Star Wars Legacy of the Force Inferno – Review September 24, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in darth caedus, legacy of the force, Sci Fi, science fiction, scifi, Star Wars, Star Wars Books, troy denning.Tags: darth caedus, legacy of the force, Legacy of the Force Inferno, Sci Fi, science fiction, scifi, Star Wars, star wars legacy of the force
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I’ve finally finished Star Wars Legacy of the Force Book 6 Inferno – and I’m not angry or even disappointed. IN fact I think that Inferno is one of the better books in this whole series. Inferno follows follows Sacrifice, Exile, Betrayal 
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Inferno is a pleasant reminder why I enjoy Star Wars books (especially Legacy of the Force) so very much. The last book Sacrifice, was a disaster in more ways than one. The worst offense (beyond killing Mara – oh and be sure to add your name to the Bring Back Mara Petition) was the trite, mundane and inspired writing that was offensively bad. Simply put Karen Travis shouldn’t be writing Star Wars.
Now Inferno by Troy Denning is another story altogether and a very good one at that. The prose is crisp, the descriptions are tight as is the plot. Without getting into details (last warning ahead of a spoiler alert) there were enough twists and turns that made sense in this one to really make it a legitimate ‘page turner.’
Now onto the deeper discussion.
*LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK IF YOU’RE AFRAID OF SPOILERS**
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After the death of Mara in Sacrifice, I had expected Inferno to be mostly about Mara and tracking her killer. Luckily it wasn’t. Instead the civil war that is the whole premise for Legacy of the Force expands in marvelously new intricate ways.
The turbolaser bombardment of the Wookie homeworld was a total shocker and a brilliant plot twist as was Tenel Ka’s ultimate decision to open fire on Jacen.
I didn’t expect Ben to actually kill Cal Omas but , wow…another solid twist.
The discovery of MANY Sith on Korriban is a FANTASTIC revelation – these are likely the Sith from which Darth Krayt (also known as A’Sharad Hett) comes from.
And of course adding to the great complexity of this series, the Jedi abandoning the Alliance – or as Luke puts it – there is no Alliance with Jacen.
ooooooh and last but definitely not least – the faked death of Luke Skywalker himself. The author did a masterful job of painting that picture – of Luke’s death and though i didn’t want too..i believed it (for a few pages at least) just as Jacen did.
As if there wasn’t enough complexity in this Galactic Civil War – there is now even more and that makes for some great story telling.
As opposed to the New Jedi Order – Legacy of the Force is taking twists that are not trite, they’re actually really well conceived. It’s a shame that Karen Travis is such a poor writer…but Troy Denning really is a star.
Who Will Play Spock in Star Trek XI? July 24, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Captain Kirk, cassini, games, google, Kirk, Mr Spock, Nimoy, Sci Fi, sciencefiction, scifi, Shatner, south park, spock, Star Trek, star trek movie, star trek tng, star trek XI, Star Wars Books, starwars, starwars legacy, upsps, weirdal.1 comment so far
Who Cares!
Star Trek XI is rapidly going from a highly anticipated film to a total disgrace rivalling even the mockery that was Star Trek Enterprise.
The film has already been scheduled for an X-mas 2008 release – the script ready to go since late June. Shatner in maybe??
speculation is now surrounding who will play Kirk and Spock. Personally I hope that two unknowns are chosen. Unknowns that are true fans and that will not bring any acting baggage with them.
Star Trek XI if it has any hope to boldy go and redefine Star Trek for a new era of movie goers needs new blood. Sure it would help if could get kids that look like Shatner and Nimoy (maybe they’ve got nephews?)…but I for one do not want to see the same guy that plays Jason Bourne play Kirk and I don’t want Zachary Quinto, who introduced himself to television audiences last year as the bad guy Sylar in NBC’s “Heroes,” to be Spock.
Jacen Solo’s Sith Name is..Darth Caedus! May 18, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in awesome, darth caedus, darth who, jacen solo, legacy of the force, science fiction, scifi, Star Wars, Star Wars Books, starwars.124 comments
Thnx to jwash24 who posted as a comment. ShowMeSciFi has now been able to independently verify that indeed Darth Caedus is Jacen Solo’s Sith name.
