Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: THE CESTUS DECEPTION (spoilers)

Counting 43 reviews: 350.52/43 = 8.15

 

I'm another latecommer, but that's partially because it took me several weeks to finish the book. I hurried through the last hundres pages, give or take, in time to listen to the SW en Direct radio interview.

Overall I liked the book. I was intrigued at its lengh. (I have been wishing for a Harry Potter-length SW novel and while this wasn't quite as long, it was one of the longer ones I've seen. I enjoyed getting to know Jangotat and to find out how he dealt with his humanity. I also liked the fact that it dealt with Obi-Wan, who is my favorite SW character. The action scenes were good. Sheeka Tull was also an interesting character and I enjoyed all the twists and turns in her relationship with Jangotat. And while he could have been a bit more contrived, I enjoyed Doolb Snoil's character. I was fond of his persinality and was saddened when he died, especially in doing something so noble. Even though I'm not a fan of the darkside characters, having Aasajj Ventress's character expounded on was interesting. (However, having dont so, I will be glad to see her character resolved.) Another thing I partially enjoyed was that this book was one of the first SW books that made me THINK.

However, there were some things that could have been better. The novel did get into the political situation a little too heavily for my taste. I am not fond of dealing with politics in real life and tend to share Obi-Wan's view of politicians in general. I think this also is what slowed the pace of the book as well. I also found the chapter organization a little difficult. I didn't necessarily mind the short chapters. However, I think that is one factor that made me take so long to read it. In the radio interview, the author said he did it that way based on the way GL lays out the movies. He said he did that so that it would be convienient for readers to put the book down any time they wanted. Well, in my opinion he did that job a little too well. I'd finish a few chapters only to find an excuse to take a break. And unusually for me, I wasn't chomping at the bit to pick it up right away. That, plus having to deal with the eyestrain, is what made me take such a long time to read it. (And I can digest a Jedi Quest book in an afternoon if my eyes aren't giving me trouble) I, like some others, wish that the action scenes would have been a bit longer as well, especially since they helped to offset all the political stuff.

Overall, not a bad read and despite the shortcomings, I didn't see it a waste of my time.

8/10

 

Counting 44 reviews: 358.52/44 = 8.15

 

ah.. forgot to give my opinion on it on this thread.
Overall, i enjoyed it a lot. good characters, good story, well balanced between action, comedy, etc.

8.5 of 10

 

7/10

Not bad, not great - which about sums it up.

 

9 It just didn't feel like a 10 to me but was a great addition to Clone Wars like all Clone Wars books so far.

 

Counting 47 reviews: 383.02/47 = 8.15

 

Only just finished this book. Actually, probably my fastest Star Wars read since Traitor; I finished it in two days flat. My overall assessment: Pretty good, but the emphasis on "pretty" rather than "good."

My first, most general qualm is with the writing style. While most of the book was okay, there were times when Mr. Barnes' writing seemed a little amateurish to me. And it's not just the references to things like "puking" and "butts," though those annoyed the heck out of me. I just recall some extremely awkward transitions. His writing seemed a bit stilted at times. I didn't always like the way he framed characters' dialogue. And he didn't do a particularly good job of letting me into his characters' heads; he described their thoughts far more often than he let me into their thoughts. Plus, it's just not dramatic enough. During the fight where Quill is circling to attack Duris, there's a tiny bit of a buildup of tension, but then there's no sense of shock when Quill suddenly backs down. There's no alarm when Ventress and Obi-Wan go into the water. The big moments just aren't theatrical enough. That's not to say that it lacks potential. In stark contrast to most Star Wars books, he is able to write touching, emotional scenes with a particular grace. I'm just not that fond of his handling of actionn.

As far as the story goes, most of it was only adequate for me. A lot of people complained that in Shatterpoint, we weren't really seeing the war, just a local conflict that had some distant ties to the war. The book was so amazing from top to bottom that I wasn't bothered, and indeed, the exploration of the Force in Shatterpoint was far more pertinent to the war for me than any massive fleet battles or anything of that nature could ever have been. In this book, on the other hand, I was constantly aware that we were spending almost all our time in a microscopic conflict among the Five Families, the X'Ting, and some profiteers. This is the novel where I wanted massive ground action, batallions of Clonetroopers all rushing into combat. And what I got was industrial sabotage. I didn't even get a big end, with an army of Jedi Killers menacing our two noble knights and a cataclysmic orbital bombardment.

