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

To be fair a lot of the supposition about the afterlife seems guesswork by the Jedi rather than total knowledge - presumably even Force Ghosts can't truly know what would happen to them if they became 'one with the Force'.

As for the book I will need a while to sort my thoughts into a proper review. I do know one thing though: I had to force myself to read the final forty pages. I am not a Mandalorian fan going in and I really dislike them now.

 

finally finished it. I went into it trying to be fair minded and ignore all the spoilers and opinions I had heard. But the accusations made were true. Jaina was portrayed as a weak person, even though I understand the beskad scene and she did get the red mist technique, something Ive waited for for a long time. The Mandos seemed to have all the answers: a violent culture was seen as more loving and ethical than the defenders of the galaxy. The story seemed weak for the most part. However, the battle of Fondor was very well done and rescued the book from a much lower rating.

4/10.

 

Yeah, I read that one. I chalk it up to artistic license, kinda like the "Force Ghosts" in Requiem for a Rogue.

You could even look at it as Yoda helping the girl, whatever her name was, over to the 'other side,' so to speak... easing her into nothingness. Something like the classic tunnel of light/life flashing before eyes near death experience.

 

Average score: 339.41/53 = 6.40

 

Favorite part: Niathal and Caedus going their separate ways.

Nitpickiest irritation: Tahiri refering to the Yuuzhan Vong as "the Vong."

Biggest disappointment: The depiction of the Jedi. Since I first saw The Empire Srikes Back on the big screen in 1980, I have enjoyed getting caught up in the world of Star Wars. But this book seems to undermine the entire Star Wars universe. Yodakenobi put best into words how I felt as I turned each page. Ugh.

Rating: 3/10

 

I also salute Yoda Kenobi's view.

 

So, your argument is that there's no afterlife except for all the evidence against it, which doesn't count.

 

Star Wars: Revelation

By. Charles Phipps

My Non-Spoiler Review

Wow, Revelations is the worst Star Wars book ever written. It trumps Star Wars: Medstar, Jedi Trial, and Ruins of Dantooine. Seriously, it actually trumps everything that I've seen before in terms of the sheer wrongness of the damn thing. The problem isn't Karen Traviss' writing, it's the fact that she has created the Mirror-Star Wars Universe.

This is the only book in history that I actually can say that the characters are unrecognizable in. Up is down, Black is White, Good is Evil, and Evil is good. Everyone is a kriffing lunatic in the book and there's such sheer wrongness with it that it's like Karen Traviss is trying to write against reality. She wants very much Star Wars to be something other than it is and its not WORKING.

Along with Ruins of Dantooine, it is the only book I honestly recommend the posters here to just outright skip. Each passage is infuriating and like reading someone's fanfic where Harry Potter is a vicious bully to Draco Malfoy. No, what's clear is that the author truly honestly believes Harry Potter is a vicious bully to Draco Malfoy and is confused why the books don't reflect this view.

I love Karen Traviss' writing as a general rule but this is something I actually rank with Kevin J. Anderson's Dune novels for things that never should have been written. This is what this book does to a series I love.

My score is .01.

Where do I begin with what's wrong with this book? Okay, I start with the character of Admiral Daala. Admiral Daala is the heroic champion of the Empire who comes to rescue the world of Fondor and the people thereof from the vicious forces of Colonel Solo.



Start Spoilers

Admiral Daala, the War Criminal. Admiral Daala who butchered the entire colony of Dantooine for a military execise, who blew up a Corvette for the joy of it, who slaughtered civilians by the score in the attacks of Operation: Knight Hammer, who BUTCHERED Foamwater City and it's entire populous, who attacked the Jedi Academy with massive forces to slaughter a bunch of Jedi Knights out of plain old vengeance, who tortured Kyp Durron, and plotted to murder the whole of Coruscant. She's a MASS murderer who turned against the kriffing Empire in a book just because of her anger at a Moff for snubbing her in college.

She's a monster. Arguably, worse than Jacen Solo.

Likewise, Boba Fetts consistent portrayal as the wounded hero. Boba Fett wasn't at fault for hunting down Jedi because they killed his father. Boba Fett wasn't at fault for killing his superior officer because they raped his wife. Boba Fett had to put down Fenn Shysa because it was a mercy killing. Boba Fett wasn't at fault for hunting down Han Solo or working for the pants SPACE NAZIS well....because he's just THAT awesome. Boba Fett killed an entire ****ing garrison and worked for Jabba the Hutt.

