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bianca_horkan's review against another edition
2.0
If this is the "last" of the EU that we used to know -- I have to say that I'm disappointed.
Since we can't give "half star" ratings -- I gave it a 3 out of 5.
Yes, there's a "happy ending" of sorts. I don't know what to say -- somewhere around the last half of the book it turned and kinda stopped feeling like Star Wars.
I don't even know what to write...I'm so conflicted.
Since we can't give "half star" ratings -- I gave it a 3 out of 5.
Yes, there's a "happy ending" of sorts. I don't know what to say -- somewhere around the last half of the book it turned and kinda stopped feeling like Star Wars.
I don't even know what to write...I'm so conflicted.
rogue_leader's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
This one started out rather slowly, in fact, the only reason I kept listening was that the reader was amazing. His Lando and Han were spot on and he did a fantastic job with all the other characters as well. Even though it was a rather slow read, I really enjoyed the ending, it was the only part of the book that actually felt like it was Star Wars. The rest felt more like a corporate espionage novel.
This one started out rather slowly, in fact, the only reason I kept listening was that the reader was amazing. His Lando and Han were spot on and he did a fantastic job with all the other characters as well. Even though it was a rather slow read, I really enjoyed the ending, it was the only part of the book that actually felt like it was Star Wars. The rest felt more like a corporate espionage novel.
kayfett's review against another edition
2.0
Ok, we all know I have issues with Troy Denning Star Wars books and this one is no different. I always look forward to the latest installment in the post-Return of the Jedi era, but I'll admit I had my doubts about this one. It was being sold as a step back from the universe as we know it now; the book was going to mention but not include all the extra characters we had written about through the years and give us one more adventure that included the original and beloved threesome. Now, I love Luke, Han, and Leia (who doesn't?) but I knew I was going to miss these other really well developed characters I had grown to love (Jaina, Allana, Jag, etc.) and I was skeptical about how they could write a captivating story about three people over 70 years old (or however old. The point is, they are probably well past the age of being fast, strong, and flexible, Force or no Force).
Reading the book didn't leave me feeling any better about it. After complaining several times about the story, my boyfriend told me to just "stop reading it, already." But the horrible truth about Star Wars books is if you miss one in the timeline, you're going to miss a lot of essential information for the next book whether they're writing it as part of the same series or not. Here are my specific concerns with this book:
1. Leia's character was just down right wrong. Denning took this gentle, diplomatic, smart, and strong woman and made her annoying, vengeful, cruel, and harsh. I get that there were circumstances that would make normal human beings act that way, but this is Leia Organa Solo we're talking about. The woman has been through way worse and handled it much more gracefully. She was completely unrecognizable in this book, and it saddened me.
2. The threesome was barely together. Maybe for a chapter near the beginning and a chapter or two at the end did we ever see Han, Luke, and Leia actually together. Ok, I get that they're never really together in the movies either. Sure, make that argument. But when you're selling a book based on the fact that it's focusing on our original three heroes having an adventure together, you should probably have them together more than you did. And even when they were together, it always felt like someone was the third wheel. Han and Luke never really connected much in this book, it was either Han and Leia and Luke on the side or Jedi Skywalker and Jedi Solo with Han on the side. It just wasn't quite what it said it was.
3. Can Jedi healing trances really be that powerful? Everything seemed just a little too easy and convenient for our heroes because they could magically heal themselves with the Force. When did this become a mechanism in the books to just do outrageous stuff that should probably kill people? It's annoying, it makes the story seem cheap, and it leaves me not really worrying at all about the characters during any kind of conflict. Luke got shot in the face five times? Oh, don't worry, he'll go into a Jedi healing trance and be ok in 24 hours.
4. Dear Mr. Denning, congratulations that you were bold enough to kill off both Anakin and Jacen Solo. Now please, shut up about it and maybe focus on writing a good story. (Seriously though, every chance this guy got to mention the fact that Anakin and Jacen were dead he took. Why? We know they're dead. We know how everyone felt about it. Why didn't he ever mention Mara Jade Skywalker's death? Is it because you weren't the one that wrote about it?)
5. STOP IT WITH THIS ACID TRIP FORCE NONSENSE. IT'S NOT ENTERTAINING.
6. Why are you going to introduce elements to a story that could lead to a potential good story line and then just blow them up in the end. Literally. Super-smart alien brothers that are trying to control the galaxy and are two steps ahead of the Jedi? Blow them up. Biots that introduce the possibility of cloning and making a super army? Blow them up. A monolith that holds raw Force power? Well, this one wasn't blown up but everyone just decided to leave it alone and sweep it under the rug and never visit or talk about it again. I don't understand why you would set up all this stuff and then just throw it away in the end.
