Outcast

Luke Skywalker is arrested, Valin Horn loses it. What more could go wrong? Gripping from the beginning. I truly enjoyed “Outcast.” Unlike most Star Wars novels, there were battles but no all-encompassing final showdown. I very much liked the pace.

The Galactic Alliance takes a stand against the Jedi and the story splits into three subplots. Each is very much separate from the other. One of them could have been excised, but it was otherwise great.

HAN AND LEIA ON KESSEL

I will start with the weakest of all the storylines. Han and Leia run off the Kessel to help Lando save it from seismic destruction. None of this makes much sense. Why would Lando call on Han and Leia? They are not seismologists or any sort of specialists who one would think up first for the job. Lando could just as easily explore the tunnels of Kessel himself. Why does he sit back and have his friends do it?

Leia has risked her life for many things, but never to save a planet that is pretty desolate and could easily be completely evacuated. She’s dragging a reluctant Han along – so very out of character. They bring Allana with them, a child they are supposed to keep safe.

And somehow, Leia and Han discover something Lando, in all the mining he’s done on Kessel with all his machinery and manpower, had never found.

How Lando convinced all the old rebel pilots to risk their life and limb for this is beyond me. It is a risky mission with so little regard for their lives. “. . . your warhead will not be set to explode on contact. It will go off on timer. Sometimes, though, it will be on impact. We’ll try to remember to tell which is which.” Try??

VALIN HORN

This is much more interesting. Valin Horn has gone delusional. There is nothing more dangerous than a crazy Jedi, so the government gets involved. Jaina, Jag, and Tahiri go on a mission to rescue him, all the while dodging government spies.

LUKE AND BEN ON DORIN

Luke is banished from the Galactic Alliance and leaves to follow Jacen’s footsteps, learning where he might have been lead astray. Ben accompanies him and their first stop is Dorin, where they meet the Kel Dors. This is really the most intriguing subplot.

Luke and Ben don’t really know what they are going to find. They learn things we thought they all already knew – how to disappear from the Force. We have to assume that it’s not the technique Jacen taught Ben. Why that would be, I am not sure. It is the only weakness of this storyline.

I am otherwise in love with this part, because Luke and Ben spend a lot of time together where we see them interacting as father and son.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

The book ends with Luke learning from the Kel Dors the potential fate of the Jedi, which opens the way for the rest of the series.

I am very excited about what is to come. Excellent job, Aaron Allston.

I’ve thought about this for a few days before I pen this review, and while I have some mixed feelings overall, I keep returning to the overwhelming thought: `meh’.

After two long and expansive yarns that were both the Vong war and the Legacy series of novels, I was hoping to perhaps return to the roots of the original series and make it fun and accessible again.

Instead we’re kicking off with yet another political take on the Jedi that I can’t help but think…’Again?’ At least when Invincible ended the Legacy series we learned that Daala was back, yet in here in the opening salvo of this new series, she makes only a brief appearance at the very beginning (disappointing) and soon our childhood favorites and expanded universe characters are split into three separate stories that seem to do very little to address what Outcast is supposed to set up for a new series. The only thing `Outcast’ at all was that Luke escapes with his son Ben from Daala’s watchful eye in exile and ends up on the planet Dorin to look into the events that lead up to Jacen’s turn to the dark side. Unfortunately for me, this read more like a Star Trek novel than a Star Wars one, and had the combination of being predictable and seemingly rehashed from so many other stories in sci-fi lore (Logan’s Run? Time Machine anyone?).

Speaking of predictability, once again Han and Leia are seemingly the only two people in the galaxy that seem to be conveniently on call from their friends (Lando) in over the top danger (this time Kessel…not original) that only they can solve when time is ticking. Sorry, it just seems too formulaic for me and once again, nothing really new and has nothing to do with the overall arc.

The only interesting think in my opinion was how the remaining Jedi must deal with the apparent madness of one Jedi, Valin Horn. There are a few new introductions of characters in the form of bounty hunters, some government watchdogs, and the interplay of supporting characters (Jaina, Jag, Tahiri, Winter, etc.) that touch on and interweave in the overall backbone of the new story arc.

