Fury (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 7) by Aaron Allston
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Book Reviews of Fury (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 7)
Book Review: Fury Review
Summary: 4 Stars
It was a solid book with one plot error at the end of the book. The plot flowed very smoothly until the very end. It was a little unbelieved that Jacen's Starwar Destroyer survived the Center Point destruction.Book Review: The story is moving along
Summary: 4 Stars
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force- Fury was a fast paced read. I eagerly anticipate all of the Star Wars novels. This one did not disapoint.Book Review: Loved This Book!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
LOVED this book!
The continuation of the "Star Wars Universe" is a better place for having this story in it!
Book Review: A Bit of a Disappointment after the Last Installment
Summary: 3 Stars
After the fast paced, decisive read the previous novel (Inferno) ended up being, I was hoping that Fury would follow suit by being equally exciting and significant. Unfortunately, this novel ended up being mostly filler material, hardly advancing the series and providing little in the way of significant events. Spoilers follow.
As with many of Allston's novels, the finale of Fury is a fast paced and exciting space battle. Allston excels in that field of writing; he's just really good at writing action packed dogfights. The rest of the book had potential, but ended up just falling flat. Ultimately, the book ended with everyone being more or less where they began.
One such action that could have been very exciting and had the possibility of throwing the Legacy of the Force series in a new direction was Jacen's kidnapping of Allana. There were so many things that could have been done with this such as turning Allana to the Dark Side or even making her his apprentice, therefore completely turning her against her mother. However, the reason for the kidnapping is only to use the girl as a bargaining chip to force Tenel Ka to continue lending the Galactic Alliance her military support. Seeing an event with such possibility fall so flat was very disappointing, especially considering that Allana was retrieved by the end of the story, thereby putting everyone involved in that particular crisis back to where they started.
A group of Jedi (none of which are from the Solo or Skywalker clans, surprisingly) set out to kill or detain Jacen in hopes of ending the war. Unfortunately, the reader can pretty much guess this is going to fail, as it is inevitable that it will be one of Caedus's relatives that eventually do him in. Regardless, the actual attempt is well written and adds a bit of excitement to the story. It is here, though, that one of Allston's problems becomes very apparent: he just doesn't want anyone to die. Sure, people get wounded (two Jedi and one other main character, specifically), but they all live. It begins to be a bit unbelievable after a while.
While the Jedi fail in ridding the galaxy of Jacen's presence, they do manage to plant a tracker on his cape. It worked for the story, but I can't help but wonder why Caedus never changed his cloak (especially after one of his officers comments on the fact that never wears the same garment for any extended period of time).
Jacen has seemed to develop a knack for walking into obvious traps; he did so in Exile and he makes an encore performance in Fury. I've actually enjoyed the authors' characterization of Jacen, but I can't imagine that he'd be so stupid as to walk into such an obvious trap. Nor do I understand why he would allow his mother to speak with him on the command deck, rather than throwing her in a prison cell (seeing as she is considered a traitor to the GA). It is also odd that Caedus, being as intelligent as he is, wouldn't think to do what Leia did to discover Corellia's trap.
Jaina, Jag, and Zekk continue to search for Alema Rar and eventually end up carrying out one of the only significant events in the novel. Despite the fact that he's the only one on the team without Force powers, Jag manages to play a large role in accomplishing the team's goal. I, for one, am glad that Jaina has been brought back into the fray of things, and without the added bonus of the Jag-Jaina-Zekk love triangle (was anyone still enjoying that?). I'm eager to see what role the trio will play in the next two novels, as they are being set up to make more major appearances (or Jaina is, at any rate).
Luke (who is still grieving over Mara's death) and the rest of the Jedi (as well as some non-Jedi, such as Han, Wedge, Tycho, and Syal) concoct a plan to destroy Centerpoint Station and retrieve Allana. This becomes the other significant event in the novel. I won't say exactly what happens, but I found it to be pretty clever. Allston is obviously in his element with this sequence, as the action is well written and gripping, making for an exciting hundred pages or so of reading.
There are some great scenes, such as Jacen telling Allana that he's her father (though, I think Allana believed him a little too readily, especially since he never said the "special words") and Ben discussing Mara's passing and Luke's role as Grand Jedi Master with Luke.
And one a side note, I always thought that Lando was older than Han and that Tendra was very close to Lando's age. I personally think it's a bit ridiculous for Tendra to be having a baby because, as even Lando said, they're just too old.
Unfortunately, despite the good points, Fury was a big disappointment after Inferno. It's starting to feel like the authors are just stretching the story out as far as it can go and, honestly, it's starting to become a bit silly. The Legacy of the Force series needs a good, solid ending...and I'm starting to worry that it won't get one.
Fury is definitely better that Allston's last installment (Exile), but it's still primarily filler. There are two, maybe three at most, events that are actually significant to the overall series. No one really progresses and the plot is left right where it was when the novel began. Unless you're already deeply engrossed (for lack of a better term) in this series, I would almost suggest skipping this one. You could probably skip it and not really miss anything.
Book Review: Where's the suspense?
Summary: 3 Stars
This series remains a fun diversion for die-hard Star Wars fans. However, it is getting tired. While I know (warning: blasphemous statement ahead) the original Star Wars movies (especially the prequels) were not the most well-conceived and executed stories in history, they are fun, and carry the viewer into a brilliantly conceived realm, but suffer from poor writing and scripting throughout. However, the Legacy of the Force series has thoughtlessly embarked on a voyage to rehash the original storylines, set some 4 decades in the future, without so much as wincing at the half-baked recycling being done.
So far, the only truly interesting part of the series occured during "Bloodlines" when we got a more thoughtful look into the life of Boba Fett, who has been often admired but overlooked in the deeper stories. Other than that, it's the same "tragic hero" scenario as the movies. Anakin was trying to protect his wife, and bring order to the galaxy, and fell to the dark side in the process. His grandson, Jacen, wants to protect his daughter and bring order to the galaxy, and what do you know ... he falls to the dark side! Gee, didn't see that one coming!
There is so much potential in this series to be really great, to really define these inheritors of the Star Wars legacy, but so little realization of that potential. This book, at times, starts to generate some real tension and almost draws you in, but somehow loses its hold of the reader (me, at least). I don't know how to explain it other than to say that as quickly as I started to get wrapped up in the story, it would fizzle and I would find myself puting the book down to go do something else. The story progresses ... and plot continues (I'd like to say thicken, but how could it not after the last 6 books?) ... and we wait for at least one really defining book in this series. It's a fun read, like the others ... low on substance but rich in sub-cultural tradition. It's a very quick read, like the others, and seems to fit in nicely with the overall story and substance of those books.
I just wish one of these three authors, all perfectly talented enough to do it, would bring some real tension and action to this series. I wouldn't pay full price for any of the these books so far, look to Half Priced Books or another used book store for them. They are worth the price of a used version, but don't buy it new. Look at Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and tell me that any of the Legacy books parallel that quality of storytelling. I know my standards are probably set a little high, but I know there is more potential in this series than what we are seeing. Everything feels rushed, and too many familiar plot devices have been used. Either this series needed to only be 5 or 6 books long, or the writers need more time to craft these works. Whatever the reason, this series continues to leave me feeling like I'm watching an HD broadcast on a standard definition TV.