(Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)
Author: Troy Denning
Length: 299 Pages
Released: May 2008
Blurb
No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lost–and nothing less than the course of the future still at stake–there can be no turning back. No matter the consequences.
The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon’ s assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine’s. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.
It’s a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather
Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.
Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome–and the fate of those left standing.
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!
The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon’ s assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine’s. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.
It’s a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather
Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.
Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome–and the fate of those left standing.
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!
After the Dark Nest disastrous bit of horrific storytelling, I've always taken anything Troy Denning writes with a grain of salt. Yes, that's a cliche. This book is pretty good.
Painful Parts
- First off, Denning can't do Boba Fett at all. Nearly all of Fett's lines are out of character, and Denning's version of Fett just plain talks too much. That nit aside, there's not that much of Fett in the book, so it's not all that painful.
- Second, there's not much else to do with Jacen's character, so absolutely nothing is done. The man spends more than half the book glowering or reining in his smoldering anger because of what happened "last time".
- Third, Ben's bit seems contrived. It's like the author stuck him in because he was told to have a piece with Ben Skywalker. This is especially true in the end scenes of the book.
- Fourth, the whole thing with Tahiri's character "development" is so predictable it's hokey.
- Fifth, there seemed to be a bit of "oh, this is the last book of the series, we don't really need that character, let's kill him off" going on.
- Sixth, loose ends. I hate loose ends. *** spoiler-ish comment coming*** At the end of the book, a certain Jedi character just drops off into space, much like Raynar Thul did all those years ago. I know it's becuase they want things to write about in the future but the ploys are getting pathetic.
Pretty Parts
- First, I'm hopelessly attached to the character of Jaina Solo. Seeing as she was in a good number of the 299 pages of this skinny book, I was happy as a hutt at a fixed podrace.
- Second, Luke does a little more thank just sit on his hands all day.
- Third, the action scenes were well written. Star Wars thrives on healthy action scenes. That a good number of the situations these days are pathetically set up does not detract from the power these authors have over spinning the action portions of their tales.
- Fourth, the book passed the late night test... anything that can keep me up to 3:20 in the morning gets some props for the accomplishment.
- Fifth, the end was satisfying, if predictable. At one point they almost had me believing they'd do something incredibly stupid but then I remembered that this is Star Wars and those light and fluffy "awww" notes are the bread and butter of the galaxy.
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