The Official Fate of the Jedi V: Allies Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Love that cover. And it comes out on SW's 33rd anniversary. I still haven't gotten to FOTJ, as I am reading some other SW books that come before it. But will definitely enjoy reading the series when I get to it!!

 

Yeah, cause it's not like the authors sit down and plan out the events of each novel and the series as a whole in advance. That'd be crazy...

 

LOL. I gotta say, I'm getting a kick out of this thread. Keep up the good material guys! The one truly entertaining thing about FOTJ is our reaction to it.

 

Does ALLIES have a preview of VORTEX? Also, what's the page count?

 

For those lucky few who have the book, any new Jedi (or ones we have not seen in a while)? What about Council meetings? Jaden and Raynar? More Mandos getting defeted too easily?

 

Well, I tried to resist, but meh, I caved in fast and read spoilers. Didn't like the spoilers, but not like there was much I liked about FotJ in the first place, but thank you to the people who have shared spoilers anyway.

...I think of LotF as a trainwreck. A disaster, but at least it had a (downward) direction. This? I'm not even sure where FotJ is going anymore. Sure, there's still the Sith and the GA, but they always seemed like... annoyances, the GA at least, compared to the inhuman horror lurking in the Maw. An NJO vs. Tribe war could be cool, but unless they really get things going suddenly, I still don't see the NJO acting, since the Jedi Council being stuck on Coruscant is a common flaw of all the authors. Unless its just a trick, and it'll again be left up to Denning to write an exciting fast-paced Star Wars novel?

Jaina breaking up with Jag again? ...well, guess that means the Fel dynasty won't be descended from Jaina? Unless they get back together by the end of FotJ, but all this back and forth seems like a huge waste of time, especially if they did get back together again later on. I was never a fan of that couple, but still, at least Jaina would've done something (like getting married) then! Now its back to just being a Jedi Knight? Although it almost rekindles my hope of seeing a Legacy-era Solo and of Han and Leia having a descendant that won't be stuck in Hapan or Imperial politics forever, if Jaina is now free again (too bad Zekk isn't available anymore). And Tahiri's trial sounds horrible, but at least she'll be back in the spotlight after a while.

Luke defeating Abeloth sounds awesome, and it is unexpected... but it doesn't really make sense from a storytelling point of view for this to happen this early. Oh well, I'll wait until I read the book to comment more. Although I think a future solicit mentioned the Fallanasi being involved somehow, so maybe some other threat else will be involved rather than just Abeloth or the Sith? It seems stupid and like a very badly planned story to introduce something else this late in the series, but that's normal for a Del Rey series. And yes, I understand most of us don't understand the context, but still, it doesn't even sound like a logical progression of a story anymore. Then again, logic was thrown out with the last series anyway.

Sounds like a very... odd book, I really wish my local bookstores would put out a few copies early, though they don't seem to do that anymore, unfortunately (especially for hardcovers).

 

I'm not so excited about the change of plans as far as J&J's engagement, but then...kinda saw that coming. I'm sure they'll change plans again at some point.
Still very excited for the book!

To anyone who has the book/has read it: How are Ben and Vestara in this book? Anything new in that department?

 

i have a feeling i know where the rest of this series is going and if i am right it sucks. If the sith threat/Jacen solo journey, Abeloth defeated story lines end with Allies, what is left? Look at the title of this series, and the fact that all these book are hardcovers. this means we have something very huge coming up. if luke lives, then the rest of this series will focus on...........................the new JEDI PURGE

 

I highly doubt there will be a Jedi Purge.





What is the fate of Lando in this book? I've heard a small peep about him and Luke.

 

[Yoda]So certain are you?[/Yoda]

 

So all we find out about Callista is that she's dead? lame.

 

Well we also learn that Luke still loves "his dear Callie"

 

He's talking about Omas.

 

How does Callista come into the story??

 

So, how does Abeloth die exactly? Impaled by Luke's lightsaber? What is her form? Is she truly the massive Force entity/nexus of dark side energy and/or Celestial inhabiting both Beyond Shadows and the Maw, or is she just a (somewhat freakish) physical mortal on a planet?

With Abeloth gone and the summary for the next book being Luke and Ben trying to find out the origins of Abeloth, I suspect Abeloth is just a servant of a greater evil.

 

Callista comes into the story via Abeloth. First, as a familiar female presence that Luke, er, um, communes with while he's alone on the Shadow. Luke believes at the time that presence is Mara. Later when he Mindwalks Mara reveals it wasn't her.

Near the end of the Mindwalking, Dyon, who has gone barvy and is being held prisoner on the Shadow, escapes with some help from Vestara. He goes to Abeloth, and she sucks his life essence right from his body.

Lucky for Dyon, the Jedi/Sith Alliance intervene. Then the pursuit of Abeloth continues. When they catch up to her, she appears in the form of Callista. At this point Luke realizes it's been Abeloth who has been sneaking into his dreams.

As I understand it, Abeloth must have consumed Callista's life essence at some point. I'm actually curious as to other people's take on Abeloth/Callista because even after a couple reads I'm still

 

Hmm, Mind Drinking? If Abeloth is a sort of Nihilus (although rather than Force Hunger its Mind Drinking) then she could have consumed Callista, and absorbed all of her knowledge...

