Star Wars: The Old Republic Decieved Book Review

Star Wars: The Old Republic Decieved Book Review

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Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived

Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Paul S. Kemp. This novel is the fourth event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale takes place during the Old Republic Era, it also counts as book two in The Old Republic series. It takes place 3,653 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY

A war has been raging between the Sith Empire and the Republic. In this tale, the two factions sit on opposite sides of a table to negotiate a peace deal. While the peace negotiations are taking place; Sith Lord Darth Malgus, his companion Eleena, and a Mandalorian, spring a surprise attack on the Jedi Temple on the Republic world of Coruscant.

A Jedi knight feels the disturbance in the force and will do anything it takes to get back to Coruscant to avenge the attack on her fellow Jedi.

CHARACTERS

There are many great characters I’d like to mention, but I’m only going to talk about two, Darth Malgus and Aryn Leneer. An honorable mention goes to Zeerid Korr.

Darth Malgus: He’s s an absolute beast. He’s one angry Sith. This guy is so full of hate! His desire for conflict is his driving force, the thought of peace drives him deeper into madness. Looking at the cover of the book, he looks like pure evil, intimidating to all in his path. Malgus has one weakness and with a slip up in battle, exposes it to his foes.

Aryn Leneer: She’s a Jedi with empathic force abilities. She is powerful in the force, feeling what others cannot. While the galaxy she knows begins to crumble, her will does not allow her to sit idly by and wait for a solution as her peers do. She comes to a fork in the Jedi road, one that leads to light… the other to darkness.

 

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Paul S. Kemp is such a good high intensity writer. I really enjoyed reading this novel. I think it’s important I mention that there is a whole other storyline that takes place in the book that I didn’t mention in the summary, not because it’s bad, but because I don’t want to give you all the information.

For me, it’s rare to sit at the edge of my seat while reading a book. The first few chapters were so intense. I couldn’t peel my eyes from the words. The character development was excellent. The chemistry between all characters was fluid. I really hope to come across these characters again somewhere in The Old Republic timeline… but I doubt it. Darth Malgus is so disturbingly awesome. I can’t think of anything negative to say about this book. I loved every page of it.

Do I recommend that you read Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived? Absolutely. Buy it now. Read it now.

RATING

I give this book an A+. It was fast paced, surprising, and just so cool. I have nothing negative to say about the book.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Revan Book Review

Star Wars: The Old Republic Revan Book Review

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Star Wars: The Old Republic – Revan

Star Wars: The Old Republic – Revan, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Drew Karpyshyn. This novel is the third event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale takes place during the Old Republic Era. This also counts as book one in The Old Republic series. It takes place 3,954 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY

To keep this spoiler free, a lot of information will be left out. Revan, a Jedi Knight, is tormented by a piece of his life he has no recollection of. He begins his investigation, in an attempt to regain his memories. An opportunity arises when Mandalorian soldier Canderous Ordo advises Revan that the Mandalorians are seeking out an important relic to their culture, Mandalor’s Mask. Because Revan has ties to this relic, he believes it may be a piece of the puzzle in regaining his memories. His investigation will also lead him to the dead world of Nathema, where he crosses paths with Sith Lord, Scourge and Darth Nyriss.

The ruler of another faction in the galaxy, the Sith Emperor, is extremely powerful. He had plans to conquer the Republic and rule the entire galaxy, but first he must overcome the pesky obstacles in his path.

CHARACTERS

I’ve selected my two favorite characters to talk about, some plot points are mentioned but I remain spoiler free.

Scourge: The Sith Lord who was summoned by the Sith Emperor, Vitiate, to find and eliminate the root of the assassination attempts on Dark Council member, Darth Nyris. He’s big, prideful, intimidating, and fierce. Yet, he’s also weak… internally he’s not as confident. He hesitates often, second guessing and rethinking either his actions or words.

Revan: A Jedi Knight who’s been through some crazy stuff. He actually fell to the Dark Side once before but was redeemed. He’s confused and tormented by his past, in that he can’t remember it. It’s known across the galaxy how powerful in the force Revan is. He’s focused and humble, yet confident in himself. [He wears an awesome looking mask too]

OVERALL THOUGHTS

This book is fantastic! It’s pretty epic, as well as a tragedy! Drew Karpyshyn basically wrote two stories and tied them together very well. One story following the protagonist, the other following the antagonist. I was surprised that both of the main characters were extremely interesting. The book is a page turner for sure! It’s thrilling and I didn’t think it was predictable. The story was great, I can’t recall anything cheesy or tacky about it. I really like this novel.

My only negative, which also contains a positive, is the lore. Wow, do we get tons of Jedi and Sith Lore! The positive side, it’s so much material that made my imagination run wild, I wanted more and more! The negative, it’s so much material that we won’t get to read about. I enjoy the history, there’s always going to be history, just a bummer when I can’t read the details.

So, do I recommend that you read Star Wars: The Old Republic – Revan? Heck yes!

RATING

I will give this book an A-. The minus because there are so many pieces and questions I want answers to.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Into the Void Book Review

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Into the Void Book Review

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Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Into the Void

A Legends Expanded Universe Book Review

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Into the Void, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Tim Lebbon.