He's SCUM and the story keeps trying to retcon him as a secretly noble man underneath.

Also, Boba Fett basically says that the entire galaxy would be better off without the Jedi. Nevermind the galaxy would have been destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong or the million million million threats elsewise. The Sith would also exist without the Jedi because they're an alien race that ABSORBED fallen Jedi. We also get this opinion echoed by Barden Jusik whom more or less says how ashamed he was of being a Jedi Knight for them using a slave army.

Right, the Clone Soldiers who were eager to go to war were such victims of a people who fought and died to save the rest of the galaxy from slaughter.

I don't expect Karin Traviss to know all this. I'm not a continuity pants. However, I'll say this nicely, I expect her to understand the very basics of the Star Wars Mythos. I.e. That the Jedi Knights are noble heroes and exemplars of light, Boba Fett is a bad person who

 

The LOTF Jedi aren't even Venture Bros. smart. The contestants in Monty Python's Britsh Upper Class Twit of the Year could knock these "Jedi" back to last week.

And other than showing the total superiority of the Mandolorian Way, why is Jaina training with them? It's sad to see Luke Skywalker, an actual hero with a moral compass, shoved aside in favor of the superior Boba Fett. Apparently Luke's training wouldn't do squat, since he's actually been able to take on Jacen.

I started this series looking forward to getting back into reading SW. Now I almost wonder why I bothered, since the point of this series (or at least the KT books) is showing the Jedi, the best thing about SW according to SW Insider, as pathetic has-beens.

 

I've been lurking for quite a long time now, but I thought I'd just pop in to say I completely agree with YodaKenobi's review.

Everything and everyone in this book just seemed to be... off somehow. It's like Traviss is trying to write Star Wars as she thinks it should be, not as it is. Changing Shysa's history is the best example here. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Or rather, If it ain't broke don't proceed to break it and rebuild it in your image just because you think it would look better that way.

I'm also somewhat ambivalent about the whole Mando thing. One the one hand I think it's good that we're seeing a focus on groups other than the Jedi and Sith and GA. On the other hand, Traviss is writing them as better than everyone in the galaxy and I hate that.

There are more problems in this book than I care to mention, thankfully YodaKenobi and Charlemagne19 said everything I could say.

1/10

 

This is to me easily Traviss' most emotionally accessible book. The odd thing in this novel as opposed to Inferno is that I found Jaina and the Mando stuff much more interesting than that self doubting Sith Lord, Caedus.

I of course am liking Ben Skywalker. He seems an even more pragmatic and empathetic Jedi than Anakin Solo. So that would be perfection I suppose.

The book did drag for a while and several ideas were gone over more than once or went on a bit long. I keep thinking about Caedus. Someone should kill him if only to kill his constant train of nonstop rationalizing. Poor guy. He's Hamlet without a cause. Not a strong enough villain for 9 books. Then again who is?

I liked the way the novel wrapped up. I was able to connect to the Mandolorians. I did miss Han, Leia, Luke and the Jedi. Any Jedi. I can't much say I like what's happened to Luke and his Jedi. Where are they? Okay, It was a Fett book feat. Jaina Solo. Doesn't mean it was bad. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy parts of this book. It certainly doesn't deserve 1 or 2 out of 10. There are waaay worse SW books than Revelation.
6/10

 

This is easily the funniest thing I have read on these forums in a long, long time sheerly for the excellent bridging that took place and what both references imply.

Also, regarding Ben and hopefully people move on now, can't it just be that the view of "everyone becomes one with the Force" is what Ben was thinking about? Not Force Ghosting, but, y'know, BECOMING ONE WITH THE FORCE. There is no Death; there is the Force? Y'know... CODE?!?

 

This thread has gone from weird to absurd...It is an amazing study in Mob Rules. One spark in the theater set the thread on fire.

 

And yet another post of "we don't like what we don't understand in fact it scares us" (a good Beauty and the Beast quote if there ever was one). Because YOU like the book doesn't mean people have to agree with you or even that you are in the majority.

