Customer Reviews

Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

What strikes you most about this final volume of the Legacy of the Force is how little there is to it. Weighing in at a slight 299 pages, Invincible consists largely of two long duels between Jaina and Jacen, interspersed with a pair of subplots involving Ben. The epilogue attempts to tie things up with a couple of quick stitches, a hastily tacked-on conclusion that leaves the nine-volume saga incomplete.

One is left with the impression that the manuscript was completed in a rush. It reads like an extended outline - all plot, no character, no theme. The major event of the book, and perhaps the series, is the death of a Sith. How does it feel when one of these Dark Lords leaves the force? How does it feel to a family member? How does it feel to the Sith himself? What happens to Jacen in the force? Was he redeemed by his last minute thought for his daughter? Does he become a ghost, like his grandfather? What's the reaction on Coruscant? On Corellia? On Korriban? Among the Jedi? How does Luke feel? How about Tenel Ka? Allana? Ben? Tahiri? We can only imagine. Denning doesn't tell us.

Nor does he suggest what it all means. We never knew what Jacen wanted, beyond bringing order to the galaxy. But as the disorder was instigated and exacerbated by the Sith, he dies playing a fool's game. How is one to regard this galactic tragedy? What do the other characters learn from this? How has the Star Wars universe changed?

The political end is given about as much thought as the beginning and concludes in just a couple of pages with a New Galactic Alliance. Once Jacen is gone, all appears to be forgiven and forgotten. One of the central characters of the series, Admiral Niathal, is completely missing from the story. The reigns of state are passed to a character who shows up at the last moment and whose appointment appears to be a set-up for the next series of Galactic Tyrant vs Jedi novels.

Where there was so much that could have been developed, we get instead material that should have been left on the editor's desk, such Jaina and Leia chasing a paddy wagon across Coruscant to rescue Ben. The sequence is made possible by the thinnest of contrivances, the Jedi mind trick, and concludes with no rescue and no discernible effect on the plot.

Equally inconsequential is the introduction of a new force power, one potent enough to stop Jacen with a figurative blink of any eye. Shatterpoint (from the novel of the same name) is an ability once attributed only to Mace Windu, to be able to exploit stress points in any given substance or phenomena. Jacen uses it to crack beskar, a metal impervious to even lightsabers. Jaina learns the power from Luke in a matter of days. But it's never used. If Luke, Jaina and Jacen all have this ability, why bother with space battles and lightsabers? Just burst your opponent's heart, or crack open their spaceship, and the game is over.

I usually enjoy Denning's writing, but he's absolutely flat here. The jokes at the beginning of each chapter was a silly idea. Not only because the jokes are bad, but because they make an obvious and trite point - everyone is innocent at some point in their life - and because they served as an excuse for Denning to not have to make an honest attempt at writing a tragic ending. Invincible has no sense of gravitas, no weight, no heft, no feeling that something worth nine novels has happened. It feels light, hurried, rushed, abrupt and empty.

If you would care for a Star Wars series that rewards reading, try these:

Republic Commando
Hard Contact
Triple Zero
True Colors
Order 66

Legacy
Broken (Vol. 1)
Shards (Vol. 2)

Knights of the Old Republic
Commencement (Vol. 1)
Flashpoint (Vol. 2)
Days of Fear, Nights of Anger (Vol. 3)


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Let's face it, if you're reading these reviews, you've seen the spoilers already, so while I won't go out of my way to reveal too much, I'm not going to hold back on much either.

Up front information about me: I read novels as a form of escapism. I read novels to escape my world and enter into a new one. I enjoy entering a world where the good guys always win, no matter the odds, and the only people that die are the bad guys. The only way a good guy dies is to allow for something INCREDIBLE. If Biggs were shot down by some random TIE pilot, that's not good. Biggs getting shot down while acting as a human shield so that Luke could destroy the Death Star? That's a good death. Sorry, that's just how I am. To this date, I've read every Star Wars novel ever written.

So now that you know a little about me, you may be able to decide just how much like you I am, and then see if my opinion on the book itself means anything to you.

And with that all being said, onto the book!

