Vortex

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi #6

by Troy Denning

Tom 6 serii Przeznaczenie Jedi
Jedi i Sithowie walcza teraz ramie w ramie. Lecz jak dlugo wrogowie moga pozostac sojusznikami? I jaka jest cena zdrady?
Niespodziewany obrót wydarzen sprawil, ze Luke Skywalker i jego syn Ben sprzymierzyli sie z armada Sithów, wyslana, by ich zabic. Polaczyli sily przeciwko straszliwej poteznej istocie. Lecz gdy jedno zagrozenie zostalo pokonane, pojawia sie nowe, jeszcze bardziej podstepne.
Luke i Ben musza nagle uciekac, razem z enigmatyczna i niebezpieczna uczennica Sithów, Vestara Khai. Na ksiezycu Pydyr zostaja osaczeni przez niedawnych sojuszników i rozwscieczonych czlonków zakonu Fallanassich. Ich jedyna nadzieja jest zawarcie nowego przymierza. Ale czy mozna zaufac Sithom?
Otoczeni przez przewazajace sily wrogów ojciec i syn musza zapobiec katastrofie, która grozi calej galaktyce - zanim bedzie za pózno...

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Space Opera, Adventure

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Also known as Richard Awlinson.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jedi have finally had enough after taking every indignity, from having their children taken hostage and even blatant out right murder. The Jedi have had enough. This book picks up speed as the Fate of the Jedi series is coming to an end. There are double and triple crosses. Sides are chosen, and as with other book in the series secrets are revelled right up to the last page. Also an important clue and reason is given to Jason Solo's reason for becoming Darth Cadus.

In the Maw, Luke, Ben, Vestra, Gavin, and Lord Tarron are still trying to unravel the mystery of Abeloth. However can a being as ancient and powerful as her be killed in the convention way such as a Lightsaber through the chest. Meanwhile the Jedi are losing faith in acting Grand Master Kenneth Hammer, wait and see approach. It is time for them to make a stand. In the words of more than one master to "start acting like Jedi". After the damming recording Tahiri Veila's trail has taken a turn for the worse. Not understand his methods she is starting to lose faith in her brilliant but eccentric lawyer Eramuth Bwua'tu.

I great book, which picked up the pace of the series. The only down side I have in the book is that I am not a huge fan of Denning's action scenes. They are slightly confusing especially when it comes to the positioning of the characters. Any example is the fight on the narrow walkway they seem to be fighting and jumping all over the place with space they did not have. Aside from the book is great and well written, with a number of alliances shifting battle lines being drawn. It is also great to see Jedi using balster and sniper rifles as well as their lightsabers.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't my favorite addition of this series, but I still liked it. I love Ben and his dad, Luke. I love the whole teenager/parent relationship. It is fun to be an observer of that. And as usual, I love Han and Leia, and the sound effects in the audio. These are entertaining and I always have a place in my library for them.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting episode. Wonder how this series will finish...

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems that throughout the "Fate of the Jedi" series, Troy Denning will have the enviable task of following Christie Golden's mediocre entries. In comparison to her off-base characterizations, wheel-spinningly irrelevant plots, and adolescent writing style, Denning can't help come off looking pretty decent. But even on his own merits, he manages to bring a few things to the table that have helped his two "Fate" novels stand out as the best of the bunch.

His action scenes in "Vortex", for instance, are really second to none. There are three distinct action set pieces that really zip along not only because they're fun, but because they're character driven. A fight on the hanger deck between two unexpected foes, a daring prison break, and an inevitable confrontation between Luke and Abeloth. All three scenes are highlights not just of the book, but of the entire "Fate of the Jedi" series so far.

Denning also does a passable job of dealing with some of the more inane goings-on from other novels in the series. He manages to merge Christie Golden's clunkily introduced slave revolution plot far more organically with the overall story. He tosses in a few callbacks to the annoyingly arbitrary shenenegans on Klatooine which make that entire subplot seem retroactively relevant. Even if it was only for a brief moment, he actually made Abeloth seem menacing. Just as he did with "Abyss", Denning takes a clunky, meandering series, and wrestles it back on track.

Which isn't to say things are perfect. Denning still has a tin ear when it comes to dialogue and humor. His characters frequently start talking like they're starring in a sit-com rather than a space opera, and his 'jokes' usually draw far too much attention to themselves. He also continues the "Fate of the Jedi" tradition of having everyone act maddeningly out of character in order to move the plot forward. The bickering Jedi would never end up bickering in the first place if any of them would approach their crises with a smidge less melodrama and a pinch more thoughfulness. But thoughful Jedi are so yesterday. Now they're all modeled after Kyp Durron, circa the "Jedi Academy Trilogy" era.

Daala's personality also remains hijacked in service to keeping the tension with the Jedi overly-inflated. She was far more interesting during the "Legacy of the Force" storyline, when she was philosophically opposed to the Jedi, but still a respectably principled military leader. Now she's practically psychotic in her drive to control the Jedi. Or blow them up. Or annoy them. Or something. She's like Wyle E. Coyote in her ambiguous persuit of them. It earns a little chuckle each time Denning (and Golden and Allston for that matter) tries to write unironic scenes where Daala mopes around wondering why everybody is mad at her in a wierd attempt to make her sympathetic.

Oh, and there's an awkward scene that serves as the culmination of the loco-Jedi plot where, in front of government dignitaries and the media, a doctor kicks a Jedi in the crotch to prove he's not crazy anymore. I have no idea what to make of that touching moment.

Which brings us to probably the single largest problem with not just this book, but the entire "Fate of the Jedi" series. This cycle of books has been burdened with the worst villains ever. There are basically three main villains: Daala, the Lost Tribe of the Sith, and Abeloth. Daala is a poor villain for the above mentioned reason; that is, she's being written so out of character, she's become a cypher. She does outrageous things for no other reason than to make the reader hate her. Bleh.

Then there are the Sith, who have spent most of their face time being more petulant than menacing. In a galaxy that was invaded by and eventually repelled the likes of the Yuuzhan Vong, it seems that a little more would be expected before you were instilling crippling fear in that galaxy's defenders. Other than calling themselves Sith, the Lost Tribe don't really do anything besides be mean to each other and toss snippy insults at Luke Skywalker.

And then there's Abeloth. There is a scene where Lando is talking to some Jedi and he urges them that when they go to fight Abeloth, they'll need EVERY JEDI AVAILABLE in order that they can DEFEAT THE MOST HORRIBLE THREAT THE GALAXY HAS EVER KNOWN!! But i'd like to ask Lando a quick question. Mr. Calrisian, on what exactly do you base this dire warning? Other than one very well written fight scene at the end of this novel, what exactly has Abeloth done to scare everyone so much? She's made a host of secondary and tertiary characters go insane, and she can turn into a tentacle monster that no one in the cast has actually scene except Luke and Ben. And that's all. She has done NOTHING! It's one thing to have everyone say the villain is a terrible threat. But at some point, you have to show them being an actual threat. And not just a threat in a one-on-one fight. The Yuuzhan Vong blew up planets and conquered Coruscant and killed Chewbacca! Scary! Fear of them seemed healthy.

The entire backbone of the "Fate of the Jedi" series is the threat posed by Abeloth. Its supposed to justify the alliance between Luke and the Sith. It's supposed to justify the desperate measures to which the Jedi go to launch their flight of StealthX's. But Abeloth never does anything threatening on a scale larger than putting a few people in danger and causing Luke to grow angst-ridden about all his exes. All the fretting and gnashing of teeth just rings so extraordinarily hollow that even when Troy Denning pulls off great action scenes, they loose a bit of their effect when you reflect on what everybody is fighting about.

That there are three more novels in this series is a daunting prospect. I suppose the silver lining is that Troy Denning gets to write the finale. But if the pattern holds, we'll have to sift through two more wheel-spinning books before we get to the conclusion, one of which will be written by Christie Golden, which has proven to be a dire prospect.

[Chendall Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the previous installment, and although I do think some of the novels in this series, particularly Allston's, were fairly underwhelming, this one picks up on the story of the previous and doubles down. In former books, some of the stories felt either forced or contrived, as if they didn't fit the narrative but the author still wanted a place for those characters, but that was not the case for Vortex.

The narrative broadly follows two stories: the conflict between the GA and the Council, and Luke and Ben's quest to stop Abeloth. We finally begin to see the merging of these two storylines, a fact that I am much gratified to hear about, as it means that every scene feels significant. The entire narrative has coalesced and brought the major characters to bear in the conflict.

This also has the benefit of producing a highly-textured and uniquely diverse storytelling elements and tropes. Vortex has courtroom drama, Sith deception and maneuvering, epic battles, heists, and more.

This results in a fast-paced and enjoyable narrative. The conflicts, while not as epic as Allies, were intensely significant. The characters were written well. The plot continues to get better and better. This is every bit as good as Allies, and I loved that novel. 5/5.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...with this novel, I've decided on two things: (1) the Fate of the Jedi storyline has now gone on far too long...reading this novel makes me realize that I'm not interested in spending another 3 novels trying to resolve the situation, (2) it's time to pick and chose more carefully the remaining Star Wars novels I read, as opposed to the regular cycle I've been using -- it shouldn't be a chore. This novel is perfectly well written, but I'm just tried of the story. Others might happily continue to the conclusion, but I'm going to be moving on...

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with so many Troy Denning Star Wars books, this one feels like an EVENT!...it brings multiple plotlines to a head, and it really feels big in scope.

The Abeloth storyline continues on as it has in the previous books, and to be honest is my least favorite part of the series. That being said its still entertaining.

The political storyline really kicks up a gear here, and we see the Jedi finally take action that they could have taken in previous books. Poor Kennth Hamner though, he just has it so rough in this book (and the whole series). The title of "Grand Master" of the Jedi order truly is a thankless job. He does his best to keep peace together, and yet he is constantly undermined by his own order.

