Star Wars: Legacy of the Force opinions

[JD]

I was getting ready to read these books pretty soon, but before I did I thought I just wanted to ask what the people here thought about the books. I already have 3 or 4 of them, so no matter what I was probably going to read them, but before I did I just wanted to get an idea of what to expect.

 

[JediKnightButler]

I just finished the fourth book, "Exile" on audiobook. So far, I'm enjoying the series but I had skipped all the way over to LOTF from the Thrawn Trilogy so I'm finding myself a bit lost on who all of the new characters are and what happened to some of the missing characters although there is, thankfully, some exposition to help fill in new readers. After finishing "Exile" I skipped back to "Vector Prime", the first of the New Jedi Order series to maybe help fill in some of the blanks and, man, is it intense! In just the first book, they've already killed off a MAJOR character from the OT and it sounds like Luke, Mara, Han, Leia, et. al are in for some major trouble with the invading aliens (Yuuzhan Vong)
Anyway, back to LOTF, it seems to already shaping up to be an intense series but it sure seems like there is never a dull moment for our favorite characters and I'm amazed that they've been able to get through everything that they have up to this point, particularly at their (apparent) chronological age by the time of LOTF. The EU stories really make the events of the six theatrical movies seem almost somewhat insignificant within the grand scheme of things. Plotwise, the first book sets up the central conflict, which is the threat of another galactic civil war, this time between the Galactic Alliance (galactic government created after the fall of the New Republic in the previous series) and Corellia (Han and Wedge's homeworld), a conflict which, unbenknownst to everybody, is being manipulated by a previously unknown Sith agent who is also trying to lure one of the heroes to the darkside in much the same way as Anakin (although different enough not to simply be a retread). Hope that helps. Feel free to post any other questions you might have. Enjoy!

 

[DarKush]

I enjoyed the first five books, thought the sixth was okay, but there was a decline in enjoyment for the last three books. I think LOTF had the potential to be a great chapter in the Star Wars saga, but fell short.

 

[sidious618]

Good beginning, excellent middle but an appalling ending.

 

[Trent Roman]

I abandoned the series after the fourth book. Repetitive, dull, repetitive and repetitive, the series seems to be constantly treading water, never furthering the story; the antagonist escapes at the end of each book like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. In fact, the whole thing, from plots to character developement to Force philosophy, is incredibly dumbed down and simplistic compared to the awesomeness of the New Jedi Order. There doesn't seem to be any overall editorial control or coordination between the authors (since they repeat a lot of stuff); plot lines are introduced and vanish just as quickly. I was very unhappy with a number of the directions taken, which in addition to being poorly justified are cheap retreads of the prequel trilogy (did I mention the repetition?), and honestly couldn't care less what happens to these cardboard versions of the characters I once knew.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[JD]

I enjoyed the first five books, thought the sixth was okay, but there was a decline in enjoyment for the last three books. I think LOTF had the potential to be a great chapter in the Star Wars saga, but fell short.

Good beginning, excellent middle but an appalling ending.

That seems to be pretty much in line with what I've read on Amazon, and The Force.net, so I guess wasn't that must be pretty much how it goes.

 

[ATimson]

Trent summed up my opinion pretty well. Taken a few months apart, they seem worthwhile--especially for Allston's and Traviss's subplots--but the series metaplot keeps spinning its wheels in the paperbacks, and it's especially obvious when (re)reading the series in close succession.

 

[Broccoli]

I really enjoyed it. The final book had such a promising set-up, but it seemed really rushed and the MAJOR conflict that started the whole series was resolved off-screen (off-page?). I was a little disappointed in that.

Then again, as I mentioned in the original thread for the final book, the series kinda goes like the overall plot arc of the Star Wars films. The beginning has lots of stuff going on that affects everything, galaxy-wide, but ends with the focus being on a family conflict, with the galaxy-wide stuff being mostly brushed aside.

 

[Trent Roman]

Trent summed up my opinion pretty well. Taken a few months apart, they seem worthwhile--especially for Allston's and Traviss's subplots--but the series metaplot keeps spinning its wheels in the paperbacks, and it's especially obvious when (re)reading the series in close succession.

Interesting to consider whether the way they are read impacts the way they are received. I never buy hardcovers, so I read the first four books in direct succession after the first novel had come out in paperback--and, like I said, came out with a very strong impression that the books were (a) repetitive and (b) poorly coordinated between each other. Perhaps reading them months apart lessens that effect. Of course, I read the NJO the same way and loved it, so it's not as though the method determines anything.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Mr Light]

I really liked LOTF but the final book was a complete disaster. I thought it was a kind of "best of" mix of the Star Wars franchise. It was just the right length (NJO was too long), it had Sith, it had a civil war, it had a fall to the dark side... Every book had some kind of important event happening in it (as opposed to say NJO!) and the villain's development I felt was done in a very believable way. The middle books especially were excellent. Oh yeah, and the Mandalorian subplot was rubbish

 

[RandyS]

I haven't read it myself, but plan to soon. I don't really care how good it is, after the ongoing, neverending mess that was NJO, how bad could this be??

Of course, I still have Dark Nest to get through, and might read that first, since it's only three books, and, you know, comes before Legacy.

 

[Trent Roman]

^ If you truly intend to read LOTF, I'd recommend Dark Nest first. Several plot threads in LOTF will be even more insensible without understanding what happened to the characters previously.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Smiley]

Taken on their own, the first seven books and book nine are pretty good. The first book, Betrayal, is the best of them all. Taken as a series, however, it is repetitious and frustrating. There are some big changes taking place in the books, but they are not executed to maximum effect.

 

[sidious618]

Yeah, book eight was a travesty. One of the worst Star Wars books written.

 

[Mr Light]

Dark Nest should definitely be read before LOTF, it's practically the first three books of the series just with different villains. Every story in Dark Nest carries over into LOTF in some form.

 

[Stevil2001]

I like Karen Traviss's books (especially Bloodlines) but only when I pretend they're in a different series with new, unrelated characters.

Other than that, I agree with Trent and Andrew. Not worth your time or money.

 

[RandyS]

^ If you truly intend to read LOTF, I'd recommend Dark Nest first. Several plot threads in LOTF will be even more insensible without understanding what happened to the characters previously.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Ah, okay. Thanks for the heads up. Now I definately WILL be reading Dark Nest before Legacy.

 

[Skywalker]

Five or six books too long.
Very weak villain.
Too much Mandowank in the Traviss books (no surprise there).
Ultimately pointless and boring.

I wish LucasBooks would get away from these stupid mega-series and go back to smaller scale stories like back in the Bantam era, but we're getting yet another nine book series. The only difference is that Christie Golden will be writing the middle books instead of Karen Traviss.

 

[RandyS]

^Are you referring to the all hardcover series due out soon? THAT bothers me more than it's length. I hate buying hardcovers (expenses, you know). Although I agree with you, the series should be shorter. NJO for example was about three times longer than it should have been.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, all of the books being hardcovers is also annoying, since I hate buying hardcovers, too. But I understand the thought process behind it (more money, obviously).