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samurai_chris's review against another edition
4.0
A fun way to close out the Old Republic books and tie some of the characters together.
milo_afc's review against another edition
5.0
So this is another NetGalley title, and I’m really starting to get used to this now. As long as I don’t resist the urge to request loads of titles, I think I’ll be okay. Anyway, NetGalley statement over, let’s cut to the chase. Drew Karpyshyn’s debut to the Old Republic Universe is not just the best novel that I’ve read in that setting, but one of the best Star Wars novels that I’ve read, anywhere.
Okay, maybe I haven’t read anything by Timothy Zahn yet, but my point still stands. Annihilation is epic, and would be great to watch on the big screen as it I felt that the novel was very cinematic. Although we’re unlikely to see a Star Wars film based on a tie-in novel, I think that Annihilation should be the one to look out for. It’s superb.
"The Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord’s attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy.
But Karrid’s ruthless determination is more than matched in the steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force—but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood. As a top covert agent for the Republic, he struck a crucial blow against the Empire by exposing and destroying a Sith superweapon arsenal—which makes him the ideal operative for a daring and dangerous mission to end Ascendant Spear’s reign of terror."
Joined by hot-headed smuggler Teff’ith, with whom he has an inexplicable bond, and wise Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural, Darth Karrid’s former master, Theron must match wits and weapons with a battle-tested crew of the most cold-blooded dark side disciples. But time is brutally short. And if they don’t seize their one chance to succeed, they will surely have countless opportunities to die.
It’s always great to be reading a Star Wars title again. The last title set in this universe that I read was written by the same author, and was Path of Destruction. Whilst it was enjoyable, it sadly wasn’t a perfect read. Neither is Annihilation a perfect read either, but I still loved every second of it. The characters are well-thought out, the action scenes are epic, and we get a real sense that this is Star Wars, and not just any old sci-fi novel.
The characters are well visualized and even though the story may be too short to expand on them, Karpyshyn gives it his best shot at creating a relatively small dramatis personae with varying strengths and weaknesses. As this is a tie in to The Old Republic, Annihilation makes use of several characters from various factions. We get a Han Solo like character in Theron Shan, the alien smuggler Teff’ith, the Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural. Each provides their own element to the story and not once did I feel that any of the characters were there simply for humour or as a plot device. Maybe given a few longer pages, Annihilation could have developed the characters more, but I felt that that would probably disrupt the breakneck pace of the story.
Read the rest of the review (with Shadowhawk's review): http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/swtor-annihilation-bane-of-kings-and-shadowhawk/.
Okay, maybe I haven’t read anything by Timothy Zahn yet, but my point still stands. Annihilation is epic, and would be great to watch on the big screen as it I felt that the novel was very cinematic. Although we’re unlikely to see a Star Wars film based on a tie-in novel, I think that Annihilation should be the one to look out for. It’s superb.
"The Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord’s attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy.
But Karrid’s ruthless determination is more than matched in the steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force—but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood. As a top covert agent for the Republic, he struck a crucial blow against the Empire by exposing and destroying a Sith superweapon arsenal—which makes him the ideal operative for a daring and dangerous mission to end Ascendant Spear’s reign of terror."
Joined by hot-headed smuggler Teff’ith, with whom he has an inexplicable bond, and wise Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural, Darth Karrid’s former master, Theron must match wits and weapons with a battle-tested crew of the most cold-blooded dark side disciples. But time is brutally short. And if they don’t seize their one chance to succeed, they will surely have countless opportunities to die.
It’s always great to be reading a Star Wars title again. The last title set in this universe that I read was written by the same author, and was Path of Destruction. Whilst it was enjoyable, it sadly wasn’t a perfect read. Neither is Annihilation a perfect read either, but I still loved every second of it. The characters are well-thought out, the action scenes are epic, and we get a real sense that this is Star Wars, and not just any old sci-fi novel.
The characters are well visualized and even though the story may be too short to expand on them, Karpyshyn gives it his best shot at creating a relatively small dramatis personae with varying strengths and weaknesses. As this is a tie in to The Old Republic, Annihilation makes use of several characters from various factions. We get a Han Solo like character in Theron Shan, the alien smuggler Teff’ith, the Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural. Each provides their own element to the story and not once did I feel that any of the characters were there simply for humour or as a plot device. Maybe given a few longer pages, Annihilation could have developed the characters more, but I felt that that would probably disrupt the breakneck pace of the story.
Read the rest of the review (with Shadowhawk's review): http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/swtor-annihilation-bane-of-kings-and-shadowhawk/.
bardinhell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shawn_afk's review against another edition
3.0
I had a fun time with this final entry in the Old Republic publishing line. It helps a lot that Theron is already a character that I really like from the game. Probably my favorite of the four books.
