Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - A New Chapter Begins
Being a geeky Star Wars fan, there's a couple of things I'll always envy about its universe: I'll never be able to wield a (real) lightsaber. I'll never be able to use the force (everyone's tried once, right?) And, new to the list - I'll never be able to outwit assassins and go on space adventures when I'm pushing 60 and beyond.

Ages issues aside (Luke, Leia, Wedge are coming up on 60, Han's a few years older, Pellaeon has to be mid-80s), "Betrayal" is a strong beginning to a new chapter in the Star Wars saga. There is political turmoil - Corellia's rebelling (again), and the Galactic Alliance counters strong arm tactics with strong arm tactics. If the politics seem fuzzy, it's at least successful in creating good drama that divides our characters and places them in conflict that hasn't been explored before. Luke's backing the Alliance, Han's backing his homeworld, Leia's caught in the middle, and the Solo kids (and Skywalker son) get to carry out the dirty work. Beyond all this, a sinister force sets a trail for Jacen Solo to follow that will ultimately lead him on a very dark path.

Allston's trademark characterizations and humor really come through. The man's written some of my favourite books in the canon, and he's matured these characters in a way that makes them true to their film origins and expanded universe history. Ben Skywalker, a character I haven't read much on, is believable and likable as the 13 year-old son to a Jedi dynasty. There is the expected humor in the lines of dialogue, some darker humor when Jacen and Ben face a string of bizzare encounters on Lorrd, and one hilarious 4th wall gag that made me do a double-take. On top of that, Allston gets the action/adventure quota right. Jacen and Ben's opening adventure on Adumar recalls Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's failed negotiations, while Jacen decoding the tassel is much like Obi-Wan and the saber dart. There is a tangle with assassins, lightsaber duels, and an intricate space battle rounds out the finale. What didn't work? Unfortunately, much of Jacen's turn to darkness in the final chapters. There's some revelations on Vergere that aren't really developed, and Jacen accepts his new destiny too easily. Considering the pacing of the next few books (I'm currently on 4/9), the events here mostly work on a shock value level. Probably to setup the overall series and get readers interested in buying the following installments.

Flaws aside, I enjoyed Betrayal. I can't speak for where this series will go, but book one mixes classic Star Wars elements with new conflicts while developing the new generation of characters alongside the old. And maybe if I'd survived a galactic civil war, alien invasion and countless life-and-death situations I'd be pretty fit at 60 too.

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Rating: - So much potential, so little offered...
I had not read a Star Wars novel in quite a while, which is exactly why I decided to pick up the first book in the Legacy of the Force series. However, this beginning seemed quite bland. If not for my big interest in the Star Wars universe, I probably would have put the book down as uninteresting. The problem with this book was that it did not seem to have a decent plot. Sure this is the kick-start to the series, but the two main story-lines that were explored did not seem to have much of a point to them. It seemed more like a history book than a novel. I found myself liking it in a couple places, but left very unsatisfied overall. I hope the rest of the series makes up for this one.

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Rating: - A rose by any other name ...
And indeed, this does smell vaguely Star Wars. But the fact that this story is about as Star Warsy as an episode of Deep Space 9 is painfully driven home by the attempt to buy your belief with the liberal scattering of names from the films and more successful games. Sadly, the entities in the books connect to their previous incarnations almost solely by name.

The story ducks and weaves around the plot, flourishing the film-names like an 8 year old waving hasbro figurines every time his story hits a thin stretch. Luke may spout "force be with you" or Han might mention the Millenium Falcon, but otherwise the bevvy of familiars are attached to poorly handled mannequins that bear absolutely no resemblance to the characters of the same names.

It's hard to tell whether this is because the author was afraid of genuinely wielding Luke Skywalker or if he had the story written and decided to try and fit famous names to some of the cast to meet executive desires to increase the chance of sales.

That said, when I stopped connecting Luke, Leia, Han, Wedge, R2, C3PO, etc with those in the Lucas films, it became a decent enough time killing read.

I think the best praise I can give this book would be this: This could easily be the script for the cut-scenes in a StarWars game, and although you might not find yourself hurrying through a gameplay segment to reach the next cutscene, you would certainly sit through each of them and feel entertained.

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Rating: - Betrayal
I think overall Betrayal was a good book. It was interesting to see some sith history. I also liked that they introduced Ben Skywalker. It was unusual to see Jacen kill a jedi. It also showed some of the extent of Jacens force powers. I also liked seing some new characters, such as Admiral Niathal. If you read the New Jedi Order and the Swarm Wars series, this is the book for you. I would reccomend this book to all star wars fans.
John Grady Age:11