Star Wars Addiction

February 27, 2008

It's no secret around these parts that Karen Traviss is my ideal Star Wars author: sharp-edged prose, meticulous research, and a love of the license that becomes more apparent with each new volume are the hallmarks of a singular style that set her head and shoulders above every other EU scribe with the possible exception of Matthew Stover.

The latest volume of the Legacy of the Force series, ominously subtitled Revelation, sees Traviss in fine form, and, while the novel is shorter than I would've liked, it does nothing to tarnish the stellar reputation of its author. While the titular revelation is more of an in-character reveal that the reader has known since Traviss' Sacrifice, the emotional gut-punch is no less effective, and it serves to expertly set the stage for the series' concluding volume, as well as provide a tipping point for the series' ensemble cast.

Jaina Solo wings her way toward the backwater world of Mandalore, determined to seek out the legendary Boba Fett and become, for lack of a better word, his apprentice. While it sounds far-fetched at first blush, this particular plot line actually works well enough to form the emotional core of the novel, as Jaina is forced (by the unspeakable actions of her Sith Lord brother) to think so far outside of the conventional Jedi box that seeking the services and training of a man who has repeatedly hunted her family seems to be the only real chance she has at stopping the megalomaniacal Darth Caedus.

Fett himself is something of an emotional mess, weighed down by the scars of not caring for anyone other than himself and paying the price by crossing paths with everyone from his ex-wife (recently thawed from carbonite), to his granddaughter, to his Mandalorian brethren who've formed a tightly knit surrogate family that would function equally well in his absence.

While Traviss has been criticized in some fan circles for embellishing Mandalorian lore and remaking the character of Boba Fett into something less than the idealized fanboy wet dream that he was for much of the last two decades, it says here that she's done him a great service (namely, bringing him to life, as prior to her involvement, Boba Fett was little more than an extra with a cool helmet). The character hasn't been so much remade as he has been fleshed out. Prior to Traviss' Bloodlines, Fett was more monotone killing machine than man; now, he bleeds, he ages, and most importantly, he grieves and shows other human emotion that, despite its immaturity given his advanced age, makes him more of a man to be empathized (and reckoned) with and less of a cardboard sci-fi cliché.

Ben Skywalker also receives considerable page time, and, whether he's putting pebbles in his boots to alter his gait during a cat and mouse game of surveillance camera avoidance or coming to grips with visions of his dead mother and agonizing over how best to deepen a strengthening relationship with his famous father, he comes off extremely well. His appeal is a curious mixture of old-school Luke and no nonsense Mara, and his cool factor demands a starring role in post-Legacy adventures.

Revelations' other 800 pound gorilla is of course Darth Caedus, or the artist formerly known as Jacen Solo. Fresh off his best officer-choking Vader impersonation, Caedus forges ahead with his single-minded plan for galactic peace, oblivious to the whisperings of dissent fomenting among his officers and behind the door of his co-Chief of State, Admiral Niathal. Despite the occasional heavy-handed allusions to real-world contemporary politics, Caedus is still a formidable villain, and one you love to hate. Though the cracks in his heretofore invincible armor have become more apparent, he remains one of the darkest, scariest villains in the entire Star Wars mythos, and it will be a shame (albeit a satisfying one) when he inevitably meets his maker.

Less effective is the character of Tahiri Veila, the barefoot baby Jedi who is now all grown up from her days as a scarred Yuuzhan Vong prisoner-of-war in the New Jedi Order series. Reduced to the role of alternate apprentice after Caedus loses sway over his first choice, Ben Skywalker, Tahiri seems out of place, primarily because her motivation for helping her mentally unbalanced master (a connection to her late flame, Anakin Solo) seems contrived at best. Its unfortunate that such a genuinely likable character is showing signs of being expendable, and, while she may yet survive the series, its clear that the Legacy plot masterminds (the three-headed hydra composed of Traviss and co-authors Troy Denning and Aaron Allstone, as well as LucasBooks editor Sue Rostoni) have relegated Tahiri to the role of plot device rather than a character with depth.

Despite this, Revelation is a rocking good read, featuring Traviss' signature combat prose and her crackling dialogue infused with enough sci-fi/military jargon to please the most discerning action novel fan (space junkies will be glad to know that the Mandalorian starfighter known as the Bes'uliik makes another appearance). The book clocks in at over 400 pages, but seems considerably shorter due to the breakneck pacing, and it does a bang-up job of ushering its tortured cast down the slippery slope towards the series' end.


