Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: FATE OF THE JEDI: OUTCAST (Spoilers)

C'mon man this is a good book. no it's not Vector Prime or the first book of the Thrawn trilogy, but it is very good. It is a very refreshing departure from what we have gotten the last few years.

i give Betrayal a very slight advantage, but this is a good book.

 

I totally agree with your points 3,4 and 6. You said it much better than I ever could. What I especially don't get about Tahiri (and therefore enjoy it much less) is not only that she is still me

 

This is strange, because I really loved this book too, but I really didn't like VP at all. (To be honest I wouldn't have stay intereseted if I didn't know there was better stuff to come later on in the series).

I also feel like this is a much better start than Betrayal. In Betrayal, the first half is really good, and then the second half just kind of leaves you feeling like "wt*?" This one flowed much better, and left you really wanting more at the end.

 

Average score: 367.05/46 = 7.98

 

5/10

Normally I love the SW books by Allston, but the last ones are going downhill. Just thinking of Enemy lines and Lord Nyax. Anyway, back to Outcast.

The good parts to me were the Luke-Ben storyline and their characterisation, and the Kessel storyline with the "old heroes". Also, I liked the generally lighter mood of the book.

What let me down:
- Logic. I read Star Wars, but I'm not stupid. A head of state (Jagged Fel) participating in wild action in the capital of another state. Sure. Tahiri Veila shooting an unarmed head of state at point blank rage five years ago, is not forgiven by the successor of that head of state, but joined in a conspiracy? Yes, of course.
Mirax and Corran Horn, with all of their backstory as agents, police investigators and ace fighter pilots allowing their only son to be carbonited?
- Luke basically exiling himself. This part of the book felt rushed and like a poor plot device. One could get the impression that Luke didn't care a lot about the Jedi order but wanted to go fishing with his son. Which is fine, but don't make such a fuzz about it.
- the Kel Dor basically being humans with breath masks and their sages being nuts
- Allana. I hope Han and Leia are arrested with whatever charges when they return to Coruscant and Allana ends up in an off-world orphanage. And when the charges against Han and Leia are dropped a day later they forget about Allana.
- Bounty hunters instead of Mandos
- What is going on between the Hapans and the Empire? I understand that this will be explained in Blood Oath, hopefully, but one or two sentences from Jag's point of view wouldn't have spoiled the book, would they?

All in all a mediocre start for the new series. I'll read Omen to give Golden a chance, but she better takes it.

 

Bought it, read it, enjoyed it.

Pro
Enjoyed the look at the EU legal system. Nice to see the ever quiet third GA branch do something.

This is a lot better than Vector Prime or Betrayal. Salvatore had an irritating writing style in the first series opener; Allston had to exposit a ton of information to start a contrived war. Outcast does not turn the universe upside down overnight, but we have eight novels left. This novel has a much better structure than the previous two. The reader cannot make the final conclusion till the novel is finished, but there was a lot less fat. Actions had tangible consequences in regards to the overall plot. Major improvement over Betrayal's every random idea from the garbage bin thrown in.

Looks like the pointless pointless pet character problem is fixed, or at least on Allston's part. Nawara has his largest role outside of the X-Wing series, but in a book which heavily deals with the legal system Nawara is a logical choice because he is the only "name" character which has legal experience. The other pilots only show up on Kessel when they serve the narrative. On overall story structure this book is a lot smoother than previous novels.

I'll throw this in right now. I am so glad Jacen is dead. The lack of his stupidity automatically gives the novel two extra points.

Most of the characterizations are solid. Only one really irked me- Chief Daala. No matter how hard the writers try in portraying her this way the concept is fundamentally stupid. Frankly, because Daala here is so different than the KJA idiot I wonder why the brain trust did not create a whole new character.

Enjoyed the Kel'Dor homeworld. Much like the legal aspects I appreciate how Allston took a little known part of the EU and ran with it.

Outside of Chief Daala there are only two main points I objected to.

First, Jedi_Vince is on the money about the writing. Yes, Allston has improved a lot from his dreaded Starfighters days. My main example is whenever we have Valin's POV. Allston constantly uses "Not-Mirax, Not-Luke, Not-Blue Milk Man." Allston needed a thesarus during those sections. Contrast Allston's word choice with Golden's in the Omen excerpt. "Not-Cilghal, the false Cilghal, the doppelganger." In five pages Golden used a greater vocabulary than Allston's whole novel. Again, Allston on the whole wrote a much better novel this time. I'll let the word choice pass a little.

