Customer Reviews

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Star Wars (Random House Audio))

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After reading the Force Unleashed and the Fatal Alliance, both books I found average at best, I was a little worried about reading this second installment. I was picturing our fearless and recently dead Jedi/Sith to once again go force crazy as he fought a "boss level" every third chapter, a storyline that was done to death in the first book. To my surprise and gratitude I was wrong. Sean Williams has out done himself with this one. He has woven a complex and intricate web of emotion and suspense that makes the reader feel as if they are in the head of the main characters.

Juno Eclipse is removed from being Starkillers chauffeur and promoted to a major player within the resistance. A promotion that later bites her in the rear-end as she finds herself in a very unforgiving position later in the book. Sean did a very good job delving into the mind of Juno using her personality and affection towards Starkiller to further the books depth.

Starkiller himself has returned from beyond the grave(maybe) and the shallowness of the gaming storyline to be a well-developed character that is more than just a point A to B stick figure that is heartless and mindless. Sean has taken this character and worked his magic, usually saved for his own non-Star Wars books, and made Starkiller a human who's complexities are far deeper than the savage force wielder slaughtering everything in his path.

As for the other characters we have come to know from the first book, Kota, PROXY, Vader and the Organa's, yes they are there and yes they play very important roles within the storyline but this book has a completely different feel in comparison to the first that leaves these characters as a more supportive than instrumental part of the story. With the story taking place during the resistance there are a few surprise appearances from characters we know and love and as many of you may already know from trailers and commercials Starkiller does come in contact with our beloved Yoda. But be warned, do not look forward to in-depth interaction with these characters, it is my guess they have been thrown in for the sake of the game and are not heavy factors within the book.

All-in-all this book has done wonders to reaffirm my belief that Sean Williams is more than capable of producing a well written, complex and fun story within the Star Wars universe. I have begun to wonder about some of the books being published by Del Ray these days as their story arch's are borderline two-dimensional with only a few "deep and emotional" stand alones coming out once a year.

As for the four star rating. The book is very heavy on emotion and character psychology and the balance between that and the action scenes can be a little muddled, but that is only a minor factor. I was more disappointed with the lack of substance with Yoda and the fact that a very heavy thread to the story was left dangling at the end, I'm sure intentionally for the next installment. A fact that overall was not a big deal, it's just with the ending the way it is it left me with a feeling that only one thing was accomplished by the end of 280 pages when there could have been a lot more.

4.5/5 stars for the story. 4.6/5 on the epic scale. One of my favorites and sure to be read again in the future. Wise you would be to read this book I think.

ALL FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED. THANKS AND GOOD READING.

I love Sean Williams' work. He is an exciting author that understands how to position and develop Star Wars characters. I did not realize until book 2 that Starkiller is in fact Anakin Skywalker in reverse. The irony is not lost on me and helps readers understand his fatal connection with Darth Vader. Whereas Anakin became a Jedi and ruined the entire order to pursue power and the freedom to live openly with Padme, Starkiller abandons the Sith order for the Rebel Alliance to become a Jedi to protect Captain Juno Eclipse. The paths they take are not terribly dissimilar and this is further "proof" in the Star Wars world of how close the Jedi and the Sith really are. Scratch a Jedi find a Sith. The Force Unleashed, if I had to identify what I dislike about it, seems like a retread of the first novel in the beginning and the storyline is advanced so quickly that it feels like a middle book suffering from trilogy syndrome. Read it, enjoy it,and then beg for Williams' third and final Unleashed book next October.

This book is great! I read it directly after finishing Sean Williams' other new book OR: Fatal Alliance; at first I didn't think it would live up to the Fatal Alliance story. But in the end I think it actually surpassed it! I could barely put it down (just ask my wife, lol).

The story is well told. You don't have to read the first book to understand the plot, but you should at least know some of the basics of the Force Unleashed storyline. The relationship between Juno and Starkiller is what drives this story as Starkiller chases her across the galaxy. At the same time, questions of his own origin continue to surface. And of course he still has wicked awesome Force powers.

Great read for any Star Wars fan!

This had started out on my list of books I buy when I do not find something else at the store I want to read and I am too impatient to wait to order another. However, if I could relay one thing mainly it is that this should have been on my 'jump the heck up and buy it' list.