	DarthDan February 27, 2008 Comment 1 As soon as life slows down enough for me to catch my breath, quaff this volume down, I will! Angyll February 27, 2008 Comment 2 Awesome review hun! Sounds fantastic! DARK LORD GRIEVOUS February 27, 2008 Comment 3 Good review Jeff. Read it, I must. Darth Agnon March 7, 2008 Comment 4 This is so off base and absurd. What a poor and dissalusioned .. grrr, Are you kidding me? Wake up to the Star Wars coffee, this is the lamest sith ever! This series has been ruined by how quick they're trying to get rid of Caedus. Why spend so much time on such a weak sith? It's blasphemy to even call him a sith lord, compared with what we already know are "REAL" sith lords. I hope you enjoyed your paycheck for this article, because obviously that's all you did it for. JediJef March 7, 2008 Comment 5 The only thing off-base and absurd is your clueless assertion that I write for money. The entire reason this site is here is to provide a forum for Star Wars fans to congregate and share honest opinions about the franchise, free from the constraints of the official forums, the sanitized community over at TFN, and other politically-correct sites. This site exists wholly separate from Lucasfilm or any other corporate interest, and if you'd been here for more than two days, you'd know that I take Lucas Licensing to task on a regular basis for the products that I consider subpar. Legacy of the Force, however, is not one of them, particularly the writing of Karen Traviss, currently the finest author working in the morass that is the EU. I can excuse your poor taste, but I'd advise you to watch your mouth when you throw around accusations of payola, because you honestly don't have the faintest fucking idea what you're talking about. Angyll March 7, 2008 Comment 6 Hmmm....if I were to choose between the opinions of someone whose are well thought out, articulated, and--albeit understandably biased towards his tastes--free from the choker of trying to please ANYONE with his opinions and does this just for his love of all things Star Wars, or someone who blasts theirs negatively with no actual support for his comments and shoves the "well my way is the only true way" attitude instead of fostering a discussion on the subject... let's see here, I believe I will go with listening to the former. Definitely worth it. DarthDan March 7, 2008 Comment 7 QUOTE(Badreligion1276 @ March 7 2008, 03:35 AM) I hope you enjoyed your paycheck for this article, because obviously that's all you did it for. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You really have some nerve coming in and throwing accusations like that. Jef, Dalamar, and myself haven't seen a dime for any of the hard work we've put into SWAC since October of 2005. Everything you see here is pure, unadulterated appreciation of Star Wars. What really irks me is the fact that last night you send me a personal message on MySpace talking about how you met up with a fan group and they were very snobby and you love and appreciate how we have created a place that is absent of that negativity. Then right after saying that to me, you come and falsely accuse Jef of taking a paycheck? WTF, man? QUOTE(Joshua from MySpace aka Badreligion1276) I was a member of the OSWCC ( Ohio Star Wars Collecting Club) briefly, mostly just online, But I attended thier Christmas Party one year and except for like 3 people, they were so snobby towards me. I was thinking, "Hey!, I'm one of you" but whatever so I stopped that nonsense, now to thier credit, they are state wide and do do alot of things community/charity ect wise, but for me to jump in and get the cold shoulder - I was very dissapointed But on your site, wow! mass instant love! hopefully some day I can the members of the universe we love that aren't snobs. thank you for having such a sight I wish Jef did get paid for his published work on SWAC. He certainly deserves it and the caliber of his writing speaks for itself. While you can feel free to disagree with the opinions that he (or anyone here) expresses, I'd be very kriffing careful of throwing around ungrounded and insulting accusations that serve as personal attacks to one of my staff or members. I won't tolerate it. It's not the atmosphere we're trying to create here, as your private message on MySpace lauded us for. JediJef March 7, 2008 Comment 8 Owned. Seriously man, feel free to disagree and debate with me (if you think you're up to it), but have the sense to do a little fact-checking before you spout off. It just makes you look ignorant. DarthDan March 7, 2008 Comment 9 The thing that really disturbs me about this is the suggestion that Jef would sellout his candid opinions for a paycheck. While I have no doubt that he will eventually be paid professionally to write, you can rest assured that the Rantmaster will never sugarcoat a review in exchange for a kickback. Jef is one of the toughest critics I know and tells it like it is, from his point of view. On the rarity that he finds a product that he has no complaints with, Jef is loathe to publish an article without some point of criticism to keep from coming across as "gushy". Additionally (and back to the subject matter that triggered Badreligion's initial polarizing comment), Jef speaks directly of Cadeus in one paragraph in the above review, applying more of his focus to Traviss' treatment of Boba Fett. bigox6942 June 4, 2008 Comment 10 Haven't gotten this far in TLoF books yet. I'm on book six. But I will admit that Traviss writes Boba so well, that I really am starting to like him. I personally have hated Boba, and Jango, and all the other wanna be "Boba-Who's" since well, forever. Never got on the Boba-bandwagon. My logic was , how can you like a chararcter that had so few lines, was very cool looking, but yet dies like a little biotch in RotJ. And don't get me started on Darth Maul.... But Traviss has thought out very well, how Boba has grown up, and lived as the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. And how all in all he is just a man, er clone, that has had a tough life, and made a history for himself, and yet near the later part, his life catchs up with him. I so look forward to reading the rest of these books, and thanks for the great review.