Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi (Spoiler free as of Ascension)

[James the Defender 7]

I haven't read the spoilers, but by the comments around them, I'm wondering if I should just get a synopsis and call it even, :p

[Mara 29]

Nah.. it's actually good. Not the best of the series, but still some interesting things happening.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Bwuh? Seriously? o.0

Hamner's starting to annoy me. And I'm pretty sure Kyp's last name is Durron, not Durran.

[Master Hayes 1]

I finished reading Aliies today. I enjoyed the book, but I did have to roll my eyes at one point. *read Mara's spoiler* I was really getting into the stuff with Tahiri.

I'd post more but I don't know how to do those cool little hidden spoiler thingys. :question:

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

They're spoiler tags. Just remove the spaces. [ spoiler] [ /spoiler]

[James the Defender 7]

I just started reading Allies...and one question repeatedly pushes itself to the front of my mind... WHY CHRISTIE GOLDEN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

There are a plethora of other SW authors out there better, e.g. James Luceno, Matthew Stover, Timothy Zahn, R.A. Salvatore, Gregory Keyes, Michael Stackpole...heck I'd take Dan Wolverton or Karen Traviss right now...

I miss 3 dimensional characters, great dialogue (admittedly, Golden's dialogue is certainly not the worst I've ever read. It's keeping me interested. Her dialogue is the only thing keeping me reading at this point). I miss rich plot lines and more delicate philosophy...She has one book after this one, yes? I'm so glad it isn't the last one. In these two nine book series--LOTF and FOTJ--they put the two best authors as bookends and the middle one is the "eh" one. Good first impression with Allston, good last impression with Denning...

I still may skip this book...

I'm FAR to critical of authors...especialy their dialogue. Our daily lives are dialogue, aren't they? If dialogue isn't life-like, rich, and done well, the book comes off as completely fake and it is of little value, IMHO.

[James the Defender 7]

Okay, read the summary, gonna skip it!

[Mara 29]

If I skipped every book I came across with out-of-place dialogue, I wouldn't be reading 75% of the books I do.

I just learn to read past it.

Anyway, excited for Vortex. :D

[James the Defender 7]

Therefore, I haven't read 75% of all SW books

Hey, if Ben ends up sleeping with Vestara, will he contract Sith-philis? :p

[Mara 29]

Pfft. So far (I'm only about 8 chapters in), I don't really see how Denning is so much better a writer than the other SW authors. Your comment has made me pay more attention to the dialogue, and some of it is kind of shaky.

But now I'm ignoring it, and just going with the flow, and the story is so much more enjoyable.

And I hope he never does. Honestly, I want Vestara to die before the series ends. She is annoying.

[Mara 29]

I have finished Vortex!

Overall, I think I liked it better than the last one or two novels, but I think that's because we are finally getting into some real action here.

A few thoughts:

I have to say, though, there were a few things that confused me, but maybe it's just Denning's writing style. The biggest thing was his big screwup towards the end. I think it was the last chapter that dealt with Tahiri's trial (why is this even in this series anyway? It seems pointless and not at all related to the real story. Is it just a time waster until we get to the characters we actually care about?) when she fires Sardonne. She's mentioned earlier as being Lorrdian. And then here, she's described as Falleen. The judge is Falleen, yes. But I don't think Sardonne is. And I doubt she can be two species at the same time. Don't these books have editors?

The whole Kenth/Saba situation... while I could see myself agreeing and disagreeing with them both, for different reasons (both of their opinions had pros and cons), I think they both handled the situation poorly. Of course, obviously Kenth handled it badly... I'm sorry to see him go. He was actually a pretty cool character. And while Saba is probably one of my favorites in the SW universe... I'm on the fence with her last few decisions, especially the ones made behind Kenth's back. Yeah, he hid some things too, but it was for good reason. No reason to go all rebel behind his back. Oh, well. Like I said, I'm not sure whose side I am on with that whole mess; but I definitely didn't like all of it.

So happy to finally see Artoo back and actually DOING something finally. I feel like he hasn't gotten this much 'face' time since like, the Dark Nest trilogy when he went all crazy. He was pretty much absent from Legacy of the Force. And up till now in Fate of the Jedi as well. Artoo rocks; the writers should use him more.

The whole Abeloth/Sith mess... I still don't trust Vestara. And I don't really like how this book ended. I still think she's using Luke and Ben to gain something. She probably even killed Taalon on purpose, just to get the Skywalkers to 'save' her from the other Sith, just using the excuse that she was afraid what was happening to him. Heck, she went after her own father. Who cares if she saved them, briefly? Everything she does has a purpose. And none of it's good. I wouldn't even be surprised of Vestara was one of Abeloth's bodies. Like I said earlier, I despise Vestara, and really hope she's killed off by the end of the series (or at least made to disappear).

I think those are the main things...

Hopefully Conviction continues the action and doesn't get bogged down by silly Tahiri murder trials and crap like that.

I want some awesome Jedi vs. Sith battles.

PS: I've updated the first post with the rest of the novels' titles and the front cover art for Conviction. Hopefully the back cover art will be available soon.

But the book itself isn't slated to come out till May. :(

Edited December 28, 2010 by Mara

[James the Defender 7]

I'm just over halfway through Vortex and I'm sorely disappointed with Denning's interaction between Jedi and Sith. It hasn't much elevated from the dialogue of Golden. *sigh*

BUT...Saba Sebatyne is AWESOME! I love Barabel.

I don't like how Ben is portrayed with Vestara. He's a JEDI...the Force can lend him some abilities that can counteract his hormones. I understand he is a teenager and as a teenager, hormones control just about everything...I know, I used to be a teen... but the way he's portrayed it's as if Vestara is a Falleen... She's only a human...It's like everytime Ben gets near her he becomes mentally challenged...*sigh*

[James the Defender 7]

Hopefully Conviction continues the action and doesn't get bogged down by silly Tahiri murder trials and crap like that.