What breathes life into this book is the use of a familiar...yet old character who returns to the franchise after a long absence. And with that character comes some great suprrises and fantastic scenes. The whole "Sabaac" tournament sequence was incredibly enjoyable to me.

The Tahiri trial needs to be wrapped up in the next book. I think it has overextended its welcome in the series.

Overall, a solid novel, but not a favorite of the series for me. 9 out of 10!

[DiscoSpacePanther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m still having a blast with this series, and my opinion of Troy Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Vortex is pretty much the same as the previous one—entertaining but certainly not groundbreaking literature!

A couple of choice quotes to let you know the style we are dealing with here:

“The interior of the crevice was too bright to peer into, but he had heard enough blurping magma in his time to recognise the sound rising from the fissure.” —Mmm, the famous Jedi blurping magma quests that all padawans are expected to participate in.

“‘How about a little help up here?’ [Vestara] said. ‘I don’t know the passcodes—and there’s some noob on the comm who wants to talk to Master Skywalker now.’” —I’m just waiting for someone to get pwned in Troy Denning’s next instalment of the series.

It’s all a splendid romp that has a fantastic jailbreak and ends with a tremendous lightsabre bloodbath. On to Aaron Allston’s Fate of the Jedi: Conviction.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fate of the Jedi series really begins to gather some momentum with the sixth entry, Vortex, from Troy Denning. I think it would be fair to say that Denning is one of the more consistent authors who contributed to the old Expanded Universe, and this is a good example of what he offers - good, perhaps not great content. But more than anything, he really "gets" the Star Wars vibe in his books; he writes the characters, the world and the feel of Star Wars so well.

The unlikely alliance of the Skywalkers and the Lost Tribe of the Sith continue in their shared goal of finding the Force entity, Abeloth. Without giving plot details away, this is probably the more memorable arc from this story. However, the events on Coruscant are gripping, these passages are compulsive reading.

My biggest (but perhaps unfair) critique of this novel is that it made me wish the Fate of the Jedi series was a 5 book, rather than a 9 book series. There's a lot to like about Vortex, however I feel like the pacing of the book (and indeed, the series) is too slow for my liking. A very good 3.5/5, rounded down because to date, my experience of the series as a whole is that it's been less than the sum of its parts.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay...now they're just making it up as they go along...I'm convinced.

Thanks to my local library, I was able to get my hands on Troy Denning's "Vortex," the sixth in the "Fate of the Jedi" series.

And even though I read through the book in one day...that was more about me wanting something to keep my mind of my recent break-up with my girlfriend of three years than it being a stellar work of fiction.

At the end of book 5, Abeloth was dead, the crazy Jedi were cured and the Lost Tribe of Sith and the increasingly unstable Daala were the main threats.

Not so fast...SPOILERS AHEAD...because Abeloth is alive...some of the crazy Jedi are still crazy (see book #7 for more on that) and the newly sane Jedi are still at risk.

So...yeah...it really seems like the Lucas brain trust is making it all up without a clear plan...like the elaboration of a bad liar. you can't just reverse yourself as a storyteller so obviously and retain the respect of the readers. And that's not the first time they've done this in this series. It's like when TV shows "take back" large chunks of story, saying things were a dream or a coma fantasy. You know what I mean.

Abeloth's death was too neat and tidy and wasn't very "epic." But I never thought of her as that great of a villain. I can't help imagining her as a deranged Muppet. And now she can "infect" others and make them...her...somehow. And apparently ALL of Luke's old girlfriends are in danger. Any Force user Abeloth gets tentacle cozy with becomes some sort of copy of her. Not to mention those who swim in the dark side waters on her jungle prison planet (pretty sure she's NOT the planet now, which is at least something...though the planet seems to be partly to blame) also become like her, but in a more minion-y type of way.

What seems to be coming is that an EVEN longer time ago, though not in a galaxy any further away, very bad creatures did very bad things and left behind much dark side energy in their places of worship/power. And Abeloth is the result. I keep waiting for Cthulhu to pop up and wave a festive grouping of tentacles at the Jedi before eating them.

And now Abeloth is trying to "restore" the dark future Jacen Solo went all Sith Lord to prevent. Jacen's daughter Allana (a.k.a. Amelia Solo war orphan) is now the future Jedi queen upon the Throne of Balance and Abeloth wants to eat her or become her or something icky to make sure the bad guys keep showing up for work.

So what else is happening in "Vortex"? Let's see...

The cat and mouse game between Luke and Ben Skywalker versus the Sith Gavar Khai and High Lord Taalon on Abeloth's planet continues...with comely Sith Vestara Khai caught between both sides as they pursue Abeloth away from the jungle prison world. She wants to betray the Jedi and seduce Ben to the dark side, but she also really cares for Ben. She sounds really cute. I hope the two of them get to use two straws to sip from the same blue milkshake. But Vestara keeps betraying Ben and making him resolute and sad. Luke lets it happen because his son has to learn. And killing off a hot red headed Sith girl who seems to remind us all of his late wife might bring up issues for him (and from the fan base).

Back on Coruscant, the Jedi are preparing to make war on Daala because it seems like she's becoming the tyrant that nearly everyone thought she would be, using Mandalorians to suppress slave uprisings on distant worlds and persecuting the Jedi. The slavery plot thread is still going on, though it seems to come to a nasty end here--mainly to illustrate Daala's increasing facist/Imperial tendencies.

Then, when the Jedi have finally had enough of Daala, acting Grand Master Kenth Hamner goes rogue to defend the status quo--trying to keep the Jedi from launching their Stealth X's--and gets himself killed in battle with Saba the Barabel Jedi Master. Not that I really cared for him as a character, but his sudden shift to such a rash and destructive path seems way out of character. He never struck me as the "one man army" type. Kyp Durron, sure. Even Kyle Katarn. Not Kenth Hamner. Since Daala's Mandalorians killed Hamner's assistant in cold blood, you'd think he'd be the last to give his own life to support peace with Daala, an obvious tyrant. The explanations for Hamner's behavior don't add up for me. It's a flaw.

And the trial of Tahiri Veila drags on and on...this trial was a mediocre "B" plot best resolved in one book, not spread out over how many now? Four books...and counting? She killed the guy when she was bad. But now she's good. It's a pickle. She didn't even kill the Admiral in this series of books. Just an example of more padding that stretched this series, which it seems could easily have been done in three books (maybe six?) instead of the full nine they're giving us.

You know who I miss? Boba Fett. He may have been the best part of the "Legacy of the Force" series.

The Jedi rebellion against Daala is handled with some good planning and cleverness. I liked the Sabacc Tournament ruse that gets so many famous hostages in one place. The new rebellion is long overdue, considering how tyrannical Daala has become. But that's what you get when you put Imperials in charge of things. Of course, the main candidate to replace Daala has to be Jagged Fel. But that's just my opinion. Wynn Dorvan seems a bit too easily infulenced and shady, but he's the one we're supposed to think will end up in charge of the GA in the end.

And I'm forced to admit that as often mediocre as these books are...they're FAR better than many of the other Star Wars books out there. I'm still slogging through book one of "The New Jedi Order" (a.k.a. the Yuuzhan Vong are VERY boring) series. I got that book for free and I still want my money back.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot happens in this book. Luke and Ben are still off dealing with the fall out from Abeloth, and the fact that she may not even be dead, while still in an uneasy alliance with the Lost Tribe of the Sith who keep trying to backstab them at every turn. The stricken Jedi seem to be cured, but Chief Daala still has Mandolorians ready to siege the Jedi Temple, causing riffs in the Jedi council and forcing some creative solutions by them and the Solos. Jaina and Lando have encountered pirates, but not just any pirates, Sith pirates. And much, much more. Though I haven't enjoyed too many books in the series, this one was actually a pretty good one, though it's way too long and, though has some major happenings, is still just a step in the overall story arcs. Give me the one-offs any day over these never ending plots that carry on for book after book.

[Ryan Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent transition book, answering questions from the last entry and grabbing a fistful of threads to be tied together in the next book of the saga. While the authors language can seem stuck “in its time” at some points, it overall captures the flow of the series very well.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great entry in this series. I'm a bit nervous about where the Jedi are headed, but in a good way? We'll see what happens in the next book!

[Umberto471 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine! It's Star Wars, I got it from the library as an audiobook, delightful to listen to, but ultimately literary candy.

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 2023, I decided to reread the post-NJO books set after the Dark Nest trilogy, especially as I abandoned the Legacy of the Force series after Sacrifice all the way back in 2007. This shakes out to the nine books of the Legacy of the Force series, the nine books of the Fate of the Jedi series, three standalone novels, and five short stories.

This week’s focus: the sixth book in the Fate of the Jedi series, Vortex by Troy Denning.

SOME HISTORY:

We last saw Akanah of the Fallanassi very briefly in the Dark Nest trilogy, as the Fallanassi were Jacen's last stop on his Force pilgrimage, but Akanah hasn’t played a major role in the books since the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. In Vortex, Akanah and the Fallanassi fulfill a similar role to Circe in The Odyssey: when Odysseus’s men first landed on Circe’s island of Aeaea, they behaved like swine, so Circe turned them into pigs—except for Odysseus, who took the herb moly and was immune to her magic. In Vortex, the Fallanassi’s illusions make all the Pydyrians think there’s a plague outbreak, and once the Skywalkers and the Sith arrive on the Fallanassi’s island they fall prey to phantoms and hallucinations—all except for Luke, who has training in the White Current and is immune to its effects.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

All I knew going into Vortex was that Abeloth was not dead (as I suspected from the end of the previous book), because the back cover blurb gives it away!

