are the Fate of the Jedi books any good?

[Darksider]

I've pretty much been completely turned off to the post-ROTJ EU after LOTF, but I saw that the local borders has Outcast on sale, and that it's written by Alliston, one of my favorite SW writers.

Has anyone read any of this series? Is it any good, and does it even try to fix some of the shit from LOTF(Mando-wank, Chief of state Dala )?

[Darth Paxis]

Spoiler

So far the series is focusing around political struggles between Daala and the Jedi, while Luke and Ben go off to try to figure out why Jacen went bad. Also, Jedi are starting to go crazy, thinking that everyone around them has been replaced for some reason. So Daala is featured heavily, but the Mandos don't show up really until book 3, and even then, they seem to be portrayed a lot differently, in my opinion. There are also some indications that they are making more connections with the legacy comics. I didn't think that they were that bad, but I didn't have any real problems with LotF either, so that doesn't really mean anything.

[Darth Yan]

Jaina and Jagged finally decide to get married, which after six years of angsty bullshit is really refreshing. Although the main villian is more appropriate in an HP Lovecraft story.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Jaina and Jagged finally decide to get married, which after six years of angsty bullshit is really refreshing. Although the main villian is more appropriate in an HP Lovecraft story.

Jaina and Jag getting married, setting up for the Fel dynasty. I'd be interested to see how that comes about.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Lol, no more Jedi Princess for Jaina, now it's all Empress Knight!

Seriously, though, I might pick it up now.

PS: I can't believe someone actually said they 'didn't see any real problems with LotF'.

[Darth Yan]

They are trying to adress the Daala absurdity by saying that Han wasn't really thinking clearly at the time; he outright states that in hindsight it was a stupid move. Also, when they meet Jacen's spirit, he's still a douche, and we find out why he fell.

[Darth Hoth]

Jaina and Jagged finally decide to get married, which after six years of angsty bullshit is really refreshing. Although the main villian is more appropriate in an HP Lovecraft story.

Do we get another resurgent Sith? Or is it just some other Dark Jedi cult?

[Darth Yan]

some eldritch abomination named abeloth that was kept sealed by Centerpoint and whom the Maw was essentially a prison for. there is a cult, but luke curbstomoed their "elite" in less then a minute while he was wasted, so I doubt they are a threat in the grand scheme of things.

[Anguirus]

"Abeloth?" Seriously? There is a Lovecraftian monster species in D&D called aboleths.

[Darth Yan]

oh jesus

[Master_Baerne]

My reaction exactly.

[Darksider]

I wonder what the "creative" thought process was there.

"Hey guys. We're finally trying an enemy who isn't yet another fucking Sith Lord, and she's an eldritch abomination from the maw. What should we call her?"

"I don't know, just grab a name from another franchise that makes sense and re-arrange the letters a little bit"

[Stofsk]

Ok, so the name is a bit off and maybe they should have ironed it out some more before going to press with it. But is the execution - beside the name - any good?

[Darth Yan]

she's the one who made Ben afraid to use the force, can drive people insane, and feeds of their force energy; and she looks like a freakshow attraction. Plus she seems to be one with this planet; she uses the world to kill off at least 3 dark jedi (the sith in it are descended from survivors of the great hyperspace war who didn't make it to the final battle, and who then conned the locals into thinking that they were their prophesized gods. Sort of like what Cortes did to the Aztecs.) Her whole character hasn't been flushed out, but she seems to be pure evil.) The sith do have galactic ambitions, but seeing as their elite were wasted by an extremely tired jedi, the most extreme combat they'll be in will probably involve societal upheavel.

[Darksider]

Well, I just finished reading Outcast, and it was pretty good. I liked the characterizations, and the plot seemed decent. I liked the glimpse of the Galactic Alliance's legal system, something we really haven't seen since Corran Horn's trial in the X-wing books.