Legacy of the Jedi sounds as though it will be relatively small -- as it should be, being centered around Anakin's ascension to Knighthood. Dark Rendezvous will be a sort of political action-mystery, but it doesn't sound like a book that lends itself to massive action. Escape from Peril will most likely be bigger in its scope, but given that it's by Luceno, it will be character-oriented and political. Additionally, it will be constrained by having to feed neatly into Revenge of the Sith. The comics and the cartoon have both had their shots at exciting ground action, at really seeing the Grand Army of the Republic at work. We caught a tiny bit of massive clone action at the end of Shatterpoint, which gave it the most exciting end of any Star Wars book ever, and right up there with Star by Star for the rank of best ending. But I wanted this book to be all about that. the book equivalent of the Jabiim comic arc, perhaps. But in the book, the clones actually spent most of their time being ordered not to show themselves for fear of detection and reprisal. That in and of itself made the book a bit of a letdown for me.

Another disappointment for me: Ventress. We never really saw into her charactetr in this book (I felt more emotionally connected with her in Republic #60, truth be told). But more than that, she's just so shallow and one-dimensional and predictable. I had such high hopes for seeing into her psyche, and got nothing, which would have been okay if something interesting had happened with her. But there was nothing unusual or unexpected about her. In the end she was too cowardly even to embrace her own death in order to win. Typical Darksider. You see? Nothing there. If Barnes had inte

 

Counting 48 reviews: 390.82/48 = 8.14

 

4/10, and it's so tempting to rank it lower in order to shave that average down a bit, but I try to be honest as long as personal profit and my weight are not involved

Where to start? I generally agree with folks who said the action was boring. For me it's not about, "This is the Clone Wars but there were only five clones" or "Dude, where are my kewl Mandalorians!" It's just that nothing stood out and a couple of times i had to look back and say "huh?" -- which wouldn't have happened if I weren't bored. It's not the most boring Star Wars book I've read, but "faster than The Approaching Storm" is not a ringing endorsement. Also it seems to me Barnes doesn't realize the Jedi have telekinesis. There times someone lost a saber and the book was like "OMG! Obi-1 was defenseless!" The author should have watched the movies more carefully. Another example of this is when the rock falls on Snoil. Obi-Wan has time to shout a warning, but he apparently doesn't think to try to move the rock or the victim. And when the Jedi were in a fistfight with multiple X'Ting (Not a good name for the species. Too close to X-wing.), they might have thrown have added a force push or two to their "mad ninja skillz."

Obi-Wan wasn't a bad character, and he even got a couple of funny lines here, but I think more might have been done. He certainly didn't have the presence of Stover's Windu. I personally don't find Anakin interesting, and don't think he would have added anything here unless he were really all gung ho to frag the planet. Kit was a suitable surrogate. Barnes' Kit wasn't totally incombatible with what else we've seen of him, though that's been little enough. Probably could have been lightened up a bit, made more of a Happy Warrior. A little less "grim smile" and a little more of the trademark "crap-eating grin" (not out of place on a guy called "Fisto" ) Snoil was interesting enough as a supporting character, and that thing with Obi-an escorting him to the ball was one of those amusing moments. Too bad amusing is no substitute for all-out funny; I'd definitely up this book a point if it had made me laugh aloud.

Characters that I didn't like: Ventress -- not a compelling villain. To the extent that she works, it's basically "Darth Maul as a hot chick." But Maul would never just chicken out at the end like that, and I think it's a mistake to have her be afraid because she's eeevil. And frankly, I figure it's about her time to go. She's dueled everyone but Yoda already. Twice. What else is there for her? Time to see more of Quin, or even better, Dooku. What makes the Count tick? (if there's any comic or something I've missed on this, feel free to let me know) But maybe that's sort of off-limits till Episode 3.

