Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction

Like the rest of the series so far, there are several storylines running through “Conviction.” I wish it was written more like “New Jedi Order,” where the storyline would continue but there was a focus on one or two of the characters in every other book. We’d have Jacen’s story or Anakin’s story or Han’s story. Here, we have everyone’s story.

Tahiri’s trial comes to an end. Han, Leia and Allana go to Klatooine. <yawn> Allana goes off on her own little adventure when she’s left behind on the Falcon. This kid never minds anyone and always lands herself in huge danger. No one ever gets upset with her for it and her grandparents don’t ever learn. At least they didn’t leave her with C3PO as her caretaker this time. But really, what good is a babysitter who won’t tell her what to do? The author could find a better way of freeing her from adults than surrounding her with spineless babysitters or droids and making her out to be somewhat of a defiant brat (not her fault). Every time the story got to her, I had to put the book down.

Luke, Ben, and Vestara keep looking for Abeloth. That was actually somewhat more interesting. Callista makes her way back into Luke’s life. I’ve never been a fan of her whole reason for being; but what happened to her in “Conviction” was so unexpected, it blew me away. I believed it. I felt it. It saved the book for me enough that I can grant it 3 1/2 stars.

The previous books in the “Fate of the Jedi” were all pretty good in my opinion. However, the series has taken its first slight downturn with “Conviction”.

Luke, Ben, and Vestara are still pursuing Abeloth. In this installment, they have arrived on the planet Nam Chorios, inhabited by the strange Old-Timers,Theran Listeners, and Newcomers. Plus, there is a full-fledged Sith death squadron bearing down on them.

On Coruscant, Galactic Chief of State Natasi Dalla has been overthrown by the Jedi, but Daala can’t be held for long, and soon, she’s escaped prison with the help of Boba Fett. Valin and Jysella Horn have been freed of the carbonite encasing them, but they are still showing symptoms of their previous disease.

I’ve read each book in this series, and I’ve enjoyed them all very much. There is a small but noticeable downturn in “Conviction”. I found the storyline harder to follow, especially Luke’s, Ben’s, and Vestara’s sections. There are spots where the action definitely bogs down. However, the development of Vestara’s attachment to Ben and Luke has continued. Plus, the overthrow of Daala was exciting.

I recommend this book, but not quite as highly as the previous ones in the series. Naturally, readers who have read the earlier books will want to read “Conviction”; just be ready for a possible let-down in the story.

Plot lines continue but the good news is that they are becoming fewer in number. Escapes are occurring in the strangest places with people you might not expect to try, maybe it is just a theme in this book… sometimes I just wish there was another big bad guy/girl.
The Jedi plots seem less out of place and since they started acting like Jedi the mounting tension that they were going down the wrong path by not acting against the dark forces at work.
The solo grand daughter continues to amaze, but I struggle to make the connection as to how someone so young would survive long by putting them self in such dangerous situations.
I do find a compelling interest in the Jedi/Sith relationship that is developing. There are a lot of similarities between the two in this series which I would guess will lead into the next era for new stories. There are a couple places that you see two sides of the same coin, and I wonder which side will land where. Meaning that this series could introduce a new home for force users in places you might not expect?
The court plot line kind of felt like a smack in the face in this book. It ended, quite abruptly and I felt the reason was poorly judged by the characters. Plainly, I couldn’t see a lawyer suggesting that course to a client in real life.
There were compelling plots and shaky ones which led me to rate this book at a three. I felt the title was well placed given that conviction was being tested in most of the characters in this book, but I also felt that my conviction was being tested in making it through several parts that were questionable in developing plots as they were “supposed” to end up as they were “planned” too.
I recall that the binder had referenced that the team had meetings about this series and I can guess that is why some parts of the series seem “forced” (sorry for the pun) and I would suggest that developers try to remember that a planned series of this many books will seem forced to readers because of the lack of fluidity or single author influence. Maybe three separate three book series instead of one seven plus books by alternating authors?? Perhaps schedule conflicts caused this,but the three book series I have read lately seem to have more organized plots. Just a thought… good reading to you!

Well paced and exciting!

This is one of the better books in the Fate of the Jedi (FOTJ) series. I really enjoy Allston’s pacing… it really makes you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen. The three story lines of adventure (with Luke, Ben and Vestara), politics (Daala and the Jedi), and legal (Tahiri) all intertwine nicely, and have significant things happen in all of them. This is where some of the other books in the series seem to come up short as it just seems to have been more of the same. But finally we have some major developments!

*Spoiler* Daala is dealt with and ousted from her role… all the while a new level of treachery replaces her. Tahiri is sentenced and the legal story line (the flatest in the series) is out of the courts! And Luke deals a damaging blow to Abeloth… but this story line continues on.

Something that I’ve been noticing more and more through this series is that it draws heavily from previous novels. It would be nice if the authors included a bibliography or suggested reading so we could brush up on some of the more subtle things happening that we haven’t seen since before the New Jedi Order series.

Overall, I really liked this book. I like that the authors are finally resolving some of the issues that they’ve been spinning circles around in the earlier books. And I am still a big fan of Allston’s writting. Definite thumbs up for collector and casual reader alike.

thanks