Marvolo
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Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines Discussion (Spoilers, ho!)Well, it's time to open up that proverbial can of worms, and kick off some discussion of the latest installment of the Legacy of the Force series, Bloodlines, by Karen Traviss.
This thread is meant for general discussion, reviews, and the like. Feel free to start up a new thread if you wish to discuss a specific aspect of the novel separately (for example, "Jacen's characterization in Bloodlines," or "What in the nine Corellian hells was Luke thinking in Bloodlines?!?" etc.)
One last note: from this moment forward, this thread will be spoiler zone. Again, THIS THREAD CONTAINS SPOILERS. So if you have not yet read Bloodlines and do not wish to be spoiled, turn back now!
So here we go, Bloodlines in all of its Mandalorian cover glory.
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Marvolo
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This is Marvolo's report at 160ish pages, also known as the "I've read 160 pages and I'm angry already!" complaining post. I've already spoilered myself for this book, since it didn't show up in bookstores until September 3rd.
Here we go...
I didn’t mind that the prologue was told in the first person, or that it was narrated by the third coolest bounty hunter ever.* It was interesting enough. Not only is Boba all badass as an ageing bounty hunter, he has something of a code of honour to follow. And, apparently, a daughter. Anyhow, the prologue was entertaining enough.
Then we get Jacen urging the Chief of State to launch a pre-emptive strike against Corellia.
What?
Did I read that right? Jacen Solo, the teenager who had to consider the moral implications of raising a lightsaber to defend himself during the Yuuzhan Vong war, the man who strongly opposed the use of the bioweapon alpha red against the Yuuzhan Vong, deciding instead to venture on a quest into the unknown regions to find the planet that may or may not have been the peaceful solution to the war, based on the dubious advice of a former Jedi. This is Jacen Solo, telling the President to bring a planetary system back in line through use of force. Now, I could get into a long dissertation on the lack of continuity with Jacen’s character, but I won’t do it here. My point is that it feels wrong. Jacen’s downward slide just turned into a plunge headfirst from a cliff, and this apparently happened when no one was watching.
Next, we flip back to Boba Fett and his trials and tribulations (and my apathetic response). It looks like Boba himself is one of the many fans who read Republic Commando and immediately made it their mission to denounce the evils of the Kaminoans. “They exploited the clones to fight in a war they had nothing to do with!” they say. “Oh, the humanity! Oh, the tragedy! Won’t somebody please think of the children! Is my blog on the front page yet?”
When I first heard this old argument, I thought, “interesting, I hadn’t considered that before.” These days, my opinion basically amounts to “yeah, fine, it’s immoral and tragic and whatever, NOW WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT IT?”
And now, we see that Boba Fett has jumped on the bandwagon. Of course, I would understand his reasons for doing so if he were a Kantian scholar indulging in a spot of historical revisionism. But this is Boba Fett we’re talking about here. And in case anyone failed to notice, he’s a ruthless bounty hunter. Since when do they have any concern for the lives of individuals? Sure, they care about the pocketbooks of those who hire them. Isn't it a tad hypocritical to have a bounty hunter who kills for a living, according to whatever contract he signs to make a quick buck (or million) going on about the value of individual life and how the Kaminoans disregarded it completely?
Then some other stuff happens, and we inevitably make our way back to the completely superfluous Boba Fett storyline. He meets someone named Mirta, who appears to be the Mandalorian manifestation of a Mary Sue. Needless to say, this character is annoying me.
Luke and Mara call each other a few new terms of endearment, like "honey." At first, I maintained my suspension of disbelief, justifying their bizarre and seemingly out of character choice of words with the idea that Luke and Mara are much older now, so the change is not completely unbelievable. But after a while, it started to annoy me. Anyone should know that Luke and Mara have never called each other "honey," unless one had never read another Star Wars book in their life. Oh wait...
It's not all bad. The book itself is well-written. Jacen, once one forgets his rapid personality shift, is a scary, yet sympathetic villain. Ben is well-written too, as a young boy who has been forced to mature pratically overnight, and is struggling to understand the implications of the events taking place around him.
But the problem with this book is that too many aspects seem completely out of place. The Boba Fett plotline is, for the moment, absolutely useless. Honestly, I wouldn't mind reading about Boba Fett if he actually had something to do with what was going on in the rest of the novel. You know, the part about the heroes of the story. Wedge, Tycho, and other former Rogue/Wraith squadron members are absent, despite playing a large role in Betrayal. Instead, we get Mr. Badass Bounty Hunter on a mission to find some minor prequel character in an effort to prolong his own life. The characters, while interesting to follow, do not seem to fit with their previous characterizations in the Star Wars universe.
Finally, although I have not yet finished reading, Bloodlines appears to be suffering from the apathy-inducing effects of the sit-talk-talk-sit-talk-sit-bang bang bang-end formula that brought Triple Zero down. This is supposed to be space opera! Betrayal was space opera! Bloodlines so far is a bunch of people constantly sitting down and talking! Will it end with an anti-climactic action scene? Only time will tell, but it certainly looks that way at the moment. I am a reader who prefers not to have a ton of action in a book, but this is taking it to an extreme. In the first hundred pages, the only event remotely resembling action is a bombing, and once our brains begin to register the fact that this may constitute action, it's already over.
Urgent memo: THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SPACE OPERA. Thank you.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great book. It's just not a great Star Wars book.
I think that's almost everything I wanted to say. I will certainly make more comments about the book when I have finished.
On an even more unhappy note, I would like to point out that I have never before been this cynical about a Star Wars novel to date. I've read reviews of Vector Prime that bashed it, yet I kept an open mind and ended up loving it. Yet this time, I seem to be finding the bad in everything, to the point where it rips me out of the fictional universe and causes me to shake my head in frustration. I won't let this book ruin my love for the EU, but I'm afraid that it has made me quicker to find fault with something I encounter in a Star Wars book. I will say, however, that I sincerely hope that Troy Denning can fix some of this mess and restore my love for the EU.
*Jubal Early wins, Jango places second. Don’t argue.
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hansgirl3
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Once again, I have no urge at all to read this particular "unit" of the Legacy books. Thank you! I think I'll just skip right over it.
Wanna play leap frog? 
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Marvolo
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| hansgirl3 wrote: | | Once again, I have no urge at all to read this particular "unit" of the Legacy books. Thank you! I think I'll just skip right over it. |
While reading Bloodlines, I have constantly been thinking, "Help me Troy Denning, you're my only hope!"
I find it annoying, though, that every author seems to be including their favourite characters, and letting the others disappear altogether. In Betrayal, Wedge and the old Rogue squadron crew played a pretty large role, yet in Bloodlines, they are nowhere to be seen. In Bloodlines, Boba Fett shows up takes up a significant portion of the book, and I'm betting we won't see him again until the next book by Traviss. And it looks like Denning will be using characters like Alema Rar, who had previously disappeared. What I liked about the New Jedi Order was that minor characters were consistently being featured, and new characters always played a significant role. But so far, the Legacy series is failing spectacularly at emulating this. Characters are brought in, then fall off the map just as quickly when the next book comes, and it's author favours writing about another character. Continuity, people! Where the heck is Wedge?!?
That's my rant for the day.
Denning will make it right. I hope...
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