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

After Luke Skywalker made an unexpected alliance with the Lost Tribe of the Sith and they defeated the dark side entity of Abeloth together, that truce falls apart with the revelation that Abeloth is not (in fact) dead, and Lord Taalon saw a Jedi Queen enthroned in the Pool of Knowledge. In pursuit of Abeloth, Luke and Ben and the Sith apprentice Vestara Khai, head to the Almanian moon of Pydyr, home of the hostile Fallanassi. Meanwhile, the Jedi on Coruscant face a difficult decision: should they stick with Daala’s Galactic Alliance, or send support to the Skywalkers and throw in their lot with the slave revolts breaking out across the galaxy?

THE PLOT:

Not to sound like a broken record, but Vortex continues most of the plotlines we followed in the previous book, Allies. Luke Skywalker and Lord Taalon’s uneasy alliance continues as they decide that three Sith (Taalon, Gavar Khai, and Vestara Khai) and the two Skywalkers will stay on Abeloth’s planet to try and uncover more information about her. The other Sith are (supposedly) sent home, as are Lando and Jaina—but while trying to return to Coruscant, Lando and Jaina are attacked by pirates who use the Force. The alliance breaks down the Skywalkers and the Sith discover that Abeloth isn’t dead—she switched bodies with Dyon Stadd—so Luke and Ben take off after Abeloth with Vestara in tow, to the Fallanassi’s refuge on the Almanian moon of Pydyr.

Back on Coruscant, Kenth Hamner sends Jedi Knights to Blaudu Sextus to help with the standoff between protesting Octusi slaves and Daala-dispatched Mandalorian mercenaries, and after the Mandalorians kill protestors and the Devaronian reporter the Jedi jump and completely side with the slaves. This leads to a schism between Hamner and the rest of the Jedi Council, especially once they learn that Kenth was making secret deals with Admiral Bwua’tu. Jedi starfighters are dispatched to aid the slave uprisings and the Skywalkers, Booster Terrik takes a bunch of politicians hostage on the Errant Venture during a charity sabacc tournament, a team rescues Valin and Jysella Horn from GA imprisonment, and a big confrontation between Kenth and Saba Sebatyne ends in Kenth’s tragic accidental death. After Tahiri Veila’s trial went off the rails at the end of the last book, Lando gets her a second lawyer—a Lorrdian woman named Sardonne Sardon. Unfortunately, Bwua’tu esquire and Sardon have differing ideas about Tahiri’s defense, so Tahiri fires Sardon and continues on with just Bwua’tu. (Tahiri’s trial will apparently run through three books.)

Thanks to Vestara, the Sith follow the Skywalkers to Pydyr, and they all end up on the Fallanassi’s island. Luke realizes that Abeloth is possessing Akanah, and a big fight ensues: Luke kills Akanah, Abeloth shows back up in Callista’s body, they wound her, she escapes, Vestara kills Lord Taalon, and the Jedi reinforcements arrive just in time. Luke and Ben once again take off after Abeloth—this time with a much friendlier Vestara along for the ride—and the book ends with the Jedi prepared to awaken the Horn siblings from their carbonite slumber.

CHARACTERS:

Luke remains distrustful of Vestara Khai, while Ben is confident that he can turn Vestara from the dark side. I can see both of their arguments here! Although Ben seems to be winning, because I’m not sure how many more times Vestara can help the Skywalkers and tag along with them and truly argue that they’re her enemies. Luke seems frustrated at times with Ben’s more trusting nature, but I think that’s just part and parcel of being a Skywalker: you meet someone using the dark side, you say “I can change them, I can make them want to be a better person,” and that feels like the epitome of being a Jedi to me. Yes, you’ll duel the bad guy, but you’d much rather talk to them and make them an ally instead of an enemy.

(Side note: Luke and the Sith stayed behind on Abeloth’s planet to learn more about her, but they didn’t learn much. There seems to be historical precedent for her existence and her past rampages, but we don’t have a better grasp of her origins beyond she’s evil, and she’s ruined planets before. But at the same time, Luke and Ben now have tangible proof of why you should not drink from or bathe in any bodies of water on Abeloth’s planet, because Lord Taalon falls into the Pool of Knowledge or whatever and sees a vision of a Jedi Queen and gradually starts to transform into an eldritch monster like Abeloth.)

Ben and Vestara’s flirty relationship continues, as she’s trying to get information from the Jedi about that Jedi Queen vision—but at the same time, she thinks Ben is cute. Ben doesn’t trust her, but he thinks she’s cute as well. We’ll see where this goes, but they’re both sixteen: this feels like the kind of scenario that plays out when you interact a lot with someone (cute) your own age, so while a romance may develop I’m not sure how long it will last because again, they’re sixteen.

Jumping over to Vestara’s plotline, I don’t think she’s ready to drop her ties with the Lost Tribe of the Sith. She’s willing to spy for them, and while she’s not happy when Lord Taalon beats her, she seems to accept it as something an apprentice has to endure. However, I do see some cracks appearing in her complete acceptance of her culture: she’s willing to help the Skywalkers, she kills Lord Taalon because she recognizes he’s a threat to everyone, and she knocks out her father when he tries to apprehend her. That surprised me a little! Vestara and her dad appeared to have a loving relationship in Fate of the Jedi: Omen, but subsequent books have highlighted how ruthless even Sith family members can be.

On the one hand, I appreciate Fate of the Jedi’s willingness to revisit things from the Bantam era, and seeing the Fallanassi was a one-two wave of nostalgia because their new home of Pyrdr is also from The New Rebellion. Of the worlds we visited on the Skywalker road trip, the Fallanassi on Pyrdr get the least focus here as it takes the Skywalker team a while to get to the Almanian system, and then once Luke and co. arrive, the Fallanassi are openly hostile to Luke. They’ve fallen under Abeloth’s sway, and that’s such a pity: I always thought their traditions and their use of the White Current are interesting, and I would have liked to see more about that.

The slavery uprising plotline continues with the situation on Blaudu Sextus, where the centauriform Octusi are protesting their enslavement. It’s complicated: the Octusi are somewhat sentient, but they willingly agree to be enslaved. So is it slavery, or indentured servitude, or an actual job? Freedom Flight gets involved with the Octusi, so Daala has to jump in on the opposite side and send Mandalorian mercenaries. Of course, that ends badly when the mercs slaughter Octusi and kill that Devaronian reporter, and the Jedi show up just in time to throw in their lot with the Octuzi and arrest the Mandalorians. It felt a little heavy-handed here, because would Mandalorians really kill an unarmed reporter on a live broadcast? Regardless, this is the push the Jedi Order needed to throw in their lot against oppressors, and send Jedi Knights to different worlds to help with these slave uprisings.

The Jedi situation on Coruscant is BAD. I feel like Kenth Hamner took his “let’s be diplomatic, let’s do nothing” approach a little too far, but I could see his point at times—and it felt like the other Jedi were being needlessly antagonistic towards him. Does no one remember what happened two years ago during the second Galactic Civil War?? You carried out a coup against Chief of State Jacen Solo, and now you want to depose another Chief of State? Daala is deeply misguided, but like with Kenth I can somewhat see where she’s coming from. It makes me feel bad for Kenth, who should have never been picked for this position. Kenth was ex-military and had diplomatic experience, but Kenth wasn’t willing to pick a side and ultimately died way out of his depth. I’m not sure that Saba is a better choice for temporary Grand Master, though, because she has that predator Barabel mindset and misses out on a lot of human nuances.

When the Errant Venture hosted the sabacc tournament with multiple members of the pro-Imperial conspiracy, I thought they had finally been caught out—but no, they Jedi were just kidnapping prominent politicians as a distraction, and they didn’t realize what they had. And I got super frustrated with Daala, as she knows that she’s being manipulated and her words will be spun out of context yet she continues to dig her heels into the absolute worst positions. Why is she siding against the enslaved? Why won’t she release the Horn siblings? We started out the Fate of the Jedi series with Daala being anti-Jedi but understandably so, but she’s lost most of her nuance here. If Kenth was the wrong choice to lead the Jedi Order, Daala was the wrong choice as Chief of State.

(On the plus side, Jaina and Jag seem to have worked things out off page and are re-engaged. Good for them! They still have issues to hash out, especially when she’s a Jedi and he’s the top Imperial, but well, we have three more books to go.)

ISSUES:

Continuing the issues I saw in Aaron Allston’s Backlash and Christie Golden’s Allies, there were a surprising number of editing errors in Vortex.For spelling errors, we got “Gallactic Alliance” in the very first chapter. (That’s a spell check issue.) Octa Ramis is described as “slender,” whereas the New Jedi Order series introduced her as muscular, like someone who lived on a high gravity world. Octa is built! When Jagged Fel shows up to talk to the Solos before the Horn rescue mission, he’s described as “tall;” Jag is not a tall man. (Jag may be taller than Jaina, but Jaina’s only 4’10.) Finally, Tahiri’s lawyer Sardonne Sardon is introduced as a Lorrdian woman, and Lorrdians are considered human or near-human. But in Chapter 30, Sardon is suddenly described as though she’s a Falleen, complete with claws and dorsal spines and pheromones. Maybe there was some confusion between Sardon and Mavari Zudan the judge, because Zudan is a Falleen? Regardless, all these little errors should have been caught before publication.

Second, I found Vortex to have a little too much violence and torture for my taste, especially at the end. Abyss was mainly just kooky Force stuff, but Vortex brought back some Troy Denning staples that I haven’t been crazy about since Star by Star. When Luke fights Akanah!Abeloth, he’s cutting off her limbs and she’s crushing his throat and bones are snapping and it’s all too much for me. Luke kills Akanah, and then Abeloth waltzes back in Callista’s body and the Sith try to torture Ben and then Abeloth reverts to her Lovecraftian form and puts one of her tentacles in Lord Taalon’s mouth and it was really gross. I don’t do good with hyperviolence or torture, and these descriptions had me cringing. The Abeloth fight in Allies felt anticlimactic, and the Abeloth fight in Vortex took the complete opposite approach, for better or worse.

