Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8) by Karen Traviss Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8)
Book Review: There's far too many critics.
Summary: 4 Stars
To those of you wondering if you should buy this book, I'll answer that question with, "It was well worth the $5 I paid for it."
You'll notice that a lot of reviewers seem to "hate" the majority of Legacy of the Force, and it's for various reasons.
Fett, whom they typically claim Karen has a "fetish" for. Hate to tell you guys, but Fett hasn't had a huge fanbase all these years because he's a pushover as a character. In these books it's showcasing that he's indeed mortal and fragile emotionally -- not some kind of unkillable, unfazable legend like some of his previous propaganda. This I find very interesting, and the only people who are likely not to are those who don't know a thing about Fett as a character.
Related to the last bit, they fault Fett's training of Jaina. Well he doesn't wear those Wookie scalps as a decoration, you know? Killing is the thing Fett's best at, and it's in this book that you see Jaina needs it. She's rigidly adherent to Jedi thinking -- the main problem with Jedi (the typical problem with Sith is that they typically get too arrogant, like Jacen is). Every time Jacen meets up with Luke he shows that's what he expects out of Luke -- the things Jedi typically do. It's not wrong of Jaina to desire a different angle of attack; in fact, it's downright clever.
Some reviewers have faulted Luke for not killing Jacen. I agree. I find that I'm more eager to see Jaina have it out with Jacen, so I'm glad they didn't off him in Inferno. At the same time, I don't think it's necessary in this series for Jacen to have tortured Ben at this point, and have no idea what the author was thinking in that case. The thing that mainly troubles me is the leashing back Luke gives Ben in Inferno. At this point, you'd think Luke is a little more mature in the Force than to think his son killing Jacen would become an instant dark side move. This was a weak, ill-contrived ending to the battle that shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Some people are simply "bored" with these books, or they claim that some points aren't "interesting" enough. That's ludicrous; there are plenty of less interesting books coming out than the LOTF series. Nobody forced you to read these, and you could've checked it out a little at the store before you did. You need to quit complaining and go back to whatever you find "exciting".
In the end, I'm glad that people are still writing Star Wars books. Some authors of these reviews would have you believe that they'd prefer none at all, and I strongly disagree with that assessment.
Book Review: Another placeholder book in the series
Summary: 3 Stars
As is the case with most of the new Star Wars novels, this one is another placeholder. Some space battles, very little character development (aside from the authors continuing love affair with Mandalorians).
I'm really tired of hearing about 'the armor'
How about a story with some meat?
For Hardcore SW fans (like me), this will fill the bookshelf while waiting for something compelling to come along.
Book Review: Same old same old
Summary: 2 Stars
I'd recommend borrowing this one instead of buying it. If you buy it rip out the first 200 pages. They're so boring as to be painful, and they do little or nothing to further the story. By the middle of the story it picks up, and I actually enjoyed the rest, until the last two chapters. Two old characters left behind years ago are back. This is unfortnate, since they were played-out before they ever went away. How many can they dredge up? This book does so little to add anything new or advance the plot that it didn't need to be written. Find one of the fan sites that summarizes the whole book, spoilers and all, instead of spending money on this. Book Review: The Only Star Wars Book Review I will Likely Ever Write
Summary: 4 Stars
I am hesitant to write a review for a Star Wars book. This may be due to my bias towards the Star Wars story, but more than likely it is due to my acceptance that more than half of the books written with the name Star Wars on them are terrible.
This series started out slow, and overall, bad. Being a SW nerd, I was annoyed by the different spin placed on the whole Boba Fett storyline. After following it for a few novels it begins to come together and become something other than a waste of time.
I chose to write this review simply because this book was more of a culmination of story lines than any other novel in the Legacy series to date. With one more novel to finish, I hope it does not disappoint.
Onto the review itself. Given this is a Karen Traviss book, you can count on some Fett story. Hold the annoyed groans, because it is actually good this time around. You get more of his past, and his story twists even further into the lives of the Solo's and Skywalker's. I finally learned to like him as a character and not to think of him as a cheap ripoff of what was once an awesome person.
You actually see little to no interaction of the main characters (Luke, Leah and Han). This book is written for the novel people. Ben finally grows into a real character and shakes off all of the annoying baggage the previous writers kept saddling him with. Jaina finally gets to do something actionwise which does not make me boo her as being a shallow and useless character. It is also nice to see characters come back from the Clone Wars novels and even the earlier books.
This is finally a novel in this 9 book series where something happens. If you have followed this series so far, you will not want to miss this one. Karen Traviss has grown into an author I can read without needing to know what I am getting into. Her name alone is enough for me to trust that it will be a good book. If you are a Star Wars fan (shame on you if you are not) do not pass this one up.
Book Review: "Come On, Fett: Show Me How It's Done"
Summary: 4 Stars
You see that yellow glow in the eyes of Darth Caedus on the cover? Does it scare you? If not, it should. That's the look of a man who is bent on imposing order in the galaxy, and will let nothing stand in the way of his doing it.
"Revelation" (or "Star Wars: Legacy of the Force Episode VIII - Revelation" as I like to think of it) is the penultimate novel in the "Star Wars: Legacy of the Force" series and no doubt a much anticipated novel. And while "Revelation" has its flaws, it ultimately proves to be a reasonably satisfying story.
The galaxy has once again found itself at full-scale war. Jacen Solo has become a Sith Lord and is finally ready to shed his old name for his true name of "Darth Caedus." Meanwhile, the Jedi have been forced to retreat into hiding, but Jaina Solo has decided to seek the help of Boba Fett in neutralizing Jacen, while Ben Skywalker is determine to prove the truth of Mara Jade Skywalker's murder once and for all.
I must agree to some degree with the comments regarding the book's middling subplot. I don't really care about either Boba Fett or his wife. This often becomes the problem of a series like this, that while there is much to enjoy, there are some parts where you just find yourself getting bored and wishing you were reading about, oh say, Darth Caedus. Things worked out well in the end, though, and I wasn't all that disappointed or annoyed by it.
In any case, you can't have all of the best stuff in the penultimate book, and do feel that they are definitely saving a lot of the best for last. Either way, this book ties up some important plotlines, while setting some exciting developments in motion for that all-important final book. So I enjoy "Revelation" for what it is, and look forward to May and the release of "Invincible," when we can finally learn the outcome of the "Legacy of the Force."