This book was very short and had a very disappointing ending to me. More deaths of major characters is simply unacceptable now. You'd think that the children of Han and Leia, plus Ben Skywalker, would have been the people to become the new generation of heroes for the series while all our old movie favorites finally retire... Well, they built up the children of the Solos quite well in the Young Jedi Knights series, but for some odd reason Tenal Ka has been pretty much pushed to the side, Lowbacca may as well not exist, and the characters of both Jacen and Jaina have been destroyed with only one hope of saving them (read on for that one hope). As for how they were destroyed, you can probably guess it, but I'm not going to come out and say it. Read the other reviews which make it quite obvious what has happened to them.

Plot holes galore... The last book already left the reader with about a million more questions than they had coming into it, the only logical expectation is that they'd be answered in this book... Didn't happen. The majority of the questions you had from the last book are still just that, questions. As a bonus, this book leaves us with even more questions and ludicrus events that just leave you feeling dumb struck. This person is now the leader of the Galatic Alliance?! And he took over Pellaeon's spot?! Sigh... give me a break. I felt like the wrap up for this book was more of a "OK, time to reset the chess board, oh but let's put these new faces on these pieces."

The emotion, or lack thereof - There is very little if any emotion involved. "I killed him... I feel nothing." Heartbreaking to say the least. That line (paraphrased) being uttered after the kill sent me for a loop. You can't just kill someone who has that kind of a relation with you and then feel nothing! Pretty much everything else in the book was the same way. I never felt emotionally engaged by the author.

The novel... or the first draft? - The writing is notoriously sloppy in my opinion. I've read Denning's other books, this is probably the worst piece of literature he has ever published (in the Star Wars universe, I've not read anything from him outside of Star Wars). I feel like when he sent the book in for the final publishing he sent in one of his early drafts by mistake. No story, very little development, nothing that drew me in and made me a part of the world.

If I could, I'd give the book a zero star rating. It's horribly disappointing.

My (short) review of the series as a whole - 1/5. The series had enough good points to warrent some points, but the bad far outweighed the good. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm a fan of escapist fiction and escapist fiction doesn't build up so many great characters just to throw them away or drastically change that character's alignment from good to exceptionally evil over night. Jacen was a good guy, and just suddenly, out of nowhere a switch flipped and he was working for the Sith cause. That combined with the deaths of SEVERAL major characters throughout the series is what brings it's score down so low.

Personally, this will probably be the last Star Wars book I spend any money on. Only thing that could possibly make me come back would be if the next series started out with Mara waking from a dream, nullifying the last half of the NJO series, the horrible bug series, and this series. Bring back the Vong, but let Mara recognize from the dream something she needed to do to stop Anakin Solo from getting killed and causing the nightmare she had to become a reality. I'd love to see all the movie characters retire like a lot of you have expressed, but they've pretty much killed off all the kids I cared to replace them with.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the novel, the series, and the Star Wars universe in general as of late. I hope it helps you make a wise purchase. Personally, I'd borrow this from a friend or from a public library.

I've always thought that most Star Wars books which take place long after Return of the Jedi have been quite weak. This final book is no exception.

If you read the inner jacket summary, it says this is it, the final climactic showdown between Jacen and Jaina, trying to build tension. But anyone who has read the previous eight books can see this is, a complete load of horsespittle. Jacen's ship, the Anakin Solo was boarded several times, and he could have been killed several times as well. Once by Luke, once by Ben, and once by a Mando (forgot his name) who was under orders from Boba Fett not to kill Jacen. So far from being invincible, Jacen has been one of the most vulnerable villains yet.

In fact, Luke is revealed to be fully capable of kicking his butt. And considering Jacen admits he would only just be able to just beat Master Saba, there's no reason why any of the other masters, like the powerful Kyp (I've always felt he was underutilised) couldn't take him out either.

So basically this a book which is light on suspense and quite short in length.

As a stand alone book, and as a final volume, Invincible is not good and it is only worth reading so you know what happens in the end.

I was quite disappointed.

As an aside, there is also a Legacy comic series set roughly 100 years from this book. In it, the Sith have once again vanquished the Jedi. I was wondering if the comic series was "canon" and whether or not Invincible was the prelude to the fall of the New Jedi Order. After all, there doesn't seem to be a strong succession plan after Luke.

