



Note: Ddin't the author once say she hated Jedi....? Dont ban me.

 

Okay, first I confess that I haven't read this book, just can't bring myself to pay more than $20 for a book anymore, but I had to find out who died, since they said someone was gonna die and Mara was on the cover (looking pretty good for a woman about 60 years old, heheheh). DUH!!! So I'm gonna comment on what I did read. Which was her final duel with Jacen. Now I can understand how she would do the sneak attacks against him since he's supposed to be stronger in the force than her (rather hard to believe since she does some pretty incredible force feats in Betrayal), but to let her fight without a lightsaber!? Now again since I haven't read the whole book she could have lost it, but that still would have been a bad idea. Her death itself doesn't make me mad (though Mara is probably my favorite EU character she was about 60 years old and around for more than 30 years within the SW timeline so that still leaves plenty of room for stories with her), it was rather touching the moment she died, but that final battle was just terrible, which barely took up 3 pages!? I could even get past that cheap-killing he-b**** Jacen sticking her with a poison dart (though the ideal death would have been her being skewerd a la Qui-Gon, but it certainly wasn't a death worthy of her character. I don't know how Chewie and Anakin died, but it had to be better than this. You just know Luke would have had a cooler final battle.

Again not saying the book itself sucked(leave final judgment for when I read the paperback), just Mara's final battle. Her death was good.


Joseph B

 

I give Sacrifice a 7/10.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Traviss is quite capable of writing military and political scences with great skill. Omas was written very well and Cha Niathal outstanding.

However, she doesn't have a knack for writing Jedi.

Seriously, her handling of the Jedi is not the best. I imagine her as a clone trooper or Mandalorian trying to describe a Jedi. She gets some of the basics but does not grasp the power of the Jedi. Luke was written fairly OOC, while Mara was far more agressive than we have seen her in ages.

While Jedi are not her strength, the Sith she is much better at. Newly minted Dark Lord Caedus (the Jedi formerly known as Jacen ) was written exceptionally well. His mission to bring "order" is chillingly well written.

The true standout of the book was Cha Niathal.

As a true Ackbar fan, I was initally quite unfond of Niathal. She seemed to agressive, to politcally ambitious, to manipulating.

However, both Allston in Exile and later Traviss in Sacrifice managed to turn Niathal into something so much more. A truly complex and deep character, Admiral Niathal is shown to be a soldier who genuinely belives in the Galactic Alliance, even while she is forced to take steps that subvert the laws she fights to uphold. The inner struggle of her love of the military and her ambition for political power was handled excellently. Her relucantance at taking over as Chief of State without a vote and popular support was suprisingly candid.

Still, badly written Jedi, a interesting yet-unconnected Mandalorian story, and some continuity fluffs (Coruscant has moons again?) prevent me from rating this higher than a 7.

--Adm. Nick

 

Average score: 348.9/49 = 7.12

 

Re: the cover. Yes, beautiful art ... but, come on. WHO looks like that in their fifties???

I can now predict the rest of the Legacy series. Ben forgives Jacen and he is thereby redeemed and turns back to the good side.

 

Here's my thoughts. I just want to say I thought Bloodlines was one of the best so far due to it drawing me in emotionally. So don't take any of my review as Karen bashing because it is not.

Sacrifice

Cons:

*The constant comparison of Ben to Mara and Luke at an older age. 14 is not 19! Stop trying to rationalize that this child is being turned into a killer. Yes, Ben is interesting, complex and 100 times smarter than his parents, but he?s still a kid.

*Mara acting alone is the only way to get her killed. That required an amazing amount of willing suspension of disbelief. I liked the fight and thought she was real bad*ss, but still . She went to the death with far too many secrets just to make plot plausible!

*I can?t tell which Jedi thinks what???? Denning made it perfectly clear in DNT who was pro-government and who was ?pro-Force?. This story muddled that for me. This is not a time for confusion, there?s a Sith Lord on the loose. Honestly it was the way the council?s dialogue was written that made the whole thing confusing.

