Star Wars: Legacy of the Force IX - Invincible [Paperback]

What strikes you most about this final volume of the Legacy of the Force is how little there is to it. Weighing in at a slight 299 pages, Invincible consists largely of two long duels between Jaina and Jacen, interspersed with a pair of subplots involving Ben. The epilogue attempts to tie things up with a couple of quick stitches, a hastily tacked-on conclusion that leaves the nine-volume saga incomplete.

One is left with the impression that the manuscript was completed in a rush. It reads like an extended outline - all plot, no character, no theme. The major event of the book, and perhaps the series, is the death of a Sith. How does it feel when one of these Dark Lords leaves the force? How does it feel to a family member? How does it feel to the Sith himself? What happens to Jacen in the force? Was he redeemed by his last minute thought for his daughter? Does he become a ghost, like his grandfather? What's the reaction on Coruscant? On Corellia? On Korriban? Among the Jedi? How does Luke feel? How about Tenel Ka? Allana? Ben? Tahiri? We can only imagine. Denning doesn't tell us.

Nor does he suggest what it all means. We never knew what Jacen wanted, beyond bringing order to the galaxy. But as the disorder was instigated and exacerbated by the Sith, he dies playing a fool's game. How is one to regard this galactic tragedy? What do the other characters learn from this? How has the Star Wars universe changed?

The political end is given about as much thought as the beginning and concludes in just a couple of pages with a New Galactic Alliance. Once Jacen is gone, all appears to be forgiven and forgotten. One of the central characters of the series, Admiral Niathal, is completely missing from the story. The reigns of state are passed to a character who shows up at the last moment and whose appointment appears to be a set-up for the next series of Galactic Tyrant vs Jedi novels.

Where there was so much that could have been developed, we get instead material that should have been left on the editor's desk, such Jaina and Leia chasing a paddy wagon across Coruscant to rescue Ben. The sequence is made possible by the thinnest of contrivances, the Jedi mind trick, and concludes with no rescue and no discernible effect on the plot.

Equally inconsequential is the introduction of a new force power, one potent enough to stop Jacen with a figurative blink of any eye. Shatterpoint (from the novel of the same name) is an ability once attributed only to Mace Windu, to be able to exploit stress points in any given substance or phenomena. Jacen uses it to crack beskar, a metal impervious to even lightsabers. Jaina learns the power from Luke in a matter of days. But it's never used. If Luke, Jaina and Jacen all have this ability, why bother with space battles and lightsabers? Just burst your opponent's heart, or crack open their spaceship, and the game is over.

I usually enjoy Denning's writing, but he's absolutely flat here. The jokes at the beginning of each chapter was a silly idea. Not only because the jokes are bad, but because they make an obvious and trite point - everyone is innocent at some point in their life - and because they served as an excuse for Denning to not have to make an honest attempt at writing a tragic ending. Invincible has no sense of gravitas, no weight, no heft, no feeling that something worth nine novels has happened. It feels light, hurried, rushed, abrupt and empty.

If you would care for a Star Wars series that rewards reading, try these:

Republic Commando
Hard Contact
Triple Zero
True Colors
Order 66

Legacy
Broken (Vol. 1)
Shards (Vol. 2)

Knights of the Old Republic
Commencement (Vol. 1)
Flashpoint (Vol. 2)
Days of Fear, Nights of Anger (Vol. 3)

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A great finale to the Legacy of the Force series. I think you should only buy this book if you have already read the preceding novels. I think the characters are fantastically well painted and the story well told. Lecacy of the Force is the first series within the 'expanded Star Wars universe' that I read and I prefer these books to the original stories.

I am now getting hooked on the Fate of the Jedi series...

Having read the whole Legacy of the Force series, and off the back of the IMO excellent Revelation, I found the book that Invincible was a bit strange to cope with.

Firstly, there were moments in the book I did like, mostly with Darth Caedus. I liked the section at the beginning where he revised his priorities and reverted to an almost Vergere-like state of concern. Ruling with patience love and pain was a nice idea.
I think it really set him up to be misunderstood at the end. I think how Caedus was written was intended to make the circumstances of his death ambiguous for other characters. His decision with Isolder (without revealing anything else) shows how he is not intentionally being evil in a bwahaha!! Palpatine sense, but in that he has goals that he will not compromise, and that any begavior is acceptable if it advances that goal. I have read other reviews which criticise the description of him as "a lying Sith murderer", though I think this was used as a reference to how Jaina saw him rather than a blanket description, and the assumption was that this statement was in fact wrong, and right at the same time.
The whole book really rovolves around this interplay of Caedus being seen through Jaina's eyes, and his own, attempting to imply that Caedus was not necessarily a wholly evil character, and there is a weak inference that he could possibly have been redeemed, but was never given the chance that Vader was.
The whole final part of the book was just Caedus trying to save his lover and child from his own side which allowed the death scene to resolve with him giving up on himself to try and warn Tenel Ka. Accompanied of course by the obligatory step into the "light side" of the room.

While I liked this stuff, I did feel this left the plot for the rest of the whole entire galaxy to swing in the breeze.

There is no real description of how the galaxy is once again unified. No true answer as to what happens to the GA traitors, just a quick mention that they get trappe din the Roche system. Indeed neither Niathal nor Daala (both major players in the last book) even appear in this book. They don't get a single line of dialogue between them. This disappointed me, as I enjoyed the inclusion of two strong militaristic characters that were not "evil".
Similarly, the Confederation is by now totally forgotten. Even the idea that they exist is seemingly overlooked totally. Again brief mention is made of them also jumping to the brawl at Nickel One, but not a single iota of detail is given as to the outcome of this Star Wars Battle of Five Armies.
Mandalore, oo, Mandalore does get a mention, though only seemingly in a "Karen Traviss stop writing about Boba Fett" way. Though again it's another detached statment letting us know the details from afar rather than actual action.

I think the true failing of this book (and the series) is that nobody really knew what to do with Darth Caedus once he had ascended to Sith Lord. No real attempt was made to incorporate anything that Matthew Stover had woven into Traitor, no attempt was made to define Jacen's view of the Dark Side, once he had steeped himself in it. His portrayal veers wildly from tortured philosopher to bloodthirsty maniac, sometimes within the same book. There is no true direction for the character, though a small amount is added at the very end of this book, as described earlier.

The one element that really shone for me was the Empire. I liked the idea of a quarrelling Moff council shunting their petty Empire about like the old men they predominantly were. They are perfect for evil do and nasty plots and for once this was played effectively. However, their ultimate fate is a bit odd.

Overall, I found I could read this book, but it didn't really tell me anthing I wanted to know, except about the loss of probably one of the most expanded, deep characters in the EU with almost no real sense that this loss really affected anyone. Even Vader got a funeral.