I had high hopes for this series after the first book. The EU has sorely needed a legitimate Sith presence since its inception, and this was a chance to finally have a real Sith Master, healthy, in his prime and in full command of the dark side, to oppose the Jedi. Like Drew Karpyshyn's excellent Darth Bane books, here was a chance to learn more about the Sith and their philosophy, beyond simply repeating the obvious "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mantra.

In the last few books in the NJO series and continuing through the awful DN trilogy, the groundwork for Jacen's transformation had been pretty well set up. Then "Betrayal" offered a reasonably detailed rationale for his choices as it became obvious what path he was going to take. And then the rest of the series just rushes through the important events of his rise and fall with little to no rhyme or reason. Caedus is basically a new character, and he is woefully underdeveloped. Apparently the message is "becoming Sith means instantly becoming a deranged maniac".

Jacen/Caedus should have been the first, second and third focus of this series, but instead superfluous storylines interrupt and detract from his story, and then disappear without any resolution (Fett's wife, the secret Sith, the Wookies, etc). That lack of resolution is the most disappointing thing about "Invincible". This last book screams "rushed to beat the deadline".

The "sacrifice" of Mara made no sense (Tenel Ka would have been a better choice), and Jacen immediately becomes a power-drunk caricature once he takes the name "Caedus". He ignores Lumiya's repository of Sith knowledge, makes several military tactical blunders despite his battle meditation skills, is easily defeated (on his own "home turf" no less) by Luke and Ben, and fails to achieve his main goal in every major campaign he undertakes. And then there's Tahiri, whose turn to the dark side is pretty much completely unexplained beyond the "pining for Anakin" angle. She also could have been developed into a powerful and important character, but instead is left as pretty much an afterthought.

And the coup de grace, in the most laughable part of the whole series: Jaina of all people, with her whopping month of training with the Mandalorians, is able to kill Caedus despite his years of Force study and mastery of multiple disciplines and techniques. Of course, after Caedus is portrayed as such an out of control, inept buffoon from Book 5 onward, there is absolutely no suspense as to the outcome by the time "Invincible" rolls around.

I agree with a previous reviewer - it would have been far more suspenseful and interesting to see Caedus emerge victorious and have an extended reign before being defeated (perhaps by Ben once Ben attains Master status). I'd have liked to see Caedus wreak real havoc on the Jedi Order, forcing them to re-evaluate and reinvent themselves, stronger and on firmer philosophical footing, before dethroning him. As it stands now, there is absolutely nothing left to keep readers interested in these characters. What's left? A new alien invasion? Done that. Yet another Sith uprising? Better to have left Caedus on his throne. Daala reverting to her Jedi Academy form, or yet another dictator rising up? Done that, and still better to have left Caedus on his throne.

I'm one of those readers who favors "growing up" Star Wars rather than simply repeating the "good guys win every time, no suspense, never kill a major "good" character, let's have a happy ending like the movies" formula. This book (and series) was a chance to deepen the development of not only the major characters, but the major Force philosophies. But the end of the series, especially "Invincible", fail in that regard and instead come off as a hurried, rushed disappointment.

The only good thing about this book is that it ends this disturbingly horrible chapter in the Star Wars EU. While I have come to terms with the rationale of killing off Chewbacca and Anakin in Yuuzhan Vong series, the number of important main characters killed off in this series is mind boggling. No one who was ever a fan of the Young Jedi Knight series should read these books because it forever ruins the characters which you grew to love.

My sentimental gripes about the series as a whole aside, the book itself was absurd. No characterization is present throughout the entire book and we never find out what any of the characters think about the "epic" conclusion. Denning refuses to let us into the heads of characters and to share the experience with them, making for a very flat read.... "Then Luke did this...then jaina did this...then ben went here."

The book is all action and moving the plot forward without any story. In addition, there is no explanation as to the resolution of the war as we find out about as much as Jaina who slept through the whole thing. To top of this terribly illogical book, Admiral Daala becomes the new Chief of State of the GA. Right...I am sure that all of the Galaxy is rejoicing now that one of the harshest and most nortorious IMPERIAL leaders is put at the head of state. Hey didnt we spend out whole lives fighting the empire? Oh cool lets put them in charge of this new government weve saved from collapse multiple times at the cost of trillions of lives.

