Customer Reviews

Inferno (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fast paced and on plot, Inferno is the tightest and most engaging novel in the LotF series. Were it not for the lobotomized villain and the contrived ending, it might have been near perfect.

As this sixth volume opens, Jacen prepares to launch a decisive strike against the Confederation fleet. To do this, he must rely on the Jedi, and to rely on them he needs leverage to insure their cooperation. And so under the guise of protecting children, he sends a Galactic Alliance Guard squadron to hold the Jedi Academy hostage, after which things begin to spin out of control, including author Troy Denning's depiction of Jacen. Once a thinking man's villain, he has been transformed into a megalomaniacal, hostage-taking, child-killing, planet-destroying madman. At some point in the story you wonder what happened - who's this Darth Caedus guy and where did _he_ come from?

Where Caedus is laughable, Luke is again human, rescued from the sidelines where he spent the previous five volumes as an inefficient and ineffective politician and parent. Now center stage, he leads the Jedi out from under Jacen's nominal control, helps forge a new political alliance to try and contain his increasingly bizarre nephew, and personally takes the fight directly to Caedus. Sadly, this knock-down, drag-out concludes in a contrivance that can only have been intended to string out the series. Battered, bruised, and with a knife stuck between his shoulder blades, Jacen lays waiting for a death blow, one Ben is ready to deliver. Luke stops him, though, and the two walk away to wait for a moment when "the time is right." Thousands or millions more will die because Luke didn't act when he had the chance, a decision that will no doubt be the source of great lament and self-recrimination in forthcoming volumes.

While it may seem that there is no plot left to develop - Jacen having been abandoned by the Jedi, his political allies, and even his wife - a preview of the seventh installment finds Caedus scheming to bring the Hapan fleet back into the fight against the Confederation. While it is unlikely this plan will be any more successful than his others, it is the arrival of Alema Rar at the end of Inferno bearing a message from the ancient Sith home world of Korriban that portends a more dramatic show down between the forces of light and dark.

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Jacen Solo having abandoned all pretensions at "saving the galaxy" is quite different here then he was at the beginning of book one. Borrowing a page from his Grandfather's book he takes over a Jedi academy to "protect" it. This leads to the first real confrontation between Jacen and the rest of his family.

Ben is finally seeing the light about how far down the dark path Jacen has gone. However there are still indications that he could go "dark"

Luke for the most part is really out of it trying to deal with the death of his wife (who I never really did care for but hey I'm all for thinning the character herd). The readers are left to wonder if he is just feigning this to be able to get Jacen to drop his guard. I'm not going to spoil it for you about which it is.

A new faction of Sith are also introduced what part they are to play in what is left of the series is open to debate. I like them already because one of them commenting about the mistakes that Vader and Palpetine made says "no wonder all it took to bring them down was a farmboy and a prissy princess." I imagine even the best fans have been thinking that for years.

Overall-Just a great book and the series just keeps getting better.

As the EU has progressed we have seen Luke kind of get pushed into the background a little as he allows others of the Jedi Order to battle the evils of the Star Wars Universe but every once in a while we are reminded that Luke can still "Bring It" when he has to and this book is an excellent example of that. Luke is still the son of the "Chosen One" and his power is beyond belief but he seldom uses it in that matter but I don't think Jacen, or whatever he wants to call himself, will forget it after the way that Luke smacked him around with almost no effort in this book. If you're a fan of Luke this book is for you. At one point you will be shaking your head in horror saying no it can't be ... then you will be reminded that Luke is still the MAN.

I liked this book initially, However after reading several reviews of this title. I have changed the verdict to its an average book. Bloodlines is still my favorite of the LoF series.

I'm going with three of five stars because, although I enjoyed the book, many things about it irk me to no end. Mild spoilers ahead, so beware.
This could have been the end of the series, yet the we-want-to-sell-3-more-books idea prevails.


Irksome point 1: Jacen's characterization throughout the series. The authors have thus far tried to lead him slowly to the dark side. I even half-buy a third of their crappy rationalization. Several plot points leave me stunned by the sheer stupidity. Jacen Solo was a freaking awesome character by the end of the NJO, he even had sense through that flipping awful Swarm War series, then all of a sudden in LOTF he's Mr. I'm-a-man-I-can-take-on-the-galaxy by sacrificing all about me, I'll preserve peace.

Saving Grace 1: Jaina seems fully back to her senses, thank the force. She even gets one whole nice long scene to show she really is a Jedi.

Irksome point 2: Alema Rar. Ever since the force-forsaken Swarm War series I've disliked her character. She's just painful to read. "We" this, "balance" that, "kill Leia" the other. Aaaarrrrggghhh. Sorry, I'm usually more articulate than that, but she's like a rash that won't go away in any TD book.

Saving Grace 2: Troy Denning's descriptions are at times brilliant.

