srlemons42's review against another edition
3.0
This book was alright. Nothing very amazing about it, but it kept my attention throughout the story. I think (to me at least) it felt a lot like a filler book. Although lots of interesting things happened, there was also a lot of spinning wheels and delays in action.
Overall I liked it, and will definitely continue t read through the series ( although I might take a break for a bit to read other things I'm more excited about). :)
Overall I liked it, and will definitely continue t read through the series ( although I might take a break for a bit to read other things I'm more excited about). :)
summers7's review against another edition
4.0
Oh no book 5. I'll have to go in search for 1-4 because this is really good.
utbw42's review against another edition
4.0
Probably the best of the Fate Of The Jedi series so far...this one seems to start moving along the plot nicely, as well as add more depth to key players in this series: Luke, Ben, Vestara, Daala, etc. Han and Leia just seem to be bit players here; hopefully they will be more prominent in future installments. The plotline of the alliance between Jedi and Sith moves along here also, and still has a lot of details to flesh out in the future as well. I think the issue of Abeloth and the journey into the Maw has more to reveal as well, but it began to get very interesting in the last third of the book. The Ben/Vestara dynamic seems to be setting up as the key for this series.
gentlemangamer's review against another edition
3.0
Again, not as well written as an earlier book in the series, but very action packed and containing more story than earlier books. A good book, I hope to start the next one soon.
readingwithrebeccanicole's review against another edition
Read February 2018
Pros
- VESTARA KAI
- Vestara. Kai.
- The alliance was super interesting
- never knowing who was helping and who was ready to backstab
- TAHIRI'S TRAIL FINALLY PROGRESSED AFTER AN ENTIRE BOOK OF NO ADVANCEMENT (though it was used as a cliff hanger....again *sigh*)
- the whole gut punching siege on the temple hit where it needed
- Luke and Ben's relationship
- the action at the end
- the continuation of the crazy Jedi plot
- the audiobook is the. best.
Cons
- I sometimes felt like the books cut to other characters at weird places. It reminded me of unnecessary jump cuts in films.
- Vestara liking Ben all of a sudden was random and slightly annoying
- the implied message that if a male and female teenager is in each other's presence, they will fall in love *facepalm*
- Jaina and Jag's relationship drama. I get it, but I don't.
Meh
- The freedom flight subplot. It it didn't do much for the story
- Ben liking Vestara actually did help the story (which made it likable at times), even if it was kind of annoying
Pros
- VESTARA KAI
- Vestara. Kai.
- The alliance was super interesting
- never knowing who was helping and who was ready to backstab
- TAHIRI'S TRAIL FINALLY PROGRESSED AFTER AN ENTIRE BOOK OF NO ADVANCEMENT (though it was used as a cliff hanger....again *sigh*)
- the whole gut punching siege on the temple hit where it needed
- Luke and Ben's relationship
- the action at the end
- the continuation of the crazy Jedi plot
- the audiobook is the. best.
Cons
- I sometimes felt like the books cut to other characters at weird places. It reminded me of unnecessary jump cuts in films.
- Vestara liking Ben all of a sudden was random and slightly annoying
- the implied message that if a male and female teenager is in each other's presence, they will fall in love *facepalm*
- Jaina and Jag's relationship drama. I get it, but I don't.
Meh
- The freedom flight subplot. It it didn't do much for the story
- Ben liking Vestara actually did help the story (which made it likable at times), even if it was kind of annoying
peregrineace's review against another edition
2.0
I'm very conflicted about the Star Wars (SW) Expanded Universe (EU) these days. The books are being published faster than I can keep up, especially if I want to read any non-SW material. And what I'm reading I haven't been terribly impressed with. SW used to be escapist fantasy and it's felt like Lucasfilm's publishing branch can't get a hold on what type of story to tell in the last decade or so. (Yikes, did I just say decade?!?)
So a couple years ago, I quit reading the SW EU. And then I missed it and picked up Timothy Zahn's Choices of One, which was good, and decided to at least try finishing the Fate of the Jedi series, which I had dropped out of mid-story.
Allies does not encourage me to continue, despite now being 5/9ths through the series. I'm not entirely sure this is Golden's fault. We spend the first part recapping and the last three chapters setting up the next book. These are likely required of the author. There was some advancement of the story in between but no character growth at all (that, I'll lay at the author's feet). The Tahiri story has the potential to be nuanced and the Jedi vs. Daala storyline is at least interesting, although Daala's descent into totalitarianism mirroring Jacen's earlier fall is old, old news.
This books suffers from the same flaws that made me quit originally. All the multi-author series writing has led to no secondary character development (witness each and every scene with Kenth Hamner, in which he is weary and conflicted! While Corran Horn rages irrationally about the situation but does nothing!), short and shallow battle scenes (), plot events from nowhere (), and spending the end of every book setting up cliffhangers to make you buy the next installment, instead of wrapping up the current story (Will Luke & Ben survive continuing with the Sith? Will Tahiri survive her trial? etc. Tune in next week!).
