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I suppose he could still do this. What do you get with a sadistic mad man in charge of the largest single fleet of ships in the galaxy. They (the Jedi) can't change the fact that Allana is his daughter. What do you get when bring near indestructable droids and good and evil jedi into conflict. Why he does this, I have no idea. Legacy of the Force is an overbloated BANTHA, which reads like a bunch of people who wanted to write together but couldn't agree on a master plot. However, there are some almost casual scenes which really really really don't develop Jacen Solo as being somehow, more evil.
Nothing is simple, and that is because the master plot, which seems simple in and of itself, is buried in an avalanche of loose ends which begin to get tiring when something from book 2 might not get developed again until book 5.In other words, this series is simply annoying.Yet, I am a Star Wars fan, and I must have closure, so, I press on.Aaron Allston is a very smart man, but he must have ADD. You get Fury, by Aaron Allston, as well as the best body count to date in the Legacy of the Force series.While the original movies were slight on depth, and streamlined into a master plot, this particular series tracks 30 or 40 characters across countless plots, subplots, and even a few cameos. His idea of exciting is tracking 15 different people in 5 or six locations with alternating short paragraphs. This is simply a rehashing of Darth Vader feeling the pain of Amidala's death.Alema Rar dies in this book, which is sad, because I liked this plot better than anything else so far.Overall, this is an ok book in a series that has gone on far too long.
What do you get when you fire the biggest gun in the galaxy. In fact, the whole Jacen series seems like rehashed Darth Vader scenes, including the standard evil villain fair of displaced aggression, especially towards subordiants, leading to typical tyrranical behavior. It even includes a ridiculous scene where Jacen falls to his knees realizing that his daughter is gone. Firstly, his plan was to reveal his relationship with Tenal Ka to the whole universe. Yet, it remains, undoubtedly, the best part of the book.Overall, I give a big thumbs up for the increased body count. And, don't forget, he is evil. What if, when they did Star Wars, Darth Vader didn't get burned and put in a suit, and didn't even reveal himself as a Sith Lord until 8 books later. They are just going to keep her safe.
Sure, it is exciting, but also confusing, and chaotic. Most of these deaths showcase the large scale dynamic of the plot, and this is fine (if a bit gratuitous), in as it adds to the conflict. He hasn't been a father to her his whole life, and shouldn't be ridiculously attached. I can't wait till I am finished with it so I can move on.Neither recommended or not.
There were so many things that could have been done with this such as turning Allana to the Dark Side or even making her his apprentice, therefore completely turning her against her mother. I, for one, am glad that Jaina has been brought back into the fray of things, and without the added bonus of the Jag-Jaina-Zekk love triangle (was anyone still enjoying that). Seeing an event with such possibility fall so flat was very disappointing, especially considering that Allana was retrieved by the end of the story, thereby putting everyone involved in that particular crisis back to where they started. Regardless, the actual attempt is well written and adds a bit of excitement to the story. It's starting to feel like the authors are just stretching the story out as far as it can go and, honestly, it's starting to become a bit silly.
A group of Jedi (none of which are from the Solo or Skywalker clans, surprisingly) set out to kill or detain Jacen in hopes of ending the war. It begins to be a bit unbelievable after a while. This becomes the other significant event in the novel. However, the reason for the kidnapping is only to use the girl as a bargaining chip to force Tenel Ka to continue lending the Galactic Alliance her military support. Jacen has seemed to develop a knack for walking into obvious traps; he did so in Exile and he makes an encore performance in Fury. Fury is definitely better that Allston's last installment (Exile), but it's still primarily filler.
Sure, people get wounded (two Jedi and one other main character, specifically), but they all live. Despite the fact that he's the only one on the team without Force powers, Jag manages to play a large role in accomplishing the team's goal. Allston excels in that field of writing; he's just really good at writing action packed dogfights. After the fast paced, decisive read the previous novel (Inferno) ended up being, I was hoping that Fury would follow suit by being equally exciting and significant. Ultimately, the book ended with everyone being more or less where they began. It worked for the story, but I can't help but wonder why Caedus never changed his cloak (especially after one of his officers comments on the fact that never wears the same garment for any extended period of time). Allston is obviously in his element with this sequence, as the action is well written and gripping, making for an exciting hundred pages or so of reading. Luke (who is still grieving over Mara's death) and the rest of the Jedi (as well as some non-Jedi, such as Han, Wedge, Tycho, and Syal) concoct a plan to destroy Centerpoint Station and retrieve Allana.
I'm eager to see what role the trio will play in the next two novels, as they are being set up to make more major appearances (or Jaina is, at any rate). No one really progresses and the plot is left right where it was when the novel began. Unfortunately, the reader can pretty much guess this is going to fail, as it is inevitable that it will be one of Caedus's relatives that eventually do him in. The rest of the book had potential, but ended up just falling flat.
Jaina, Jag, and Zekk continue to search for Alema Rar and eventually end up carrying out one of the only significant events in the novel. Spoilers follow.As with many of Allston's novels, the finale of Fury is a fast paced and exciting space battle. I won't say exactly what happens, but I found it to be pretty clever. It is here, though, that one of Allston's problems becomes very apparent: he just doesn't want anyone to die.