Where was I? Speaking of the cowardly villain. Didn't that really describe every antagonist in the book? Like Quill. That was probably even a worse cop-out. The greatest warrior of the Hive loses it because his weaker opponent got a pep talk and looked confident? Come on.

Duris and that crime boss were dull. Fizzik was a good bit character, though he was not at all necessary to the story as far as I can remember. Palpatine had one good double entendre line (at least I hope the bit about "obscene Jedi killers" was intended as such), but he certainly wasn't the old rascal we know and love. Shouldn't even share the same name with Stover's version of the character.

It's late, and this is quite a long post for me, so I'll stop with that. I'll share more thoughts in a day or two.

 

I just started the book...finally! But thus far it's very good, I enjoy the troopers' perspective.
I will comment further as I continue reading, but I for one like the political intrigue behind the story. I find it makes a more adult and serious novel. I don't mind reading Scholastic for continuity purposes, but Cestus Deception & Shatterpoint are really much more up my alley. It's the kind of Star Wars material that lands credibility to this Saga.
If the book is anything like it's first 70 pages, I'm in for a great ride!

Del Rey might give DH a little competition.

 

Counting 49 reviews: 394.82/49 = 8.06

 

Well I haven't finished but if the vibe remains the same through the whole book this will end up as a 9/10.

 

Finally finished it. Thought it was pretty good. Liked Nate, didn't like Doolb Snoil.

7.5/10

 

Counting 50 reviews: 402.32/50 = 8.05

 

I wonder if Barnes was trying to make a statement about the war in Iraq.

Think about it... the Weapons of Mass Destruction-- oops, that's "battledroids" that don't work, the presiden- er, I mean, "Supreme Chancellor" who sends in the troops while the real terrori- uh, that's "Sith Lord" is still at large.

But maybe I'm reading too much into it

 

Just finished it this morning. I give it a 7.5/10.

My main disappointment is that it did what was done in Approaching Storm, Rogue Planet, Shatterpoint; The main characters go to a heretofore unknown planet and hang out with the heretofore unknown natives. Just not that interesting to me personally. I also felt the book was over long. I much prefer Star Wars novels that move quicker and take place on more planets with more races.

I give Barnes credit however for the most interesting depiction yet of a clone trooper. A-98 is an interesting character with an interesting arc. It was sad to see that he will not be in upcoming stories.

I also like the references to the comics (Ventress).

 

Ya know, the more I think about this book the less I like it. Mastadge, I won't make you do the math, but I gave this book a 5.8 and that is ridiculously high. Upon further review I'd give it a 1.8 out of 10.

If Steven Barnes ever writes another SW book I hope that it's not crucial to the storyline of the Skywalker/Solo clans so I don't have to read it.

 

Counting 51 reviews: 405.82/51 = 7.96

 

Ya know, the more I think about this book the less I like it. Mastadge, I won't make you do the math, but I gave this book a 5.8 and that is ridiculously high. Upon further review I'd give it a 1.8 out of 10.

I'd do the same but I don't want to start a precedent.

 

I'll change scores if you really feel strongly about it, but these threads are honestly for first impressions. Plus I'm too busy to do all the math. So unless you REALLY NEED to change those scores, please don't. Thanks.

 

I know I'm pretty late with my take on this book, I read it a long time ago when it first came out.

I'd give it a 9 out of 10 though... right behind Shatterpoint which I'd have to give a 9.5 out of 10.


I read this one much faster though... read about a third the first night..and then when I picked it up the second night I just couldn't put it down... I didn't finish anything else that night, just laid on the couch and pounded out the rest of the book.

 

Counting 52 reviews: 414.82/52 = 7.98

 

6.8/10 largely because of Nate/Jangotat, otherwise my rating would be far worse.
I'd give THE HIVE 7.4, maybe more, but there doesn't seem to be a thread for it...

 

I want to change my score to a 5. So I did the math for you.

The current score is now a 7.92(not counting the previous fellow's post).