Sacrifice (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 5)
by Karen Traviss
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Book Summary Information
Author: Karen TravissEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-29
ISBN: 0345477405
Number of pages: 367
Publisher: Del Rey / Ballantine
Book Reviews of Sacrifice (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 5)
Book Review: The Point of No Return
Summary: 5 Stars
The past four books of this series have brought us all to the moment that has been well apparent from the outset. I had read the NJO series with no particular anticipation of how the characters would come out of that war. It too had been dire and the seriousness of it hit home with Chewbacca's death and later Anakin Solo's demise. The war nearly annihilated everything they fought for and built upon after the end of the OT films.
The Jedi numbers have not returned to their pre-Empire days, and it would seem they will never quite approach that point again. The current Council and the post-NJO Galactic Alliance resemble their PT films counterparts. The Council is aware that the galaxy is again on the brink of war, which was not fully put into motion until the combined events of Tempest and Exile. Betrayal and Bloodlines in their own not-so rapid fire way brought us towards that moment.
Lumiya like Palpatine pitted the conflicting sides against each other with acts that appear to be committed by either side. Neither side at the same is guilt free either, but their actions mixed with hers accelerated events. Jacen like his uncle Luke and grandfather Anakin fall prey to the inconsistency of force visions. In Anakin's case, by acting he actually caused the events that would lead to his wife's death despite his intentions to save her. In Luke's case, he went to Cloud City to save his friends, but their future was already in motion despite his vision of their deaths.
Difficult to see the future is, always in motion it is to quote Yoda. Jacen in believing what he saw and what Lumiya told him freely began his journey towards the dark side of the force. The Unifying force concept seems to have fallen by the way side after its presentation in the last of the NJO books. At any rate, Jacen thought he alone was the only one who could bring about the future that would bring an end to the conflicts that come too often. He would do what it took even if people had to die for it, they would die. Luke called it a selfless fall, in a way he is correct yet incorrect. I interject my opinion, it is hardly selfless if you deem anyone expendable for the sake of the ideal future.
The return of the Mandalorians since their long absence has also brought a great deal more to this turn of events. For the first time in four thousand years, they are no active participants in a larger sense in the galactic conflict. The war is spreading despite their absence, but then again it was already happening as the GA and the Corellians had their standoff. The politics of the moment eventually gave way to open interstellar warfare.
Jacen Solo became someone else over the course of the series thus far. He has become militaristic, crude, deceptive, manipulative, and worst of all he is a man willingly to do whatever it takes no matter the cost. I have grown to recognize just how despicable he is become and how gradually everyone else is abandoning the notion that they cannot just not notice what he is doing with all the power that rests in his hands now.
The question of who would he sacrifice and what his Sith name would be has been looming since Lumiya's return. The sacrifice was not who I expected, neither was the manner of death, but ultimately for a person like Jacen Solo or rather someone who answers to that name, what could you expect? Lumiya's death served little purpose except to stave off Jacen/Caedus' death.
Mara's body like Anakin's or Qui-Gon's did not vanish when he died unlike Ben's or Yoda's. A sign perhaps, a clue, but what seems frustrating is that they cannot seem to come to the conclusion of who killed Mara aside from the realization that it was not Lumiya. Your confirmation of Jacen's transformation lies dead in front of you. I suppose as a matter of plot, as a matter of allowing this slow and decadent recognition is to establish the fact that the war is only begun and there will be no victory for anyone.
It will take the galaxy and its people to another darkness unlike the one brought on by the Rise of the Empire or the Jedi Civil War (KOTOR era). History repeats with variations even in the SW Galaxy. The only question among questions is what happens this time? Only time will tell, but I suspect that things are heading towards a darkness that will last far longer than anyone suspects at the moment.
The harder you try to avoid or change the outcome, the more likely that the outcome will happen just the same. This doesn't mean you cannot do something, but what it means is that what happens is only affected by how people react to it. In aiming to change the future, Jacen is already setting a different and darker future into motion. He became Caedus with both eyes open and now everyone will pay the price for this. Their actions and his are going towards the dark road, a road that cannot be avoided anymore. The Point of No Return has already been crossed....
Summary of Sacrifice (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 5)
Civil war rages as the Galactic Alliance?led by Cal Omas and the Jedi forces of Luke Skywalker?battles a confederation of breakaway planets that rally to the side of rebellious Corellia. Suspected of involvement in an assassination plot against Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium, Han and Leia Solo are on the run, hunted by none other than their own son, Jacen, whose increasingly authoritarian tactics as head of GA security have led Luke and Mara Skywalker to fear that their nephew may be treading perilously close to the dark side.But as his family sees in Jacen the chilling legacy of his Sith grandfather, Darth Vader, many of the frontline troops adore him, and countless citizens see him as a savior. The galaxy has been torn apart by too many wars. All Jacen wants is safety and stability for all?and he?s prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.
To end the bloodshed and suffering, what sacrifice would be too great? That is the question tormenting Jacen. Already he has sacrificed much, embracing the pitiless teachings of Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, who has taught him that a strong will and noble purpose can hold the evil excesses of the dark side at bay, bringing peace and order to the galaxy?but at a price.
For there is one final test that Jacen must pass before he can gain the awesome power of a true Sith Lord: He must bring about the death of someone he values dearly. What troubles Jacen isn?t whether he has the strength to commit murder. He has steeled himself for that, and worse if necessary. No, the question that troubles Jacen is who the sacrifice should be.
As the strands of destiny draw ever more tightly together in a galaxy-spanning web, the shocking answer will shatter two families . . . and cast a grim shadow over the future.
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