Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Fury [Mass Market Paperback]

After two volumes filled with major events, The Legacy of the Force series returns to form in this seventh installment. For the most part, you could skip it and not miss much.

While author Aaron Allston delivers a well-plotted and fast-paced finale, the ending leaves the story right where it began, with Jacen politically and militarily isolated and seemingly finished. The promise of a helping hand from Korriban, hinted at the end of the previous volume, turns out to be a feint, and no one has yet figured out Jacen is a Sith or Mara's killer.

Neither have they figured out that he's lost all sense of proportion. In order to bring the Hapans back into the war for the Galactic Alliance, Jacen kidnaps his own daughter. The Hapans instead withdraw from any outside contact except for a secret mission to the Jedi, who devise a rather improbable mission to plant on Jacen's body a tracer housed in a tiny piece of cloth the same color and texture as his clothing. They can thereby track Jacen's whereabouts and eventually effect a rescue - but only so long as Jacen doesn't change his clothes.

As in Allston's previous volume, Exile, Jacen walks into an obvious trap, this time set up by the Corellians to fry his fleet using Centerpoint Station, implausibly revived after being scrapped by Ben and Jacen in Betrayal (also by Allston). While the as yet unannounced Sith Lord loiters in space waiting for Centerpoint to complete its firing sequence, he allows his mother to come aboard "to talk." Instead of throwing her in the brig, the pair chat away the minutes while the Corellians take aim and the stowaways on Leia's craft pilfer data from Jacen's computers. The entire sequence comprises a long list of contrivances that make you want to give up on the book altogether.

Meantime, in an asteroid field far away, Jaina, Jag and Zekk prepare for a final showdown with Alema Rar, who is also being hunted by a Sith from Korriban eager to retrieve purloined Sith artifacts. Among them is Ship, which in the ensuing chaos flees to the Sith homeworld of Ziost, the Korriban agent in pursuit.

Along the way two major Jedi sustain life-threatening injury, but miraculously live to fight another day. A last-minute method for destroying Centerpoint Station is discovered, and Jacen can manage to kill only a Jedi-newbie and one of his subordinates, proving that he's not such a bad-ass after all and continuing the devolution of his character from a villain who reluctantly took up the dark arts in an effort to save and protect society, to a blinkered madman divorced from any rational view of the universe.

My best guess is that the next volume won't advance the series much further, though we're likely to get some interesting material on Boba Fett.

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Aaron Allston does a great job in the 7th installment of the Legacy of the Force series. Above all else, he has crafted a well-paced novel with action and events spread out evenly. For those readers who want a build-up and big finish, this book is probably going to disappoint you. The last sequence is supposed to sound important, but I didn't get the feeling like anything was resolved by destroying something epic.

We also get to see some fringe charaters from Allston's previous book, and some good old charaters from...Allston's previous X-Wing books. However, this book is nothing like his previous work, with the exception of some good old pilots humor. It really broke the tension when people starting making jokes, thanks!

IF I liked this book so much, why only 4 stars? Well, because as the series progesses, I find it more and more ridiculous. Jacen seems a lot like the bad guy on every cartoon show, he always gets away...but just barely. Luke is torn emotionally, which is understandable, but it's hard to read...but not as hard as "Children of the Jedi".

Of course if your a fan, you'll enjoy the lightsaber duels, space battles, and plot deveolopment...but the more this series lingers on, the more I grow tired of it.

Perhaps in the next arc, we can have the bad guy go down in book 6, and use the next 3 books to deal with the aftermath....kinda more realistic.

But who am I kidding? If I wanted realistic, I would read something else.

The newest installment of the Legecy of the Force: Fury if anyone is still completely in grossed in this series my hat's off to you. Its hard to feel anything but dread at this point. You know no matter how good the author tries to make it sound its going to be bad. At this point the only thing shocking is how each book is worse then the last.
Fury could have been exciting with Jacen kidnapping his daughter Allana, a group of Jedi attemmpting to kill him who were not made up of Solos and Skywalkers and the Jedi have to get Allana back. But once again like most of the series author sucked out any potential of being good...and I usually like Aaron Allston's books.
First off we have the kidnapping of Allana. Jacen only does it to get Tenel Ka to give him back her military. Not for turning her to the Dark side, making her his apprentice, or any of the more interesting reasons.
Not to mention its a sad pathetic day with a Sith has to resort to kidnapping a little girl to get anywhere. This is a problem with all three writers of Legecy none of them can make Jacen a compaling Sith. Sure he does bad things but he doesn't come off as frightening as Vader, as maniplative has Sidious or any of the thousands of other Sith. I mean could you really see Vader resorting to kidnapping a little girl in order to get Hapes to bend to his will? For all Jacen's talk of being idolizing Vader he seems to have missed everything that made everyone terrified of Vader...and apparently so have the writers.
Over in the Jedi camp we actually have a group of non-Solos and Skywalkers sent to kill Jacen. It could have been exciting except you know if Jacen's killed it'll be by one of his own relatives. But they were still more exciting then the Solos or the Skywalkers. Now how's that for sad? Perhaps if the Solos were allowed to do anything besides talk about how evil Jacen's become and he's dead to them or fight Alema again or rehash Jaina and her boyfriends (does anyone at this point care about Jaina-Jag-Zekk storyline)they might be worth reading. Having them rehash the same stuff book after book is not a story.
Its not like they are major charactors in the Star Wars Universe who's son or twin brother has turn to the Dark Side of the Force could have resulted in a wealth of plotlines for Han, Leia and Jaina....on wait they are.
Over in the Skywalker camp we have Luke who's still mourning the death of his wife. I'm glad to see someone is. Asside from Luke and Ben, everyone else seems to have forgot Mara ever existed. But neither of them did anything really interesting until the rescuing of Allana except thinking about how to kill Jacen without turning to the Dark Side. Standing around talking is not a plot.
Last but not least Leia and Han learning Allana's their granddaughter. Something that should have been interesting and exciting since we've been waiting through seven books to happen but of course it was a big let down. Leia simply realizes Allana's her granddaughter and that's it. The tragedy is this series could have been really good instead each book it gets worse and worse. With only two books left I have little doubt they'll be any good.

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