Bottom line, I don't expect the SW EU to be high literature. But I do like an escapist novel with some character development, decent fight/conflict scenes, and that I can actually escape into instead of seeing the flaws everywhere. This is not that novel and I'm not sure if I'll be continuing with the series.
So a couple years ago, I quit reading the SW EU. And then I missed it and picked up Timothy Zahn's Choices of One, which was good, and decided to at least try finishing the Fate of the Jedi series, which I had dropped out of mid-story.
Allies does not encourage me to continue, despite now being 5/9ths through the series. I'm not entirely sure this is Golden's fault. We spend the first part recapping and the last three chapters setting up the next book. These are likely required of the author. There was some advancement of the story in between but no character growth at all (that, I'll lay at the author's feet). The Tahiri story has the potential to be nuanced and the Jedi vs. Daala storyline is at least interesting, although Daala's descent into totalitarianism mirroring Jacen's earlier fall is old, old news.
This books suffers from the same flaws that made me quit originally. All the multi-author series writing has led to no secondary character development (witness each and every scene with Kenth Hamner, in which he is weary and conflicted! While Corran Horn rages irrationally about the situation but does nothing!), short and shallow battle scenes (
Spoiler
Luke battles Abeloth from Ben's point of view, where he is more shocked by Vestara's inevitable and known betrayal than absorbed by the two-front battle his father (all-too-briefly) fightsSpoiler
Jaina fights Ship because...?Spoiler
What happened to Buwa'tu (alive but unconscious for a dramatically necessary length of time, I'll bet)?Bottom line, I don't expect the SW EU to be high literature. But I do like an escapist novel with some character development, decent fight/conflict scenes, and that I can actually escape into instead of seeing the flaws everywhere. This is not that novel and I'm not sure if I'll be continuing with the series.
hollytrolley's review
1.0
This was arguably one of the worst Star Wars books I've ever read. And I have read 304 of them to date, so that's saying a lot. I'll admit that some of this comes from the fact that I despise Golden's writing style, but the story itself has a lot to answer for.
First of all, the characters. Luke is portrayed as a weak old man; Ben as the stereotypical teenager that nobody is like really; Leia and Han as dim echoes of what they were in the movies; Vestara and the rest of the Sith: Hello, you have only used the "Sith come back and attack the Jedi" plotline for about 9/10 of the books! These Sith are the same old characters recycled for the hundredth time.
Abeloth is a vague evil that is clearly not thought out very well. Natasi Daala is a different character in different books, because authors cannot agree on what she is like. Jaina and Jagged - isn't this the third relationship that Jaina has had, that the authors act is the last one, but then she breaks it off? Here's a hint: it's getting a little old by now.
Speaking of cliches, since when is the "son of leader of good falls in love with daughter of leader of evil" storyline original? I totally saw that coming, and yet I was still disgusted when it happened. For the most recent example of the storyline mentioned before, have you forgotten about Luke and Mara?
The happenings on Coruscant are poorly thought out and written. Just one stalemate after another. It was incredibly boring to read and probably boring to write too. The Jedi sickness is one of my least favorite parts. It's too vague and impersonal for the reader to care what's going on, let alone understand. The author tries to represent Tahiri as tragically misunderstood, but tragically fails in that endeavor.
First of all, the characters. Luke is portrayed as a weak old man; Ben as the stereotypical teenager that nobody is like really; Leia and Han as dim echoes of what they were in the movies; Vestara and the rest of the Sith: Hello, you have only used the "Sith come back and attack the Jedi" plotline for about 9/10 of the books! These Sith are the same old characters recycled for the hundredth time.
Abeloth is a vague evil that is clearly not thought out very well. Natasi Daala is a different character in different books, because authors cannot agree on what she is like. Jaina and Jagged - isn't this the third relationship that Jaina has had, that the authors act is the last one, but then she breaks it off? Here's a hint: it's getting a little old by now.
Speaking of cliches, since when is the "son of leader of good falls in love with daughter of leader of evil" storyline original? I totally saw that coming, and yet I was still disgusted when it happened. For the most recent example of the storyline mentioned before, have you forgotten about Luke and Mara?
The happenings on Coruscant are poorly thought out and written. Just one stalemate after another. It was incredibly boring to read and probably boring to write too. The Jedi sickness is one of my least favorite parts. It's too vague and impersonal for the reader to care what's going on, let alone understand. The author tries to represent Tahiri as tragically misunderstood, but tragically fails in that endeavor.
charleshb's review
2.0
I guess the main thing about these books is the just the extra stories beyond the movies. A further glimpse into characters we love from the movies and the introduction of new characters and expansion of the universe. Too bad they are no longer "canon". On the otherhand, the writing and story wasn't that good. Just good enough to keep me reading, but it took me 15 days to read it! Hope the next one is better.
levi's review
4.0
The Fate of the Jedi series is really starting to pick up--although I am concerned that with one "big bad" down the rest of the series will turn out to be more tiresome Jedi vs Sith conflict, as if we needed more of that.
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