Irksome point 3: Tahiri Veila. How many years have passed since Anakin's death? Yes, she loved deeply, but one would think her Jedi training would have given her a better measure of peace than this book implies. It's hard to believe that her only option of finding peace is to turn to Jacen and force-flowing to find Anakin again. She knew Anakin like she knew herself, or so we're lead to believe. Yet she's willing to do many things Anakin wouldn't have condoned. Sure.

Saving Grace 3: Tenel Ka. Wahoo, some characters stay true to themselves. Yes, she's reminiscent of Padme, but unlike Padme, she's willing to fight. Thank the force someone didn't turn the authors loose against her character.

Irksome point 4: we-want-to-sell-3-more-books - Jacen's beaten and Luke walks away b/c it's the right thing to do. Incidentally, they make a half-hearted attempt to explain this away in the next book. Benny boy might walk the dark path, so we must let Mr. I-am-sith-god live. Worst part - it will WORK! Yes, I'll buy the others to complete the series. Yes, I'll probably have mixed feelings about them. Yes, I may regret spending the money later.

Saving Grace 4: Ben Skywalker. He reacts normally, thank goodness.

Irksome point 5: The miraculous escape in the end is so far beyond ridiculous it's painful. The cause of said miraculous escape is also painful because the poorly named thing just all of a sudden remembers its powers... yeah right.

Saving Grace 5: Luke's still powerful. Yes, he's a lot over-done, which would have made him an irritant, had I been not so ready for him to DO something besides dither.

I liked this book a lot, but wait a minute. Am I the only one here who recognizes that the writers of this series have turned a thousand years of Sith philosophy on its head in the course of about five pages!? The only way this makes any sense is the "He will know brotherhood" part of the Tassels. How is this going to work? It can't, at least I don't think it can, it's not the nature of the dark side. Otherwise, Caedus is going to have to purge this One Sith order just like Bane did. Didn't any of these Sith feel the force shift like Lumiya did? If they did, they haven't accepted Jacen/Caedus and that`s going to be a problem, if they didn't they're too weak to be of any use anyway except to pass on the knowledge of Vectivus.

And so, here we are, book six of Legacy of the Force.

Jacen, who became Darth Caedus in the last novel, is on a rampage, killing kids and blowing things up real nice-like. His mom and dad, his nephew, and the rest of the Jedi are intent on stopping him. But more on that later.

The quality of Inferno is much better than the previous entries, most notably in the battle scenes. The space battles are exciting and well-described, not at all the boring time killers they were in many of the previous novels; this goes doubly so for the lightsaber duels, which are described in epic terms that remind one of the speed and finesse found in the prequel trilogy. Based on this alone the book is worth the purchase.

The story and characters, however, are a different matter. For one, Jacen is now a complete fool, as per Del Ray's wishes. Not once, not twice, but three times someone gets the drop on him, culminating in a cartoon-like rant about "The oldest trick in the book" while someone stalks him from behind. When he's not acting a fool, he's psychotic, torturing children and burning planets. Oddly enough, this is still nothing in the neighborhood of Kyp Durron, slayer of billions, who sits on the Jedi Council.

From day one, Jacen was ostracized from the Jedi and from his family for being too ruthless, never mind that he was basically right about a certain ruthlessness being needed to safeguard the galaxy. Instead of reaching out to him and perhaps preventing his fall to the dark side, they treat him with a contempt that culminated in a complete cutting of ties because he accidentally killed a prisoner. From that point on, the stories begin and end with his friends and family gleefully plotting his demise.

Which is what makes this book, and this series, so frustrating. They are nothing like the films, or even the pre-Del Ray novels. There, no one--not even Anakin Skywalker--was beyond redemption. The Jedi had a certain code they lived by, else they risked turning dark. Here, in Luke's NJO, anyone who goes against the status quo is marked for death. The last book was filled with Mara Jade rubbing her hands together with joy as she pictured the brutal way she would kill Lumiya, and then Jacen. She hunts her nephew down and nearly defeats him; and then, when he's half-dead and helpless, she throws out a pithy line and shoots him in the face. The story comes to an end with a vengeful Luke severing the head of a defeated and helpless foe.

It's a perfect lead-in to Inferno, which features a cute little scene where Leia, in a fit of misguided rage, attempts to kill Tahiri. When Tahiri is rebuked and Leia is congratulated, one gets the feeling the author and his co-planners didn't pay attention to the films. How else can Luke's desertion--in the middle of battle planned around his participation--be explained? Or his consenting to assassins being sent to dispatch Jacen? That Luke: he's some kind of Jedi.

Apparently, he's also a god. If seventy percent of the book is drenched in blood, the other thirty is spent proclaiming the omniscience and pure power of Luke. Why, when he's holding Jacen to the floor without even moving, well, he's probably not even using half his power, or even a quarter. He's just that darn powerful! When Jacen manages to give him a run for his money, it's only because Luke is still wounded from his fight with Lumiya, thus leaving him unable to counter Jacen's dirty tricks. Oh, and Luke can do everything Jacen can, only better. Why he never could before is left unexplained. But that Luke--he sure is powerful.

