Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, Book 2: Omen (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Fate of the Jedi: Omen is the second book in the series and the debut Star Wars novel for Christie Golden. Omen picks up almost straight after the previous book Outcast with the enigmatic mental illness shattering the minds of young Jed Knights whilst Luke and Ben Skywalker continue their journey to discover to the mysterious and perilous Kathol Rift.

Omen wisely keeps the same lighter tone and high level of quality established in the first book of this series Outcast. I was very pleased to see that the book had a good variety of plotlines and that Christie Golden has taken the opportunity to create a selection of new characters to mark her first entry into the Star Wars universe. The plotlines of Omen show how the situation on Coruscant is getting worse as the Jedi are under harsh scrutiny from the government whilst more Jedi Knights seem to be going insane. This feeds into Luke and Ben Skywalkers journey as it expands to include trying to vindicate the Jedi Order by explaining why Jedi are losing their minds. These plotlines are great fun despite their serious overtones as we see the Solo family go to a livestock exhibition and Luke and Ben meet the enigmatic Aing-Tii. However the most interesting development is the introduction of the Lost Tribe of the Sith. I wont spoil their story except to say that they have been out of touch with galactic events for a long time. This group are clearly going to be massive players in the story and Christie Golden delivers an interesting world with some fascinating new characters. The back story of the Tribe can be read in the Lost Tribe of the Sith ebooks that are being released as a tie in series to Fate of the Jedi which are written by John Jackson Miller.

One thing that I really liked about this book was the way that Christie Golden fleshed out the fairly minor character of Jysella Horn, the daughter of Jedi Master Corran Horn and a Jedi Knight herself. She gave her a group of interesting friends known as "The Unit", who are also Jedi Knights and made her part of the story mean something to me. The dynamic between Luke and Ben continues to be handled excellently and I liked seeing Han and Leia enjoy their guardianship of Allana Solo. It is very sweet not to mention well deserved after the tough times they both have endured. There is much more I could say about his book but it would surely spoil a great read. The only bad point is the length, Omen is very short as you can see and whilst I have no regrets in buying the book I wished it had gone on a little longer. I think that most people would like both quaility AND quantity but in this case I would rather take Omen as it is now rather than taking the chance and getting a book made mediocre by being over padded with dull filler.

This is a brilliant debut Star Wars novel for Christie Golden and I am more excited then ever about this series. She handles the existing characters really well and her understanding of the universe is staggering considering this is her first book in the franchise. It shows how much preperation she must have done. I am really looking forward to her next entry in the series where I hope we can get the same great quality with a bit more length.

This book showed the general plot on the back cover, which is informative enough to give a sense of the story without revealing too much of the plot, for those who have'nt read any of the star wars books.
I liked this book because it is a good return for the Sith. The journey of that the Skywalker's make give's reader's an insight into the force, what they learn you learn alongside them.

Fundamentally I thought this was a good book and a promising Star Wars debut for Christie Golden. She has a nice writing style that I found very easy to read.

The book continues where Outcast left off and its main purpose is in laying a bit more groundwork for the rest of the series. The main plot involving Luke and Ben's personal quest to re-trace Jacen's steps continues to prove compelling and I like the character development, especially involving Ben. The continuing plot involving Jedi Knights going nuts is equally gripping and keeps making me want to read more to see if the reason is revealed.

So to the negatives and the first has nothing to do with Christie Golden but of the story involving the Sith. I mentioned when I reviewed Crosscurrent that I thought the way the Sith have returned is a bit silly and the brains behind Lucas Books should have put more thought into it. Not only does the existence of these Sith completely defy the whole Anakin Skywalker balance to the force prophecy but I also find it difficult to believe that in the galaxy where even Master Yoda had numerous visitors on Dagobah not one single person ever stumbled upon this Sith planet. In 5000 years? Really?

That aside, I found the unfunny one liners at the end of most of the chapters wore a bit thin after a while. Other than that it was a great book and certainly worth buying.