Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)

Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)

By Troy Denning
Book Review by Dan Tres Omi

When George Lucas allowed several authors to pen the numerous books for the Yuuzhan Vong war (the New Jedi Order – NJO), there were so many problems. While there was a strict adherence to continuity, the flow would sometimes stifle or pick up depending on who was writing. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. With so many books, several plots and subplots were neatly finished. One would have never expected Jacen Solo to turn out the way he did. If anything, readers were left either hating or somewhat tolerating Jacen Solo. What made the NJO series special was that it allowed the reader to really explore the nuances of the Force.

In the Legacy of the Force (LOTF) series, there were only nine books with three authors. Like the NJO, the LOTF would ebb and flow. Some books were right on while others were just plain bad. Troy Denning had his work cut out for him. I expected the book to be as big as “The Unifying Force” by James Luceno. Yet it was only a scant 299 pages and the book moves very quickly.

I was glad that Denning places the reader in the Mandalorian defense of the Verpine mining asteroid of Nickel One in the Roche system. The Verpine and the Mandalorians have a treaty that began in the early part of the LOTF series. Boba Fett wanted to honor it even if it meant fighting against the Imperial Remnant. Fett was definitely out of his league and expected a massacre. It is good to see Fett in a situation that calls upon all of his resources. The Mandalorians get their beskar'gam handed back to them. I assumed that Denning would have left them out since that is Karen Traviss' realm.

Jaina Solo is in the front with Fett and his granddaughter Mirta Gev. She splits with the Mandalorians and meets up with the Jedi Council who agree that someone should be sent to kill Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus. Everyone agrees that Jaina should be the one to do it. It takes two tries but Jaina is finally successful. Both battles are worth the price of admission. Darth Caedus uses all of his Force ability and even pulls out the Shatterpoint technique last used by Master Mace Windu. The reader will also see the Moffs in action once again.

The drawback that takes so much away from the book is the ending. The galaxy is pretty much in shambles. The Bothans have sided with the Corellians. Admiral Niathal, who defected with bits of the Fourth Fleet, joins up with the Jedi, the Wookies, and the Hapes Consortium. The Mandalorians are for themselves and the Verpine. The Imperial Remnant is maintaining an unsteady alliance with Darth Caedus. Politically there is no one shot solution that would keep everyone happy. While killing Darth Caedus is a good idea, what to do afterward is never considered. Denning tries in the last twenty pages. To be honest, this would have been done more thoroughly in a separate series. Unfortunately, the Sith that the late Alema Rar found are not even mentioned.

We do see how the galaxy is set up to be the way it is in Cade Skywalker's time. There is a new found hostility towards the Jedi since many people are beginning to place blame on the Jedi Order. The galaxy is still in an uneasy alliance. I think that every reader knew that Darth Caedus was going to be killed. It's the way of the Sith. No matter how powerful a Sith Lord becomes, someone comes along and takes them out. One would think that the Sith would figure that out by now and try something entirely new.

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.