Could it be, in fact, that *gasp* people actually feel the way they are posting rather than following mob rule?

 

Uh, why? Because people are writing negative reviews about a book which it seems the majority wasn't too happy about?

 

It would be hypocritical to say that Boba Fett couldn?t find his own form of redemption. Darth Vader, after all, was redeemed?

But the real problem is that in this book, Jaina Solo, the Sword of the Jedi, has been refashioned into a sword of beskar, the Sword of the Mandalorians.

 

Wow, Charles. You and I have pretty much given the exact opposite reviews to this book.

 

But redemption would mean that Fett would understand that he has been wrong, would feel guilt for the things he had done and would try to make amends.

 

Yes, it has gotten quite cultish and the scoring? .01 come on. After reading that review I want to change mine to 3.0 from 7.0? This has taken legitimate concerns and turned into something quite different.

 

That is generalizing. I gave the book a .06/10 prior to Yoda's review. Face it, some people were simply not pleased with the effort.

 

Agreed. He's not there yet. He's made some steps. But I'm not here to defend Boba Fett.

 

I'll go with a 6. The problem isn't so much the writing but we're coming to the end and a lot of the foolishness of the over-all plot has become way too big to ignore. Actually, the Mandalorian diatribe on how many Jedi it takes to take out a Sith encapsulated my feelings and really shows how the wish-washy Jedi in these novels are destroying any regard I had for the Jedi. Had the Jedi actually been stewards of justice and peace it would have been a one book series with Jacen acting as fertilizer at the end.

Honestly, the book just felt flat. Aside from Jaina training (which was pretty good) not too bloody much happened. I like Ben but spending and entire book to draw up a tiny bit of evidence to convince people who shouldn't need it anyways is just a huge drag.

Matt

 

I have two reviews for Revelation. As an entertaining, well written novel (except too many references to Naboo)I would give it an 8/10. However, since it is supposed to be a Star Wars novel, I would give it a 3/10 because it does not feel like the Star Wars I know and love. Jedi are not saints, but they are the heroes, not Mandalorians. I really liked Karen's Republic Commando novels, but this novel just glorified the mandies too much. [/b]
Please, Karen stick to Clone War novels where there are no Jedi and we will happily read those. Try to mess with our beloved Jedi and fans will revolt!

 

Colojedi7 has it right.

It's this beautiful, wonderfully well written, slightly condescending book that makes no sense in the context of Star Wars. It's again, the Mirror Universe of Star Wars. It's a place where the Jedi Knights are wimps and crippled by their attachment that only the dispassionate Mandalorians with their ability to put the needs of the many over the needs of their family/clan can deal with.

....

Okay, that violates Traviss' own damn personal canon.

 

I keep seeing the point of veiws of Boba Fett and Bardan Jusik being pointed to as wrong. Why would Boba Fett like the Jedi? They've certainly done so much good for him over the years . The Jedi killed his father, his daughter and nearly himself. Now some seem to want him to walk around praising the Jedi, critical of Traviss for writing him the way she is. I don't get it? There is nothing wrong with Fett's point of veiw as far as I can see yet lots of people are quoting it as a problem with the book. Traviss is certainly pro-Mando and maybe anti-Jedi, but Fett's point of veiw seems right on to me for his character.
We already knew Bardan Jusik's take on the Clone Wars and Jedi way before this novel came out. Bardan was ashamed of the Jedi in True Colors, it had nothing to do with Revelation. Again old news, yet people are acting like they never saw it coming? How could Bardan say such a thing?
"...but I can't live with it any longer. We sanction the use of a slave army. It's against every single principle of our belief, and its a stain on us, and we will pay the price of our hypocrisy one day. This is wrong. therefore I have to leave the Jedi Order."-Bardan Jusik in True Colors
"We always think the choices open to a force-user are lightside or darkside, but I believe there are an infinite amount of choices beyond those, and I'm going to make one."-Bardan Jusik in true Colors

Now I think much of the critism going toward Karen Traviss has some merit but for people to keep using her Fett and Jusik point of veiws as examples of her own bias are out of place. The opinions of Fett and Jusik seem very true to their characters to me. Jaina's POV might be off, or Luke's for that matter, but not Fett and Jusik.