The kessel plot was decent, and I like the idea of getting a glimpse of other interpretations of the force that they seem to be going with in the Luke/Ben subplot, and the humor was well done. (I especially liked Jag's method of keeping Jaina's cover.)

I thought it was pretty good, but i'll have to read the other books in the series to see if it was anything more than Alliston's top-notch writing.

EDIT: Is alliston writing more books in the series? I know they're doing a rotation, is he on it?

[Darth Yan]

yep.

[Darth Yan]

the other author's named Christie Golden. I enjoyed her warcraft books, and I honestly preferred Omen to Outcast, but apparently a few people at TFN loath her. She's done tie in work for Warcraft, Starcraft, and Star Trek, and unlike Traviss doesn't seem to have Mary Sue characters (KT apparently created her own mary sues in Gears of War), which seems to be a positive thing. Still, time will tell if she's a good star wars author.

[Guardsman Bass]

the other author's named Christie Golden. I enjoyed her warcraft books, and I honestly preferred Omen to Outcast, but apparently a few people at TFN loath her. She's done tie in work for Warcraft, Starcraft, and Star Trek, and unlike Traviss doesn't seem to have Mary Sue characters (KT apparently created her own mary sues in Gears of War), which seems to be a positive thing. Still, time will tell if she's a good star wars author.

How did Golden's book turn out? I've read some of her Warcraft books, and while they were usually enjoyable with some decent characterization, Golden never seemed to be able to really capture the -scale- of events going on (like the vastness of the war being fought between the Orcs and Humans, etc).

[Darth Yan]

Omen's okay. TFN gave it universally negative reviews, but the action was good, the characters are decent, the dialogue isn't too bad. Apparently her characterization of the Sith Girl Vestara got praised. The journalist subplot was enjoyable, and the story portrays Daala as an out and out villian, and the scene at the animal exhibit was awesome. My advice, skimm through it at the bookstore, and if you don't like it, don't get it. Still, her books feel like STar Wars, and although the idea of the sith is annoying, I'm not sure she's the one who suggested it, and it's okay for a tired concept.

[VT-16]

Some years ago I joked that they'd add Naga Sadow to the future SW books when they run out of everything else. This is basically halfway there with the shipwrecked Sith. Apart from that, I'm a bit intrigued at the possible Celestial connection, given Luke and Ben are visiting places the SW Atlas credits them with building (Kathol Rift, The Maw, Centerpoint Station etc.).

[Darth Yan]

The only connection they've got is that they sealed away the big bad Abeloth using a combination of Centerpoint and the Maw. When Centerpoint was destroyed in Fury, she started to expand a lot more influence, and she's replenishing energy by luring force users to some dimension where she can feed on them by severing their minds from their bodies. When they die completely, she feeds on them. Apparently the insanity is a way of luring Jedi to the Maw so they can enter the dimesion, allowing her to feed on their essence, thus weaking her bonds.

[Connor MacLeod]

It sounds a bit like they're recycling part of "The Crystal Star" (another force sucking interdimensional warp entity.. whee) and swiping the "ancient alien super races" idea you get in alot of sci fi (eddorians/arisians, Shadows/Vorlons, etc.)

[Darth Yan]

At least it's not another Sith. When Jacen appears, he says what motivated him was a vision of a dark armored warrior on a golden throne. He didn't want the vision to pass, so he worked to stop it. Sort of like Revan in Kotor II, and just as stupid. He's not apologetic, but he's not trying to justify it. Also, Abeloth, can manipulate a whole world, and uses the vines to hang a sith. Personally, I don't think the Sith are going to be presented as a sith.
The strike team member Vestara escapes to Dathomir, and their's fanboy speculation that she and Ben will fall in love. This is her by the way: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/starw ... estara.jpg

[Thanas]

Well, Golden was one of the best ST Novelists around - her mirror image book of TNG is better than the DS9 depiction of it.

[Darth Yan]

you said homecoming sucked though.