Customer Reviews

Street of Shadows (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I probably should have given up on this series after the first one, but there was just enough with Darth Vader to keep me hooked. However, the second book in the Corsucant Nights series was just as average as the first one.
Again, scenes with Darth Vader keep my interest, as well as the appearances by Jedi hunter Aurra Sing. So much more could have been done with Sing over the years, but she's remained largely in the background until now. Sing is hunting Jax Pavan, the main character, and Vader is being hunted himself, this time by Padme's love-struck protector, Captain Typho.
Once again, the author attempts to impress us with his large vocabulary, and his story moves very slowly in places. Most Star Wars novels I find myself staying up late at night, eager to read the next chapter. So far, these two novels have helped put me to sleep at night.
Now I've given both books in this series three stars, which means they're not completely unreadable. I love the Star Wars universe outside the movies, but this series hasn't done much to flesh out the Star Wars universe after the prequel trilogy. Hopefully the final novel will have a payoff worthy of one more star.

I'm really enjoying this series - this book is just as good as the first in the series - so keep reading! As I said in my review of "Jedi Twilight" I am just thrilled to see a whole new cast of characters in the Star Wars universe and I really am glad to see their further development in this book.

In this book you have the main core of characters really dealing with a few unrelated plot lines at the same time. In one plot line you have Jax Pavan and his comrades trying to solve a murder mystery in order to clear their own names - since they are under suspicion for it. In another they are acting as agents of the secret organization "Whiplash" - which is a resistance movement to the Empire and having to deal with an assasin hired by Darth Vader. A third plot line has Padame's old security chief, Typho trying to avenge her death - and in the process he crosses paths with our main characters.

For a just a 300 page book a whole heck of a lot happens - but Reaves gets the story telling done very nicely. All of the different aspects of the story are fit together very nicely and without any overkill. I was very impressed at how well every jived together.

Although it is still there - there wasn't as much "large" vocabularly as there was in the first book in the series - which seemed to be a complaint of some readers.

Also - Reaves really does a good job in his descriptive telling of the light-saber and laser fights in this story. There is absolutely no equal to R. A. Salvatore in writing fight scenes - but I would consider Reaves of the same caliber when it comes to churning out hand-to-hand, close quarters combat on the written page.

Best Star Wars to hit the stands recently (though the other stuff is good) - and these characters and stories are better than those from the latest "Force Unleashed" craze!

Ultimately, I was disappointed with this book's predecessor (Jedi Twilight) and hoped Street of Shadows would hold more of the "hard boiled detective" feel this series is advertised as. In some ways, this book was better than the previous one, but on the whole, it was about the same: just average. Spoilers follow.

Most of the characters from the previous novel star in this one. Jax Pavan, Laranth Tarak, I-Five, and Den Dhur return as our heroes. Oddly enough, though, there's no mention of Nick Rostu. Considering he played a rather large role in Jedi Twilight, I was hoping to at least discover what had become of him, but I guess everyone has forgotten about him. Darth Vader returns as the main villain, aided by the Jedi hunter Aurra Sing. There are a couple of new characters, too, including the Zeltron Dejah Duare (whose name is spelled "Deejah" on the back of the book, for whatever reason) and Typho, one of Padme's late security officers.

The detective aspect I was waiting for in the first book finally appears in Street of Shadows, but it's a lot weaker than I'd hoped. What is interesting is that Reaves decided to include the destruction of the Caamasi home world, as it is a Caamasi artist that's murdered. Jax and friends set out with the victim's longtime friend, Dejah Duare, to solve the murder mystery. This could have been a very exciting plot...but it wasn't. In fact, the detective side of it was almost boring. I usually finish Star Wars novels in a week or so, often staying up late to finish them; it took me a few weeks to get through this one. The main plot just couldn't hold my attention and, perhaps it was just me, but there's no way I would have linked the murderer to the crime before it was revealed. For me, that's the fun of mysteries: following the clues and finding the culprit along with the characters. That fun couldn't be found here.

Meanwhile, Vader still wants to find Jax Pavan and has acquired the skills of Aurra Sing, a hardcore Jedi hunter, to help him in his task. I greatly enjoyed the addition of Aurra Sing to the story and greatly enjoyed reading her parts of the book. She's a great villain: cool, calculating, tough, dominating, and always on top of her game (or, almost always, as she is seemingly defeated at the end of the book). Considering this is a middle novel, I don't think it'll surprise anyone that Jax manages to evade Vader's clutches yet again.

