Do I Have to Read the Dark Nest trilogy to understand Legacy of the Force?

Hey.

I'm almost through the Yuuzhan Vong story, and I want to read Legacy of the Force. I've read a general synopsis of the Dark Nest trilogy, and it looked kind of boring. So are there any major things in Legacy of the Force that I'd have to read these books to understand?

 

Not really to understand. Some of the Jacen/Ben interactions it would help a little bit for. Luke does something cool in the third book which alone make the book worth reading, but as far as comprehension for LotF its not necessary.

 

Not really. There are a few references to the DN trilogy here and there but nothing major. I'm sure you could find a plot summary somewhere that could fill you in nicely. There's a fair bit on Alema Rar who is a supporting cast member in the LOTF series. I suppose there are some hints about the future direction of Jacen. Personally, I found it very difficult to get through the DN trilogy and would definitely not put it on the list of essential reading.

 

Raynar/Unu Thul is referenced once or twice early on in LotF. You won't get what that's about without reading DN. Um...Jacen gets a little darky but i would call it more pragmatism than darkside, though that argument is slippery at best. Alema is in DN and if you WANT to understand why she's after Leia with such a lunatic fervor is because of events that happened in DN. Also the Jaina/Zekk/Jag love trianlge is a shabbily represented as ever.

In short, yeah there are somethings that happened in DN that are referenced or resurfaced in LotF but will you be lost on the major plot points? No more than you will be than by reading LotF! And yes i did mean that to sound stupid because LotF is by and large, very stupid.


Master Luc

P.S. Just read up on the characters on Wookieepedia.com for the major events. It's all there without all the confusing "joiner-speak"

 

It probably isn't NECESSARY but I myself liked most of TDN. If you have time/money to buy them I would recommend reading them.

 

I didn't read any of the DNT or the NJO, but jumped right into LotF. Of course, I did read summaries and character profiles to help catch me up.

And, now that I'm waiting for Inferno, I've got the DNT waiting for me at the Library on reserve.

 

I'd read DNT just cause its a sick trilogy.

 

I?d say read it. Jacen takes some pretty significant steps in terms of his development, both in terms of his inner resolve as well as the way he?s seen to interact with fellow Jedi. To me, his transition from NJO to LotF wouldn?t have worked without the Dark Nest books. Beyond that, the books managed to offer a pretty fresh plot that re-injects more of the space-hopping adventure kind of feel that many felt was lacking in the NJO.

 

Also, Jacen knocks up Tenel Ka, and protecting the resulting secret daughter is one of his main reasons for committing to the dark side.

 

I tend to think of it as somewhat of an extended prologue for LotF, there is a lot of setup going on behind the actual central story which only comes to light during LotF. I don't think you have to read it to make sense of LotF, personally I'm not much of a fan of DN3 so I won't overly recommend it on its own merits, but there are important points in it that impact upon LotF, such that some parts of LotF which will make more sense if you understand the background to them from DN3.

 

Don't read it. Ever.

 

Go for it! There's no need to hurry into Legacy of the Force, as there's still nearly a year left in the series. There's still a month left of summer, so go nuts and read an excellent trilogy. I'm personally a huge fan of Dark Nest and it's brilliant character development, wonderful use of the Force, and nonstop excitingness, and highly, highly recommend it. On top of that, I believe that LOTF will make more sense in a lot of subtle ways --- The impact of the Yuuzhan Vong war is felt heavily in Dark Nest, but is mysteriously absent in LOTF. In that way, and many others, Dark Nest is a wonderful transition between the two series, while remaining an excellent standalone storyline. Read it now!

 

But then what do we read to try to understand the DN trilogy?

 

The New Jedi Order.

 

It was a decent trilogy, but in all honesty I forgot completely what happened in it besides the most major plot points. It just didn't terribly interest me that much, but that's purely personal preference. I would say that if you don't mind wating a bit before LotF, read it, it can't hurt and you might like it, and even if you don't, at least you'll have a better understanding of LotF. If you're that eager to get into LotF, though, it'd be fine to skip.

 

Gonna have to agree with JayLo for once. I don't find Jacen's character development any more logical in DN than in LotF. It really is a three-book-long introduction to the series with a lot of heavy-handed foreshadowing about Jacen going dark without any apparent reasons other than the fact that the authors want him to. Ostensibly, Allana plays a part in Jacen's turn, but he's already acting pretty sketchy at that point. Notice how casually he's willing to barter for sex with Tenel Ka, a woman he's now suddenly claiming he's always been in love with (um, since when?). He also seems to feel no remorse about baldly lying to his sister so he could use her as a pawn in his plans, I would assume because he's already developed the ego to believe he understands war that much better than Jaina does (again, pretty silly). During the Dark Nest Crisis, he couldn't even pretend he was doing the things he was doing to protect his family. The only thing that series really makes clear to me is that during his "pilgrimage," he's taken about ten steps backwards in both personal development and maturity.

 

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have to remind one of you types about YJK...

Jacen was very clearly in love with Tenel Ka in YJK. That's kinda "forever", considering she was introduced in that series.

 

Kids that age don't fall in "love."

And even if you believe Jacen actually was in love with her and not just experiencing a kid's crush, how do you explain all the years inbetween during which the authors chose not to include any chemistry between the characters whatsoever?

 

Read it if only for the Ewok character!

 

Ummm... They were separated. The fact is, you're trying to make it seem like they came out of nowhere with the Tenel Ka thing, when in fact it was FIRMLY ROOTED in the fact that she was his first major crush.

Crush = precedent for love.

And love is a relative concept. I'm not gonna argue puppy-love vs. hot passionate sex vs. marriage of convenience vs. TRUE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT or whatever you're talking about with you.

 

I loved Dark Nest. It started slow but boy did it build up. I'd suggest getting it but it's certainly not needed to understand LotF.

 

I've read every EU novel and I understand it. Clearly, Ruins of Dantooine is the true key to LOTF.

 

I`d say read it, its a not a bad trioly a little weird but it does answer some unanswered questions from the NJO book Star By Star and will definetly help you in better understanding the landscape of Legacy of the force