The third book in the Fate of the Jedi series finally delivers. The first two installments of the 9-part series were just a trifle boring, but Troy Denning has put the series back on track. Rather surprising actually, as his contributions to the Legacy of The Force series were actually of rather mediocre quality (Traviss and Allston supplying the better parts). This novel puts me more in mind of earlier highly enjoyable books by this author, like Tatooine Ghost, the Dark Nest Trilogy, and Star by Star.
There are three intertwining plots of which two have become intertwined, while the third remains focused on politics and media. The first, the journey of Luke and Ben, is the most interesting one in this book, as they meet up with a couple of "Force Ghosts" (I can't call them force ghosts in the traditional Star Wars sense of the terms, as they are somewhat different than for example Obi Wan)representing characters of the past. Including Mara, and for me that was a big bonus as she has always been my favourite EU character. I truly miss her presence in all the books, since Sacrifice, so it was good to have her included again even if in a rather insubstantial form.
The second plotline, the activities of the so-called lost tribe of the Sith, also was nice as the characters involved were behaviourally well set up, and for the most part acted as Sith should - even if they don't know the Rule of Two because their customs stem from a somewhat earlier date than that particular Sith Dogma. The fight between the Skywalkers and the Sith band was somewhat unrealistic, but hey, we do always want the good guys to win, so it's okay. And at least Luke does remain exhausted.
In the third plotline, the fight between the Jedi and Chief of State Daala is continuing, with the stakes getting much higher, although still too much politic's are involved. But at least even here we get some true action, not just youngsters becoming deranged. And, the Jedi find a way to use the media to their own advantage, and that is good too, as until now they were just detrimental to their cause. So, all-in-all some great reading here.
Of course, the evolvement of the relationship between Jagged, Jaina, and the rest of the Jedi and her parents was also of interest to me. It looks now as if somehow there are still a lot of things that can prevent the marriage from happening after all. Not in the least because of a certain incompatability of loyalties and the priorities regarding those loyalties. We will see, although it would be a pity if it won't work out. The readers haven't seen the relationship develop during the course of the New Jedi Order series, than decline and seemingly end during the Dark Nest Crisis, to rise up again during the LOTF series, to be struck down once and for all in this series. But, that doesn't have to happen, it's still an open question, leaving something for the next author to work on.
In summary: the series finally has started off to become interesting, the plotlines contain more action, and there are enough questions left to make me sign in for the next installment.