*Some dialogue: Jacen says "ain't"....I imagine Jacen with more refined speech, not trying to talk in American slang. And he also very flippantly says "I'd be bonked if I wasn't a new Sith Lord." Huh? Why is he so flippant?

I skipped most of the Mando stuff...

Pros:

Taken as a whole, the story is interesting and engrossing. Jacen and Niathal take over the government quite early (and easily), Ben mixes humanity with duty. He?s a combo of a thinker and a doer at this point. I loved his relationship with his mother and many of his thoughts were very fourteen.

Mara was awesome (with the exception of keeping certain things from Luke~which was for plot reasons~see above complaint). Mara went all out like a protective mother might. She went down with a great fight. Traviss made me like her, and there has always been something so hypocritical about Mara that made me hate her before.

The funniest:

Jacen eats take out in the bathtub while writing Sith messages in the steam. What an image!!!!!


The worst: Tell not show!? She told us what the characters thought in italics even! This happened much more than in Bloodlines. Bloodlines really drew me in emotionally. I did not connect emotionally to this story even though it was more sad than Bloodlines.

And still...I?ll give it a 7 out of 10.

 

One heck of an entertaining book. Traviss's weakness with pacing has disappeared from this book and instead it's loaded with developments throughout. The characterization is great, the action solid, and the new depth to Lumiya and Niathal is great. I'm very pleased with the plot development. As for negatives, the instances of plot-logic are somewhat annoying, but reasonable explanations can be offered. Most of the complaints I have to disagree with, however.

9.7/10

 

Average score: 365.6/51 = 7.17

 

Although I'm a bit bothered by all these apparent continuity problems that I missed when reading it myself, I still greatly enjoyed the book.

9/10

 

I'd give it 8 out of 10.

I found it an engaging and emotional read which is surprising considering I had spoilered myself to death before reading it. For the first time Ben felt like a real character and I really enjoyed his interaction with Mara. Luke's fight with Lumiya felt a bit glossed over in order to get to its dramatic result. Overall a fun read. Even the Boba Fett bits kept me interested and hopefully their role in this will be explained later on otherwise I cant imagine why such a significant portion of the book had all that page space.

Overall it left me wanting more. And that's something I didn't expect. Roll on Inferno.

 

I give it an 8. The deaths were predictable (although I knew beforehand there were going to be two, which narrowed down the probable combinations) but it did keep me guessing a few times. I was glad to see the Sith prophecy explained too - especially in the way it was, as it dawned on me midway through the story that Mara's death might mean the "sacrifice" of Ben's friendship, so I was glad to find I was right.

Have only skimmed the other replies but I tend to agree with most of them.

I thought Traviss handled Mara's death well. I had been hoping Mara would get the credit of killing Lumiya but was satisfied that she at least kicked the stuffing out of Jacen and would have won had he not resorted to such a cheap trick.

Lumiya's death was a bit... meh. If she didn't want Luke to think she was just covering for someone else she could have put a bit more effort in. After her last fight with him it felt a bit rushed. It was understandable in as much as it may have been a bit boring to read another long duel after the Mara/Jacen fight but it still felt a little underwhelming. I guess I just want to see the bad guys get what's coming to them so I'll now be disappointed if Jacen doesn't get the snot kicked out of him by Luke instead.

It was nice to see Lumiya's motivations laid bare but at the same time I was left with a big uncertainty as to how to take them. I suppose I was more keen on her pulling Jacen's strings like a puppet, the idea of her actually believing in what she was doing just struck me as genuinely crazy - too crazy. I guess I just remember the "old" Lumiya too well and didn't really like the idea of her actually wanting peace and harmony. I liked her better evil not insane.