There's a third, slightly less important, plot running alongside the previous two. Typho, one of the late Padme's security officers, is set on finding Padme's killer and getting revenge for her death. Unfortunately, a lot of his portions of the book are spent with him trying to figure out just who killed Padme, which the audience already knows and therefore isn't particularly awed or surprised at the outcome. He eventually figures out that Darth Vader must have killed Padme and sets off to, in turn, exterminate the Dark Lord. I think everyone can guess how that turns out: badly.

What remains to be the shining beacon (much like in the last book) is the characterization of most of the characters. Jax, Laranth, Den, I-Five, and Dejah all receive a good amount of character growth and the relationships between them continue to evolve (especially between Jax and Laranth). Again, Reaves thrives at giving personality and character to his own creations, but (again, like with the last book), he falls short at portraying the already established character of Vader. While Vader seemed a little more in character than the previous book, something about him still didn't feel quite right. I'm hoping that Reaves will nail the characterization by the last book. Aurra Sing was also well done and filled the role of villain quite well. Typho didn't really do much for the story, in my opinion, and will most likely fade into Star Wars oblivion. I found Typho to be a pretty boring character who seemed to know a little too much about every species he encountered. Regardless, with the exception of Typho and Vader, Reaves's characterization was the highlight of this novel.

All in all, this book was better than the first one. To begin with, it actually had a plot and explored the detective side of Coruscant the trilogy advertises, albeit not as well or thoroughly as I'd have liked. The characters continue to be a joy to read about and Reaves's writing can be engaging at times. However, the novel ultimately struck me as being boring and didn't really do anything to develop the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. I'd like to hope the third installment ends up tying everything together and ending with a bang, but I'm not getting too hopeful. 3 Stars

Having survived the purge, Jedi Jax Pavan now dwells in the underbelly of Coruscant assisting a fledgling resistance known as the Whiplash. A beautiful woman asks him to help her and her artist partner escape the planet, but before they can, the artist is murdered. As Jax sets out to find the killer, other seekers enter the picture. Bounty hunter Aurra Sing has been commissioned to locate the renegade Jedi and a grieving Captain Typho has set out to avenge the murder of Padme Amidala.

Street of Shadows is the second instalment in the Coruscant Nights trilogy. The book is billed as a detective story which sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to its back-cover blub. Sure, there is a bit of mystery, but it's not really the main focus.

That's not to say the book is bad. Although it's not as good as the previous volume, it is enjoyable. Michael Reaves writes with precision (he uses words I occasionally have to look up in the dictionary) and humour (this book contains what has got to be one of the funniest lines in the Expanded Universe). While the storyline isn't exactly riveting, it does keep you reading and sets the stage for a final showdown between Jax and Vader in the next book.

3.5 stars.

I was heading to the beach this summer and was looking for a book to read and I saw the Jedi Twilight the 1st in this series and I loved it. The 1st one was really well done and I cared about the charecters and could not wait for the next. Well I bought this the day it hit the shelf and was disappointed. It was no where near as good as the other one, it was actually boring in spots but I remain hopeful that the next one will be good.

It was an alright book. Started a little slow, but it got more engaging as i keept on reading. It motivates you to read the third book of the series. I could have made it without it, but when i first started reading the series i just had to follow it through to the end..

I enjoy the characters; its fun getting to know new characters in Star Wars. I guess one can say its a little refreshing. Also we get to know a little more about a minor character from the movies that we didnt really know anything about. So all in all, its worth a read IMO.

Not one the best Stories out there but it is worth the time to read. I enjoyed it and all the Star Wars books.

I bought the enitre series in my thirst to read some new LUCASBOOK material. Jax Pavans story was very interesting .. funny it wasn't unti I read this series that I remembered that in Darth Maul:SHadow Hunter.. one of the main characters and droid in that story were two of the main characters in this series! Anyway we get to see Aurra Sing- rogue Jedi turned bounty hunter and good ole Captain Typho of Naboo (I have to admit, I wondered what ever happened to him after Revenge of the Sith) you'll find out here. Its not the best LUCASBOOK material put out but I think this series is entertaining enough and as long as you aren't going into your STAR WARS Encyclopedias to pick out inaccuracies, you will enjoy these as I have up until this point. Going to start in on "Patterns of Force" soon.... O and "Red HArvest" is pretty d--- good read.

"You're being hunted by the best, Jax"
After reading the first one, I realized I had no choice but to read number two!
Jax Pavan, LaranthTarak, Den Dhur, and I-Five are back and this time they have a murder to solve. Ves Volette, a Caamasi artist, has been murdered! Was it his partner, the gorgeous Dejah Duare? Or someone else? And can they solve the crime before Aurra Sing finds and kills Jax?

I Liked:
This time around, Michael Reaves wrote his novel as a mystery, which is sort of the marketing for this series of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. And he does an okay job with it (more later).
What really stood out to me, however, was the further depth given to Laranth's character. She really gets fleshed out, from being stoic action girl, to a woman who is beginning to develop feelings for Jax...feelings that, unfortunately for her, aren't reciprocated (which makes me want to slap Jax silly!!). I love how Reaves didn't overwrite her feelings, how he kept it subtle and delicate. Well done!
Also, gotta give Reaves a hand for writing two characters not seen much in Star Wars novels: Captain Typho and Aurra Sing! While I didn't much like his character, Typho was interesting to see (and to see what happened to him!) and his twist (his unrequited love for Padme) brought some definition to his character. Aurra Sing was well done, a cold-blooded killer, yet also half-crazed.
Lastly, Reaves knows how to finish off his novels with a bang! Not only do you get the mystery wrapped up, but let's also throw in a righteous battle between our heroes and Aurra Sing!

I Didn't Like:
I just didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. I didn't like Dejah Duare, the perfect, sexy Zeltron female (who is, of course, always wearing nice, sexy clothes that make the guys eyes pop out) introduced in the book (gag me already). Jax was still an annoying character whom I wanted to throw across the room. No one says what happens to Nick Rostu. The mystery was very so-so and not very interesting at all (though who did it makes a nod at the mystery genre cliches and got me laughing!). The pacing I felt was rather plodding. People just seem to float for pages on end, not really doing anything that seems all that important and just saying the same things over and over (Typho's quest for vengeance, how Aurra will bring in Jax, finding the murderer of Ves, etc.). I understand that second novels/movies/whatever are a challenge, but this one seemed particularly "saggy".

Dialouge/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Star Wars invented language if anything.
Dejah is, of course, a gorgeous, beautiful, sexually appealing woman. This is mentioned frequently. Also, some of the denizens of Coruscant's underworld could be interpreted as sexual.
Ves Volette is murdered and while it isn't gory, he still does die. There are a few lightsaber battles, chase scenes...nothing that great overall.

Overall:
It's really hard to rate this book for me. I didn't hate it, but I felt that it lacked something, that final quality that could have made it a sure thing for me. I certainly don't consider this a terrible book; I adored the subtle changes to Laranth and some discussion of droids and their "sentience". But there were other parts, such as the weak mystery, that really make me second guess my rating. So, after much contemplation, I think it's fair to rate it 4.5 stars rounded down to 4.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

Street of Shadows is the second book in the excellent Coruscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves. We are still in the lower levels of Coruscant. Jax Pavan, one of the few remaining Jedi after Order 66, is managing to survive by avoiding Darth Vader's attempts to capture him and by spending his time helping people escape Imperial Center through Whiplash, a system of routes and safe places established by the remnants of the Rebellion.

Jax has an unusual band of individuals to help him in his efforts. Den Dhur, the Sullustan ex-reporter, is still around as is the unique droid I-5YQ, one of my favorite characters in the entire Expanded Universe. Haninum Tyk Rhinann was once an aide to Vader and is now part of Jax's group. Laranth Tarak is a female Twi'lek and a Gray Paladin, basically a Jedi who prefers to use blasters instead of a lightsaber. She still uses the Force and is an invaluable member of the team. An important new introduction is Dejah Duare, a female Zeltron who comes to Jax asking for help.

Two main stories wind through the book. Dejah is a partner of the famed light sculptor Ves Volette, and things get complicated for everybody when Volette meets with an untimely demise. Jax and his crew are involved with finding the murderer. We also get to welcome back an old friend, Captain Typho of Naboo. He is determined to find out the truth about Padme Amidala's death and avenge her if at all possible. His efforts lead him into a confrontation with the famed bounty hunter and Jedi killer Aurra Sing. She is on Coruscant on assignment from Vader to bring in Jax Pavan.

Mr. Reaves ties all of this together very nicely and leaves us wanting more. Bring on Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force.