Judging by the cover of Conviction, it looks as if Tahiri will be the featured character... I hope this trial ends up being pertinent to the plotline of the entire series or I'm going to be angered by all this filler...and I hope Denning does a better job with the last book of this series than he did with the last book of LotF...

Edited January 28, 2011 by James the Defender

[Mara 29]

I'm in agreement about Tahiri. Besides the fact that I find courtroom dramas boring in general in any form anyway. There just doesn't seem to be a point to it.

[James the Defender 7]

Finished Vortex

What a ride.... A Barabel in charge of the Order.....I LOVE IT! Kenth's death seemed really...ill-timed, but I asked who was going to die and there's person number 1. Saba's reaction is interesting. The Barabel nest under the Temple...has to be Saba's.

What's up with Jag and Jaina? I agreed with Tahiri's conclusion with Sardon, but it won't go to well when she tells the person who sent her... And, yeah, editors are supposed to pick up that earlier Denning said she was Lorrdian, but I forgot about it until you brought it up.

How many of Luke's old g/f's are going to become Abeloth? I don't think Vestara is an agent of Abeloth, yet...but I look forward to how Allston will handle all these situation. He's by far the best author of all three of them, IMHO. He was setting up Ben and Vestara perfectly in the book before Allies and his dialogue between Ben and Luke showed Ben has some intelligence and can think on his own. He got Ben back to the LotF Ben: smart, cunning, decisive, mature. Denning and Golden portray him as a normal teen. He's not...he's a battle-hardened Jedi who can think for himself and who was aged well beyond his years by the Second Galactic Civil War and thus far by fighting Abeloth. He's intelligent and mature...not a kid who let's his body run the show... I'm really upset about that...

I can't wait for Conviction!

As for the preview of Conviction...

Valin and Jysella are still mad?! What?! That's nutsy!!!!!! But the mention of the garbage compactor in Ep. IV is great! Also, I caught some spelling errors *wrinkles nose*...

Edited January 31, 2011 by James the Defender

[Princess 35]

Yeah, I wasn't happy with that either Conviction

[James the Defender 7]

This long of waits in between books only hurts my willingness to go read the next one...I'd think publishers would have this figured out by now...

[Mara 29]

Well, only another week or two, right? :p

[James the Defender 7]

:roll:

[Mara 29]

Picked it up this(yesterday, whatever) afternoon!

[Princess 35]

Finished it over the weekend

Why Nom Charios? Now I've got to freaking reread that stupid Planet of Twilight book!

Ding dong! Luke set Callista free!

Too bad they spoiled that Daala was getting overthrown on the cover and it didn't happen until over the halfway point of the book.

Allana finally starts coming into her Force powers and you can see some of Jacen's talents, and it looks like from the visions that the Sith are getting that Jacen might have made the right choice during the Second Galactic Civil War

[James the Defender 7]

Oh, my...I haven't even though about it, yet, lol

[Mara 29]

Finished it over the weekend

Why Nom Charios? Now I've got to freaking reread that stupid Planet of Twilight book!

Ding dong! Luke set Callista free!

Too bad they spoiled that Daala was getting overthrown on the cover and it didn't happen until over the halfway point of the book.

Allana finally starts coming into her Force powers and you can see some of Jacen's talents, and it looks like from the visions that the Sith are getting that Jacen might have made the right choice during the Second Galactic Civil War

Finished it last night... And overall, I'd say it was good. Better than the last two or three, at least.

Anyway...

I agree about the Nom Charios thing. I couldn't even remember half of that stuff at first, nor which book it was in. (Ironically I think that's one of the five books I actually own).

And yes, finally, hopefully, Callista is gone.

I wasn't spoiled about Daala; I don't read the cover or flaps. ;p

Oh, yay, Jacen made one right choice among the hundreds of bad ones?

Though, I think I'm finally understanding why Tahiri's trial has been given a spotlight in these books. Because at first, I was like, who cares? But now... I have an idea about what's coming.

Oh, and YAY LUKE IS BACK IN CHARGE.

I did have one minor confusion... and maybe I was just reading it wrong, though I read through the scene 3-4 times, about why Nenn killed himself, after Callista left her/Abeloth's body.

Overall though... not really anything bad to say about this one.

[Drake 53]

*stumbles into the thread and lets out a pain-filled Vaderwail*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I've been catching up on this series. Just finished Backlash last night and started Allies today. My goodness, I am beginning to agree with James' assessment of Christie Golden. It's like my brain is trying to process shards of broken glass while reading her writing. I mean, what was she thinking? "Hmm, okay Aaron Allston, you did a pretty good job in Backlash at building some nice relationships between the characters. You really nailed Luke and Ben and the way you took Ben's detective skills and used them to form a wary, uneasy relationship with Vestara? Brilliant. That said, I think what this story needs is for all that to be thrown out the window. Vestara is a bad Sith girl but here's her daddy and let's let Ben be all soft and emotional about it. Oh, and we'll make him LOSE HIS MIND IN TEENAGE LUST WHENEVER SHE'S AROUND."

Gosh! Correct me if I'm wrong and I might be because I'm behind a few books...but shouldn't Ben be smarter than this? His mother was Palpatine's Hand. His cousin tortured him and started to turn him before himself becoming a Sith Lord. You would think that the guy would know when to steer clear! But nooooo...Christie had to note, several times, that she was "easy on the eyes". Grrrr. Stick with WarCraft novels, lady, because you can't do Star Wars.

[Bad furday 57]

It's always the third generation that ruins things, isn't it? * points cackling at Ben Skywalker* :evil: