Book Review: Star Wars Fate Of The Jedi: Apocalypse - Troy Denning

In the stunning finale of the epic Fate of the Jedi series, Jedi and Sith face off—with Coruscant as their battlefield. For the Sith, it’s the chance to restore their dominance over the galaxy that forgot them for so long. For Abeloth, it’s a giant step in her quest to conquer all life everywhere. For Luke Skywalker, it’s a call to arms to eradicate the Sith and their monstrous new master once and for all.

In a planetwide strike, teams of Jedi Knights take the Sith infiltrators by swift and lethal surprise. But victory against the cunning and savage Abeloth, and the terrifying endgame she has planned, is anything but certain. And as Luke, Ben, Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and their allies close in, the devastating truth about the dark side incarnate will be exposed—and send shock waves through the Jedi Order, the galaxy, and the Force itself.

STAR WARS Expanded Universe books are fickle creatures for me. Sometimes they suit my mood and other times they don’t. I have mentioned in previous SW Book Reviews that I feel that the 9-book series they’ve done have been mostly long-winded and padded, really affect pacing and the overall narrative. This is to the degree that I actually SKIPPED the 7th and 8th books in the series and jumped straight to the 9th (and final) book, Troy Denning’s STAR WARS FATE OF THE JEDI: APOCALYPSE…and I’m none the worse for it as the things I needed to know I caught up on over at Wookiepedia. Is that a disservice to the other two authors’ of the series? Certainly. Do I feel bad about it? I suppose a little, but whenever I feel that way my brain clicks onto the fact that a quick 10-minute perusal of the synopses of those two books at Wookiepedia told me everything that happened in over 600 pages worth of material. That’s a lot of filler as far as I am concerned, and this series and the LEGACY OF THE FORCE series before it are known for such padding. So I skipped some of it.

This is a terrible way to begin a review for a book I actually loved.

Sorry.

APOCALYPSE was one of the best SW EU books I’ve read in a very long time. Whether that was because of plot threads that were tied up that have been going since the Dark Nest Crisis (2005), or because of the finale-like action set pieces, or simply just because there was a definite feeling of “moving forward” occurring in the pages, I don’t know. All I know is that Denning had me rapt from page one until the closing chapter 440+ pages later.

Note: Beware, as the last book in a 9-book series, this review is going to have some minor-to-heavy spoilers. Unavoidable.

So basically this book wraps up exactly who Abeloth is, and I was a little stunned and impressed to find out how she ties into the overall STAR WARS universe; that she ties into the strangest episode arc of the 3rd season of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS where Anakin and Obi-Wan visit a strange world called Mortis where three very powerful force beings (A Father – Balance, A Daughter – Light Side and a Son – Dark Side) live. The Father is dying and asks Anakin to take his place as Balance (who obviously refuses)…it turns out that Abeloth has to do with them, and they have more to do with the Force as a whole than previously thought. Jedi Grand Master Luke recalls hearing the story from Yoda and after checking it out in the Jedi Archives on Coruscant finds the mission his father and Obi-Wan undertook did indeed take place. This also ties into what Jacen Solo (prior to his turn to the dark side and death) found out from the Killik’s who simply referred to these beings by different names, but the mythology was the same of a Son and Daughter at constant war and the father who kept them in balance.

Basically Denning has not only tied this story into the past (and other SW media) with the above points, but also has Jagged Fel and the Imperial Remnant tied into the future as well (the LEGACY comics which take place 137 years ABY), leading me to believe that Jaina and Tahiri may be the first of the future Imperial Knights (Red-Armored Jedi who defend the Fel Emperor)…who knows. Still, it's nice to know that the people behind the curtain at LFL take continuity into things when ideas are raised.

We also finally get the public reveal of Allana Solo as Tenel Ka and Jacen Solo’s daughter (instead of the masquerade as the elder two Solo’s adoptive daughter Amelia) thus making her VERY strong in the Force and Hapan royalty in line for the throne. But naturally she’s also in line for another throne…one of balance. I think it will be very interesting to see a more grown up Allana training as a Jedi and taking up the mantle of hero from her grandparents. Ben and Vestara get an ending I wasn't expecting and it was kind of refreshing since I assumed that they would follow a certain path with their relationship than how it ends up. Which brings me to my last story point, the Jedi have finally (in a council decision) decided that the best thing for the Jedi Order is to separate themselves from the Galactic Alliance and leave Coruscant (for the academy training world of Shedu Maad) to its own devices and political squabbling.  I like that a great deal and see it as a long time coming since the New Republic and the subsequent Galactic Alliance have never fully trusted the Jedi and why would any group stay and defend people who didn’t trust them? I think Luke has the right idea in making the Jedi become a more autonomous entity beholden to no one but themselves. I’m also really ready to return to the Jedi Academy type locale. That was one of my favourite things about the Academy when it was on Yavin 4, that there was nothing else going on there. No political infighting, just Jedi training. Love that. It will be a welcome return to see the new fresh Jedi rise up and become knights and not have to worry about what is going on with the Order.

Denning has done an incredible job wrapping up the plot points that truly needed wrapping up. There are some complaints that there are still open threads left hanging at the end…but then that only means we’ll be seeing more of our friends in future. I don’t mind those open threads, because like anything of this type of story, enough was solved for me personally in the end and it’s always nice to have things to look forward to that connect to the past.

The one thing I am looking forward to the most: The squad of Ten Jedi Knights who are sent out to find the wandering planet of Mortis and hopefully the Force-imbued dagger that can kill a celestial. That’s going to be very Outbound Flight-ish methinks.

If you’ve been reading this series, then APOCALYPSE should satisfy you much more than INVINCIBLE did in the last series. A great book, and definitely one of the best Main-series books I’ve read since the NJO.

Book Review: Star Wars Fate Of The Jedi: Abyss - Troy Denning

Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive. 

Troy Denning always seems to ramp up the tension and the adventure. In the new Star Wars: Expanded Universe story arc style (ei. 9 books, 3 authors, one continuing story) adopted with the Legacy Of The Force books (about the fall of Jacen Solo to the dark side) and continued with these, the Fate Of The Jedi books the plot needs to stretch out and the authors are aware of this. What’s funny, is that in both series everything is going along tickety-boo till volume 3 and then Denning enters the fray and starts to ramp everything up. The best thing about that is that it makes for a stellar third book that has everything I love about Star Wars and nothing I don’t.

That’s how I knew going in that I was bound to love ABYSS (as I loved TEMPEST, third book in the LotF series before it), cause Denning always brings the show.

ABYSS picks up immediately after the previous volume (Christie Golden’s very decent OMEN) and finds a few plotlines headed towards one another. On Coruscant, two more Jedi go wonky with the plague but both spent time as children at Shelter (a hiding place during the Kilik crisis inside the Maw, a place in the center of a number of black holes) solidifying the theory that it started there. Han & Leia are trying to hatch a plan to get Tahiri Veila offworld to hide her from Daala’s government witchunt. Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel are trying to use political avenues to show the public that this persecution of the Jedi is inhumane. Meanwhile Luke Skywalker and his son Ben are inside the Maw at a replica of Centerpoint Station where the fabled Mind Walker’s reside and both get closer to not only the Dark Side, but death in their studies of Jacen’s path. Then add Vestara Khai and the rest of the lost Sith Tribe on a collision course with the Skywalkers and you have what? A recipe for awesome. Just sayin’.

Let me say first off that Ben shines in this book. He literally jumps off the page with teenage angst that is being tempered by Jedi knowledge and restraint. That’s a really great thing to witness. It was also something Jacen never had. Jacen blazed his own path and it led him to the Dark Side, he was powerful, but completely untempered. Watching Ben exhibit early signs of those same strengths, but having them be checked and molded by his father, Grand Master of the Jedi Order (not to mention the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy) is not only amazing, but gives me hope for the future that he will one day make a good Grand Master himself. He seems to epitomize a lot of the same traits his namesake (Obi-Wan Kenobi) had.

Then you have Jaina and Jag’s impending nuptials and their parents’ aversion to it. To me, Jag really IS a little too honourable and straight-laced to ever put Jaina ahead of his job as Head Of State for the Imperial Remnant. It’s nice that Denning does nothing to sway us to believing he is. He isn’t. Which makes me believe that at some point down the road he will either start to do so….or Jaina won’t marry him….or even better, he doesn’t change and Jaina DOES marry him and it creates a myriad of problems.

I think the only lackluster bit here is that once again Han & Leia are using the Falcon to try to help someone escape against orders ect. In the beginning of the novel the two are doing things that they don’t normally do and it was refreshing that they weren’t up to their tricks that they do in every volume…they were growing a little. Unfortunately it doesn’t last and one of the two action sequences at the end of the book is back to status quo for H & L Solo which can be a bit boring after they’ve done it for the twentieth time. Thankfully, the OTHER action sequence between the Skywalkers and their initial meeting with members of the lost Tribe of Sith is all blaster sizzle, lightsabers, and grenades. Loved it!

Anyways, this one was great most of the way through and to me was easily the best in this series so far. I wholeheartedly look forward to the 4th book BACKLASH. Moreover though I am starting to get an inkling of where the series is headed and I feel it is a very interesting story and it seems like we’ll be in for a treat at the end, especially because Denning will be the one writing the final book.

Great stuff!