hstapp's review against another edition
3.0
It's been a few years since the vong were defeated, but the galaxy's troubles are not yet over. The galactic Alliance is having trouble with Corellia. Corellia desires independence, but how they're going about it causes a great deal of strife.
I have some issues with the Grim Dark path that the Star Wars legends books started to go down. There's always been strife, there's always been evil, people have died, not main characters, but people have died. Yes that's all true.
I think it's an attempt at realism, yes people die, heroes die, heroes struggle. But I miss the optimism, the hope. Struggle is fine, but it should drag everything down into a depressed mess and smother and bury hope. Also if you want things to be more realistic do better at including women, poc, and aliens as characters. Especially as main characters, but there are so many humans in these books it drives me wild.
Speaking of which some attempts are made with that in this book. It includes guards referred to as she and people referred to as dark skinned. However it's done in a way that assumes that white male human is the standard, the norm. Every time someone kills a woman(they're mostly killed same with the black characters) it sticks out like a sore thumb.
So that's it the stories okay, it's a little wild and out there for your typical star wars book. I'm generally okay with that, though this was a little clumsier and packed in than I'd like. And it made an attempt at being more diverse that I didn't think was executed well, but overall. Yeah it was okay. I liked it well enough.
I have some issues with the Grim Dark path that the Star Wars legends books started to go down. There's always been strife, there's always been evil, people have died, not main characters, but people have died. Yes that's all true.
I think it's an attempt at realism, yes people die, heroes die, heroes struggle. But I miss the optimism, the hope. Struggle is fine, but it should drag everything down into a depressed mess and smother and bury hope. Also if you want things to be more realistic do better at including women, poc, and aliens as characters. Especially as main characters, but there are so many humans in these books it drives me wild.
Speaking of which some attempts are made with that in this book. It includes guards referred to as she and people referred to as dark skinned. However it's done in a way that assumes that white male human is the standard, the norm. Every time someone kills a woman(they're mostly killed same with the black characters) it sticks out like a sore thumb.
So that's it the stories okay, it's a little wild and out there for your typical star wars book. I'm generally okay with that, though this was a little clumsier and packed in than I'd like. And it made an attempt at being more diverse that I didn't think was executed well, but overall. Yeah it was okay. I liked it well enough.
jmckendry's review against another edition
1.0
Okay so I read this series as a child and I absolutely loved it, but I hadn’t read the whole series, somehow I missed all the books by Aaron Alston and this was one of the books I missed.
And boy am I glad I didn’t read it as a kid. It is extremely long winded for no purpose, and Aaron Allston’s writing in this is absolutely terrible. Like did he have an editor go over this?
It sucks because the story itself is really interesting and the rest of the series is great. But I literally couldn’t finish the ebook, I had to switch to the HEAVILY abridged audiobook because reading it felt worse than doing math homework. Really too bad that Allston had to be the author for the first book in this series, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned so many people off from reading the rest of it, which isn’t fair because the rest of the series is great (minus the other Allston books if they’re written this poorly). I highly recommend the audiobook to start off this series if you’re considering it, otherwise just skip this book and go on to the next one.
Very disappointing.
And boy am I glad I didn’t read it as a kid. It is extremely long winded for no purpose, and Aaron Allston’s writing in this is absolutely terrible. Like did he have an editor go over this?
It sucks because the story itself is really interesting and the rest of the series is great. But I literally couldn’t finish the ebook, I had to switch to the HEAVILY abridged audiobook because reading it felt worse than doing math homework. Really too bad that Allston had to be the author for the first book in this series, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned so many people off from reading the rest of it, which isn’t fair because the rest of the series is great (minus the other Allston books if they’re written this poorly). I highly recommend the audiobook to start off this series if you’re considering it, otherwise just skip this book and go on to the next one.
Very disappointing.
juliaraimondi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
vanessabrown's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as my first ever EU book. I had no idea what was going on, but it was fun.
kolar's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
zelq's review against another edition
4.0
Started a bit slow, but the ending provided hope for the rest of the series.
srlemons42's review against another edition
4.0
I'll admit, I'm new to reading the Star Wars EU. I've read different books all across the spectrum of timelines from Old Republic to New Jedi Order, and this is the series that most people have wanted me to pick up (after [b:Heir to the Empire|216443|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)|Timothy Zahn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320405954s/216443.jpg|1133995]). Overall it was pretty enjoyable.
The plot was interesting and well paced in my opinion, and I was never lost or bored by any of the more politically based story lines. I like the idea of the characters we love being at odds with each other, even if it ultimately doesn't last, and there was a lot of fun to be had in the war on/with Corellia.
I know the basic plot of this series so I know what to expect, I've had most of the major plot arcs spoiled for me and I'm not sure if this will affect my enjoyment down the line. I speak mostly of Jacen and Ben's storyline of course, and I found the beginning of their arc to be pretty enjoyable. It had a relatively interesting mystery and an OK ending.
"hey man, the Sith are the cool ones....they can feel emotions and stuff. It's just a different way of doing the same thing, ect ect."
....
"Hmmm...Sounds good to me, I'm going to kill my friend Nelani now because she's HEARD TOO MUCH."
I just felt like the argument wasn't presented well and Jacen's sudden turn and flat-out murder of his random friend was really sudden and weird.
Overall I really liked the book and plan on continuing with the story.Some of the callbacks were horrifying and awkward, example: "Tycho asked, "Is Han-" "He's fine," Leia said. "Han shot first." OUCH, FAIL.
I was surprised however to reach the end of the book on my Kindle at only 60% done or something. Then, there are two or three random Darth Vader stories tacked on to the end. Was it always included at the end or is it a new thing? It just seemed weird is all.
The plot was interesting and well paced in my opinion, and I was never lost or bored by any of the more politically based story lines. I like the idea of the characters we love being at odds with each other, even if it ultimately doesn't last, and there was a lot of fun to be had in the war on/with Corellia.
I know the basic plot of this series so I know what to expect, I've had most of the major plot arcs spoiled for me and I'm not sure if this will affect my enjoyment down the line. I speak mostly of Jacen and Ben's storyline of course, and I found the beginning of their arc to be pretty enjoyable. It had a relatively interesting mystery and an OK ending.
Spoiler
their trip to the Dark Side planet (moon? asteroid?) was interesting and their fights were well done. The only thing that annoyed me was the quickness that Jacen shifted from sympathetic to "WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?" It didn't seem to take Lumiya very long to win him over to her side."hey man, the Sith are the cool ones....they can feel emotions and stuff. It's just a different way of doing the same thing, ect ect."
....
"Hmmm...Sounds good to me, I'm going to kill my friend Nelani now because she's HEARD TOO MUCH."
I just felt like the argument wasn't presented well and Jacen's sudden turn and flat-out murder of his random friend was really sudden and weird.
Overall I really liked the book and plan on continuing with the story.Some of the callbacks were horrifying and awkward, example: "Tycho asked, "Is Han-" "He's fine," Leia said. "Han shot first." OUCH, FAIL.
I was surprised however to reach the end of the book on my Kindle at only 60% done or something. Then, there are two or three random Darth Vader stories tacked on to the end. Was it always included at the end or is it a new thing? It just seemed weird is all.
jessica_annikki's review against another edition
5.0
Yasss buckle up buttercup, it's a whole nother series of jedi antics and star ship shenanigans. Having already read the Fate of the Jedi I am so psyched to learn what hijinks Jacen Solo gets up to here. 5 stars, EU forever.