All in all, Inferno left me puzzled. It's a tightly written book that's heavy on action (a nice refresher after Karen Traviss and her talk-fest; look out Boba--he`s going to conjugate!), but the supposed good guys are so far out there that it makes me wonder if, perhaps, Jacen is supposed to be the hero of the story.

I have come in during the middle of this series and, despite having only a partial view, this book is the best in the series.

The book opens with Jacen manipulating Tahiri, who apparently is still swimming in grief over Anakin. A rather sorry state of affairs for a Jedi, if you ask me.

Luke is in shock about Mara's death and his killing the wrong person in retaliation. Totally understandable. I mean, this guy has had it rough throughout his entrie life and had finally found some happiness. I would have perferred that Luke and Mara died together, but we can't always get our wishes.

Han and Leia are front and center in much of this book and that is a good thing.

Jacen/Caedus is becoming very dark in this book. He punishes the home world of his father's best friend just because the planet's inhabitants weren't immediately turning over their ships to him. And it is just typical Sith stupidity is that he doesn't realize that his actions are causing more harm than good.

Tenel Ka gets hit between the eyes with just how evil Jacen really is. She trys to make him reconcile with Luke and the Jedi, but Jacen just deceives her and then trys to blow smoke over his trail.

Ben is about to get hit with the fact that Jacen is trying to make him into a Sith, too.

A character that I really liked in the New Jedi Order series and absolutely despised in the Swarm War Trilogy gets slaughtered to deceive another character.

Jaina, Jag, and Zekk are busy hunting for Alema Rar and get side tracked when they arrive at the Jedi Academy on Ossus. The idea of Jacen posting GAG soldiers at the academy to enforce the continuing "friendship" between the government and the Jedi is just plain sick. The commander of the GAG soldiers is totally insane and proved it near the end of the book.

The subplot about Alema Rar was rather interesting. A Dark Jedi with a Sith ship who is trying to murder Leia and is currently being hunted by two Jedi and a bounty hunter (I don't like that description of Jag, but I don't write the character titles). Alema goes to the Sith homeworld to try to enlist their help and she hopes to become Jacen's new mentor. Highly unlikly, if you ask me.

There are some pretty good space battles in this book.

You get a scare in the last 150 pages of the book when Luke and Jaina make a run at Jacen's flag ship. I almost had a heart attack when I read that passage.

The lightsaber duel between Luke and Jacen was very well written. I could almost hear John Williams 'Battle of the Heroes' track from Episode III while I was reading it. (Hey, George Lucas! You've got a great possibilty for a new movie in this book, if you ask me!!!)

The scene is Jacen's secret chamber on the 'Anakin Solo', just before the lightsaber duel, was pretty hair raising. *READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

Jacen clearly is deceiving himself if he thinks that what he is doing is good for the galaxy. We will see how Mr. Denning writes the final book of this series. I can't wait!!

May the Force be with us!!!

I must admit, I have enjoyed the LOTF series so far. None of the books have held par to writers like Salinger or Faulkner, but they have been fun. I think I read the first five books over the course of a weekend's worth of time. However, I must also propose that Troy is not the best, or even second best author in this group. He obviously enjoys the subject matter, but to write a series in this fashion can show in blinding detail how much better another author (like Karen Traviss) is with the same story and characters.

That being said, the 3 hours I spent reading this book were worth it if the next book is as good as Bloodlines was. While the depth of the story is questionable (as if it were written solely for 12-year-olds), the events help to progress the story as more able authors resume the reigns. It is worth reading just so Fury makes sense without too much review.

One thing I wish Del Ray would learn from the Potter books ... just because a novel is sci-fi or fantasy, doesn't mean it has to be written for children. The editor and publishing house should have been more demanding of Denning for this one. Keep in mind that the primary audience for Star Wars are those who saw the original films in the theater 20 - 30 years ago, and we're educated adults. A good book of 300+ pages should not be so easily digested in a few hours. Read Sanctuary by William Faulkner and you'll see what I mean.

This book is a highly forgettable, but necessary component in the larger work. The key plot movements are important, but nobody is going to devote any attention of afterthought to these shallow, unthinking, poorly developed characters. We'll wait for someone else to give us something to think about. Unfortunately, there are two other authors attached to this project who have to make up for the bland participation of the third. I sincerely believe Denning can do better than this. Maybe a trip through Hawthorne's short stories would help spur Denning to rediscover deep characters and thoughtful plot development. It doesn't have to be so easily digestible and conveniently laid out. Denning's submissions in this series have been too predictable. Troy ... please put some effort into the ninth and final chapter of this series. You owe it to the fans and to your fellow authors. If this is the best you can do, then let Karen or Aaron write it.

I don't mean to be overly critical, but come on. If this is the depth of your understanding of literature, then okay, but if you really think you have tapped your potential and produced a great product, then you need to reassess. Again, I am not trying to be overly harsh, but my expectations for literature are higher than this and yours should be.

legacy of the force book series is on par with the harry potter book series and thats true and a given fact i love reading star wars books karen traviss and aaron allston and troy denning all 3 of those authors got me back into reading star wars books again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!