_melarchives_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
this was actually so so fun, best book from old republic era so far.
blam's review against another edition
5.0
So it is difficult for me to be unbiaised in this book review, considering that I started reading the book already loving the character of Theron Shan. I play the video game Star Wars The Old Republic a lot (like, a lot) and Theron is one of my favourite NPCs of all time. Everything about him is great, from being the son of a legacy of Jedis without having the Force himself, to being both an excellent agent while being a mess in his personnal life, to of course being one of the best romance of the game.
I was a little concerned though, when picking up the book, that Theron would be treated like some sort of James Bond character. Just by looking at the cover, he looks nothing like in the game! I didn’t want Theron to be turned into some square-jawed manly man. To me, the fact that he can be both the best spy AND kind of a disaster at the same time is part of the appeal of the character.
Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about! The Theron in the book is funny, improvises plans a lot, and ends up being ambushed by unwanted family drama just as much as he does in the video game. Which is great.
The plot of the book revolves around three interconnected plotlines. In the first one, Theron is still hung up over the death of the jedi who raised him. The man gave his life to save a Twilek criminal named Teff’ith. Theron feels like he should keep an eye on her and protect her, despiteTeff’ith vehemently dissagreeing. The second plot line that come in is the main story of the book, namely that Theron gets assigned to a mission to take down the most powerful ship in the Empire. Which gets complicated by the third and final plot line in the book, which is Theron’s sudden meeting with his father, the chief of the Republic’s military. (If you played the game, this is not a spoiler.) Neither of them knew until that point that they were related, which causes a lot of tension, especially since Theron isn’t coping as well as he’d like to pretend about the entire « being the son of a jedi » thing.
All three of these things end up being relevant, as Theron gets sent on the mission with Teff’ith and a jedi master on the orders of his father. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan. But our boy isn’t the best agent for nothing!
The book is a pretty entertaining ride through imperial space, cover missions, hacking battles and firefights. There’s not a dull moment, and all of the characters are pretty interesting. Of course, like I said, I already love most of these characters, so I’m a poor judge. But I loved seeing the references to the game and getting to know more about the universe of Star Wars The Old Republic, especially covering a period between the end of the main storyline and the beginning of the expensions. So many details, at the beginning of the book, delighted me because if you’ve played through what the fans call the « vanilla » game, you’ll read references to stuff that you, personnally, did through your player character! How fun is that!
In conclusion, Theron Shan is the best, 10/10
I was a little concerned though, when picking up the book, that Theron would be treated like some sort of James Bond character. Just by looking at the cover, he looks nothing like in the game! I didn’t want Theron to be turned into some square-jawed manly man. To me, the fact that he can be both the best spy AND kind of a disaster at the same time is part of the appeal of the character.
Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about! The Theron in the book is funny, improvises plans a lot, and ends up being ambushed by unwanted family drama just as much as he does in the video game. Which is great.
The plot of the book revolves around three interconnected plotlines. In the first one, Theron is still hung up over the death of the jedi who raised him. The man gave his life to save a Twilek criminal named Teff’ith. Theron feels like he should keep an eye on her and protect her, despiteTeff’ith vehemently dissagreeing. The second plot line that come in is the main story of the book, namely that Theron gets assigned to a mission to take down the most powerful ship in the Empire. Which gets complicated by the third and final plot line in the book, which is Theron’s sudden meeting with his father, the chief of the Republic’s military. (If you played the game, this is not a spoiler.) Neither of them knew until that point that they were related, which causes a lot of tension, especially since Theron isn’t coping as well as he’d like to pretend about the entire « being the son of a jedi » thing.
All three of these things end up being relevant, as Theron gets sent on the mission with Teff’ith and a jedi master on the orders of his father. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan. But our boy isn’t the best agent for nothing!
The book is a pretty entertaining ride through imperial space, cover missions, hacking battles and firefights. There’s not a dull moment, and all of the characters are pretty interesting. Of course, like I said, I already love most of these characters, so I’m a poor judge. But I loved seeing the references to the game and getting to know more about the universe of Star Wars The Old Republic, especially covering a period between the end of the main storyline and the beginning of the expensions. So many details, at the beginning of the book, delighted me because if you’ve played through what the fans call the « vanilla » game, you’ll read references to stuff that you, personnally, did through your player character! How fun is that!
In conclusion, Theron Shan is the best, 10/10
eridal582's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
fionasongbird's review against another edition
5.0
Really fun spy story in true Star Wars style. I really like Theron and Teffith. The climax is intense and gripping, with a satisfying conclusion.