 

interesting and scary, but I hope there is more to it than calling Jedi to her for drinking their souls. an Anzati Sith Lord channeling Nihilus would have been enough to do that, calling Jedi Joiners to him Killik style. so WHAT is she? WHY does she do it? Is she Force demon, Celestial, new evil or just an alien species that is a darksider?

why doppelganger thingie if that's just it? I doubt that's it, there has to be more. next books might shock and reinterpret the first books giving us the full story maybe. who knows.

 

Ooooh, spoilers. I like the idea that Tahiri is continuing to actually get a story and honestly I don't really mind the whole slept with Jacen thing. It's appropriately twisted and frankly I was half expecting it during the back half of LOTF anyways. I kind of wish we had gotten it - it might have been an opportunity to more fully explore her psyche and how messed up she was rather than just letting the reader put it together from past events and fill in the gaps ourselves.

I'll wait until I read it cus I'm a few books behind but I'm not immediately dismissive of the decision to end certain plotlines in this novel either. I accept that people need to know the basic premise of the series, but as long as new plotlines are introduced (and I don't know that they are), I'll adopt a wait and see policy. Dragging it out might have been equally annoying, so if the story is going to take off on some unexpected, but organic tangent, then yay. If not, oh well.

The only thing I've heard that makes me want to roll my eyes is the Jaina and Jag stuff. Not because I particularly like them together, I'm fairly J/J agnostic. I honestly don't care if she marries Jag and has a million Fel Dynasty babies, or breaks up with him and concentrates 100% on Swording forevermore. Or anything in between. I really do. not. care. I just want them to get it over with so we can have stories about Jaina rather than her love life. Especially if, after dumping Jag to go off and Sword at something, apparently she wasn't even needed anyway! I mean, honestly? My first thought is that this is happening in book four of nine. While it's possible they'll do something weird and unexpected like hook Tahiri up with Jag - and hey, I might even enjoy that for its unexpectedness, tongue-in-cheek suggestions I made during LOTF aside - I really doubt it. I think this is just their way of trying to drag out a will-they-won't-they that's far past its sell-by date.

 

I have to question why Luke would be sending Jaina away. Wouldn't extra Jedi help them more? Especially one that's probably nearing to be as strong as himself. Maybe even get some discussions with Luke about their feelings, get her centered more, and more able to deal with her future, whatever that will be.

 

So far the spoilers are interesting and confusing.

I really thought Abeloth was the big baddie of the series and would be sticking around until the end. Have no idea what will happen now with the last four books.

The Jaina and Jag stuff sounds ridiculous. If I were a J/J shipper I would be beyond ticked off. I hope they do a better job handling Ben's romance(s).

Could we get more info concerning Ben, Vestara and the Sith? Does Tenel Ka finally make an appearance? Thanks

 

Considering the Xizor cult with cloning -thing, could it be a hint? Is Abeloth really dead dead, or just villain dead, able to return?

 

The question is how final is Luke's defeat of Abeloth? Does Abeloth get defeated in the there's no way that she's going to come back way? Or is it the there's an off chance that she could come back way?

 

No.

Well the end of the book suggests Tahiri's fate might be in dire peril so don't get your hopes up entirely. When a capital crime trial goes as badly as hers does, the readers should worry about what may result for her character. Before the spoilers were out people suggested Tahiri's appearance on the upcoming cover might indicate her death.

I'm not saying this is how I believe the story will end but it's definitely a possibility based on the events in the series. Not to mention, her death would be the waste of an intriguing female character..

I agree it?s appropriately twisted and I had the opinion during the books that Jacen and Tahiri were involved sexually, but I'd actually prefer if they had left it implied. It's not necessary to the story. In fact, I think it's gratuitous. One of the great parts of the movies is that if you want to see Leia and Han as having slept together on Cloud City (based on signs such as Leia's change from virginal white attire), okay. If you don't want to, then the movie still works without it. That type of storytelling makes it easier for more people to relate to the characters. Really, H/L?s love is key to the story, not that they became lovers.

One of the elements of Star Wars is romance, which is an entirely different thing than sex. I think the movies struck a nice balance. The books, on the other hand, feel like they need to flash neon signs at who's doing what with whom. And more so as we move along the timeline, which yes is an acknowledgement of the times we live in. With that said, I'm inclined to think that many of the teenaged characters in the NJO had progressed into sexual relationships. What's the saying, if you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to...

But I don't think that information makes for a better story or is necessary. I enjoy reading about couples working in tandem to overcome a foe as opposed to their sexual shortcomings or successes. I enjoy innuendo and looking for those subtler points in a story and using my imagination to fill in the blanks. For instance, there are now people madder than heck that Jacen would, as they say, 'betray' Tenel Ka. That's how they relate to the characters, and that's perhaps an area the writers should allow the readers to indulge their preferences and life experiences slightly.

This story is overt with Vestara's orders from her father on how to use her sexuality against Ben. It's overt on Daala's sexual relations. It's overt on Tahiri's relationship with her Sith mentor. It's overt on Luke's needs.

In fact, I'm beginning to feel like this authors can't write a character without relating their actions to sexual motivations. Jacen had bartered sex for star destroyers, betrayed his parents, his sister, his uncle and mentor to name a few; it's not surprising he would betray Tenel Ka or his dead brother's memory. The implication is already there in his actions that he was capable of using sex as a weapon against Tahiri. Does it need to be said?

Yes, there is satisfaction in knowing your and my guess was right in regards to Jacen and Tahiri, but authors and editors must weigh their story choices against possible ramifications to other fans and the implications for the characters.

In the context of the story I underst