Legacies of Betrayal: Let the Galaxy Burn (Horus Heresy)

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Serpent (**) Not sure about this one really. I might be missing the overall context w/in the HH setting. Nelani Dinn. Oh dear. I can almost hear the scissors at work. Cutting through the cardboard. She is... Jedi. Idealistic. Beautiful. In love with Jacen. When she was described I almost immediately envisioned her in the Trekkie red shirt. Modest yet form fitting, of course. And I gave her a generous 50% chance of surviving the end of the novel. She did not. And I was not sorry. I mean seriously, she was designed to die by Jacen's hand as a symbol for his rite of passage to Sith-hood and that was it. No reader with a decent sense of drama could avoid seeing it coming. To a large extent, I share this annoyance, especially since this is the fourth such collection of short stories since book 10 of the HH series (aptly, if unoriginally, titled “Tales of Heresy”). For anyone who has read some or all of the previous thirty titles in this collection (and/or the “audio dramas”), one cannot help the feeling that the authors could have been a bit more imaginative. This is where Aaron Allston's Legacy of the Force: Betrayal comes in. Where Kylo Ren is flat, uninteresting and bland, Jacen Solo is nuanced, complex and prodigious. Where the new movies' Luke is a batty, frightened old man, the late EU version of Luke is wise, deep and paternal. Without intending for this review to be a bash on Disney's interpretation of the Star Wars franchise, I feel like in 2022 this novel shows me more than ever before what I wanted the new movies to be. This book was slightly better then the last few Star Wars I've tried, including a number of amusing references to previous events, both in-universe and out (Tycho asked, "Is Han-" "He's fine," Leia said. "Han shot first.") to the point where I was very surprised to finish the book without running onto one "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Since Luke does NOT seem to be finding out what is happening, that means either no one is telling him OR he doesn’t care. Which is also STOOPID. Mara is smart-smart-smart, though. I will leave it at that.The tassel artifact that was found after that failed diplomatic mission is key to drawing Jacen to the planet of Lorrd, where Jacen and Ben meet up with Nelani Dinn, a Jedi Knight who definitely has a crush on Jacen, and the trio keep getting drawn into these dangerous scenarios that seem designed to judge how Jacen responds to situations. The tassel first caught his attention because one of its lines translates as “He will strengthen himself through pain,” and Jacen feels like that’s talking directly to what he experienced during his time in the Embrace of Pain. The meanings of the other tassel parts also seem to be prophecies that relate to Jacen, and one is in a Sith language. Betrayal introduces the two main conflicts of the Legacy of the Force series: the beginning of a civil war between the Galactic Alliance and some of its member systems, as well as the beginning of Jacen’s fall, courtesy of the Dark Lady Lumiya. There are also big revelations about Vergere’s nature that will have ramifications for everything to come (although your mileage may vary what you think of those). I did feel that Betrayal was trying to do too much at times—that in trying to set up both Jacen's downfall and this galaxy-wide war, the book ended up with a bunch of exposition about long-standing tensions that have been simmering below the surface, without actually showing us many concrete examples of these tensions before the Galactic Alliance vs Corellia standoff.

Only from out of great conflict can true heroes arise. With the galaxy aflame and war on an unimaginable scale tearing the Imperium apart, champions venture onto countless fields of battle in service to their masters.

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As a fan of the Star Wars (now designated Legends) books throughout my life, I had spent much of my youth reading the seemingly unending stream of stories (some better than others) up until about 10 years ago, when, upon completely the Yuuzhan Vong series, chose to step away from Star Wars novels and explore other genres and writers. Now with Episode 7 on the horizon and the de-canonization of the Legends novels, I chose to return to galaxy far far away in something of a farewell tour. I wanted to see what ideas will make it to the films and TV series, what won't, and what will be changed and inverted in unexpected ways.

I was frustrated by the development of Jacen, simply because at the beginnning of the book he was finally the jedi I wanted him to be in the last couple of series. However, since I already knew his fate in the series, I understand and accept what happened. I just felt like the argument wasn't presented well and Jacen's sudden turn and flat-out murder of his random friend was really sudden and weird. The plot was interesting and well paced in my opinion, and I was never lost or bored by any of the more politically based story lines. I like the idea of the characters we love being at odds with each other, even if it ultimately doesn't last, and there was a lot of fun to be had in the war on/with Corellia. Warmaster (*****) Short and poignant. Similar to an earlier short about Horus right after the Emperor makes him Warmaster. The actual “Betrayal” as the title refers too seemed to take SOOOO long to happen. But it’s Jacen Solo’s story, the son of Han Solo. This takes place roughly around the time the new movies COULD have happened, so I choose to see this story as alternatives to what we received.Amazing. Following the events of the Shadow Crusade, we see Kharn in the fighting pits. Can’t say much without spoiling it for you. I will only repeat, Kharn is one of the most interesting characters in HH/40k and every piece featuring him is a pleasure to read. Only from out of great conflict can true heroes arise. With the galaxy aflame and war on an unimaginable scale tearing the Imperium apart, champions of light and darkness venture onto countless fields of battle in service to their masters. Also compare the divisive comic series Dark Empire. Luke comes face to face with the resurrected Emperor whom asks Luke to become his apprentice. Luke takes him up on the offer not because he wants to but because he has no chance of defeating the Emperor as is and gaining power from the Dark side is a calculated risk (that utterly fails by the way). Yet again I realize that anthologies are not my thing. This one had some real gems and some fillers squeezed together in a book, seemingly chosen at random. I tried to give a short, spoiler-free review to each of the short stories. Not sure if I’m gonna ever go that again, some seem pretty pointless.