In any case, it seems like this might be the last installment in this timeline. I don't know how everything is going to work now that Lucasfilm declared everything that's not part of the movie's is no longer canon. Which is awful, because I love these characters and I hate to see them go. I always want more, and I think we definitely deserve something that's not this as the last book we'll ever read of this timeline.
Reading the book didn't leave me feeling any better about it. After complaining several times about the story, my boyfriend told me to just "stop reading it, already." But the horrible truth about Star Wars books is if you miss one in the timeline, you're going to miss a lot of essential information for the next book whether they're writing it as part of the same series or not. Here are my specific concerns with this book:
1. Leia's character was just down right wrong. Denning took this gentle, diplomatic, smart, and strong woman and made her annoying, vengeful, cruel, and harsh. I get that there were circumstances that would make normal human beings act that way, but this is Leia Organa Solo we're talking about. The woman has been through way worse and handled it much more gracefully. She was completely unrecognizable in this book, and it saddened me.
2. The threesome was barely together. Maybe for a chapter near the beginning and a chapter or two at the end did we ever see Han, Luke, and Leia actually together. Ok, I get that they're never really together in the movies either. Sure, make that argument. But when you're selling a book based on the fact that it's focusing on our original three heroes having an adventure together, you should probably have them together more than you did. And even when they were together, it always felt like someone was the third wheel. Han and Luke never really connected much in this book, it was either Han and Leia and Luke on the side or Jedi Skywalker and Jedi Solo with Han on the side. It just wasn't quite what it said it was.
3. Can Jedi healing trances really be that powerful? Everything seemed just a little too easy and convenient for our heroes because they could magically heal themselves with the Force. When did this become a mechanism in the books to just do outrageous stuff that should probably kill people? It's annoying, it makes the story seem cheap, and it leaves me not really worrying at all about the characters during any kind of conflict. Luke got shot in the face five times? Oh, don't worry, he'll go into a Jedi healing trance and be ok in 24 hours.
4. Dear Mr. Denning, congratulations that you were bold enough to kill off both Anakin and Jacen Solo. Now please, shut up about it and maybe focus on writing a good story. (Seriously though, every chance this guy got to mention the fact that Anakin and Jacen were dead he took. Why? We know they're dead. We know how everyone felt about it. Why didn't he ever mention Mara Jade Skywalker's death? Is it because you weren't the one that wrote about it?)
5. STOP IT WITH THIS ACID TRIP FORCE NONSENSE. IT'S NOT ENTERTAINING.
6. Why are you going to introduce elements to a story that could lead to a potential good story line and then just blow them up in the end. Literally. Super-smart alien brothers that are trying to control the galaxy and are two steps ahead of the Jedi? Blow them up. Biots that introduce the possibility of cloning and making a super army? Blow them up. A monolith that holds raw Force power? Well, this one wasn't blown up but everyone just decided to leave it alone and sweep it under the rug and never visit or talk about it again. I don't understand why you would set up all this stuff and then just throw it away in the end.
In any case, it seems like this might be the last installment in this timeline. I don't know how everything is going to work now that Lucasfilm declared everything that's not part of the movie's is no longer canon. Which is awful, because I love these characters and I hate to see them go. I always want more, and I think we definitely deserve something that's not this as the last book we'll ever read of this timeline.
a_chickletz's review against another edition
2.0
I'm giving this two stars because half the time I had no idea what the fuck was going on. The ending solidified it, too. I felt the best way to summarize this book is that it's an acid trip in the Star Wars universe.
The characters - Leia, Han, Lando, C3PO... they were all in character.
The reason I rated it down is that I didn't understand the story that well. I also noticed that it would have REALLY HELPED if I read the New Jedi Order series because there was a lot of characters that were carried over from then, and incidents that were talked about that happened that I had no idea if I should feel sad or happy about.
Probably would rate it higher if I knew what was going on behind the scenes, and if I discovered what the actual hell happened. I may come back to this book. The future is unknown.
The characters - Leia, Han, Lando, C3PO... they were all in character.
The reason I rated it down is that I didn't understand the story that well. I also noticed that it would have REALLY HELPED if I read the New Jedi Order series because there was a lot of characters that were carried over from then, and incidents that were talked about that happened that I had no idea if I should feel sad or happy about.
