World Famous Comics: Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)
Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)
By: Troy Denning Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 299 Publication Date: May 13, 2008 Release Date: May 13, 2008
Product Description: No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lost–and nothing less than the course of the future still at stake–there can be no turning back. No matter the consequences.
The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon’s assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine’s. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.
It’s a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather
Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.
Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome–and the fate of those left standing.
The End... to be continued Book 9 of the Legacy of the Force storyarc is the supposed wrapup of who is the future of the galaxy. Jacen Solo began his transformation in to Darth Caedus in the attempt to bring order to the galaxy by being a peace loving Sith. Jaina Solo has been changed from the whiny annoyance and is supposed to be the savior as the Sword of the Jedi after training with the agressively aged Boba Fett for five weeks. And Ben goes from Jedi apprentice, to Sith apprentice, to redeemed Jedi all without being an official Jedi knight. And now Jedi can 'hide from the Force' and there are now some super lame abilities that can be done using the Force which are just simply ridonkulous. We see little of our older heroes in these last three books which is for the better.
This book itself strives to survive off a space battle or two, two confrontations between Caedus vs Jaina, and Ben becomes severely useless. With the death of Pelleon, the Imperial Remnant seemingly joins full force with Caedus. None-the-less, it's just a big jumbled mess as the series winds down and concludes. And finally there is a new Chief of State named in the aftermath.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, the best three books in this series were the middle ones (4-6). Jacen's change, while acceptable, wasn't overly convincing. Jaina's role seemed to be "here's who we want to be the hero in the end so fill a few books with crap and make her the hero". All the excess Force powers are stupid, but it was a welcome reprieve from having a few books where Luke, Han, and Leia weren't the central focus. This alternating authors thing just didn't work for me and it drug each others' styles down. Hardly a big hit and it really fell flat in this conclusion story.
Really!?! Add Troy Denning to the list of authors who should not only be banned from writing Star Wars books, but books altogether. R.A. Salvatore's still at the top of the list, though. A brief flashback to the death of Chewie: I don't mind if you kill off a character, even a main character, just do it well... Pellaeon's death in Revelation is a good example. It was as well done as most of Traviss's work. The parts with Boba from her novels in the series kept me reading. Denning, however, doesn't seem to have gotten her interpretation of Boba's character, and for some reason he just can't leave him to the better writer. Other reviewers have voiced this complaint better than I, though, so I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say, Invincible erases most of the good aspects of the entire series... It succeeds only in being a fast read with some moderately entertaining action. Who needs characterization anyway?
may the force be with us Will somebody please kill Luke Skywalker. Cant somebody else save the galaxy once in awhile. I for one am not reading another book about him till hes dead.
Average for the series The final volume in the Legacy of the Source series does what it was supposed to do: resolve the central conflict between the Jedi and the Sith as played out between twin siblings Jaina and Jacen Solo. Many of the complaints aired here about the quality of the novel and the series are justified, but this entry is nevertheless on par for this series and perfectly acceptable for a casual read. The plotting and pacing were solid enough to hold my attention and compelling enough to pull me through the novel in just a couple of sittings. I was even slightly moved a couple of times near the conclusion of the novel. I wouldn't recommend this series to anybody who has other reading options, but if you've read all or most of the previous volumes in this series, it would be a mistake to forgo this one.
As for the book's flaws: Yes, Jaina's Fettish training (and other aspects of her training) don't seem to lead anywhere, but this is a flaw the reader can live with in a pulp novel. Yes, Jacen comes across more like a confused adolescent than like an evil Sith Lord, but that's been a constant in this series. Yes, the galactic politics make little sense, but this has been a constant in the Star Wars universe, both in the movies and in the novels. These problems aren't mainly Denning's fault; they are the consequences of the inherent limitations of Lucas' vision and the even greater limitations imposed by factory production of novels designed by a marketing committee.
Hate/Love Relationship I am not sure when I actually -liked- a new SW book, but I think I've given up fighting them. I don't understand why they decided to kill off the characters they'd seemingly been building up as the future for the stories, but I guess I don't care anymore because I will keep reading them. I'm a total softy, so this book made me cry, but it's still nothing like when I used to stay up all night because I couldn't put a Star Wars book down.
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