I've actually enjoyed the authors' characterization of Jacen, but I can't imagine that he'd be so stupid as to walk into such an obvious trap. I personally think it's a bit ridiculous for Tendra to be having a baby because, as even Lando said, they're just too old.Unfortunately, despite the good points, Fury was a big disappointment after Inferno. Unfortunately, this novel ended up being mostly filler material, hardly advancing the series and providing little in the way of significant events. And one a side note, I always thought that Lando was older than Han and that Tendra was very close to Lando's age. There are some great scenes, such as Jacen telling Allana that he's her father (though, I think Allana believed him a little too readily, especially since he never said the "special words") and Ben discussing Mara's passing and Luke's role as Grand Jedi Master with Luke. You could probably skip it and not really miss anything. Unless you're already deeply engrossed (for lack of a better term) in this series, I would almost suggest skipping this one. It is also odd that Caedus, being as intelligent as he is, wouldn't think to do what Leia did to discover Corellia's trap.
One such action that could have been very exciting and had the possibility of throwing the Legacy of the Force series in a new direction was Jacen's kidnapping of Allana. There are two, maybe three at most, events that are actually significant to the overall series. While the Jedi fail in ridding the galaxy of Jacen's presence, they do manage to plant a tracker on his cape. Nor do I understand why he would allow his mother to speak with him on the command deck, rather than throwing her in a prison cell (seeing as she is considered a traitor to the GA). The Legacy of the Force series needs a good, solid ending.and I'm starting to worry that it won't get one.
Also, the spine was barely readable because it was almost all white from wear. I'm not really OCD when it comes to the spines of my books being straight, but I like them to look somewhat nice. Some pages in the book were even bent in a couple places as if they were used as bookmarks. The web site said that this book was in either "very good" or "like new" condition (I don't remember which for sure now). However, when I got it, I was disappointed to see that the spine was bent as if the last reader had folded all the pages backward around the spine. Overall however, it was a great read. I wasn't disappointed by the content, simply the condition of the "very good" condition book.
For any other developments. A minorly promising turn but all for naught as the girl is rescued by the end of the story. As for a follow up book to Inferno, the effort was rather wasted as already mentioned, everyone is back in the same situation as when this episode started. Jaina realizes she must begin her training again and in a different manner as Jagged Fel teaches her a lesson in fighting dirty.
Otherwise, again this book reminds me more of the whole story being a retelling of the fall of Anakin Skywalker. She has taken it upon herself to fulfill some new prophecy declaring her as the Sword of the Jedi and she expects to fight Jacen as Jedi. Jag disrupts this whole concept with the point of Jacen's dementia will prevent him from fighting honorably. Book 7 of the series has Caedus, formerly Jacen Solo, kidnapping his daughter to force Tenel Ka to commit the Hapan fleet to Caedus' cause of ending the war. Oh that and the superweapon of the story is destroyed when it is on the verge of wiping out the enemy. He actually had me wanting to read more at certain points but then big scene changes drug it to a halt.
Big problem for me was the discussion between Ben and Luke over Luke's role and grieving of Mara Jade. Ben asks when Luke will get back to being the Jedi leader instead of director and suddenly Luke 'centers' himself with the Force and all is better as he shrugs of the loss of his wife to resume his duties.
Now if only we could get rid of the stupendously idiotic and ridiculous 'Force Phantoms', man what a dumb idea based presumably upon the Dagobah tree-cave.I'll give Allston three stars for this entry as he did manage to get me interested in the story at certain points but it's a borderline two stars because it served little purpose to the overall story but was still better than his previous two entries. Allston's turn also sees the return of Tycho Chelcu, Wedge and his daughter Syal Antilles mainly because Allston likes using these characters, otherwise they served no real purpose.
As Darth Vader, he captures his daughter Leia (unbeknownst to Vader and all of us at the time), holds her captive, and then she's rescued by a band of opposers. well 1) no one still knows Jacen has rechristened himself Darth Caedus and claims to be a Sith; 2) Alema Rar is finally seemingly dealt with; 3) Centerpoint Station is irretrievably finished {thank goodness}; and 4) the secret is out as to Jacen being Allana's father.
Otherwise, as others have mentioned, this book is a small circle, everyone is back where they began at the start of the book with no advancement of the story.I will say, however, as for this nine part storyarc, this is by far Allston's best contribution. Hmmm Caedus kidnaps his daughter, holds her captive, and she's rescued by opposing forces.
As others have stated, you could skip this one and not miss much of anything.
You killed off two of the best characters that could have made for some interesting stories later. And no great moral battle is encountered.
The moral delimas contained in the book are not at all realistic from any standpoint. In a nutshell, I was disapointed by this whole series.
After all, the Jedi kill people by the scores when it was necessay. I could understand why Luke couldn't kill Jacan, if the reason stated was because he was a close relitive and much beloved by the family, before he turned to the dark side.
But, all the agony about killing him because it would turn Luke to the dark side is just so much bunk. And.
Even though I stuck to this story line for the whole span, I never really felt connected to the characters and never had any sympothy for them.
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