It is my great hope that instead of continuing on the EU from this point, that a group of authors such as Kevin J Anderson, Timothy Zahn and Micheal Stackpole that actually understand how to write a Star Wars story restart from the close of the Yuuzhan Vong War. I feel compelled to go watch the original movies to assure myself that despite Del Ray's efforts, the magic is not completely gone.

Shame on you del ray, karen traviss, aaron allston and troy denning, youve tainted something beloved by so many.

Denning did a great job of messing up an otherwise great series with this suck job. First - the entire book is told almost entirely from the protagonist view - whereas most of the series centered on Jacen and his fall into the dark side. Doing that just didn't seem to do the series justice. Would have been nice to know what Jacen was thinking when certain things happened. Particularly certain bad things.

Second - putting the little jokes in front of the chapters was idiotic and asinine. They did nothing for the plot and I started every chapter thinking to myself - "how stupid."

Third - Cadeous never once made a convincing sith to me - and this book didn't help matters. He was too easily "dealt" with. Perhaps if I'd known what his though process was a little better I wouldn't have thought this. Guess I never will.

Fourth - this book was obviously rushed. I don't think the author had his heart into it and it was obvious from the poor writing style. I know from the other two books that this author wrote in this series that he can do better and I for one am dissapointed that he didn't give a better effort here. He needs to hang up Star Wars - he's ruining for the rest of us.

I agree with the review who called Invincible nothing more then an outline. That's what it was duels and the death of Jacen and that's all we got and nothing more. No emotions, no pleading for Jacen to come back to the good side, no moving final moments, nothing.
This from the man who delivered us Anakin's death in Star By Star? At least Anakin Solo got to die a hero hell even Anakin Skywalker died one when he killed the Emperor to save Luke.
What did Jacen die for? Here at the end I still don't know why Jacen turned to begin with. Sure it was thrown out that he wanted to protect the galaxy but that was an outline it was never expanded on. Instead he quickly moved into psycho mode far too fast to be believable. Yet not once did Jacen ever come across as a scary Sith. Sure he did bad things but I still don't know why other then the authors wanted him to. It would have be nice if they filled in the blanks. But the authors failed to fill in the blanks on..the entire series.
Like why didn't Luke, Leia, Han, Jaina, Tenel Ka or anyone else save Mara attempt to turn Jacen back from the Dark Side of the Force. The Solos gave up on Jacen back in Bloodlines and Luke spent the rest of the books trying to figure out how to kill Jacen without turning evil. That's it the Solos or the Skywalkers weren't given anything else to do by the authors. Why not have Leia and Han fighting to bring their last surviving son back from the Dark Side of the Force? Why not have Luke and Leia trying to save Jacen from the Skywalker legecy? Why not have Jaina attempting to reach her twin brother during the dual? The authors never even gave them a chance to do that. Why?
None of them put any real effort into Legecy of the Force and it shows in every plotline in the series. For the plots the authors did do for them to work everyone in the galaxy had to be dumb. All each author did was set up the outline for each book and that was it. None of them bothered to do anything else. For this Jacen sacifaced? They kill another one of the major Star Wars charactors and they handled it so badly.
I expected better from Troy Denning the man who wrote Tatooine Ghost (one of my all time favorite books) in which Leia's main concern about having children is that they had the potential to become the next Vader and here it is and he doesn't bother to use it? Why?
I keep re-reading Betrayal over and over because it started off so well and had so much potential its hard to believe this is where it ended up.

[WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS]

I have to agree with previous reviews that took a dim view of this latest disaster in the Star Wars Extended Universe (SW EU). Their comments also echo my feelings about the long, tiresome New Jedi Order series. This latest series, as well as the previous 22 books, pretends to proffer weighty issues and high drama, but falls far short of delivery of either. Instead, we get book after book of inconsistent, comic book-grade stories and writing, where evil make a another insane, suicide run on all that is good and heroic, and succeeds.