Ben was good. Hope he stays good. Will be disappointed if Mara's death sends him back into hiding away. The only thing I didn't like was that Ben didn't tell Luke about Jacen. I assume it's because though Ben realises Jacen was being brainwashed by Lumiya he hasn't even considered Jacen would have killed Mara yet. It left a sour taste in my mouth but I guess that's the point of cliffhangers... Jacen at least didn't mind rub him when he found him next to Mara's body. I now hate mind rubbing even more as it's making me far too bitter everytime I read something with Jacen and Ben in the same room.

The only thing that really griped me was Mara's total reluctance to tell anyone about Jacen. It was just too much of a plot device to have her killed off. I would have given it a 9 or 10 were it not for that.

The next book might make me look at Sacrifice differently though depending on where they take Jacen's character. If we're back to square one with nobody suspecting him I'll be mightily disappointed as I don't know how many books about witch hunting I can take. I really want them to get on with it and have him come out in the open otherwise the story is really going to start to drag...

Oh, and Jacen, please, please, please don't go around wearing a black helmet. That's just far too cliche. I really, really, really pray that was just for that one scene.

 

9/10

I love Star Wars, so I guess it's no surprise to me that I couldn't stop reading, but there have been SW books that I've only begrudgingly gone through. I acknowledge most people's negative points about the novel, but I guess they didn't bother me enough to stop me from thoroughly enjoying the whole of the book.

One thing I hate though, is the whole "Enemy staring you right in the face for several books and you kinda don't know it, but wait! Discovery! Enemy kills major character! No way he can go undetected now! Oh wait, they provide reasons for him to stay hidden!" It gets on my nerves so much I can hardly stand it. They do it in TV shows also, a lot. That's a major annoyance I have with 24. I would like it more if they actually spent time hunting down the Sith Lord, making the realization that it's Jacen, and then dealing with it. Not this back and forth nonsense for 5+ novels.

 

Average score: 399.6/55 = 7.27

 

I have never been that convinced of Jacen's concern for Ben, beyond how it reflects on him. A failing of all of the authors in LotF, certainly. And while the actions might be cold, and are to some degree when viewed with the distance of an omniscient reader who can always turn back the page, I just didn't feel it in the moment. Instead an interal monologue tells me I should feel that, via Jacen's thought process. It is sloppy writing of the high school level. But that is what we get when the author is trying to cram two different novels into one book.

 

I enjoyed it overall, especially once I felt the Mando story was going somewhere instead to them just being there for Sub-plot purposes. They will have a large influence on the war in the books to come I believe. Missed Han and Leia a lot, but understand why they weren't needed. This was really Mara's story. And I loved that aspect.
I give it an 8.5/10. Looking forward to Inferno. The cover looks awesome.

 

It?s official: Legacy of the Force is a rollercoaster of quality. Exile had me asking why I bother, while with Sacrifice Traviss affirmed why I still read Star Wars. At it?s best moments, the mythos has always emphasized superbly developed characters grappling with concepts such as truth and identity more-so than cutout action sequences, and thankfully Traviss continues this tradition.

For me Exile?s inherent weakness revolved around extended passages of mundane dialogue and drawn out descriptions of physical movement over-taking any real effort to explore and develop the type of introspective honesty essential to any strong character. Even the series-defining Jacen Solo was reduced to little more than a paper thin caricature of unending aggression. Fortunately, Traviss succeeds where Allston fails with the realization that seemingly small details can do big things for ensuring characterization remains intact. Thus I noted any number of laudable instances where once again it?s easy to understand all facets of Jacen?s fall, including all those essential markers that prove the character goes beyond hollow notions of absolute and unthinking evil. Here I?m thinking Jacen?s altering stance on Allana, and how an inner conflict and uncertainty is revealed when he?s not sure whether to embrace her as a daughter or accept her as a symbol for all the children who will inhabitant the future of peace he yearns for. Indeed, one of the most quietly chilling small moments that I?ve encountered a long time in SW came with the scene where Jacen took a break from all the murder plotting and dictatorial pontifications to buy and deliver to his daughter a stuffed taun-taun. Pretty gutsy move, in my opinion, to ascribe such a loving and tender moment to the same man who just might be moments away from deciding that, yes, he can and will murder anyone he has to in order to bring about the sacrifice he needs.