This novel is the first event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale begins the first era of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Before the Republic Era. It takes place 25,793 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY: The Je’daii council on Tython has called upon Ranger Je’daii, Lanoree Brock, to take on a dangerous mission. She’s tasked with hunting down an individual who has intentions of following through on event that could possibly destroy the Tython system. It turns out that this individual is Dalien Brock, her own bother. It comes as a shock to her because, well… he’s supposed to be dead. Now it’s up to Lanoree to find her brother and put an end to his madness, even if she has to make his death a reality. CHARACTERS: The two characters I’d like to talk about are brother and sister, the protagonist and antagonist of the novel. Dalien Brock: He’s angry and irritated at the thought of the force. He’s a dreamer, a star gazer, always looking to the stars and wondering about his people’s past. When he was a child, those around him could see how distant he was from the force. With age brought madness, he wants to go beyond the Tython system, but in a way that puts all life… in danger. Lanoree Brock: She’s a Je’daii Ranger. She’s a bit of an odd one. She calls her ship home, it lacks comfort, which was pointed out by her “partner” on this mission. She loves her brother and doesn’t want to see him on such a dark and destructive path. She can’t help but constantly recall their childhood. OVERALL THOUGHTS: This book was ok. It wasn’t that good but it wasn’t that bad… just ok. I expected something completely different. With a title like Dawn of the Jedi, I was thinking this was going to be the discovery of the force or how the Jedi came to be. I was wrong. It’s just some random detective-like story with stakes that didn’t come across as legitimate. Heck, if the threat was potentially so devastating, why would the Je’daii only send one member to take out the threat? Oh, and take on this sidekick that can’t be trusted… what? So strange. This is ancient times is Star Wars and it didn’t really feel like it. How much had technology changed in the 25,000 years? Since the story is so old, shouldn’t this be more like a fantasy? Maybe like, some religious folk trekking across some planet, discovering the force, or even creating the Jedi order!? The chemistry between some of the characters was decent, like our antagonist and protagonist. But Tre Sana, Lanoree’s partner (for some reason) was strange and wasn’t very consistent with his personality. I enjoyed the flashbacks (there’s a lot… half the book), but the structure of the story can be confusing. Do I recommend you pick Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void? Not really. This novel took place 25,000+ years before A New Hope, but it does that ancient. RATING: Moving forward I have abandoned my previous rating scale of 1 to 5. Now, I’ll be rating by the old school grading scale, A through F. I give this book a D. It had some good things, but the stakes didn’t seem legit. Not a great novel to kick off the Legends timeline.

 

Star Wars: The Crystal Star Book Review

Star Wars: The Crystal Star Book Review

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Star Wars: The Crystal Star Book Review

Star Wars: The Crystal Star, A New York Times Bestseller, written by Vonda N. McIntyre. This book… is not what I was wanting to come back to. You may vomit while reading this book. I thought the new canon book Aftermath was bad, this book takes bad to a whole new level.

SUMMARY

The children of Han and Leia have been kidnapped! Chewy was left for dead. While this was going on, Han was on “vacation” with Luke as he is on the search for more Jedi. There’s a character that pops up from the Han Solo trilogy… that was fun. Leia, the wounded Chewbacca, and R2 leave the planet called Munto Codru to track down the kidnappers. The antagonist, Hethrir has a plan to resurrect the Empire with himself being the all powerful leader. Occasionaly in the Expanded Universe, something drains the force from users. In this book, it’s a dying star… The Crystal Star.

I believe this may very well be the Star Wars book from hell. If you look at the picture from the back of the book, you’ll find hidden on the Falcon the number 666. Coincidence… I think not.

CHARACTERS

Character development is weak, C3PO couldn’t be more annoying and Luke less interesting. Luke is treated like a child, he’s not in his right mind really at all the entire book. He’s always confused or grabbing his light saber as a way to threaten Han. Han Solo, you want to punch his face in this book… because this, this isn’t the Han Solo we love.

Leia, comes off as a weak character, she seems desperate and not all there in the head, she’s like a crazy person. She’s always been cool and collected, but in The Crystal Star, she uses an alias,calling herself Lelila, a bounty hunter. Jaina Solo, I know she’s only a 5 year old, but my goodness she’s annoying.

Waru, a bloody blob with gold scales, with the power to hypnotize, heal, and even kill. Thats pretty much all that matters for the character of Waru. Hethrir is a crazy pedophile who creeps throughout the galaxy snatching up children. He finds out if they are force sensitive, so he may train them as his minions. If they don’t meet his requirements, he sells them to the highest bidding pedophile. How was Hethrir going to rule the galaxy with a bunch of kids? That’s possibly the dumbest plan ever.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Horrible detail and disappointing dialogue. In the 2nd chapter there’s what I thought was a cameo from Golem, “Has it got a coin in it’s pocketses for me?” The structure of each paragraph was odd, half the sentences in this book were nearly five words each! It reads very choppy, which makes the boring tale lag.

The climax matched the rest of the book, week. The family has an awkward reunion. There are about a hundred hugs happening. As the Solo family is reuniting and having a good time, some other side characters are having it out with emotions of anger and a bit of family love drama… very weird. The last line of the book was some kid asking, “Are we home yet?’ Thats not closure!

RATING

I give this book a 0 out of 5