Honestly, when shock becomes an important plot device in the SW EU, it is clear that either Del Rey's authors are running out of ideas, or the publisher has perceived something rather pathological about their market; and didn't hesitate to profit from it. I have to admit, that I've bought and read the past 31 pitiful novels in hope that something will lighten up. You have to agree that that is a bit sick. But, then the shock wasn't necessary to keep my interest. By the way, my wife is a far more rabid SW fan than I, and swore off the SW EU books after New Jedi Order. I think that she thinks that Del Rey is being run by the Sith. Personally, judging how I feel after reading their books, I think that it's run by dementors.

I also was frustrated with the inconsistency of character development throughout the series. For instance, in this latest travesty, there's what I would call the Boba Fett debacle. We readily recognize Boba Fett as a cut-throat, cold-blooded killer; a two-dimensional mercenary. But, we also see Boba Fett as a shrewd investor and businessman - not an unsophisticated beast. You can move him up or down a notch for that - but now he's got a smidge more depth. Ok, that's not much, but then the books delve deeply into Fett's role as the reluctant leader of a noble, dispersed, oddly Klingonesque people trying to rebuild their homeworld - and he uses his business skills to broker arms deals that helps them to rebuild a strong industry and defense. His people's world of Mandalore is moving inexorably into the greater galactic conflict. We also learn that Fett also must seek out a cure for the fatal disease that is killing him, while at the same time, learn to get along with his newly found granddaughter. He's wrestling with the idea of having family again, along with feelings of guilt for leaving them behind ages ago, and dealing with the idea of his own mortality. He finds his remedy, somewhat violently, but, then his long estranged, and long thought-dead, wife shows up after being successfully thawed from being frozen in carbonite all these years. As the story moves along, Fett's complicated, multi-scaled, soap-opera-like plot thread looks more and more like it's on a major collision course with the main plot, but in the end, it basically dries up. By the last book, Boba Fett is just another merciless brute, like all of his people - as depicted only through a few disparaging comments of the main characters - and serves little more than a backdrop.

Obviously, Troy Denning didn't like Fett as much as the previous authors. Thanks so much Mr. Denning for squelching one of the few almost interesting threads in this series. But, you do have a point. It is sad to see an auxiliary character like Boba Fett overwhelm the main characters in depth and moral meaning. So, at least you were consistent in making sure everyone found their lowest point.

I'd like to write about the Jaina-Jag-Zekk triangle, but it was so ridiculous, going back at least the past dozen books or so, let's just say that I feel embarrassed for the editors and I will leave it at that.

The bottom line is that the various authors can't agree how the characters fit into the overarching story or how to build their personalities or relationships. Just as people do change, characters should also grow richer in depth and complexity. But, in the SW EU, characters can change so drastically from book to book, they look downright unstable.

My complaints don't end there, but my review must. I do not recommend buying this book or any of Force Legacy books. If it's not too late, I'd also suggest avoiding the New Jedi Order and Dark Swarm Trilogy. There were a few duds earlier too. However, if you're new to the SW EU, then I would suggest that you read books by Timothy Zahn (I wonder what he thinks of the demise of Mara Jade Skywalker) or Michael Kube-McDowell.

I started, like most others, reading the Thrawn trilogy. Wow, were they good. I read other books and then eventually got hooked on the NJO. In the beginning I liked Anakin Solo, but after a few books was really interested in Jacen Solo. Anakin died, and thus for me the most exciting chapters were those of Jacen Solo.

I bought the first and third book of the next trilogy, because the second one wasn't in stock. I read the first and never even worried about buying the second one because I didn't want the story to continue. I waited...

And then there was Legacy of the Force. I was so excited to read more about Jacen Solo. I read the first book and it is obvious that Jacen Solo was going to walk down the dark path. Yet, this wasn't about power... or lust... or greed... or ambition... His force vision showed a galaxy tilting. One where the only way for him and Luke to both be standing at the end was by going down the dark path. Could the end justify the means?