Second, the watered down philosophical discussions about homo excelsior. The idea of posthumans is dime a dozen in genre fiction, but when examined closely the metaphor falls apart. I understand this is a universe where the military brass decides on building a planet sized space station. However, if the Del Rey brain trust feels the writers should expand upon the idea of if mortal gods can exist in society then a little moral ambiguity is required. I enjoy the fact that in-universe the people are recognizing the New Jedi Order are complete and total inept idiots. That's been obvious since NJO started ten years ago.

The EU on a whole has a terrible track record about moral ambiguity. Many would argue the conept is the antithesis of SW. If the writers plan on kicking down the doors then do not barely tap the door. Demolish the entire building instead. LOTF had blatantly obvious faux ambiguity. Political science lectures from tie-in fiction leave a terrible aftertaste in my mouth.

Overall, Outcast is a good novel from a writer I generally dislike. I rate the novel 7/10. I hope the series can keep up the pace.

 

7.5/10

I really liked the first 100 pages or so. The first chase with Valin all over the city was great! His illness has me interested. I found myself looking forward to the Ben and Luke scenes the most; even though nothing major happened, it was a fun plot and their interaction was great. I started to get kinda bored with the whole Darkmeld thing after a while. Same goes for Han/Leia scenes. I actually wish they would have spent a few more scenes on Kessel w/Allana instead of Han/Leia. I think I liked that one scene w/her little adventure more than most of Han and Leia's. I hope this plot with the underground Kessel thing gets a payoff in future books but I feel like it won't. After all the boring scenes, expecting something really cool to come out of it, nothing did. Oh well. I liked the use of more Jedi Masters. Jaina and Jag were well-written and actually cool.

 

Average score: 386.55/49 = 7.89

 

Well said, Killfire and Sniper Wolf.

 

I finally got around to posting my Outcast review in which I give it a 3.8/4, which translates into 9.5/10

 

I liked this book more than I thought I would, and it was a fun, fast read.

Darkmeld was great. I liked the use of Tekli and Winter here, seeing as we haven't seen much of them recently. Jaina is far more likable than she has been lately.
However, I echo the sentiments about Tahiri. She needs to get over Anakin. This plot line has been dragged on long enough! And I hate Dab. He seems to be there simply to remind Tahiri of Anakin. I will not be pleased if Dab continues to pursue Tahiri.

I actually liked the most of the Kessel storyline. It started slowly, but after discovering the bogeys, the pace picked up, and it was refreshing to see a plan that didn't go horribly wrong. Han and Leia were well written, and I love those old droids.

The Luke/Ben plotline was the interesting, mysterious part of the book, and I liked Luke's characterization a lot. Ben, not so much. I'm on the fence about him. One minute he's profound, the next he's annoying. And I really, really hope that Golden doesn't continue Ben's lame attempts at humour. The "insight into the Kel Dor culture" didn't really happen besides learning about the Hidden One and his followers. Even the sages we barely got to see.

The one part that I really disliked (besides Dab's existence) were the sections from Allana's perspective. While the mysterious voice holds potential, the rest of her was unnessecary and annoying. I think she should be kept to a background character only.

All in all, a good, if light, read. It got me excited for Omen and the Sith. 8.2/10

 

My Review

I'm going to try and keep this short: overall I thought Outcast was mediocre but still an improvement over most of LOTF. I found it starting off fast and then slowed down some outside of the Valin Horn thread. Thankfully it doesn't bringing back characters from EU Limbo such as Lumiya and Thrackan Sal Solo. Ben and Luke's relationship was very enjoyable and I look forward to seeing other Force Users cultures/groups in the forthcoming books. While the Kessel and Hidden One plots were interesting I didn't get the feeling that there was any type of danger for any of the characters. My biggest respect for this book comes from the fact that Luke is put into a more minor yet still important role while other characters such as Octa Ramis, Seha Dorvald and Kenth Hamner get more spotlight(especially Seha ). The farewell to Luke is, IMO at least, one of the best EU scenes. Although I'm fairly certain Luke will come back to the Jedi Order before the series is through I can't help but think "What if he doesn't?". The bounty hunters are interesting, except that I was getting a General Grievous type of vibe coming from Vrann Vaxx. Overall I think Outcast was worth the $27 but I'm worried about if FOTJ can pick up some steam as the series continues. Another worry is that FOTJ #5 will almost certainly require yet another "sacrificial lamb" since it's become expected from the middle book of a major series. My last and final worry is that FOTJ will retcon Jacen's fall and attribute it to something other than himself. I hope the authors continue with the Tahiri's idea that it's not important why he fell but when.

