REVIEW by @GinnyLurcock : Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi – Apocalypse by Troy Denning- Release Date 3/13/12

 
There can be no surrender.
There will be no mercy.
It’s not just the future of the galaxy at stake-
It’s the destiny of the Force.
In the stunning finale of the epic Fate of the Jedi series, Jedi and Sith face off-with Coruscant as their battlefield. For the Sith, it’s the chance to restore their dominance over the galaxy that forgot them for so long. For Abeloth, it’s a giant step in her quest to conquer all life everywhere. For Luke Skywalker, it’s a call to arms to eradicate the Sith and their monstrous new master once and for all.
In a planetwide strike, teams of Jedi Knights take the Sith infiltrators by swift and lethal surprise. But victory against the cunning and savage Abeloth, and the terrifying endgame she has planned, is anything but certain. And as Luke, Ben, Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and their allies close in, the devastating truth about the dark side incarnate will be exposed-and send shock waves through the Jedi Order, the galaxy, and the Force itself.
 
 
 
…many bothans died to bring you this review…
 
It’s kind of hard to sum up what has happened since that bitchin’ BBQ the ewoks threw on Endor where Storm Troopers were roasted and there was much rejoicing…  (which is of course what happened, no matter what you previously thought) In fact, there was so much that I’m not even going to try and sum things up because that would ruin many books and take me a month or more.  All I can really tell you is that you should go back and read things in order, or at least this series, in order. 
 
If you already have, or if you’re some kind of literary rebel, please sit back and watch as I butcher this review.
 
I did not read the other books in this series.  I could get into why I choose this ARC, but it became a long winded story that I will only torture my children’s children with every holiday as they come up with clever excuses to leave the room…  Well them and anyone who reads my blog.  I thought that I would be hopelessly lost, but instead within pages I was hopelessly hooked.
 
Normally this would be a god send and I’d give this book 5 stars and send it on its merry way, but this time… This time it caused me several interesting problems.  1) I now had to find time to read all the Star Wars novels and everything Troy Denning had written.  2) I had to change the entire tone to the preamble of my review.  3) I had to tell my husband he was right.  Which I only did after lying on the ground (bed) and reenacting the scene from Jedi where Vader goes “tell your sister… *gasp*… you were right.”  Which in the end totally made it worth it.
 
My only real complaint was instantly falling in love with a character and looking him up on the wookieepedia to find some asshole had already updated it with the events of this novel and it referred to the character in the past tense.  When I turned to my husband and asked if that was some grave error, he shrugged and said “*blank* is one of my favorite characters.”  So yes, the character had died, because writers just love to fuck with our favorite characters.
 
I seriously don’t know what else to say beyond “it was awesome” that wouldn’t give away some kind of spoiler.  The writing was gripping.  Again, within pages I was drawn back into the galaxy and it’s most current plight.  Even though I was a bit lost, I never felt like I would never catch up.  I’ve read book ones that have left me more confused than this book nine.
 
The characters.  Well, all at once I was angry that there weren’t more movies where these characters could come to life and absurdly relieved that Lucas hadn’t had a chance to butcher them.  (Ok, so I’m still a bit cranky about the prequels, so sue me.)  Seriously, if you thought Han and Bobba Fett were badass you should meet some members of the New Jedi Order and affiliates.  Oh, and Han is still a badass.  (There was more here, but the urge to prevent spoilers had me biting my tongue.)
 
Troy Denning, I have put on a hat just so that I can take it off for you.
 
Ok, it wasn’t really a hat, it was a storm trooper helmet, but you get the general idea.
 
I give this book 4 Light Sabers.  It probably did deserve the five I wanted to give it, but I couldn’t honestly tell if that urge was more because of my rabid love of Star Wars or the actual quality of the book.  If you enjoy the Star Wars universe and enjoy reading space operas, give this entire series a chance.  Now please excuse me while I go hunt down whoever updated that wookieepedia article and practice force choking people…
 
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