Probably would rate it higher if I knew what was going on behind the scenes, and if I discovered what the actual hell happened. I may come back to this book. The future is unknown.
velmorite's review against another edition
4.0
this was so good i really enjoyed it. i think i definitely enjoyed it a lot more because i'd read the fate of the jedi series before and it tied in super well. it would have definitely been a good jumping off point for the next legends stories, it kind of retired luke, han and leia which meant those stories could focus more on the newer jedi cough sword of the jedi cough anyway.. yeah i loved it i got good skykhai interactions and now im currently in denial about the fact that there's literally no more ben or vestara content im actually so desperate i need them back right now
birdmanseven's review against another edition
3.0
This gets a third star because of the Luke/Leia Jedi team-ups. That rarely happens and I really enjoyed those scenes. Other than that it started strong, but the story got muddy and long.
I wish I'd known I was reading the end of the old-school expanded universe at the time, but only discovered that later. RIP Star Wars Expanded Universe. You served us well. Tune in to our discussion here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-17-the-expanded-universe-strikes-back
I wish I'd known I was reading the end of the old-school expanded universe at the time, but only discovered that later. RIP Star Wars Expanded Universe. You served us well. Tune in to our discussion here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-17-the-expanded-universe-strikes-back
readingwithrebeccanicole's review against another edition
DNF 78%
The entire story was one long, boring chase.
Honestly, I was just here for Vestara Khai but she was reduced to a one-dimensional villain.
And what was up with vengeful Leia?
The entire story was one long, boring chase.
Honestly, I was just here for Vestara Khai but she was reduced to a one-dimensional villain.
And what was up with vengeful Leia?
elliot_dw's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Woof, what a weird mess of a book. The plot seemed to veer all over the place, and the big dramatic conclusion didn’t really have much to do with the rest of the book. Also, it felt very grim for Star Wars - I know that the EU got kind of dark in its later stories, but there was a lot more mass murder and torture in this than I expected. I am always glad when Han gets some real time to shine as a character, though, which I liked here. Admittedly, I haven’t read the Fate of the Jedi series, so I cared less about some parts of Crucible that were clearly wrapping up stuff from that series. But still, I’m not sure much actually got wrapped up? Like, what was the point of having Vestara even be in this book? It also seems like Star Wars characters are forever having revelations about how the Force is neither only light or only dark, they both are necessary, etc. but it never means anything or goes anywhere. Overall, this book had some charm (it is Star Wars, after all), but it’s a bit of a bummer that this is how the EU ended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Blood and Violence
dr_matthew_lloyd's review against another edition
4.0
There's something quite comforting about Crucible, a relatively low-stakes adventure for Han, Luke, and Leia that largely ignores the fact that the characters are in their sixties and seventies to send them through a roller coaster of space battles, sabacc games, and weird Force energy. I was coming back to the old Star Wars EU having not read anything set after Luke married Mara Jade (although I kept up with things using Wookipedia sometimes), but it didn't really feel like I needed much background. They were off on an adventure in a new bit of the galaxy, meeting up with Lando along the way for an extra bit of movie-related nostalgia. To be honest, it almost feels like at this point there wasn't much left to connect this back to the movies apart from the character names and some words - the Force powers Luke and Leia unleash are unlike anything a Jedi does in the movies; there are just loads of Sith hanging around, out there somewhere; far, far more of the back-references are to events of the last in-universe twenty years than the battle against the Empire of the heroes' youth, some forty years ago. And while it didn't entirely feel like the novel had any stakes, it was fun to go on a last ride with these guys.
As I listened to the audiobook, I should comment on Marc Thompson's narration. Thompson does a really good Harrison Ford and a pretty good Mark Hamill. But his Leia... Well, it's actually an awful lot like his Padmé and several other women's voices. Some of these women are supposed to be quite deep voiced, but not when Thompson voices them! It's kind of off-putting, especially given how good his Han and Luke are.
As I listened to the audiobook, I should comment on Marc Thompson's narration. Thompson does a really good Harrison Ford and a pretty good Mark Hamill. But his Leia... Well, it's actually an awful lot like his Padmé and several other women's voices. Some of these women are supposed to be quite deep voiced, but not when Thompson voices them! It's kind of off-putting, especially given how good his Han and Luke are.
skywalker07's review against another edition
1.0
Yikes. That might've been the worst Star Wars book I've ever read. Literally never held my attention, and it was just a series of Luke, Han, and Leia being brutally injured and useless the entire time, and didn't progress the story at all. What a depressing send off for the Legends era.