Finally, I was surprisingly upset by how the authors chose to address the Bantam era books here. I always wondered what happened to Callista, and in Allies we found that she had maybe the saddest possible ending: she was still searching for the Force and her role in the galaxy, she found Abeloth, and she was consumed by her. In Vortex, we meet Akanah again, only to find out that she has also been subsumed into Abeloth and Luke has to kill her. She has one final moment as herself before she dies—she tells Luke that she’s sorry—and while Akanah was always a shifty character, I didn’t want that ending for her either. I like the idea of revisiting loose ends from the Bantam era, but not if it means killing everyone off! Is the rest of the series going to be Abeloth running around, finding more of Luke’s exes and eating them? (Probably fortunate for Luke that most of them—Jem, Shira Brie, Gaeriel—are already dead.) I wanted answers to questions that have been left dangling for years, but I didn’t want those answers to be “they were consumed by a dark side entity, sorry.”

IN CONCLUSION:

Vortex picks up the pace here with Luke and Ben desperate to confront Abeloth again—and going forward, they’ll have more Jedi to aid them. Vestara throws in her lot with the Skywalkers, and the Jedi finally rescue the Horn siblings. The Jedi also definitively come down on the side of the slaves uprising against their oppressors, and there’s probably going to be a confrontation with Daala in the next book. Vortex got pretty gross at times, which is not my personal taste, and there were weird editing errors like in the previous two books. I'm interested to see where the next book picks up, though—how will Tahiri’s trial end? Where will Abeloth go next? (Hopefully she doesn’t eat another Skywalker ex-girlfriend in the process!)


Next up: the seventh book in the Fate of the Jedi series, Convictionby Aaron Allston.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/8F5hDNvAxCM

[Oliver · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kenth Hamner should never have taken Luke Skywalker's chair at the Council meetings, not because he was unworthy of it, but because Jedi were not soldiers.

What a disappointment! Vortex creates the illusion of fun for its first few chapters before immediately pivoting into the worst excesses of both its own series as well as Denning's oeuvre. The problem is that I'm almost convinced most of the bad stuff could have been excised, had Denning been given more than his allotted time (presumably two afternoons) to write this FOTJ novel. It could have been a fun, pulpy SW outing like Abyss - instead, this book joins the ranks of Inferno and Invincible as an unmitigated disaster.


The first c. 50 pages of this novel are solid fun. Jaina's hunting Sith pirates!!! in a first chapter with decent characterization, an amiable flow, the presence of Lando Calrissian, and even some show-don't-tell sensibilities. It's the type of action opening you can bet on in a SW book, and far superior to the editing nightmare Allies foisted upon us. Luke's plot continues similarly; we're still on Abeloth's planet and it's getting a bit stale, but Denning does manage to imbue these scenes with an Indiana Jones-type of adventurous feeling, almost. Ben and Luke, at least right here, are solidly characterized, with Ben especially setting himself the genuinely human goal of "strategically" turning Vestara Khai to the light. It's all the best parts of the prior LOTF/FOTJ books put together. In short, before Vortex hits Coruscant, it seems to be on a good course.

You can tell things are changing from there until about the halfway point. But only a bit. Of course, the Coruscant subplot is still largely nonsense. It's this repetitive back-and-forth between Daala and the Jedi, the Jedi between themselves, journalists, Tahiri's trial... it's starting to all run together. After a while it becomes fascinating to see how much pulpy style Denning manages to imbue his Luke adventure with, and how sterile these chapter get. He does escalate things, at least: Madhi Vaandt, a journalist reporting on slavery in the galaxy, gets a live report of Daala's Mandalorian goons slaughtering a species of quasi-enslaved people (don't ask, it doesn't amount to anything). The live coverage is conveyed well, and her character serves her purpose in the plot. It's in getting there that Denning's authorial vices rear their head again; she's needlessly given a utilitarian streak where she refuses to deescalate tensions so as to get the best footage, and help accelerate the abolitionist cause as best possible. She's too insignificant a character for this to really matter, but it does point towards Denning's approach of pre-planned plotting weighing harder than logical characterization. Keep that in mind. The Madhi of Allies wouldn't have risked a massacre for good footage.

On the other hand, Tahiri's trial by itself is portrayed quite well. Not only does Denning have a solid grasp on her lawyer Eramuth Bwua'tu, perhaps the breakout star of FOTJ, but it actually resembles a proper legal drama. We have our case, a shady witness, a mounting defense against the prosecution which is now overtaking, and said prosecution is antagonistic, yes, but not inhumane. It's great stuff - for all of two chapters out of 35. I shouldn't be, yet I still continue to be shocked by how this plot drags on and on. Moreover, nothing actually happens; Tahiri brings in a second lawyer, she gets the boot, the prosecution's current strategy goes overboard. We're practically back to where we left off in Allies. Dear reader, do you remember the 9-book X-Wing series, how we followed Tycho Celchu's trial, and how it encompassed all of one subplot of one book? FOTJ cannot even comprehend such a brisk pace. I would really love to know how the series planning went. Did they actually have any plan, or did they make all of it up as they went? It's these pacing problems that undo even FOTJ's good elements.

The worst of Vortex is found in its second half, in particular the Jedi subplot. Acting Grand Master Kenth Hamner had previously struck a deal with the military to prevent any further conflict with the Galactic Alliance, the other Masters want to launch starfighters to help Luke against Abeloth. In my Abyss review, I talked about how that novel assassinated the character of Kenth Hamner and that certainly continues here. I'm not sure what Kenth did to Troy to warrant such treatment, but it reaches parodistic levels in Vortex. Kenth lacks any moderation; he's a caricature of an unfeeling appeasement politician without any dimension to his character. He hates everyone, everyone hates him, and of course he doesn't even remember the names of his Jedi Knights. The other Jedi Masters are back to their Dark Nest-selves, resembling a bunch of terribly adjusted teenagers who argue, argue, and argue without a shred of reasoning. Basically, both sides are bad, though the latter is supposed to be the reasonable one. See, if only they actually had any character left. Octa Ramis for instance is no longer a cool, collected authority figure, but rather an interchangeable chess piece in Denning's plot. Remember the last novel, when that one Jedi apprentice got murdered in front of everyone? Nobody cares. It's only ever brought up as an argument for why Kenth bad. Like, I'm just at loss for words with how this is developing. It's not even actively repulsive like LOTF was, just this boring vacuum of surface-level bad characterization. FOTJ wishes it could develop even Kenth into the inadvertently interesting dumpster fire that Pseudo-Jacen had become. For that to take place, you'd need more than just one party involved in the assassination, but this is a Denning pet project.

Things certainly come to a head. After Madhi's live coverage, resulting in her own murder on live broadcast, the other Masters are convinced Kenth will become more proactive. He does not. Information of his secret deal with the military leaks through, they want him to resign, he does not. Put in quarantine (lol), Kenth sneaks out, finds the other Masters about to launch their fighters, challenges Master Saba Sebatyne to a battle TO THE DEATH, loses, is given the chance to survive and surrender - but does not. So we have the death of a Jedi Master resulting from another Jedi Master on our hands. I say death instead of murder because Denning made sure Saba makes no mistake here. Oh yes, his own pet character comes out of this story morally unscathed. Kenth makes all the agential mistakes, Saba reacts heroically. I liked Saba in NJO and even Dark Nest, but after this book I really just don't want to see her anymore. Like we're tearing down one character with the explicit goal of building up another, and OF COURSE SHE'S THE ACTING GRAND MASTER NOW. Leia and Corran Horn figured this'd be the only logical choice, to make the not-murderer of her predecessor into their new leader, much in the same way that Daala was the only logical choice for COS at the end of LOTF, eh? Again, give me the imbecilic setting destruction of an Inferno over this boring nonsense any day. We killed off an NJO veteran over such a childishly nonsensical non-issue. I never particularly cared for Kenth before, he never really stepped up as a guiding light of a character. Now, however, I almost feel pressured into becoming a stan for how dirty he was done. Yay for old military Jedi leaders brought down by authorial agenda, I guess.

Troy Denning's worst excesses aside, there's a level of sloppiness to the book's second half I have to mention. The typos and mistakes are back, and they become more pronounced the longer it goes on. For example: "say you do manage kill Abeloth"; "Dekkon's easily capitulation"; "disguiet". Given that these books have no editor, I guess I'm glad Troy's comparatively good at catching his own gaffes since it's far less pronounced than in Allies. His mistakes are more along the lines of the diffusion of information. There are so many moments in this book where I was left confused as to how a character could possibly know something they are not supposed to. Most notable among these is my old pet issue, the continued assassination of Vergere's character! So LOTF made her, originally an Old Jedi Order Jedi, into a Sith, but in such a way that you could maybe argue the retcon was just a deliberate lie on the part of a different character. Notably, nobody of the main cast but Jacen Solo "knew" about it. In Vortex, Luke suddenly does know all about it, referring to her as a "Sith infiltrator". Well, there you go, it's unquestionably official now. The out of universe agenda has been absorbed by the fictional universe.

