REVIEW (Spoilers): Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse
The Fate of the Jedi series has been an interesting experience for me. I’ve loved it in parts, hated it in others. It’s made me book-chucking angry and even inspired me in part to create this blog. FANgirl eventually led to some great opportunities for me to contribute to the fandom as a long-time Star Wars fan. One of the best parts of building and creating FANgirl has been developing a platform for many fans to share their opinions and experiences. I’ve met a lot of amazing people as a Star Wars fan and geek girl blogger, and I was extremely excited when a longtime member of the Lomin Ale Cantina agreed to take on the review of Apocalypse. So welcome to FANgirl’s newest contributor, Kay, with her spoiler review. If you want to talk about the book, please join us in the book discussion thread in our forums.
Kay is FANgirl's resident geek fashion expert and co-host of the Hyperspace Theories podcast. She reviews books and movies for the site with a heart for storytelling and a mind that likes to analyze. Kay's been a guest on various podcasts sharing her love and knowledge of storytelling, film-making, fashion, and of course, Star Wars.
Most days are filled with her work as a creative services professional - designing websites & branding, photographing, voice acting, editing, and more. Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, costuming, and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord.
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will we ever know your opinion about Apocalypse, Tricia? or for that matter, Riptide. you hadn’t released a review about that, i noticed.
Thanks, Kay! I stopped reading FotJ somewhere in the middle, maybe for the same reasons that you called the series “a rushing tide”, but that review was very thorough and enjoyable. Great job.
Daniel, I definitely have an opinion on Apocalypse but as far as reviews I think it’s good for others to get their voice heard. Riptide was a tough book; I haven’t finished yet. I just kept putting it down and having to force myself back to it. The Mara clone didn’t sit well with me and I had trouble connecting with the characters.
I will be discussing Apocalypse and FotJ on a broader level for its storytelling and Star Wars themes.
Thanks, Megan!
I definitely understand why people would stop reading this series before they got to the end. I felt too many of the books repeated certain elements – so it was like the tide would come in, then it would go out, then it would come back in again… and I just wanted to move forward. For me, Apocalypse finally broke free of that.
I disagree with your angle on Vestara. I for one had put a lot of hope that a sith-born character did not have to be damned at birth and was deeply disappointed how the authors shafted her at the end without her having a chance to explain circumstanse or repent and with Ben thinking she was worse than she really was. Seriously, there are jedi including Ben and Luke who have done some nasty stuff at one point in their life and been redeemed. It is one thing for someone like Jacen to consciously chose a path to the dark side and call it evil, but for someone born into a society of evil to be danmed for backsliding at certain pressure points is callous. I hope someone within the Star Wars universe will light a candle for Vestara and petition for her redemption in a future series.
Larry, Though I am excited to see who Ben chooses as a partner someday and was rooting for Ves…I knew it’s much too early for that. They are both what? Only 18 years old now? Maybe Ben doesn’t wait until his late 30’s/40’s like his Dad, but 18 is way too young for both of them to get hitched.
Besides there can be so much mileage out of having a main character romantic interest also be a mortal enemy. Look at Luke and Mara – as heated as their relationship was at first that friction is nothing compared to Ben and Ves. Luke and Mara were rivals for a few books. The conflict dividing Ben and Ves is the driving force behind the entire franchise. This will help drive many books to come; definitely looking forward to those.
In the end I wouldn’t find it surprising were she redeemed by Ben. As you properly stated if Anakin, Mara, Kyp, Tahiri, Luke, Jaina, and Ben can all be brought back to the light so can Ves. However, I wouldn’t expect this to occur until ten years on (maybe two or three sets of books) at the earliest. It will be fun to see how it all plays out.
I agree with the score given in the review. This was a very good novel. So much was explained and the ending seemed right. The most promising aspect of the book is the state it leaves the EU in. The possibilities are tantalizing for stories yet to come. You’ve got the search for the Mortis Dagger; the search for the one Sith; the apprehension of Vestara, presumably with the one Sith. The Jedi are now unchained from the Government and all the responsibilities that entails.
Ben and Jaina look to be strong enough to carry a book on their own with more appearances from the minor Jedi and less from the Big Three. I would definitely read a book that featured Ben and Jaina primarily or even just Ben or just Jaina.
I’m excited about the prospects. We’ll see what develops.
There were a couple of items that I thought were especially enlightening. First was that there seemed to be a force power hierarchy establishing Ben as the strongest (in the force) grandchild of Anakin equal to Luke in raw force potential. It was also suggested that Luke suffered permanent damage from the battle with Abeloth. It will be interesting to see if this weakens his abilities going forward.
It can get repetitive to have Luke so much more powerful than anyone else that he can end a conflict personally almost at will. That was the problem with the LOTF series. (i.e. How do we keep Luke from just mauling Jacen.) If Luke is weakened it adds a little more suspense and opens the possibility of his defeat by a powerful (but non-Anakin descended) Sith.
Finally, it will be interesting to see how Vestara’s character turns out. Her character is very compelling: A Sith with some virtuous attributes. I read that the powers that be didn’t want a replay of Mara/Luke for Ves/Ben, but even were Ben to ultimately redeem her it wouldn’t be a rehash in my opinion as the back stories are so different. The possibilites are still wide open with those two.
All in all, for me, this book redeems the whole series and simultaneously makes me giddy at what comes next. For that I am thankful.