My Score: 5/10

 

Average score: 409.25/52 = 7.87

 

Average score: 418.15/53 = 7.89

 

This book could have been longer. 302 pages is a little too short for the money.

Allston's writing was funny. The characterizations were great. The plot moved a little too quickly - many events were jumped over.

Tahiri confuses me. She has such a unique backstory that I hate to see her fall into the same rut as Zekk.

The Kessel plot line was a waste of pages in this novel. The only saving grace will be if the presence that Allana felt is picked up again (probably not until Allston's next turn) and we see more planets besides Kessel suffer similar bad effects from Centerpoint's destruction (again, probably not until Allston's next go).

Good to see Nawara again.

I enjoyed the Baran Do sages and the weather-based Force powers. I'd like to see how much damage that 3.2-jigawatts white lightning would do on contact versus other Force lightning.

Maybe the rest of the series will save this as an opening act. I wasn't very thrilled while reading it.

5/10.

 

Average score: 423.15/54 = 7.84

 

i already gave this book a 8.5 out of 10. but

I think she should be kept to a background character only.


no way. we desperately need new and interesting faces, and allana will someday be powerful. we just need her written better. she was fine in lotf and MF

 

Well I thought it was drawn out, esp the luke/ben plot. was there a point there?
and Ben doesn't seem to have been greatly affected by the LotF plot either.
Finally the kessel plot seems to have been made because the authors didn't seem to have anything for han and leia to do.

I give it a 6/10

 

Average score: 429.15/55 = 7.80

 

I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. Both of the Luke/Ben and Darkmeld storylines were fun and engaging and left me wanting more. The Kessel storyline was a bit weak and I was really hoping for it to have more of a connection to the other storylines, but it wasn't bad. Though I wish Maarek Stele had a slightly bigger role than just a random name drop. I actually enjoyed reading about Jaina and *gasp* Jag as well. I didn't think I would like Tahiri after LOTF, but I enjoyed reading about her as well and the exchange with Dab was interesting. Overall I think this was a strong start to what looks to be a great series. I only wish it were longer.

8/10

 

Average score: 437.15/56 = 7.81

 

6. I was totally disappointed by the Baran Do storyline. I was hoping for some interesting insights into their unique Force philosophy, which might have explained some of Jacen's later viewpoints. Instead, all Luke learned was how Jacen could block a brain scan and that the Baran Do Sages are insane. I can't believe it took Luke an entire book to figure that out. Jacen journeyed for five years - I don't know how Luke plans to piece together Jacen's travels because even ten years doesn't look to be enough.

this is the best part of the book for me

they are not going to give you the rosetta stone the first time out

that said if this is all we get throughought the series it will be dissapointing. but all the sith in the universe will be coming after luke in abyss, so that will be fun.

 

There hasn't been an Allston book I havn't enjoyed as of yet, and Outcast does nothing to change that. I found it to be a great starting point for a new series, with some great links to what has gone before. He captures the characters voices exceptionally well, with their actions proving believable and entertaining to read. There are also numerous nods to underused characters, or cameos for some who had all but disappeared in recent EU history.

In many ways this book could seem less 'epic' than the start to LotF, DN or the NJO. However I found this to be an engaging and interesting story, one that could lend itself much better to the 9 book series style that FotJ is recycling from LotF. Highlights for me included: Ben, so much his mother's son. Luke, I'm not a big fan of Luke Skywalker but I loved the way Allston wrote him in this book; between this and Shadows of Mindor we've had some great Luke written recently. Jaina and Jag, I found their relationship handled maturely and used to entertaining effect; after all the kerfuffle leading upto it I find it works well.

There was plenty of other strong points as well, from the portrayal of Allana to the very concept of 'tracing Jacen's steps'. My one major negative point would be the lack of Corran Horn in a book that does such a good job of including the other Masters and Knights in the Order. While Outcast showed that there is actually a large cast of interesting characters to draw upon in this era, too large to fit in one book, I would have thought of all the authors to utilize Corran it would have been Allston.

I'll give this one a 9/10. I hope this series keeps up this level of quality and paces itself appropriately.

 

I was sucked in and left looking forward to the next book.

And I like it when Force philosophy in general in explored.

Luke's banishment is an interesting twist.

Intrigued about what is making the Jedi go crazy. Hope that doesn't turn into a cheap trick.

Like the direction they went with Tahiri.

And I continue to really dig Jaina's role...and they just jumped in on the romance with Jag. They are awfully happy with each other, it seems. I predict a fallout between them.

Clearly sowing the seeds for the Imperial Knights. I wonder how far they'll take that in this series?


9/10