This trend of building Jacen as a sympathetic tyrant as opposed to simply a tyrant was perhaps best summed up in the manner of Mara?s death. In lieu of the decapitation I expected after Jacen ensured the victory was his, he simply let his would-be murderer peacefully perish before admitting he?s grown tired of death and would rather focus on life and rebirth. Moments like this throughout the book made me realize how thus far the series has succeeded at portraying Jacen?s fall as a unique endeavor. He?s not Anakin from the films, hopelessly willing to sacrifice all facets of humanity immediately, and he?s not an extreme object of fan service that blatantly screams Dark Side/Light Side. Rather, the character as portrayed in Sacrifice is very much a logical extension of the Dark Nest incarnation, which itself evolved from the Traitor Jacen. The villainous characteristics are slowly seeping out, building to an understandable crescendo, yet from my own personal reading I think it?s not totally out of the realm of possibility that Jacen?s ultimate LotF destination might not lie with death or movie-style redemption. What if he simply continues to exist, as does the galaxy he creates? Absurd? Perhaps. Probably. Then again, I admit I?m still entertaining possibilities, in large part due to the fact that the specific manner of Jacen?s killing of Mara was less back-stabbing murder and more self-defense/preservation.

This analytical side that has been paramount to Jacen?s character in the post-Traitor era was very succinctly summed in another of Traviss?s powerfully quiet moments, when Jacen inwardly voices the same question that?s likely shared by many readers. Why does it seem like the entire galaxy, including perennial heroes like Luke, remain so ignorant towards the more blatant aspects of Jacen?s fall? Jacen?s answer is a stellar bit self-aware cynicism: if they can?t see that the time to react is now, then they deserve to be ruled by the Sith.

This self-referencing style throughout Sacrifice wasn?t limited to Jacen?s perspective, and thus in a surp

 

I'm going to have to give Sacrifice a solid 7/10.

It moved the plot forward and did what it needed to do. The final showdown between Mara and Jacen was great, as was the continued insight into Jacen's twisted darksider mind. I also liked seeing Luke go back to his old 'go out and fight the bad guy' roots, rather than just being the calm voice of reason.

Still, aside from Mara's death, this book didn't provide as much as I was hoping for considering that it's the midpoint (the "Star by Star") of the series. My biggest problem is with Traviss' Madalorian fetish. Fett and the gang's story barely ties into main plot, but Traviss devotes a good third of the book to it. Denning and Allston aren't using the Mandalorians at all, but Traviss seems to be forcing them into the series for her own satisfaction. I never skip pages or chapters in a novel that I'm reading by choice, but I couldn't help but groan and think "Oh, not another Fett part" every time it came back to him. If Jacen dies in this series, it's not going to be by the hands of any Madalorian, so what's the point of devoting so many pages to a sidestory? My other smaller problems were with how many pages were devoted to the GA political situation and Jacen marvelling over the fact that he can change laws at will. It was boring, even though it was a necessary set-up for the coup. Finally, it's starting to get a little unbelievable that no one who can do anything about it has discovered the full extent of Jacen's evil. Ben overhears all he needs to expose Jacen, and he has the sense to tell Mara (good!), but he doesn't tell Luke something incredibly important just because of his own hurt pride? And then Mara, knowing that she and Ben are the only people who can expose Jacen (and Ben doesn't have the guts to do it) goes on an EXTREMELY dangerous mission that she knows she may not survive, but for all her intelligence she doesn't even leave a message for Luke saying something to the effect of "In case I don't come back, Jacen is working with Lumiya, he aspires to be a Sith Lord, may kill Ben, and if I die it's just as likely that he killed me as Lumiya." Taking knowledge like that to your grave (especially when it leaves your son in danger) is uncharacteristically stupid of Mara. I also don't understand why Ben can't put 2 and 2 together and figure out that Jacen killed Mara if he knows that it wasn't Lumiya. That kid really needs to get his head out of his butt, or better yet, out of Jacen's.

