A Disappointing Character Assassination

N-G "CNG" (Houston, Tx) -

It's well written, somewhat well structured, with a few problems.

After Traitor, Jacen Solo became something of an enigma. A brutal fighter willing to use questionable means to accomplish his goals. Towards the end of the New Jedi Order, he'd ascended to a new understanding of the force, something only his brother and uncle had ever done. When the Dark Nest trilogy came about, Jacen had spent the last 5 years traveling the galaxy and studying the force from different perspectives. When he returned to the Jedi, he was capable of things even Luke Skywalker couldn't do. He was tough, smart, and misunderstood has-to-be-the-bad-guy syndrome kicked in. Suddenly Jacen was weak, stupid, and, out of nowhere, a murderer. Everything he ever was for the last several books was thrown out the window, all so we could have a Clone Wars redux with Jacen taking on the Anakin Skywalker role.

But it wouldn't be complete without a cliched monologue that ends the story, and it's a corker: Lumiya cackling over how she turned a Solo to the Dark Side and will soon have her revenge! Just pathetic.

Any hope one might have that this story would improve--this obvious "we can sell more books with a Sith Solo!" marketing campaign--have (with the publication of four more novels) been dashed.

Too much for one novel, a weak beginning to a new 9-book series

Member worlds chafe under heavy taxation, bridle at providing materiel and conscripts, and make noise of open rebellion. The central government blusters, threatening isolation, economic stagnation and military retaliation, but secretly fears secession and the eventual withering away of its power and influence.

So opens Betrayal, the first in a planned nine-book series following the characters of the Star Wars universe 36 years after events in Revenge of the Jedi and 10 years after the events of the Yuzhong Vong invasion, chronicled in the last extended novel cycle, New Jedi Order (19 volumes published 1999-2003).

To prevent the dissolution of the Galactic Alliance, Chief of State Cal Omas and his government devise a plan in which the Jedi will abduct the leadership of the GA's most openly antagonistic member, Corellia, so that the GA might then brow beat Corellia's leaders into quietly paying their taxes and end all talk of independence. It's one of the most ridiculous plans you're likely to encounter in a Star Wars novel. At least the most ridiculous I've read to date. How much more belligerent - short of dropping bombs or shooting people - can you get than kidnapping a government's leaders? It's as if the Germans decided to kidnap the leaders of the French government for threatening to leave the EU. Even more ridiculous, this plan is approved year old Ben Skywalker sneaks into and eliminates the threat from Centerpoint Station and start the next one.

And there's the rub. These extended series involve a number of editors and writers working together to make a coherent and consistent story. It also involves working on a tight deadline to make sure the books are delivered at regular intervals. With so many cooks stirring the pot, with the added pressure of having to write to deadline, its not surprising that we end up with half-baked books.

Still, I'm looking forward to the next one, especially as Karen Travis will be writing a 71 year old Boba Fett who has to work together with his old bounty, Han Solo. Stay tuned.

A good read but not a great one

I'm a bit ambivalent about this book. It's a very promising start to what will undoubtedly prove to be an interesting new series. It has a really good plot too. The challenge is that the writing simply isn't at Allston's usually high level. What should be a thrilling ambush at the beginning of the book, for example, reads more like a ho-hum sequence of events. It never feels like the Jedi are truly in any danger. Similarly, the way in which Ben deals with the Anakin robot reads like a Scholastic series adventure rather than something written for adults. Thankfully it gets better as the book progresses. The various conflicts and loyalties that Wedge needs to deal with is very well written.

Okay, so here's the plot: Luke Skywalker and the Jedi just can't get a break. The Joiner war is over and just when it looks like the galaxy is going to be at peace, various planetary interests threaten to unleash a new wave of violence. And, Luke is plagued with visions of an approaching darkness, an enemy that does not exist... yet.

At the same time, the Galactic Alliance is becoming more and more bureaucratic and dictatorial, pushing member worlds away from its strict, Empire-like regulations. When Jedi's Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker discover an illegal missile plant on Adumar their evidence sparks more political unrest. Fearing the worst, the Alliance readies a preemptive military exercise to bring the potentially rogue worlds in line before things get worse. Not a bad strategy at face value yet the challenge is that they've picked Corellia for their show of force, launching a secret mission to disable Centerpoint Station. Jacen feels honor-bound to stick with his uncle, the leader of the Jedi Order, who takes direction from the Alliance, yet when the Corellians launch a counterstrike, escalating conflict places the Skywalkers and Solos on opposing sides...

Sooo, the bottom line is that I really liked the plot and the promise this new series brings. I wasn't so thrilled about the quality of the writing, however, which was spotty throughout, more miss than hit. All in all I'm glad I read it and will almost certainly pick up the next book in the series though I may wait for it to come out in paperback.

Good book but unfortunately nothing exceptional.