Nearing the book's climax, I have to talk about Abeloth and the Sith. They are core characters of FOTJ whom I haven't devoted much space to because they're barely given anything. The Lost Tribe Sith are easily dealt with: They're utterly generic and boring, mooks who get owned in every book. Their uneasy alliance with Luke and Ben got old by the end of Allies, and in here, it's continued... for some reason... and just boring. I don't care about Gavar Khai or Sarasu Taalon. Hopefully the next books will either dial their relevance way down or finally make them interesting, as John Jackson Miller managed to in his short stories. Vestara Khai is similarly caught in the vortex (ha! Denning made this reference like twice in the book so I'm allowed one...) of FOTJ's pacing, and hasn't really changed between this and the last book. She really doesn't have much agency in Vortex, and mainly exists to prop up Ben. I'll say more on her come the series' last third. Abeloth I liked a lot in Abyss, but then she completely sat out one book, hit all the same beats as Abyss in the next, and now, she gets more focus, but is almost diminished for it. She's more directly linked to Denning's ongoing throne vision idea, but doesn't gain characterization in turn. Or put it this way: She remains a "mystery" at the end of FOTJ's second third, and that's too late to still draw it out. Moreover, I have a problem with how she's connected to earlier EU: So in the last book she absorbed Callista into her being, and got killed as Callista. Now, it's revealed she's really sacrificed and taken the body of Dyon Stadd (talk about nominative determinism...), and when we get back to her, she appears as Akanah of the Fallanassi, from the old Black Fleet Crisis trilogy. Then Akanah!Abeloth gets killed, Callista!Abeloth comes back somehow, and she gets killed too. Two things. First, the Fallanassi trip doesn't add anything; Luke talks to her about the same thing Denning had Akanah say to Jacen in DNT1, so it's a wasted appearance. Second, I just feel a bit icky about revisiting all of Luke's former flames only to kill them off like that. I don't particularly like or dislike Callista, but did she really have to be dug up just to be killed off? I'm a BFC fan, so why bring back Akanah if all you're gonna do is have her be murdered? Here, it really is murder, as she comes back to herself right after Luke had lethally stabbed Akanah!Abeloth. It's just such a weird trend which, again, is made worse because I have no idea what the point is.

On that note, we have a touch of the absurd: one of the Sith... suckles... on Abeloth's tentacles and derives milk from her or something. Very well Troy, I see how it is. That entire scene's a Freudian mess beginning to end anyways, ugh. More "liminal" horror creature and less fetish content, please. Oh, and as for perhaps the single most inexplicable scene in the book? The last chapter has Allana explore the Jedi Temple depths with a Jedi friend and come across the Barabel Jedi's breeding grounds. Then those guys - Jedi, mind you - tell them they'll have to stay as prisoners for two months and then be killed, or something, for breaching their nest, and Allana gets out of the situation by telling them the truth of her identity. For starters: What?!? Second, way to leak Allana's secret in the most in(s)ane way possible. I cannot even fathom what the idea here was. Finally, this was actually "built up" a bit earlier, as Saba refused to tell the other Jedi where her fellow Barabels were. Okay so Kenth's not allowed to keep any secrets, even if it's evidently strategically important, but Saba's Jedi are allowed to disengage completely and then threaten a child and her fellow Jedi friend with imprisonment and finally death, and that's okay. I am at a loss for words, it hurts the longer I think about it. The book started so promisingly, too...


There are a couple more developments in these final chapters but I think I've made my case. Vortex is a shocking release. It gets worse, so much worse, the more you stop and think about it. It's a bottom of the barrel work, and really didn't need to be. The final chapter in FOTJ's second third could have absolutely focused on bringing Tahiri's trial to an end, could have made the Luke/Abeloth plot less repetitive and uncomfortable, portrayed the Jedi in a dignified manner, and just generally not reeked of unprofessionalism. Instead, we got a book that stands with the worst of Legacy of the Force as a low point of the literary Star Wars universe. Hopefully Allston will manage to recover after his Backlash blunder.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the best so far in the FotJ series, Denning proves once again why he is the true master of the SW:EU. Far from the black and white, good vs evil structure of many story lines of the past, I continue to be impressed by the maturity this series is displaying. The political complexity and primary focus on something other than action and fighting make me once again outspokenly proud to be a fan of the EU.

With enough of that action kept intact because, of course, this IS Star Wars, but sufficient subtlety and mystery to keep the reader in suspense throughout, this is, at least so far, the standard against the rest of the series must be judged and future books must endeavour to live up to.

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so I happily read all the Expanded Universe stuff. Sometimes, I do think their story arcs go on a few too many books. This one might be going on a bit too long and veering too much into politics. Personally, I prefer more action in my Star Wars.

This story has the Jedi and the New Republic at odds. The Jedi are also being hunted by a tribe of Sith, and a Force powerful monster called Abeloth. Here, things get so bad that exiled Master Luke and his son Ben ally with the Sith to fight Abeloth.

There's a lot of action and fighting, as well as political maneuvering and complicated plots. It was a decent adventure

Recommended for Star Wars fans. Good, but not their best.

[John Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it and raced through it. It was really hard to put down because I cared so much for these characters and I needed to see them through. I've read of 30 years of adventures of these people and part of me realised while reading that perhaps that was the only reason I enjoyed it so much. I think I needed to make sure these friends of mine survived. The story itself dragged quite a bit, but there is a lot going on and its part of a nine (Or so) book series and its hard to take it in isolation, but if you are following the series then you'll love it.

[Cal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is probably my favorite entry so far (which is great, because I had Troy Denning sign it recently).

The one thing still really bothering me about this series is all the Jedi hubris that exists. They're still so short sighted, and it's their way on the hyperspace lane. They exhibit a lack of true wisdom to me throughout this series--so far. Maybe that will change. I get it though, nobody wants to read about Jedi negotiating...so it's a bit inevitable. All in all, still enjoying the series enough to see it through this time.

[Kasc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it me? Am I finally done with Star Wars novels or is this series just plain boring? Yes, so far each of the novels has had its strong moments and Vortex is no exception. Still, its first half was so dull that reading felt like a chore, and I must really credit it to my willpower that I finished.

As was to be expected it quickly turns out that Luke did not truly defeat Abeloth, so it is up to him and Ben to figure out what truly happened to her to find a way to defeat her for real. Initially, the Skywalkers are still on Abeloth’s planet in the Maw keeping up their flimsy alliance with the Sith. After this very lengthy reconnaissance mission concludes with the inevitable Sith betrayal and Abeloth leaving the planet, they end up following her tracks to Pydyr with Vestara in tow. Luke is familiar with this planet as it is where the Fallanassi have taken refuge and, incidentally, its other inhabitants are currently plagued by an elaborate Fallanassi illusion. Abeloth is in need to recover from her previous encounter with Luke and as she appears to have the ability to somehow absorb other beings’ strength it makes sense for her to seek out powerful Force users such as the Fallanassi. This is a great opportunity for Luke to run into yet another long-lost love of his, Akanah. Naturally, she, too, eventually turns out to have been possessed by Abeloth and this trope is already getting old (during the “big reveal” I could not help thinking about the iconic “He’s Squidward, you’re Squidward, I’m Squidward” scene from Spongebob Squarepants). The Skywalkers end up in a pretty tough spot and in dire need of some Jedi support, which is taking its sweet time getting to them.
While the Jedi are well aware of the Skywalkers’ predicament the unresolved issues they are facing on Coruscant are keeping their ships grounded. The Temple remains under siege and the Jedi Coucil is pressuring standing-in grand Jedi Master Kenth Hamner to finally take action while increasingly growing tired of his leadership style. He has repeatedly acted of his own accord, concealed valuable information from the Council, and not paid any heed to the often very reasonable concerns voiced by his fellows. In the end it is Saba Sebatyne who steps up and implores him to resign. Interestingly, the issue that pushes her over the edge is not any of the pressing concerns that could directly and direly affect the Jedi, i.e. Abeloth or the re-emergence of the Sith. Rather it is Kenth’s reluctance to support the many slave communities across the galaxy that have recently started rebelling against their oppressors. Of course, it is easy to agree with Saba on this matter as from a moral point of view helping free slaves is unquestionably the right thing to do. However, Kenth also has a point in being reluctant to stir the pot any further given how tumultuous the situation and how tense the relationship between the Jedi and the government already is.
I would never have anticipated that Kenth would actually go so far to downright attack Saba with the intention to kill. This goes to show just how far over the edge he has gone and how he has clearly lost track of the core Jedi principles. On top of that he chooses to do so in a very public place in the presence of other Masters, who would certainly side with Saba, making his belief he might actually get rid of Saba seem quite delusional. The ensuing fight between the two Jedi Masters is one of the high points of this novel and it ends in a prolonged, albeit needless cliffhanger. Denning clearly suggests that at least one of the combatants does not survive and then switches to other plot strings for 70+ pages before clearing things up (boo).
With the fight over and Kenth’s interference thwarted the Jedi can finally take off and come to the Skywalkers’ rescue. In a relatively suspenseful showdown, the Pydyr subplot is then promptly concluded.
While the main plot is moving forward, Tahiri’s trial also continues throughout Vortex. In principle, I think hers remains an interesting conflict posing the whole question of blame and morals vs. duty etc. (I think I have expanded on this in my last review). However, instead of truly advancing this sub-plot, Denning chooses to mix things up a little by giving Tahiri an additional, allegedly more competent defense lawyer. There is a lot of back and forth with her original lawyer not wanting any support and threatening to resign and a disproportionally large number of pages is dedicated to this strife. This composition choice would not be an issue per se if it weren’t entirely irrelevant in the end. As things turn out, the new lawyer ends up being dismissed, so it was all pointless not particularly interesting filler material. Speaking of inconsequential additions to the plot, apparently there are Sith pirates now. This is mentioned in the very first chapter just to be of zero relevance for the rest of the plot. I don’t know what exactly Denning was trying to achieve in adding pointless new details but it kind of feels like there was a minimum page count that needed to be met.

Taking everything together, Vortex passes for a mediocre Star Wars novel. It has many lengthy chapters and especially the first half or so was tough to get through. Yet, it has a few stand-out scenes and in one or two instances manages to push the plot in unexpected directions. Generally, I think the novel could have easily been shortened by 100+ pages, which might have turned it into a thoroughly enjoyable read. As it stands it is about 50% bland and 50% intriguing. Vortex fits well with the other installments of the series so far, which is – as of yet – is nowhere near as enjoyable as the equally long Legacy of the Force series. Even the nineteen-book New Jedi Order series with its fair share of mediocre duds did not feel so lengthy. Of course, I am committed to finishing the whole series and I am hoping that as it slowly draw to a close, it will actually become gripping.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better books in the Fate of the Jedi series. The need for cooperation between the Jedi & Sith, the choice Saba had to make and the fall of Daala towards the dark side all make it rather more thought-provoking then prior books.

