Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Revelation

Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8)

by Karen Traviss

Book Review by Dan Tres OMi

Omi's Note: I did read this book several weeks ago but held out on the review until the latest installment was out and gave everyone a week or two to catch it. This way, I wouldn't spoil anything for anyone.

With Karen Traviss at the helm of this book, the readers are returned to the Mandolarian culture. This time, Jaina decides it is up to her to defeat her brother. She was advised to seek training from someone that Jacen/Darth Caedus would never expect: Boba Fett. The story moves along at a quickening pace as Jacen/Darth Caedus finds a new apprentice.

The Mandolarians begin to secure more weapons contracts as they start to design fighter craft that are superior to anything used by the Galactic Alliance (GA). Some old characters from Traviss' Clone Commando series also make appearances. The reader also learns more about Fett's past. I only found these parts to be the plus ones. Everything else could have been done in a comic book.

Again, I must reiterate this particular theme: Fett is too old to be out there fighting. Yes, he has been cured (escaping death yet again) but his aging wasn't reversed. I expected there to be more deaths at the hands of Jacen/Darth Caedus. I expected to see more major characters meet their end. Yet none of it happened.

Personally, I don't think Jaina has what it takes to take on Jacen. When it comes to the Force, Jacen is just too formidable unless the authors from the Dark Nest Trilogy have been pulling our legs. Although I enjoy Traviss' work, I feel that this book and the last one were not enough to wrap up the later part of the series. The first few books did well to set up the plot yet now it seems as if Jacen/Darth Caedus despite all of his power can't seem to hold anything together.

There are so many characters that I feel should be focused on such as Kyp Durron, Seba Sebantyne, and others. Yet we get the same old guys, Luke (who should have been killed instead of Mara Jade), Han, and Leia. Although I dig the Mandolarians and their culture, I didn't really want to see a wedding.

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno

Inferno (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 6)
by Troy Denning

Book review by Dan Tres Omi

The kid gloves are off. Jacen Solo/Darth Caedeus has reached the point of no return. The Jedi are forced to make a decision that would change the face of the latest Galactic Civil War. Luke Skywalker has to make his move and Ben is the key to his sanity. Troy Denning's Inferno brings the pain as we near the climax of the Legacy of the Force miniseries.

Jacen/Caedeus has one final plan to crush the Correllian insurrection and the Confederate planets. It involves the cooperation of the Jedi Knights and the Hapes Consortium. Many planets have left the Galactic Alliance (GA). This has stretched the military forces of the GA thin. Yet Jacen/Caedeus feels that one strike will end it all. Using the force, Jacen/Caedeus finds no flaws in his end game. To ensure the cooperation of the Jedi Knights, he holds the Jedi Academy on Ossus hostage.

Of course, things do not go according to plan. Ben decides to take revenge on Jacen/Caedeus. Luke finally decides to take action against Jacen/Caedeu. This is something the Jedi have been itching to do. Jaina, Zekk, and Jagged Fel decide to free the hostages on Ossus. It is there that Jacen/Caedeus loses it. To make matters worse the Bothans get involved with the Wookies debating on whose side to take. Eventually, the Wookies side with the Jedi thanks in part to the intervention of Han and Leia.

Several characters meet their end. Finally, a confrontation between Luke and Jacen happens. Jacen is left with half a foot in the grave. Ben sees Jacen for who he is. At one point, Luke is thought to have been killed. Despite the heavy losses to the Fifth fleet, Jacen makes it back to Coruscant.

Overall, the plot went along very fast. Too many things happened at once. This makes sense. The previous books led up to this point in the story. Alema Rar is still alive and actually hunts down some Sith to get some answers from them. This adds another element to the story. However, I still find Alema Rar's character to be useless. I don't understand why she is still alive. If anything she creates more questions and problems then there needs to be.

Jacen/Caedeus was not as formidable as I assumed. If anything he is more of a nuisance. One would think that all the power that Jacen possesses that was discussed in the Dark Nest trilogy and the earlier Legacy of the Force novels would not allow people to get the drop on him but they do. I am not saying he should be as powerful as Palpatine was and he is not omnipotent but all this talk really makes me wonder. To be honest, Jacen comes off as a joke. My assumption was that he would beat Luke easily. Instead Luke seems to toy with him. Or is it that Luke has never had the opportunity to use his full Force powers. Then again, both Jacen and Luke come from the same bloodline.

I did expect another major character to die. Yet only quite a few minor characters were killed off. Killing one major character every thirty books is not realistic. Not everyone can escape death several times over (If Han and Leia do one more death defying escape on the Millenium Falcon, I swear I will slit my wrists). Denning however, pulls it off as things start to move fast.

The next book should be even better.

What they really think about Luke...

never thought about it like this...