Great story packed into this book, I had only played the first game for the previous installment, so my knowledge of the books and their value added was limited. I was looking forward to at least reading something enjoyable and not knowing if I would hate it or love it in the end. I definitely was surprised to have a page turner on my hand.

Now on average I cut through a book in about a week with casual read times. With this one I was sneaking peeks every chance I got and lost in it when I had the opportunity to give it the attention deserved. It by far has encroached towards my list of all time favorites. Suspense, action, drama, intrigue, not many Star Wars books can pull all of these off without giving you a dozen cliches bashed to death by previous titles carrying the same banner.

Definitely check this book out.

I listened to the Audiobook CD version of this book. It's a mostly well-judged reading by Jonathan Davis (though one character slips into an accent now and again with a seeming lack of consistency). There are also sound effects and some recycling of the John Williams' themes from the movies. At worst, these certainly doesn't hurt the story; at best they really enhance it:

Such as with the appearances of Yoda, wherein the background sounds like it could come from a new age CD, "Dagobah Forest" (hey, I'd get it).

As others have written, this is the middle part of an epic love story with an ending that, like Empire Strikes Back--not coincidentally, I'm quite sure--comes to a good stopping place while still leaving one or two unanswered questions. Some of these (questions) being quite big.

With a novelization, of course, it's difficult to know who to credit for ideas and characters; as I say, I found Sean Williams' prose to lack a certain something. But by the time I reached the last disc, I found myself feeling more for Starkiller and especially Juno Eclipse than I would've thought, and Williams deserves at least half-credit for that if not more, I'm quite sure.

Two books in, this is already better than any Star Wars love story I've ever seen. I only hope the upcoming third has less padding (and I don't mean Ewoks) than Return of the Jedi, and better dialogue than Revenge of the Sith.

(It couldn't have worse...)

Love, clones, Yoda, blind Jedi masters and an epic storyline all combined into about 290-295 pages. A very nice piece of history added into the star wars timeline. In short, for those of you who have not read the first novel, Galen Merik, or Starkiller as he is called for 3/4 of the novel. Amazing story and plot. I wish they would make a movie out of this book! Wonderful and uniqe charectures keep you wondering wether he will stay with the dark side... or defy Vader and turn Jedi. He falls in love with his pilot. Pretends to be a Jedi to spy on the Rebel alliance for his master. Then realizes he is becoming attached to them. He is attacked by Vader almost killed. Goes and saves the Rebel Alliance and is killed by the Emperor while saving his Jedi master. End of book 1. Now book 2 starts at 7 months time after Starkiller's "Death". At this point we think that the Starkiller currently being introduced in the first chapter is a clone made by Vader. After surviving through the "Dark side" of the force during a test by Vader, Starkiller is about to face his final test, killing Juno. Starkiller cannot proceed with killing the love of his "other" life and deactivates his blade. Darth Vader proceeds to kill Starkiller, telling him that it wasn't Juno, but a PROXY droid designed to look like her. Vader then sends stormtroopers into kill him. He escapes onto the loading platform of Kamino and steals Vader's personal tie-fighter. After searching planet to planet while killing monster after monster, learning no Jedi or Sith has ever been cloned successfully proving he may not be a clone. Confusing his "Death" even more. And finally saving his Jedi master. He duals Vader to save Juno's life. He mortally wounds Vader, saves Juno and takes Vader into custody.

Pros

Great plot

Starkillers back! (maybe)

Happy ending/ not happy ending

Plot twists and turns.

Yoda

Not so great stuff

Shortish book

He's is utterly obsessed with finding Juno

Not enough Yoda

And it needs the Emperor

Overall It is 4 stars. Hopefully they will write at least one more book to close the missing links before episode 6 and the Starkiller saga.

The first thing to note is that this book is a sequel. It's kind of obvious from the name, but it would have helped to have read the previous story, or to have properly played the game the previous novel was based on prior to reading this. While it did make sense knowing only the skeleton plot of the last book, I feel that mch of the feelings we had for the characters would have been very much amplified by the previous story, as it is then that we learn most about them (As it is, I've only read summaries of the previous story).

Disregarding the story for a moment, the writing itself is fantastic. The narrative flow is smooth for the most part, and when it does jump, it's deliberate and suspense building.