[mike andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best so far of the series

The story has really started to unfold and develop. A few key characters won't make it to the 7th installment while curing the Jedi sickness was just the beginning of what Luke and Ben still have to accomplish

[Kristina Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crap's about to hit the fan!

Can Abaloth do the essence transfer?

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! After the past two that were kind of so-so, this one really got things going and did an excellent job in building tension for the final few installments!

[Kaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

FATE OF THE JEDI #6: VORTEX

Book number six of Fate of the Jedi introduces us to Troy Denning's second entry in the series. His first novel in FOTJ was “Abyss,” which I found to be okay. It still had the typical Denning problems, but it was straightforward, relatively easy to read, and supported by the solid narratives of the first two novels. ​Now we come to “Vortex,” a book I consider complete garbage.​

To summarize, the book has a good start; it’s not fantastic or great, but it maintains a reasonable level of quality. So far, FOTJ has plots related to politics and a lot of subplots that aren’t interesting because the only story you want to follow is the one involving Luke, Ben, Vestara, and the Sith. That plot, which is the main one, has some great moments that I enjoyed, but even it is dragged down by frequent, abrupt cuts to other storylines—such as those involving Daala, the Jedi, and a subplot about slave uprisings. This structure makes the book fall apart as it progresses. I don't remember having seen such a significant drop in quality in a Star Wars story since Force Heretic: Remnant, and similar to that trilogy, “Vortex” marks the point where this series begins to unravel.

The story picks up where we left off, with Luke and his Sith allies remaining on Abeloth's planet to investigate more about its true nature. They go to some caves to learn more about their strange enemy and to investigate the unusual Force Nexus that exists on the planet, while Ben, Vestara, and Dyon remain on the ships. Through the Force, Vestara senses the approach of Ship, the Sith meditation sphere that fled after Abeloth's apparent demise. Vestara attempts to report Ship’s arrival to her father, Gavar Khai, and High Lord Taalon, but Ben stops her, causing Vestara to become ensnared in some deadly plants. A brief exchange occurs between the Sith and the Jedi regarding who should keep Abeloth's corpse, only to reveal that Abeloth is not dead, and the corpse in question is actually Dyon Stadd’s.

Likewise, in space aboard the Rockhound, Lando Calrissian and Jaina Solo are attacked by pirates who can control the ship using fake voice commands from a mouse droid that snuck aboard, disguised as Lando. They manage to escape, but Jaina realizes that the pirates are Sith. She deduces this because she remembers that Jedi Knight Jaden Korr was investigating a case concerning pirates, who were most likely members of the Lost Tribe.

Lando and Jaina were introduced in the last book, and their plot in this novel is rather dull.

The alliance between the Sith and Jedi collapses when Ship guides them to the Pool of Knowledge. Ben sees a future version of himself and Vestara, which convinces him to attempt to turn her to the light side. Meanwhile, Lord Taalon has a Force vision of a future Jedi Queen (Allana) ruling the galaxy. The Lost Tribe fears that this image heralds the end of the Sith. Luke and Ben want to keep Allana's true identity a secret. A fight with the Sith breaks out, where Lord Taalon accidentally falls into the Pool of Knowledge. Both Skywalkers, along with Vestara as their prisoner, escape Abeloth's planet aboard the Sith ship Emiax, as Abeloth manages to flee aboard the Jade Shadow.

Dyon's fate is quite perplexing and not fully explained. At the end of "Allies," Luke fought and stabbed Abeloth, seemingly killing her. However, we are simply told that Dyon was actually the one Luke killed, while Abeloth managed to escape, perhaps through some form of essence transfer. Thus, Luke inadvertently killed an innocent person, and this is never mentioned again nor explained. In the scene that unfolds around the Pool of Knowledge, we repeatedly see the vision of Allana seated on the Throne of Balance, which symbolizes the power to influence the future of the galaxy. However, the significance of this concept is presented without any basis, and the narrative continues to dwell on how Jacen changed the future. This is a key point, as we are told that whoever sits on the Throne of Balance will determine whether the galaxy’s destiny leans towards the light or the dark side. To what extent does this vision relate to the Dark Man, who originally occupied the golden throne instead of Allana? This question will be addressed in the final novel of this series.

Luke, Ben, and Vestara follow Abeloth to Almania's moon, Pydyr. Luke requests reinforcements from the Jedi on Coruscant, and they send StealthXs, which will take time to arrive due to another crisis there. Upon descending to the moon, they discover that the entire population is affected by an illusion created by the Fallanassi, convincing them they are suffering from a plague. Corrupted by Abeloth, the Fallanassi conceal her within this all-female cult. The Fallanassi were previously introduced in the Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy, and it is a nice touch to see this connection.

Regrettably, this encounter is delayed significantly, occurring only in the last half of the book. The first half is still focused on Luke and Ben on Abeloth's planet with the Sith. Then, in the novel's second half, they travel to Pydyr, which changes the scenery. However, much of the plot remains centered on Coruscant. The previous chapters around Coruscant in the other novels weren't bad—more slow and somewhat tedious—but I anticipated getting back to Luke's story at some point. The fundamental premise of this series, in which Natasi Daala serves as Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, feels absurd and nonsensical, making it hard to take seriously.

First, Han, Leia, and the others emerge from the temple amid the Mandalorian Siege to show that the young Jedi who had gone mad have now recovered. Their mental illness ceased because Abeloth's death in the last novel broke the connection that had driven them insane. To validate this, Daala sends a doctor who examines the Jedi by kicking them and merely announces that they are cured, leading to widespread joy. Yet, Daala still maintains the blockade on the Jedi Temple and keeps the two Horn brothers frozen in Carbonite.

Meanwhile, on Blaudu Sextus, a world in revolt against slavery, Mandalorians hired by Daala quell the unrest. These events catch the attention of journalist Madhi Vaandt, who broadcasts the occurrences. The reporter is killed, but the scene of two Jedi Knights battling the Mandalorians who murdered her boosts the Jedi's popularity.

Previously, in the last novel, Madhi Vaandt was a competent reporter, but in this installment, her coverage resembles a wildlife documentary—where she merely films atrocities without intervening, despite having the chance to save lives. It's shocking that she is portrayed as a complete psychopath, happily documenting the massacre of slaves rather than attempting to help them, which is why I wished for all these reporters to meet dire fates. Again, this plot is nonsensical.

Continuing with the poor writing, we see how the Jedi Council members are dissatisfied with Kenth Hamner's performance as Grand Master, leading to his dismissal upon learning that he conspired with Admiral Bwua'tu. This is peculiar as Kenth does not wish to confront anyone or provoke further conflicts with Daala, but everyone perceives him as a traitor impeding their ability to assist Luke in facing the Lost Tribe of the Sith. Kenth is clearly stressed, likely the result of buildup from previous books.

The Jedi are now determined to use their StealthXs to assist Luke while rescuing the Horn brothers. As the operation begins, Kenth tries to prevent the Jedi from challenging Daala. He attempts to destroy the components necessary to open the Jedi Temple hangar doors, but Saba intervenes. After a duel, Kenth falls from a railing and is saved by Saba, who supports him with the Force. Kenth then hurls his lightsaber to disable the door-opening mechanism, prompting Saba to let him fall into a twenty-meter chasm, resulting in his death. What a horrible turn of events...

Now, we arrive at the Crown Jewel. Chapter twenty-nine was the most painful to read and follow. The characterizations, portrayals, and descriptions of the characters and locations were atrocious. This chapter describes the rescue of the Horn brothers and how they infiltrate Galactic Alliance facilities, and it is narrated so poorly that it feels like a first draft of fanfiction.

Simultaneously, as the Horn brothers are rescued and the StealthXs are launched, the Star Destroyer Errant Venture, captained by Booster Terrik, is being utilized as a high-stakes flying casino. Important characters, such as Moff Lecersen and Wynn Dorvan, are hinted at, with the latter emerging as the eventual winner. Booster attacks several satellites around Coruscant to secure the orbital safety of the planet while the Jedi deploy their StealthXs. With numerous high-profile political and social figures aboard, Daala cannot act against them. Ultimately, Jagged Fel decides to abandon the treaty being prepared for the Empire to join the Galactic Alliance, leaving Coruscant as these events unfold.

Returning to Luke, he encounters another ex-girlfriend, the Fallanassi Akanah Pell. They have a conversation in which Akanah expresses discontent about the current state of the Jedi and dismisses the notion of light and dark sides as nonsense. Luke refutes this, explaining that these beliefs were never part of Jedi canon and were the work of a Sith aiming to undermine his beliefs by invoking Vergere’s influence. This exchange frustrated me. They also discuss Jacen and how, in his pursuit of saving the galaxy, he was ultimately doomed and altered the future by changing the currents of the Force. This theme is critical as it foreshadows how they plan to retcon the Expanded Universe, particularly the Legacy comics that unfold a century after this series.

A Sith fleet under Lord Taalon arrives in Pydyr and reunites with Luke, Ben, and Vestara. Lord Taalon seeks clarity about the events surrounding his fall into the Pool of Knowledge, prompting him to agree to collaborate with the Jedi to locate Abeloth and obtain answers. After a brief skirmish with Ship (and some illusions of other Ships, visible only to Luke), they return to confront the Fallanassi. However, Luke eventually realizes that Akanah has been possessed by Abeloth, leading him to kill her. Abeloth then reemerges, taking the form of Callista, suggesting she chooses to manifest only as Luke's former romantic interests. Luke is defeated by Abeloth and her tentacles, but he employs what we refer to in Star Wars as Oneness, the state of becoming one with the Force, an ability we witnessed in Jacen’s ultimate display during the Yuuzhan Vong War in The Unifying Force. Luke frees himself, but he must confront Lord Taalon, who has allied with Abeloth. However, Vestara kills Lord Taalon, thus compelling her to join the Skywalkers in their escape from Pydyr aboard the Jade Shadow, with the protection of the incoming Errant Venture and the Jedi StealthX fighters, while Abeloth flees aboard Ship to an unknown destination.

