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lavaredshrub's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this one. Felt like classic star wars:
- weird family dynamics
- big evil bad
-big battle station to blow up
It added some unique touches as well such as the use of cybernetics and a focus on the intelligence service.
All in all, likeable characters and a well told story.
- weird family dynamics
- big evil bad
-
It added some unique touches as well such as the use of cybernetics and a focus on the intelligence service.
All in all, likeable characters and a well told story.
drewpypoopy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
anthonybanthony's review against another edition
3.25
Rating: B
Deceived>Revan>Annihilation>Fatal Alliance
Deceived>Revan>Annihilation>Fatal Alliance
morgcxn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
4.0
Interesting, but definitely not my favorite of the bunch.
namikai's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jerseyjess33's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
2.5
berenikeasteria's review against another edition
3.0
I have to admit straight up that this was better than I expected it to be. As a Revan fan, The Old Republic MMO has never found favour with me, and I find many of its stories disconnected (I don’t know the characters or what’s happening), or just plain dull (really? Another Empire? That just happens to basically be a clone of the one that we see 4000 years later? That’s the big secret Revan discovered? Way to create a boring recycled plot you guys!). And granted, my knowledge about the context in which this book sits is still limited, and I still find the Empire an unoriginal copy. But I did actually enjoy Annihilation as a standalone story.
I liked the fact that we’re on the shoulder of a non-Jedi this time. Towards the end of the book line when they just started churning out the books it seemed like so many Jedi we’d never met before took centre stage (Knight Errant comes to mind); characters we didn’t know and had no reason to care about but were asked to invest in just because they were Jedi and that’s a stand in for ‘kickass good guys’. I actually missed some of the 90s novels where non-Jedi took much more central roles in events and it wasn’t all about a Jedi, a Sith, and revenge. It felt good to be sitting on the shoulder of Theron Shan and doing something different… even if he was a little too clever at his job and the story pans out perhaps a little too easily in the end to have me on the edge of my seat as I was reading it.
Although the outcome in the end was slightly predictable, I also liked the premise. The objective for our protagonists was ambitious enough to get me interested, and small enough not to come across as yet-another-doomsday-weapon-trying-to-top-the-last-one. Cough Starkiller Base cough. And I quite enjoyed the nod to the Enigma Machine and the destruction of Coventry.
I think the difficulty is that these last novels in the line really didn’t stand out the way the earlier ones did. I can still recall in intense detail the plots for the Heir to the Empire trilogy, heck, even the Jedi Academy trilogy, the Blackfeet Crisis trilogy, the Corellia trilogy… even though I think we’d all agree that some of the aforementioned offerings were memorable for all the wrong reasons. At least each one was fairly distinct and different. The later books started becoming rather formulaic – and it doesn’t help that no matter where in the timeline they’re placed, there always seems to be the same cookie cutter Empire. Annihilation perhaps cracks the mould somewhat, but it’s still the same basic shape.
6 out of 10
doriangaymer's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
3.0
Theron Shan may be the son of Satele Shan, Grand Master of the Jedi, but that doesn't mean he's a Jedi or even a Force Sensitive. He's a spy, an intelligence agent, a loner, now that his father-figure is dead.
He has been given a new assignment. The Sith have what could be their ultimate weapon: the Ascendant Spear, a ship so powerful and controlled by Darth Karrid. Together with Jedi Master Gnost-Dural, Theron has to do whatever possible to destroy this ship.
NOTE: I received this through the Amazon Vine Program.
If you would have asked me 6 months ago what I thought of Drew Karpyshyn, I would have said something like: "ZOMG, da best SW author EVAH!!" (Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but you get the point.) But after reading [b:Revan|10687840|Revan (Star Wars The Old Republic, #3)|Drew Karpyshyn|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344368876s/10687840.jpg|15597755], a book so disappointing, I was at a loss for words to describe how disappointing it was, I wasn't so sure. Up until Revan, I had been excited about Annihilation; after Revan, I was ready to be disappointed.
Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is this is MUCH better than Revan. The bad news is it is nowhere near as good as Karpyshyn's Darth Bane trilogy.
One of the things I though Karpyshyn did better in Annihilation was the characters. Pretty much all the characters were 100% more interesting than the ones in Revan (and apologies in advance for all the comparisons to Revan, but since Revan so influenced my opinion of Karpyshyn's works, I think it is necessary to have some comparison). Theron Shan was definitely not the bland, stereotypical Jedi-turned-Sith-turned-whatever. I liked how Shan was not a Force user. It's fun to see regular "guys" in Star Wars have to figure things out without a flick of the wrist or a squint of the eyebrows. Furthermore, Shan has interesting drama - the fact his mother, a prominent Jedi, left him in the care of another and the fact he has no idea who his father is. If that doesn't mess a guy up, I don't know what would!
