Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Vortex

Maybe it’s just me, but these very long star wars series really seem to be stretching their various plotlines out much too long. I think fate of the jedi has done a better job than legacy of the force at keeping my attention, but it still seems that each book in FOTJ hits long boring parts. It seems many of the star wars plot devices used before are just being continually recycled with slight tweaks. I understand that in order for a disaster to truly affect the great Luke Skywalker it has to be massively universe threatening. But it seems as if the whole universe leans on him a bit much. So I really do think having him step down as grandmaster was a fantastic step in the right direction to limit him calling on other jedi for help. Unfortunately he seems to have no problems solving every issue thrown at him.

That being said, the Luke/Ben storyline in this book was much more interesting for me than the previous book. But I found the Han/Leia sections to be extremely forgettable, including what was supposed to be their big action sequence in this book. And as much as I love star wars, I think the best books do not involve these galaxy spanning political problems. Not because I think politics are boring, but because I don’t think any author has been able to introduce a political thread in star wars that can stretch through 6 or 9 books and keep it from becoming stale. I did like the fact that the jedi council finally showed some resolution in the deadlock they have been suffering through.

Overall I can’t say this was a bad book, but I certainly didn’t find it an overly exciting addition to the series. More of a place holder for a series that probably could have been formatted to fit 6 books allowing for a tighter more streamlined exciting series.

How a person can love Star Wars and not realize there is this entire galaxy of novels and audiobooks that tell the ongoing stories of all the characters we love from the films – and thousands of others – is mind boggling. I recently discovered Star Wars novels on audiobook, which include the real soundtrack and effects to create a true movie in your minds eye.

The volume of stories is endless. Even if you just want to follow the original characters through their lives after Return of the Jedi, there is so much to experience.

oh is this an author review instead of seller review? hmm…not sure how many stars this should get i’m not in the habit of rating authors. there is a lot of death and near-death scenes in this book. if you don’t like horror i wouldn’t touch this series. it’s not like it’s the focus of the books, it’s just that it does happen. a lot of the time you’re wondering more about one section of the story than another and sometimes you don’t get as much information on some of the perspectives as you’d like in a book, only to find out more in a different book in the same series. i would recommend highly against reading the books out of order because of that.

This is one of the books in the Fate of the Jedi series, and I think it is the best one that I have read so far. Here we have an exploration of the contrasts between Sith and Jedi as Vestera gradually begins to compare her father and Luke as a father. She comes to question many things about her distant relationship with her father as she observes the respect and love that Luke has for his son. This occurs during the pursuit of the evil Abeloth and the appearance of Ship to complicate matters. I do not want to say much more, but there is also a resolution of sorts for Tahiri Veila.

Wow, there seems to be a lot of controversy over this book series. I think the characters have been watered down a bit, but the storyline is in keeping with the general trend of the universe though. I know people put a lot of stock in these characters, but remember that under the watchful eye of the wisest jedi in 1000 years(yoda) the whole republic was torn asunder.
Luke Skywalker is VERY powerful and is wiser than most humans, but he is just human. The jedi in general should be given a lot more credit and solve problems with less dramitic wrists on foreheads. They have turn the counsel into some granny like hand-ringers.
Now, the problem with the Mandos should also be handled in a more direct manner. The jedi should confront Boba directly and put the word out that taking anti-jedi contracts will lead to horrible outcomes. While these are jedis, the ones from before the emperor had NO problem with handing out some ass kicking and these more modern jedi should intimidate evildoers just the same.
All in all i give the character treament a 7/10, the storyline 7/10, and the overall path the universe is taking a 6/10. I will continue to buy these books as long as they keep the ranges above 5/10 (jumping the shark levels). Troy Denning is a fantastic writer and writing group leader.