Without a doubt, this represents a decline in the overall quality of the main storyline. Every time we witness Abeloth's defeat, it diminishes the sense of her being a genuine threat to the galaxy. She appears similar to Darth Caedus; both are characterized as exceedingly dangerous and powerful individuals, yet they ultimately find themselves easily vanquished. There’s also another cringeworthy moment when Vestara's father, who was unconscious during most of the battle, awakens and realizes that she killed Lord Taalon, exclaiming something like, “Daughter, you killed Lord Taalon?” Vestara merely retorts, “Shut up, you’re still dreaming,” and Force-throws him against the wall, leaving him unconscious. What a painful moment to read.

Finally, we find Tahiri at her trial, flanked by two attorneys, merely for the sake of having multiple legal representatives. The plot centers around how an Imperial commits perjury, which ultimately undermines the credibility of the witness, aiding in Tahiri's defense while her trial continues. The final chapter features Allana and Bazel Warv observing the Barabel Jedi, who establish a nest within a secluded area of the Jedi Temple to lay eggs. When informed that they cannot leave until the eggs hatch safely, Allana confides her secret identity as the daughter of Tenel Ka and Jacen Solo. The narrative concludes with her witnessing the Horn brothers being defrosted.

Ultimately, I despised this last chapter and, in general, found this entire book to be complete garbage: -10/10.

[Rob Whaley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to check to see if this actually was a Troy Denning Star Wars book that I was reading, cause I was actually entertained by it! Until it got to the end, and I realized that yep, it's him: grituitious violence and torture and mischaracterizations galore. Plus, Denning's long standing effort to misunderstand the entirety of SW and the force by undermining The NJO to justify his crap world building (Stop trying to make "Verge was achually a sith!" happen, Troy! It's not good storytelling, it's shit!). That, and his insistance on putting the main 3 in situations no one their age should logically be in, even jedi. I mean come on, Luke is nearly 70. Do we really buy that he's able to survive getting attacked and beat up by Abeloth and the sith and just walk it off?

While Luke and the Sith continue to hunt down Abeloth, Ben and Vestara continue to get closer. But it's painfully obvious that Denning doesn't like the idea of Ben and Vestara together, cause he has her constantly attacking and betraying the two of them, even when it doesn't make sense. Anywho, the hunt leads to the Fallanassi planet, where Luke "reunites" with Akanah, the girl who lied to him in the Black Nest Trilogy about his mother (great, another reference to a shit part of the Bantam years, the Callestia reference being the first one). It turns out that Abeloth has taken over the Fallanassi as well to protect her while she recovers from her wounds. Meanwhile, the Sith are impatiant and after Taalon ends up peering into the Lake of Knowledge, he wants to hunt her down to explain what's happening to him. Long story short, she uses him to try and kill Luke and Ben, but Vestara kills him to save them, thus becoming a traitor to the tribe.

Meanwhile, Daala decides to send her mando team out to stop the anti-slavery uprisings on Blaudu Sextus and the outer rim worlds. She's thwarted by a holonet team and a pair of jedi, who use the uprising to show the galaxy the brutality of the mandos (another refutation of Karen Traviss) and the horror of slavery, and implying that she's helping to support it in the name of peace. The jedi want to use the moment to strike back against Daala, but Hamner refuses. The schism between him and the council comes to a head when it's revealed that he made a deal with the Bothan admiral Bwua'tu to try and keep the peace without telling the council: he'd keep the StealthX task force from launching in exchange for him convincing Daala to back off. However, a failed assassination attempt had put him in a coma, and Hamner was waiting for him to wake up before doing anything. Things come to a head, and Saba and the masters remove Hamner as the Grand Master. Naturally, he doesn't take this well. He's locked in his quarters while Saba readies the task force and directs Han and Leia to free the Horn children from captivity. They get help from Jagged Fell, who reveals to them he plans to break off negotiations with Dalla and leave Coruscaunt, and Lando and Booster Terrik, who concoct a high-stakes sabaac tournament to get the Coruscaunt elite on board his star destroyer to distract Daala while the task force goes to help Luke and Ben. Hamner breaks out and attacks Saba, declaring she is leading the entire order into treason. They have a brutal fight (thanks for the graphic descriptions, Troy) that leads to Saba being forced to let Hamner fall to his death to stop him from closing the temple doors and keeping the ships in. Saba is made temporary leader of the order, but she isn't happy. Han and Leia manage to free the Horns, and it looks like Jagged and Jaina might work things out. But with a pissed off Daala, uprisings along the Rim, Hamner dead, Abeloth alive, and a planet full of Sith coming, everyone better buckle up.

I do wonder how much of this series came from Denning, and how much was from Del Ray/Lucasfilms, cause this series as a whole feels lighter in tone than anything else he's written, and all the other parts of the Denningverse. However much it was, I'm just glad he isn't writing SW books anymore. I feel like the veinn diagram of people upset about the EU getting erased and the people who hated the ST and PT cause they weren't "dark and gritty enough" is a full circle. They never liked SW, they just liked the edgelord tripe that Denning vomited out like he was writing Warhammer 40k fic.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 2 out of 5]

My patience with this series is waning.

It's only been a few months since I read this novel, and I can't remember half of what happened in it, which is not a good sign. I went back and read the very thorough Wookiepedia plot summary just to jog my memory. In addition, I'm now working on the next book in the series and only a handful of the plot points highlighted in the aforementioned summary actually feel relevant.

There are multiple problems with this series, but perhaps the biggest weakness is the number of plots and subplots. Vortex picks up with the aftermath of Abeloth's defeat on her home planet in the Maw, with the survivors investigating her lair and body, only to have the Jedi/Sith alliance discover that she's not dead yet. Chaos ensues. Meanwhile, the Jedi Temple remains under siege by Mandalorians sent by Chief of State Daala. Another plot thread covers Tahiri Veila's trial for murder, which has been going on for quite some time. We also have internal conflict with the Jedi Order, the Jaina and Jagged Fel romance, and slave uprisings around the galaxy. It's as if the three authors of this series, along with the editors, felt they needed to add more storylines and complexity to keep people's attention. They do so though at the expense of character and thoughtfulness. Merely adding a lot of ingredients to a dish doesn't make it more flavorful; editing can be the author's best friend.

It also doesn't help that the plot threads are not soldered together with any smoothness. Some of them feel completely irrelevant. For example, what purpose does Tahiri's trial serve in all of this, other than to provide another reason why people might be angry with the Jedi? Likewise the slave uprising feels like it fell out of a different story; it's nothing but a distraction to the main plot, adding urgency to the Jedi's need to leave the Temple. I could even argue that the conflict among the Jedi Masters feels unnecessary. Do we really believe that these hyper-capable beings couldn't resolve their conflicts without resorting to a duel? Is Denning trying to convince us that only Luke Skywalker can lead the Jedi Order?

Perhaps what I am really reacting to here is the lack of stakes. Many people fight for survival in this novel, but the cost of winning or losing always feels vague. Beyond the Jedi psychosis, it is unclear what Abeloth's existence means to the galaxy. Likewise the engagement with the Lost Tribe of the Sith, Daala's ineffective leadership, Tahiri's trial, etc. In my favorite Star Wars stories, there is always a moral or ethical point of view that extends beyond simple life and death. The Light Side / Dark Side debate is philosophical, not merely pragmatic (i.e., I'd like to live, therefore I must defeat my opponent).

I hope that the last few books in this series do better, but I am not optimistic. I think the editorial team may have run out of ideas, and thus threw everything they could think of into this series. It feels like a soap opera. No matter how the conflict resolves, there will be new melodrama tomorrow, and the whole cycle will continue.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this review at JRT: http://jawasreadtoo.wordpress.com/201...

or Club Jade: http://clubjade.net/?p=25696

After teaming up in Allies, relations between the Lost Tribe and the Skywalkers have turned a bit sour. Abeloth has been defeated, but the two sides are determined to keep secrets and double cross one another (both are good stalling tactics, after all). Luke and Ben tread dangerous ground, but it isn’t long before the pair is forced to flee the planet when they discover Abeloth did not die after all. Taking Vestara with them again, the trio travels to the moon of Pydyr to track down and destroy her, hopefully for the last time.

On Coruscant, the secret mission intended to aid Luke and Ben, has been stalled. The Jedi Council is increasingly growing tired of Master Kenth Hamner’s stubbornness. It becomes apparent that there’s something he’s hiding and the other Jedi Masters are fed up. When young Jedi begin recovering from their strange psychosis and Daala refuses to acknowledge this progress, the Jedi Council is especially convinced that rescuing Valin and Jysella Horn will accomplish one of three things: reassert the Council’s autonomy, discredit Daala, and serve as a distraction while the Stealth X-Wings deploy for Pyrdyr. As it turns out, Daala is the least of their problems. An unexpected friction arises that threatens to unravel the Council Luke has worked so hard to achieve.

Overall, Vortex (the sixth Fate of the Jedi book) progresses, but just barely. This is a novel that toys with the idea of “playing it safe” and why that is not always the best decision for different situations. Whether that’s Kenth Hamner’s incompetence leading the Jedi Council, Eramuth Bwua’tu’s misleading theatrics in the courtroom, or Luke assuming the Sith will always betray everyone, there is ample evidence that erring on the side of caution can have both positive and negative effects. With so much waffling and mirroring of earlier scenes throughout the series, it’s all to easy to see why Vortex appears to take an excruciating step back for every well-earned step forward the series has made so far. There were, however, a few things that worked very well.