My favorite character, though, was Teff'ith. She was great; snarky, independent, opinionated, capable, and yet still caring and thoughtful. I liked her dialect (though I am puzzled over how she can go from such rough, heavily accented Basic to cultured Imperial speech so easily). I liked how she wasn't Theron's love interest. I liked how she was important to the plot. About the only thing I didn't like was that she didn't appear more.
One of the things that also tickled me was how even minor characters sometimes got interesting developments. The Director flirted with Jace's receptionist; Satele doubts at times whether it was good to leave Theron with someone else and not tell Theron's father.
The biggest "character" problem is how badly sketched the Imperials/Sith are. Darth Karrid, while very interesting with her ability to cybernetically attach to the ship, was still your stereotypical power-hungry Sith. Not much nuance there. There are a couple of other Sith - the Minister of Logistics (who, because he's a logistics guy, of course loves numbers and cannot possibly understand that "emotions" thing that people talk about - don't you know that emotions and logic can NEVER mix??) and one Sith on the Council - who seem to be important in the beginning, but completely disappear by the end. Why bring them up if you aren't going to at least touch bases with them at the end?
Storywise, this book felt a LOT like the early Bantam books to me. We have another super powerful, gonna-destroy-the-galaxy superweapon with the Ascendant Spear. And most of the story is just that. Director and Jace tell Theron to destroy it; Theron and Gnost-Dural investigate how to do that, snatching up the MacGuffin "black cipher" in order to pad the word count - I MEAN! - in order to break the Imperial code and find out where the ship is (as if a ship like that can hide behind a rock!!). I think the better portions are the ones with Theron trying to figure out how he feels towards his parents and even him working with Gnost-Dural. Other than that, the story really didn't "do" anything for me.
And now, I've been looking forward to it and I know you have been too...NERD NITPICKS!!
1. Is there a definition that says that any government called an "Empire" must be evil and xenophobic? I can understand the Sith Empire being a teensy bit evil, but killing people and destroying perfectly good capital ships just because the ships are fleeing a lose-lose situation? How stupid is that? I wouldn't want to be the person trying to explain THAT to the Uber-Evul, Satan-Incarnate Emperor. "Yeah, Empy, I was just trying to show them cowards who was boss...no I didn't think about the billions of credits we don't have to replace that brand-new, top-of-the-line ship..." As for the xenophobic, it must be shorthand for "evil". And I'm not saying it isn't, but WHY must every Empire be xenophobic? In a galaxy with MILLIONS of species, you seem to be cutting off a LOT Of allies.
2. Has the Star Wars galaxy never invented any forms of birth control? From Satele Shan to Etain to Padme Amidala, it seems no one in this universe knows how to get the pill or pick up a package of condoms. Perhaps this is a jab at those who want to oppose the American laws that insurance companies MUST provide women with access to birth control???
3. What do Imperials (ALL IMPERIALS) wear? Uniforms? WRONG. Hats? WRONG! Pride and arrogance. Because we've NEVER seen Republic or Rebel officers with pride or arrogance. No siree! Because Republic and Rebel officers are pure and blameless, always thinking of others and NEVER self-seeking.
4. The reason the Ascendant Spear is so tubular is because Darth Karrid uses cybernetic implants to directly speak with the ship and thus make everything faster (esp when she draws on her Force abilities). Soooo...why does she even bother to type things on a screen? Why not use her mental powers to tell the ship to do "X"? How can she enter a system and IMMEDIATELY see EVERYTHING? Wouldn't it take the ship some time to download? Has no one downloaded anything off the internet, even using a fast connection? It still takes a few seconds/minutes. You are telling me their computers are SO FAST that this takes no time??? I'm no computer expert, but I just don't buy it.
And this has been another...NERD NITPICKS!
About the best thing I can say about this book is "it's better than 'Revan'". The characters are pretty nicely drawn on the whole, but the story has been done so many times, there really isn't much to make it stand out. I had a hard time being interested in it.
As for Karpyshyn, I haven't given up on him yet. I still think he can write a great book if he has A) the right subject, B) the right characters, and C) enough time. Hopefully, next time the balance will be perfect.
He has been given a new assignment. The Sith have what could be their ultimate weapon: the Ascendant Spear, a ship so powerful and controlled by Darth Karrid. Together with Jedi Master Gnost-Dural, Theron has to do whatever possible to destroy this ship.
NOTE: I received this through the Amazon Vine Program.
If you would have asked me 6 months ago what I thought of Drew Karpyshyn, I would have said something like: "ZOMG, da best SW author EVAH!!" (Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but you get the point.) But after reading [b:Revan|10687840|Revan (Star Wars The Old Republic, #3)|Drew Karpyshyn|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344368876s/10687840.jpg|15597755], a book so disappointing, I was at a loss for words to describe how disappointing it was, I wasn't so sure. Up until Revan, I had been excited about Annihilation; after Revan, I was ready to be disappointed.
Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is this is MUCH better than Revan. The bad news is it is nowhere near as good as Karpyshyn's Darth Bane trilogy.
One of the things I though Karpyshyn did better in Annihilation was the characters. Pretty much all the characters were 100% more interesting than the ones in Revan (and apologies in advance for all the comparisons to Revan, but since Revan so influenced my opinion of Karpyshyn's works, I think it is necessary to have some comparison). Theron Shan was definitely not the bland, stereotypical Jedi-turned-Sith-turned-whatever. I liked how Shan was not a Force user. It's fun to see regular "guys" in Star Wars have to figure things out without a flick of the wrist or a squint of the eyebrows. Furthermore, Shan has interesting drama - the fact his mother, a prominent Jedi, left him in the care of another and the fact he has no idea who his father is. If that doesn't mess a guy up, I don't know what would!
My favorite character, though, was Teff'ith. She was great; snarky, independent, opinionated, capable, and yet still caring and thoughtful. I liked her dialect (though I am puzzled over how she can go from such rough, heavily accented Basic to cultured Imperial speech so easily). I liked how she wasn't Theron's love interest. I liked how she was important to the plot. About the only thing I didn't like was that she didn't appear more.
One of the things that also tickled me was how even minor characters sometimes got interesting developments. The Director flirted with Jace's receptionist; Satele doubts at times whether it was good to leave Theron with someone else and not tell Theron's father.
The biggest "character" problem is how badly sketched the Imperials/Sith are. Darth Karrid, while very interesting with her ability to cybernetically attach to the ship, was still your stereotypical power-hungry Sith. Not much nuance there. There are a couple of other Sith - the Minister of Logistics (who, because he's a logistics guy, of course loves numbers and cannot possibly understand that "emotions" thing that people talk about - don't you know that emotions and logic can NEVER mix??) and one Sith on the Council - who seem to be important in the beginning, but completely disappear by the end. Why bring them up if you aren't going to at least touch bases with them at the end?
Storywise, this book felt a LOT like the early Bantam books to me. We have another super powerful, gonna-destroy-the-galaxy superweapon with the Ascendant Spear. And most of the story is just that. Director and Jace tell Theron to destroy it; Theron and Gnost-Dural investigate how to do that, snatching up the MacGuffin "black cipher" in order to pad the word count - I MEAN! - in order to break the Imperial code and find out where the ship is (as if a ship like that can hide behind a rock!!). I think the better portions are the ones with Theron trying to figure out how he feels towards his parents and even him working with Gnost-Dural. Other than that, the story really didn't "do" anything for me.
And now, I've been looking forward to it and I know you have been too...NERD NITPICKS!!
1. Is there a definition that says that any government called an "Empire" must be evil and xenophobic? I can understand the Sith Empire being a teensy bit evil, but killing people and destroying perfectly good capital ships just because the ships are fleeing a lose-lose situation? How stupid is that? I wouldn't want to be the person trying to explain THAT to the Uber-Evul, Satan-Incarnate Emperor. "Yeah, Empy, I was just trying to show them cowards who was boss...no I didn't think about the billions of credits we don't have to replace that brand-new, top-of-the-line ship..." As for the xenophobic, it must be shorthand for "evil". And I'm not saying it isn't, but WHY must every Empire be xenophobic? In a galaxy with MILLIONS of species, you seem to be cutting off a LOT Of allies.
2. Has the Star Wars galaxy never invented any forms of birth control? From Satele Shan to Etain to Padme Amidala, it seems no one in this universe knows how to get the pill or pick up a package of condoms. Perhaps this is a jab at those who want to oppose the American laws that insurance companies MUST provide women with access to birth control???
3. What do Imperials (ALL IMPERIALS) wear? Uniforms? WRONG. Hats? WRONG! Pride and arrogance. Because we've NEVER seen Republic or Rebel officers with pride or arrogance. No siree! Because Republic and Rebel officers are pure and blameless, always thinking of others and NEVER self-seeking.
4. The reason the Ascendant Spear is so tubular is because Darth Karrid uses cybernetic implants to directly speak with the ship and thus make everything faster (esp when she draws on her Force abilities). Soooo...why does she even bother to type things on a screen? Why not use her mental powers to tell the ship to do "X"? How can she enter a system and IMMEDIATELY see EVERYTHING? Wouldn't it take the ship some time to download? Has no one downloaded anything off the internet, even using a fast connection? It still takes a few seconds/minutes. You are telling me their computers are SO FAST that this takes no time??? I'm no computer expert, but I just don't buy it.
And this has been another...NERD NITPICKS!
About the best thing I can say about this book is "it's better than 'Revan'". The characters are pretty nicely drawn on the whole, but the story has been done so many times, there really isn't much to make it stand out. I had a hard time being interested in it.
As for Karpyshyn, I haven't given up on him yet. I still think he can write a great book if he has A) the right subject, B) the right characters, and C) enough time. Hopefully, next time the balance will be perfect.