In the end, it was only this part that warrants my interest in reading further installments and hopefully see what Daala involvement will be. The Luke/Ben & Han/Leia portions read like independent short stories by themselves and while entertaining, just seemed to have nothing to do with main plot and I keep asking myself “so what?”

I will agree with another reviewer that the novels as of late have taken a dour and dry turn towards the political nature of the Star Wars universe and seems to be lacking of comic book adventures of danger, perils, and villains. I really want to see something fresh, go in a new direction, or focus on a new set of characters.

This is my first foray back into the Star Wars universe since the early 2000s. Allston — along with Zahn — was one of the best Star Wars authors I remembered from my earlier reading, so I thought I’d pick up one of his newer books.

I enjoyed jumping back into the Star Wars universe after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion has ended and new difficulties have arisen. Like all the great SW books, this one follows Luke, Han, Leia, and their progeny.

As the Galactic Alliance begins to challenge the Jedi for operating outside the law, Luke and his son, Ben, leave Coruscant in an attempt to determine what sent Jacen toward the dark side. Han and Leia travel back to Kessel to face Han’s demons and help Lando save the planet.

Back on Coruscant, Jaina and the rest of the Jedi Temple struggle with a government that has demanded a political observer be assigned to every Jedi. The legal struggle that surrounds that decision brings several modern elements into the story. Judges arraign new inmates, attorneys plead for injunctions, and defendants submit guilty pleas — much like what we’ve seen in the news lately with Casey Anthony, Michael Jackson’s doctor, and now Jerry Sandusky.

This was a fun introduction to a new series, and it pits the Jedi against a novel opponent — the Galactic Alliance government. This book serves only as the intro to the series, so it will not wrap up loose ends and will leave you searching for the next book.

This is proper, grown-up, well-designed Star Wars. This is a different universe to the one seen in the sequels by Disney, and its familiarity to what you sense Lucas might originally have been building towards is much more satisfying than Disney’s clear-the-decks policy. If you’re reading this, you have probably already read the books that precede Outcast, and don’t need me to convince you. All I’ll say is that Outcast continues the standard and tone we have come to expect. Maybe I’ll try then Disney-approved booms at some point, but they have a high standard to live up to.

THE STORY:
(43 ABY) When a young Jedi goes on a rampage, a rift begins to form between the Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance, ruled by the former Imperial Natasi Daala. To mitigate the situation Luke Skywalker accepts banishment until such time as he can cure the insane Jedi and explain Jacen Solo’s fall to the dark side as Darth Caedus. Meanwhile, Han and Leia are called to Kessel to help Lando save the planet from an impending cataclysm.

WHAT’S GOOD:
Aaron Allston is an author thoroughly at ease in the Star Wars universe and his writing flows easily as a result, never seeming to falter on concepts such as the Force, which trips up a lot of authors. His familiarity with the Expanded Universe also means that there’s plenty of continuity nods here that fans like me will enjoy (I was particularly pleased and surprised by the brief appearance of Maarek Stele of the ‘TIE Fighter’ game). In terms of the story, one of the most heavily criticised elements of this series has been Luke and Ben’s journey, but I actually rather enjoyed it. Having the wisest Master of the Jedi and a young but experienced Jedi alone together is made more interesting by the dynamic of also being father and son.

WHAT’S BAD:
The largest criticism that has been levelled against the Fate of the Jedi books is that not a lot happens for most of them. That is a fair criticism. The only story thread which reaches any sort of resolution here is the one about Kessel, which not only wasn’t terribly interesting to begin with but which still leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I understand the argument that it’s just Book 1 of 9, but if I’m buying a novel, I expect it to be worth reading in and of itself. The other thing that I really disliked about this book is Jaina Solo. She’s clearly supposed to be an all-action, strong, independent woman but actually just comes off as a spoiled brat who responds to every setback with anger and/or petulance.