There are a few sections that I thought didn't fit in with the rest of the Star Wars universe, understandable in what must be one of the biggest fictional universes, but sometimes awkward. The biggest one in this book is the ending, which would drastically change the story of the original Trilogy. Although this simply suggests a sequel to bring the story inline with the rest of the super-series. But other than that, although I remember thinking "That seems wrong" at the time, they were small enough for me to not remember what it was that was wrong.

One line that did seem out of place, was "It's a trap", said by Ackbar, a line that he is famous for saying in the original star wars movies. I feel that it was weird to have him say it here as well. It's a clear reference, and a funny one, but it doesn't fit well with the serious situation of the time. Another character saying it would have been better.

Conclusion: While the writing is practically flawless, the storyline is quite dependent on the previous story, and although it does manage to give the general impression of "The Force Unleashed I", I would recommend reading that first. The odd occasion exists which seems out of place, but these are few and generally unmemorable. Any Star Wars fan, or any sci-fi fan not averse to extended universe fiction should give this book a go. It's a great, well-written story, with some memorable scenes, and impressive characters.

2010 has seen my two least favorite SW novels in...ever. TFU II being one of those books.

This novel is relentless game-play cut with a psychopathic love story. It's Force Lighting peppered with an odd and constantly repetitive shallow philosophical rhetoric. Starkiller spends the whole of the novel hunting for Juno. That's fine and well. He kills relentlessly to get to her. That's fine too I guess. What was really painful was his inner dialogue. It went on and on and on with the same questions. "Am I the real Starkiller?" "Am I a clone?" "Was the real Starkiller a clone?" "Am I real? " "Is my obsession with Juno real or a memory of the old Starkiller?" It goes on and on between battles with these same questions asked over and over. Occasionally there will be flashbacks to the first TFU. In fact TFU II does such a thorough job of retelling the first book that you have no need to pick the first one up. It's all here in flashbacks. Dialogue and everything.

The book actually starts with some promise. Williams attempts to explain the forming of the early Rebellion and how each major player got involved. Mon Mothma, Ackbar, Bail Organa, Princess Leia, and Garm Bel-Iblis all play a large part in the first few chapters of the book. Then Williams drops this subplot in favor of the relentless self questioning of both Starkiller and Eclipse as they pine for each other.

The book was short on dialogue and very long on the description of the characters feelings and thoughts. There was just so much of the same shallow philosophical musings. It was worse than TFU because this book aspired to be more than the first novel was and it failed. Horribly.

Forget the ending. If you don't know it already, you don't want to know it. Sufficeth to say, Vader comes off far worse than the "weak old man" he accused Obi-Wan of being in A New Hope. But I suppose he doesn't come off any worse than in the first TFU. Thing is it's worse cause he's been here with Starkiller before.

And then when the story is over and there is no more to say, the book goes on for another hundred pages. It flashes back to the first novel again. It was nuts. Prattling on once again retelling the first book?! I got lost cause I've never seen this before. It's like Blackman's story was a two hundred page story tops but Williams HAD to stretch it to 300 pages. It's agony in those last pages.

I really enjoyed Williams' Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance this summer. It was good fun. TFU II was a mess. A horrible mistake that utterly negates the importance of Luke Skywalker who is to appear in like 6 months.

Let me start by saying that this book is much better than the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Star Wars (Del Rey)). Star Wars was, quite simply, a novelization of a video game. By contrast, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is a novel. And a pretty fun one as far as Star Wars novels go. Sean Williams spends a lot more time developing the characters. There are some poignant moments with Starkiller, Juno, and the crew. Starkiller goes through an agonizing internal struggle, far more interesting than the major battles. And the plot! It takes some very interesting twists and turns. The ending is probably the most surprising and controversial of any Star Wars novel - save perhaps Vector Prime (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 1). I appreciate the willingness to be bold when it comes to continuity in the Star Wars universe and not play it safe. I eagerly look forward to the sequel.

I enjoyed reading this, though a lot of it was tormented thinkings of Starkiller and shameless cameo's (wedge). it wasn't predictadable but it was not much of a surprise except in capturing darth vader? Wow! That was a twist for me. Very intense action scenes and they way the tables were turned, very good. THough odd visions of the clones of himself though..