martytdx's Full Review: Troy Denning - Star Wars Legacy of the Force Tempe...
While the imminent war between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance has settled into a stalemate, tensions remain high on both sides. The Alliance continues its crackdown on the dissident planet and its residents on Coruscant, led by Jedi Knight Jacen Solo and his assistant, Ben Skywalker. But while the shooting has stopped, factions on both sides are plotting to make their move to end the war in their favor, one way or the other... Meanwhile, Luke and Mara Skywalker try to protect their son and find out what is happening to their nephew, Jacen - all the while facing the fact that returned Sith Lumiya has returned and might be targeting Ben. Unbeknownst to them, Lumiya is the source of Jacen's strange behavior, as he begins his path to becoming a Sith in his own right, so that he can save the galaxy from an envisioned doom.
Meanwhile, Han and Leia Solo - looked at as traitors to the Alliance and with suspicion by Han's own world - are sent to meet Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium by the new leaders of the Corellian system. But their visit is a twisted one - in order to protect the Queen Mother, they may have to betray the Alliance by convincing the Hapens to support Corellia's independence. However, their visit is marred by a dramatic assassination attempt - one that ends up implicating them in the attempt!
Personal and political intrigue flavor the actions of all involved, and betrayal runs rampant as the fate of all of our heroes - and villains - come ever closer into conjunction, and not everyone will get out alive.
[• something wicked THIS WAY COMES •]
As Hapes threatens to descend into its own civil war, Han and Leia find themselves on the run from Jacen and the Alliance, while trying their best to save Hapes, Corellia AND Coruscant from what would assuredly be a horrible war. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara rush into save Ben, and finally confront the Sith Lumiya - and ex-Jedi Alema Rar - in a battle which could leave any - or all - of them dead. The third book in the "Legacy of the Force" series continues a good set of stories that have weaved in some of the best elements of the Star Wars myth. Starting with Betrayal and the excellent Bloodlines, Tempest explores the political intrigue of the Corellian-Coruscant conflict after the assassination of Han Solo's ruthless cousin, Thracken Sal-Solo. Instead of both sides cooling off, things are moving even closer to open war between independence-minded Corellia and the increasingly Empire-like Galactic Alliance.
We find the book starting with Han and Leia being called to a meeting in Corellia's hidden, secret fleet. They are offered a chance to do some good in the conflict by trying to negotiate with the Hapes Consortium to join Corellia or at the very least pull their support from the Galactic Alliance. It seems like a win-win situation, especially since it offers them a way to help old friend Tenel Ka out of a tough situation amidst lessening support from her own nobles. No sooner do they arrive, however, tha they find themselves in the midst of a plot to kill Tenel Ka and her young daughter. In fact, they barely escape from the assault only to find themselves allied with the actual assassin, and themselves as suspects pursued by the Galactic Alliance led by their son, Jacen.
Jacen has his own problems. Learning to be a Sith, he's confronted on all sides: Luke's deep suspicion of what he's becoming and attempts to lure his assistant, Ben, far away; Sith Lumiya's training and chastisement; abandonment by his own family for his choices and actions; and fear for his daughter, a secret he'd do almost anything to protect. In what could be a Looney Toons-like set of misunderstandings and leaps to conclusions, suspicion and treachery send old allies in pursuit of each other, and pit family and friends against each other to find the truth and end the looming threat of war.
[• the STORY •]
Troy Denning returns for his second volume in the series (he penned with the opening novel, Betrayal), this time delving more into the morass of intrigue created between Corellia and Coruscant, the new leaders of Corellia and the would-be usurpers of the Hapes Consortium, between Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka and Luke Skywalker and Lumiya... well, you get the idea. While the war has stalled, the hidden power brokers are pushing the strings with added ferocity and nothing is what it seems.
Denning does a decent job keeping the double-crossing, switched allegiances and effects of both from becoming muddled and makes a convincing conspiracy theory. He's no Dan Brown but his masterful control of the puppet strings is worth noting. Suspicions, fears and prejudices take over as Jacen and his family teeter from antagonistic parties on a philosophical argument to almost true enemies bent on beating the other and surviving what is thrown at them, regardless of the collateral losses.
While he touches all of the main sub-plots, he stays away from delving too far into some of those that are obviously being saved for other authors. His focus is how the treachery has blurred the lines of who's on which side of the conflict - and even what the exact nature of the conflict is. Denning also had the fortune of bringing yet another character from earlier books/movies into the series. Like Karen Traviss did with Boba Fett, Denning gets to bring us Aurra Sing, the Jedi-killing Bounty Hunter from the prequel movies. I don't know but at seems like this series is closing the loop on a lot of the lesser characters fans have enjoyed. Could this be a sign of the end.
[• and the FORCE GOES ON •]
All in all, I enjoyed Tempest, although it was a slight step-down from my favorite book in the series (so far), Bloodlines. Denning started the series and has been given the chance to move it to the next chapter, as it were. Conflicts are open now, lines have been drawn and the veil of secrecy is being shattered. What will happen next? Will Luke and Jacen battle it out? Will Ben be forced to choose sides? Will Han and Leia become fugitives and targets for both sides? And, perhaps most of all, what happened to that clone that Boba Fett was looking for? The series still has 6 more books coming, including Dennings follow-up Exile in February and Traviss' return in June with Sacrifice. After so much action in the first 3 books, I can only wonder what will happen in the last 2/3 of this series.
[• related REVIEWS •] Betrayal by Troy Dennings
Bloodlines by Karen Traviss
Set 40 years after the Battle of Yavin, this third novel in the new Star Wars epic series finds Han and Leia Solo enraging their families and the Jedi...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Science Fiction - Space Opera Fiction - Forty years after the Battle of Yavin, a dangerous new era in the Star Wars& epic begins--the revelations are ...More at Barnes and Noble
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.