And thus the journey towards becoming Darth Cadeus began. From the first book Jacen, as usual, has this 'God'-like presence in the force. You know, without a doubt, that he is destined to change the galaxy forever. They actually get you to like Jacen Solo, the bad guy. They make you question inside yourself, is it better to do wrong things for the right reasons, or the right things for the wrong reasons?

Darth Caedus rises to take command of the galaxy... for an entire book and a half. He is supposed to be the most powerful man in the galaxy, period. The last two books he wasn't even in character. Jacen/Cadeus doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't kill Tebut out of rage. He just doesn't. He is the leader that fights with his men... He is the man that is going to become a true sith. Not someone evil. Just someone who uses all of the force.

In the end, Jacen Solo dies and in the book it doesn't even seem a big deal. At first I was just shocked that it ended the way it did. Now I am just disappointed. I've lost my favorite character twice and really have no excitement to read more. If I start liking Jaina are they going to kill her off to? I liked the innocent, young kid in Anakin and the supreme galactic emperor in Jacen. They both died...

I honestly believe I'm going to take a break from Star Wars for a long while after this one. I really have a bad taste in my mouth after this one. One other thing that really bothers me is the lack of inclusion of the 'secret' group of Sith. Maybe that ties into the book Millenium Falcon... Maybe it doesn't. I'm not going to be around long enough to find out.

Z

This book is what the series should have been. The novel by Denning does not wander off on inconsequential tangents for the sake of "depth". Denning sticks with the core of the series, and does not allow for much else. This is what I hoped the series to be, but alas, did not get.

First, the good points about the series:
1. We get new Sith Lore, and see a Sith being created (definitely much better than the Darth Bane book, which rehashed KOTOR video game and about 20 years of comics into one novel);
2. We get a fair dose of Mandalorian culture (thanks to Traviss) that we did not have;
3. We get the understanding from the Star Wars licenses that our heroes cannot last forever;
4. We get some fairly good action involving space, infantry, commando and jedi/sith battles.

If you think the good points are fairly obvious, they are. That leads us to what I did not like about the series:

1. Great build-up initially, horrible second act, and an all too brief last act;
2. Thready character building, due mainly to having three different authors write the series. They need to not have grand, sweeping series such as these, and keep the books to relatively manageable numbers. Nine books was WAY too many here. The story could have been told in far fewer books. My guess is four or five at the most.
3. The Mandalorian arcs. I had no idea why the Mandos were included except that everyone loves them and likes to read about them. But in this case, they could have been and should have been ancillary to this story. They have nothing to do with the arc and were shoe-horned in. Even all the training Jaina went through did not amount to much in this book. I think the entire Mando/Fett Arc could have been diminished or removed entirely and it would have made it necessary for more proper character development for newer characters.
4. Jacen's rise to power was convoluted to say the least. How he took over the Galaxy (by a loophole in the law) was just dumb, and every character accepted it. It would have been so much better for Jacen to barge in and take control, and maybe snap a couple of necks in the process to make his point. But all the subterfuge and politics was nauseating and played no other role except to mirror Palpatine's rise to power with Jacen's.
5. Ben's development. I don't have much to say except he started off as a bratty teen, almost became a Sith apprentice, and then was "wise beyond his years." I don't know where they could have gone with his character, but beyond the cliche would have been a better start.
6. The stories need to move beyond the Skywalker/Solo family. Hopefully they will, but Jaina and Ben make me think otherwise. I would like to see the next generation of Jedi/Sith not be tied up in this relationship at all, but exist from somewhere else. I think that we know there is a council of Sith still in operation on Korriban. Maybe the "darkness" referred to in the next books will be just that.

There is much more about the novels that I could comment on, but I am glad the storyline is over. Am I shocked to see Jacen's demise? Not really. I am sad that it has to be a Solo to go down (again). But in the grand scheme of things, I think I am tired of seeing Luke, Leia and Han suffer so much. Haven't they had enough already? My God, if I were Luke, I think I may have been a Sith once I saw my Aunt and Uncle die, let alone Obi-Wan, Biggs, Anakin/Vader, Anakin (the nephew), Chewie, Mara, and Jacen.

Move on Del Rey, and please, no more 9-book stories, unless there is a really good story to tell. This series, unfortunately, was not it.