Despite revisiting the Abeloth storyline again (it was too much to hope Allies saw the end of her—too much to hope this book would see the end of her, but one antagonist isn’t enough this time around), in which Sith and Jedi grudgingly team up only to spend half of the time considering how each side might be plotting to outsmart the other, the scenes with Luke and Ben were a bit eye-opening. As much as I began to lose interest in how gullible Ben seemed when compared to the Luke of Old, I realized the comparison was automatic because Luke isn’t the bushy-tailed, bright-eyed, gullible farm boy anymore. In fact, he hasn’t been for quite some time. I think Legacy of the Force proved that. It was interesting to notice how his character has grown by watching his interactions with his son—particularly as related to the difficulties of parenting: sometimes telling Ben that Vestara is untrustworthy isn’t as effective as letting the boy learn for himself, even if it means watching his son lose (i.e. hone through experience) part of his earnest appeal to the misguided. Ben is idealistic, but inexperienced. The wonderful thing is he has someone to guide him when Luke often times had to learn the hard way.

The Father-Son relationship was good. Then again, in this series, it has always been good. Coming in a close second is the subplot involving Kenth Hamner and the Jedi Council. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t notice Kenth’s utter incompetence (in this series) until this novel, when he becomes very important to the storyline. It was, however, quite believable, especially because Denning builds on a fact that I am sure most of us are aware of: Luke should never have picked Kenth to babysit while he was gone. It just goes to show no one’s as good at the job as Luke is. Rebuilding from the ground up tends to create that unfortunate side effect. Kenth was never a bad Jedi, as far as these things go, but that might be why he was chosen for the position in the first place: he’s unremarkable and unlikely to cause trouble. The brilliance of his incompetence comes from how well Denning teases out his spiral into extremism. His poor decisions come from good intentions, but like many solutions, Kenth’s became problematic—very problematic.

His wavering loyalties were entirely dependent on not knowing what to do and grasping futilely at the trust Luke gave him as justification for poor decision after poor decision. Whether his death was an unfortunate and tragic accident or merely an inexplicable left turn, I never once questioned how difficult it must have been for Saba to rise to the occasion and confront a fellow Jedi Master. At the end of the day, Luke chose Kenth, but it could have been any of the Masters. Any one of them could have had Kenth’s burden on their shoulders and there’s no saying what any one of them would have done the same or differently. That sense of fellow feeling is part of what made that storyline tragic, yet successful.

Keeping secrets, confused loyalties, and acting independently of the Order is a large part of what directly decided Kenth’s fate. His conflicting emotions, however, are mirrored in the Tahiri subplot where we see her doubting whether Eramuth’s can do the job he’s been hired to do (rather than Kenth worrying—through his actions—if he can do the job he’s required to perform). To be fair, the progression with her character has been achingly slow, but there has been progress. Ultimately, Vortex can be retitled (regarding this particular subplot): In Which Tahiri Realizes Her Defense Lawyer Is Competent. I was disappointed to find the majority of her scenes were not focused on proving her innocence. Rather, those scenes involved copious amounts of doubts and misgivings about Eramuth’s feigned incompetence (sleeping at the bench was laying the act on a little too thick) and senility. Unlike Kenth’s plea for trust, Eramuth’s is eventually accepted (it remains to be seen whether Luke is proven correct in his unwavering conviction that Vestara really intends to ultimately betray or hurt them, but I’m inclined to agree with him), if slightly undercut by how quick he is to always put his hands up and shrug, quite willing to accede to Tahiri’s demands for supporting counsel—the insinuation being, “well, maybe you can’t trust me,” even if it is pedagogical. Eramuth may be very good at what he does—and may prove as much a little at the end—but I found myself not really caring one way or the other when the proof took too long to arrive.

Fate of the Jedi still has a long way to go, but the end is within sight and it looks like it’s going to be interesting. After LOTF, the terrors of FOTJ seem lukewarm: Kenth is stopped before he can really do much damage; the Sith are kind of cooperative. These are, however, welcome changes from the ominous undercurrent of fear Jacen wove throughout the previous series. At the very least, I’m eager to see what becomes of Daala. I am personally looking forward to whether we see her political downfall or not. It doesn’t seem as if the GA wants her and clearly, I don’t think Jagged Fel would welcome her into the Empire, but I’m curious if the softening of her character will have any bearing on where her future will take her. With Luke and Ben on the run once more and the Horn children finally on their way to a thawed victory, the last three books seem well underway to delivering some tangible resolutions. And, if Booster Terrik’s appearance is anything to go by, hopefully more cameos?

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vortex is a properly tense, action packed book with some of the most heartbreaking moments and largest action set pieces, but also has a lot of down time and does quite a lot, reaching just under four hundred pages - around three hundred and sixty - it’s the largest book of the series so far and it almost seems to have separate stages where different stories are wrapped up, and it just seems to keep going.

The threat of Abeloth isn’t over, the Galactic Alliance gets crazier each day, the Jedi themselves are now losing it (without the influence of Abeloth), and it seems the only stable people in the galaxy are Han, Leia, Luke, and Ben.

This is when things get quite crazy, we’re starting to see the true extent of Abeloth’s power, we have the Sith truly attempt to kill Luke and Ben finally, the Jedi have deposed Kenth Hamner which leads to a brutal fight between him and Saba.

Shit is going off in this book!

Abeloth is, as usual, mysteriously powerful, but also very not dead.

I was shocked to find out that she was impersonating Dyon, the stuff she can do is insane.

She manages to consistently make the reader uncomfortable in ways only the Yuuzhan Vong have been able to match, she’s very violent and evil and mysterious, but I love the ingenuity Luke has in combating her so often.

Madhi, the reporter from the last novel, reports on the Galactic Alliance’s use of Mandalorians to stop slave revolts, and it leads to a really tragic scene where she is gunned down by the same Mandalorian employed who killed the apprentice at the Jedi Temple, and the slave she freed continues to report as Jedi Knights turn up and help them.

It’s here where the Jedi start to turn against Kenth, they decide that they should start following their hearts, their feelings over the law, and to give up trying to appease Daala, but this means they all participate in a vote of no confidence against Kenth.

I really like Kenth Hamner in this series, I rarely agree with him but I truly sympathise and understand how he feels, and I do worry the Jedi are taking it too far. At the same time, I get why they are doing what they are doing, and Kenth’s reaction is far from sane.

Daala attempts to manipulate Jagged Fel into believing Jaina and the Jedi are siding with the Sith, and thankfully, Denning didn’t chose to characterise Jag terribly here - another sign that he listens to feedback and doesn’t hate Jag - and had him come to Jaina and the Solos before doing anything.

Ultimately, Jag decides to pull out of agreements to join the Galactic Alliance and use the Empire to help the Jedi, which I love and this also leads to Jaina putting the engagement ring back on but refusing to talk about it - just get married, please.

Things get even more hopeless as Luke and the Sith find the Fallanassi, even Akanah who was a lover of Luke, and Abeloth takes her too, ending up in a massive fight as she works with Taalon to try to kill Luke and Ben.

Luke gets incredibly close to death so many times, even Ben too, the fight is brutal and incredibly tense, and I was really surprised when Vestara decided to cut Taalon in half, and it was even more awesome when Luke, even whilst Abeloth continued to kill him, pulled the roof down on them!

Vestara uses the Jade Shadow to fire on the Sith, killing a dozen of them and shooting them into pieces before assisting Luke and Ben reluctantly with escape. She isn’t on their side properly yet, but for now, she has no other choice.

Saba Sebatyne and Kenth Hamner engage in an enormous, dramatic fight where Kenth tries to stop the Jedi from leaving to help Luke, and all Saba wants to do is stop him.

However, Kenth is so angry, so mad, that he will not let her stop him without killing him, and as much as I feel sorry for Kenth, after thinking about it I’ve come to believe this is Kenth’s fault. He literally gives Saba no choice and she has to choose between stopping his lightsaber or letting him drop to his death.

It’s the type of moment that leaves you with a pang in your heart at how awful things have become, and I feel really sorry for Saba as she has to reluctantly accept the role of Grand Master voted upon her by the other council members, believing she has to be judged for what she has done to Kenth.

The only little negative I have is an awkward one, where the novel ends with Allana discovering the Barabel nest.

So… I actually predicted this, and I’m annoyed I didn’t write it down. But as soon as they started going on about them being missing and Saba refusing to explain, I knew it’d be some weird Barabel thing and literally predicted this!

Now, while it’s nice, its placement really takes away from the intensity and emotion of the rest of the story, but not in a nice way, in more of a… “uh… okay… weird.” way!

They make up for it however with Valin and Jysella Horn being freed!

Generally, it’s an amazing book, the only light issue I have is the pacing that flickers between traumatic and action packed, to lots of little gaps of downtime.

I’m not sure the downtime was always the decision, sometimes it helped move other plots along and sometimes it felt a little forced and seemed to take away from the high stakes stuff elsewhere in the book.

After the last book, it’s crazy how this one feels like another “finale” rather than the starter to the next three books, and I’m falling in love with the crazy scope of this series. I’m a big fan of crazy Force stuff, but only very specifically.

I’m not a fan of character being gifted crazy power for the sake of it, but characters like Luke or Jaina earn this stuff through hard work and a lot of character development and complexity, however I feel an entity like Abeloth is different and crazy because of the horror element, she’s something different, otherworldly even for the Star Wars galaxy, old, and very, very powerful, but terrifying, uncomfortable.

She’s a true horror villain!

So overall, it’s a fantastic novel, one of the best of the series, even with a mediocre cover, and I cannot wait for more. I read this book almost all in one day, even reading from the mid-afternoon until nearly 4am!

9/10