Jacen’s Sith name was chosen by a contest and follows his long descent into the dark side in the Legacy of the Force series (which is the most awesome Star Wars series in years if not of ALL TIME).
He takes his Sith name in Sacrifice set to come out in just a few weeks, but early copies are all already being leaked by the publisher.
So who does Jacen have to Sacrifice to get his Sith name…i could hardly believe it myself (and if you really want to know just look at the cover of the book and it’s quite obvious)..and i’m actually going to suspend dis-belief if you don’t mind until i get my hands on a copy of Sacrifice on May 29th.
*UPDATE* Got a copy of this on May 28th
Here’s the line you have to wait 367 pages to get too..
“Now was the time for a man who’d once been Jacen Solo to shoulder that responsibility for the galaxy’s sake.
Jacen took off the helmet, looked into his own eyes and didn’t flinch.
“Caedus,” he said. “My name is Darth Caedus.”
Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 1–The Freedon Nadd Uprising (review) April 9, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in comic books, comics, Dark Horse, jedi, scifi, sith, Star Wars, Star Wars Books, Star Wars Comic Books, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books, starwars.3 comments
As mentioned recently ShowMeSci is luckly enough to have a copy of Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 1–The Freedon Nadd Uprising Hard Cover.
Beyond just admiring the brilliant construction of this book (hardcover, paper stock, color) we finally got around to actually reading the comic.
The Feedon Nadd Uprising is a pretty good comic – it’s not the best – . It fills in an interesting time gap after Fall of the Sith Empire and well before Jedi vs. Sith.
In this period there are no ‘real’ Sith – but there are those who hoping that the Sith will return and are trying to bring them back. We’re still several thousand years before the rise of Palpatine.
The art is o.k, the plot solid though not extra-ordinary. No crazy plot twists occur but it’s still a fun read that is very enjoyable and a must have for any true Star Wars fan.
Without this hardcover edition, this story has been out of print for nearly a decade. Dark Horse has done a marvelous thing by making it available in such an awesome format.
The ancient Republic and their struggles with the Sith are a really exciting time period in the Star Wars Universe – For better of for worse it is with rare exception a time period that is only explored in the Dark Horse Comics (KOTOR the game and Darth Bane : Path of Destruction being the two obvious exceptions).
By choosing this era as the place to start their 30th anniversary series of Star Wars, Dark Horse is clearly reminding us all of the important role that their comics have played in the creation of the Expanded Star Wars Universe.
Star Wars Allegiance review April 3, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Mara Jade, scifi, Star Wars, Star Wars Allegiance, Star Wars Books, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books, Timothy Zahn.4 comments
Star Wars Allegiance by: Timothy Zahn.
Zahn is undoubtedly one of the greatest Star Wars writers working today, with his milestone Heir To Empire, Hand of Thrawn and Outbound Flight books among his accomplishments.
Unfortunately Allegiance does not rank among Zahn’s great works.
In my estimation it’s actually the worst Star Wars book he has ever written.
While all Star Wars books are written to the same formula, it’s a formula that is very poorly executed by Zahn in Allegiance.
The primary plot line – what would happen if Stormtroopers deserted their post but still remained loyal to the Empire? is a solid thread and the only thing that works.
Mara Jade makes an interesting subplot line as the Emperor’s Hand, but the plot itself is very weak as Jade herself doesn’t really understand who she is chasing or what’s going on – unfortunately neither do the readers.
The weak subplots of Leia trying to pull together Rebel factions and the other subplot with the various pirate groups (which may or may be traitors to the Empire that Mara Jade is chasing) are both very weak and barely understandable.
In fact, I felt like giving up on this book midway through since it was so poorly written from a plot point of view.
Zahn has left the door open for more books in which his deserter Stormtroopers have adventures. I would hope that when/if Lucas Licensing allows such a work to go forward that that the concurrent plot lines are properly developed with characters and not caricatures.
Allegiance is a book that was disappointing and IS NOT recommended by ShowMeSciFi.
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