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43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A whole lotta not much..., August 1, 2010
***Some Spoilers*** Fatal Alliance does offer quite a bit of adventure and epic battle scenes however, with all that is packed into its 450 pages there is little room for character development. The adventure begins with the reader being told the story of how an upcoming Jedi has failed his trials to become a Knight. Well I really shouldn't say "how he failed" because little is told as to how he actually failed the trials. But don't fret the book doesn't expand at all on how this failure effects the character anyways. This lack of character building becomes a theme with every character, sadly. As you read on you will be introduced to about twelve more characters that have little development. A mother that has betrayed the Sith is given little as to why she did this and how that decision has changed her life. A Sith apprentice is faced with having to strike down the woman who gave birth to her but the author chooses to not expand on the characters emotions as she comes closer to the fatal swipe. A soldier that has fallen out of league with her former comrades for being a snitch is only given a few paragraphs as to how this event has formed who she has become. A character that could have been a focal point for all this lack of history should have been the Jedi Master, but she herself gives little in the way of wisdom and doesn't delve into the issues that should have played a bigger role with the characters. Overall the books saving grace is the battle scenes that take up the vast majority of the book. To some this may be enough but to those who have tired of death star after death star this book should be lower on your to-read-list. In no way is the book horrible and in no way would I tell you not to read it but be warned, if you like books that are heavy on characters and lighter on space battles this will not be up your alley. Just my opinion. ALL FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED. THANKS AND GOOD READING.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 EU Entry Set in Old Republic, September 11, 2010
*** spoilers ahead***
Fatal Alliance has several flaws that could be fatal to certain readers' ability to like the book. There are a lot of new characters, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but even at a page count over 400 pgs, characterization seems to have been sacrificed along the way. Stryver, Eldon Ax, Shigar, Master Saetle, Larin Moxla, Ula, Master Howl, Master Chatris, and Lema Xandret are names you will run across a lot if you read the story. Their stories weave in and out with nice cliff hangers, but for some reason, there's just not a lot to "connect" to as a reader. There's this huge conflict with pretty sweet new, dangerous technology that gets literally swept away in the end.
Of the recent Star Wars books, this one by far is the best, but the competition has been sadly lacking of late. I still enjoyed the read, though for me, there wasn't enough of a tie-in to the KOTOR games. This book is a teaser for the new The Old Republic game, but aside from name dropping the Treaty of Coruscant about 10 times, there's nothing to really tease us with.
Conclusion: It's a worthwhile read that will hopefully mean more as time passes and the Old Republic game releases. It's certainly set up for sequels. The author does a decent job with dialogue. (There were only a few times that I cringed at how cliche the lines sounded.) If you love Star Wars books, go for it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A pretty pointless plot, November 25, 2010
I really liked the idea of a series of Star Wars novels set in the Old Republic. Unfortunately, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance just wasn't satisfying. The plot is basically that the Jedi and Sith need to join forces to defeat a bunch of spider-droids. Almost the entire book is filled with battle scenes, with the Jedi and Sith - and a Mandalorian - slashing and shooting their way against the droids. There were a few more plot twists that just made it all seem even more ridiculous - but I won't spoil the ending. It frankly all seems a bit silly, even for a Star Wars novel.
There are some interesting characters in Fatal Alliance, such as Jet Nebula and Ula Vii, but so much of the book is taken up with tiresome action scenes rather than character development. Instead, the Sith Darth Chratis and Eldon Ax sound like a bunch of mindless propaganda machines. I had to wince several times when they spoke just at the sheer inanity of the dialogue. Chratis seemed particularly dull-witted at times - not a trait I'd normally associate with Sith Lord.
The end of Fatal Alliance does leave room for a sequel, so I hope other authors take the interesting characters from this book and develop them further. For now, all I can say is that the next book in the series, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived, looks to be a lot more exciting.
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