Nonetheless, the parts of "Sacrifice" that were good were indeed really good, and they make up a significant portion of the novel. Still, I was hoping this book would be at least a 9 but unfortunately it isn't.

 

Average score: 423.6/58 = 7.30

 

I feel myself in an unusual predicament at the moment. Part of me actually liked this book, and part of it utterly loathed it.

To begin with, a third of the book was utterly pointless. A series devoted to Jacen Solo's descent to the dark side does not need to spend over a hundred pages on a sick old bounty hunter and a bunch of backwater remnants of a society that tried sodomizing the galaxy four millenia earlier. So they built a ridiculously powerful fighter. So what? It certainly doesn't justify wasting so much time, let alone plugging in Mandalorian words into completely irrelevant and unneccesary places. Traviss' obsession with Mandalorians grows ever more aggrivating.

Traviss' handling of Mara was almost incomprehensible, as well. Why didn't she tell anyone Jacen was a Sith? Because of wounded pride? She'd rather risk the lives of herself and her son so she doesn't look stupid in front of friends and loved ones? What is she, 10 years old? And where did this obsession over not taking out Palpatine come from? And why has almost half the book dedicated to her? Why is she more important than Luke, Leia, Han, or Jaina?

Now on to the political arena: apparently, Cal Omas makes a massive and inexplicable turn-around in terms of policy. Was this not the man who refused to go to the table with Corellia on principle? Yet magically he changes his mind. And of course, Jacen miraculously passes a law that gives him unlimited power because the Senators are hungry for their lunches! And what convinces Niathal the Chief of State needs to be overthrown in a military coup? Bothan frigates! Tiny pieces of garbage that can't even damage two capital ships despite having twenty times the opponent's numbers.

And of course, Traviss had to go and turn a completely reasonable and compelling prophecy set up by Allston in Betrayal and...make it about someone else! Brilliant!

And certainly it's sensible to magically gain powers of omniscient battle awareness by killing your aunt.

What a waste of money. It's hard to believe this is the same author that wrote Hard Contact

3/10.

 

Average score: 426.6/59 = 7.23

 

Did anyone get the feeling that Traviss was trying to get back at the Jedi, per se? It seemes like it. You've got Boba Fett(yes the man who left s family) calling the Jedi horrible parents. YOu've got Mara and Luke acting the part by being horribe parents. Then a guy working fr a freaking SIth Lord, doubting jedi....weird.

PS: Please dont ban me, I dont' mean to offen any one....

 

After some thought, I'll have to give this book a 8/10.

As far as storytelling goes, it's actually pretty good. While I skipped over the Mando stuff, because it just doesn't interest me and never has, likely never will, the rest of it kept me reading, unable to put the book down. While I could quibble about a few things in the book, I won't. A couple of flubs and continuity errors aren't surprising when you consider the size of the manuscript and the sheer enormity of the task of keeping that much text straight. Considering how . . . rushed . . . the printing was from the time of the naming contest, I'm not surprised whatsoever that a few things slipped past the editors.

One thing I've always liked about Traviss's work is that she makes Jacen creepy, as he should be. She was actually decent to my favourite character, and I didn't feel that she was "bashing" the Jedi too much. In all honesty, the Jedi need a little smacking upside the head, because they really should have seen this coming a mile away. It's been thirteen years since Jacen was taken by the Vong, twelve since he came back with a seriously messed-up view of the Force, and it's been, IMO, obvious since "Traitor" that he's really wrong in the head.

My one problem with the series so far has been what my major problem with the NJO was: Luke spends the first half sitting around, twiddling his thumbs, going, "Oh, we can't do anything, that would be bad! We'd be bad guys!" until something makes him get off his butt and realise, "Oh, wait, no, it doesn't. We gotta do something!" This is not the Luke Skywalker we had in the Bantam books, and I don't know if it's the editors' fault, or what.

Er. I'll shut up now.


Dana