Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi #3

by Troy Denning

Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy

374 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2009

About the author

Also known as Richard Awlinson.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I great addition to the series. This book pretty much has it all. Troy Denning does a great job of balancing the different element of this book. There is a horror element to the book, personally I don't like horror stories, but Denning manages to keep it on the tipping point of Sci-fi which I greatly appreciated. Denning also manages to resurrect a couple of his odd characters. I like the way this series is moving on and especially the way the Jedi are adapting to the situation using weapons like the media and public opinion back on the GA. The great thing about this series is it is moving along at the right pace there are a number of things going on and they are not going to be solved in a single book. It has been extremely well planned.

The story. More Jedi are falling victims to the strange paranoid delusions that everyone has been replaced by an imposter. However having all these extra Jedi patients to observe, has allowed them to find a common thread that links them together that could be the source or the cause of the madness. Luke and Ben following Jacen's trail comes to the same conclusion from a different angle. Han and Leia are not exiled but are seen as loose cannons by the acting Grand Jedi master Kenth Hamner and are excluded from council meeting to discuss the future of the order. Public opinion for the Jedi is at an all-time low and even moral among the younger students is falling. Jaina also has her loyalties to her fiancée Jagged Fel (Imperial head of state) tested, against her obligation to her family and the Jedi order. The Lost tribe of the Sith also meet their first obstacle on a jungle world while trying to retrieve "Ship" the Sith meditation sphere. They also have their first meeting with a couple of Jedi.

A very well balanced book. Slow to begin with, with a lot of political manoeuvring, and a few I know but they don't know that I know games. The Jedi hitting back at the GA. People and Jedi in Force mediations, force ghosts and Dark powerful being. Also more elements and enemies introduced to keep the series going for a good long time. Even Han makes another mystery enemy of the GA army/navy. All this and the Jedi Vs. Sith as a big finally. Leading to more in the next book I hope.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps getting better and better!

I am really enjoying the Fate of the Jedi series! This book, Abyss, starts putting more of the pieces together. We start to see who is behind the Madness, we see Luke and Ben come face to face with the Lost Tribe of the Sith (albeit briefly), and we also see the Jedi start to chip away at Daala's plans for them.

The political stuff in this book just works for me. It is really impressive when a book makes me want to scream at the characters because I care so much about what's happening to them you know I'm invested. The political back and forth is really creative, and this had my favorite interactions between Jaina and Jagged, as well as my favorite interactions between Jagged and Daala.

This might hype this up too much for some, but Chapter 19 of this book is literally one of my favorite chapters in a Star Wars book. Its so exciting and nervewracking and humorous that I loved it! Some great political back and forths here!

I also really enjoyed the dynamic of Han and Leia as Grandparents/Guardians of Allana. Their dynamic with her is so sweet and feels very in character. Denning really gets how to write Han Solo, probably the best of the three writers in this series.

The Luke and Ben story was the best of the three books so far. It still isn't anywhere near the Coruscant storyline for me, but it was really entertaining here. I think Denning could have cut some of it, and made it more to the point (as Denning enjoys his worldbuilding and creature excursions), but I still enjoyed their segments overall. I really hope their hopping around to various planets is over and we can see them interact more with the Sith now.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, definitely my favorite of the series thus far! 9 out of 10!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I'd think of these Star Wars books if I actually sat and turned the pages. Maybe I'd like them more.....maybe less, but the audios are wonderful. I loved this one. 'Fate of the Jedi' has been my favorite series so far. I've read five of them and I look forward to the last 4. This is my favorite cast of characters.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Pretty much three separate stories going here: 1) Han, Leia, Jaina and the other Jedi back on Coruscant trying to figure out why some of their young knights seem to be going crazy, 2) Luke and Ben Skywalker in the Maw trying to uncover the mystery of how/why Jacen Solo fell to the dark side, and 3) the Lost Tribe of the Sith trying to fulfill their prophecy of becoming the masters of the galaxy again.

If only that third story line was as interesting as the first two, I would have given this book a higher rating. But as it is, and I can only be honest here, I could care less about Vestara and her connection with Ship, and the rampant infighting amongst her people. All her sections were boring, annoying, and didn't become significant until the last few chapters of the book.

Still, I remain optimistic about the rest of this series. After all, I had felt much the same way about Han and Leia's roles in the first book in which they were "parked" and were given absolutely nothing of import to do but waste time with a dumb side story just to keep their presence strong in the series. And yet, they have become purposeful characters now, and perhaps the later books will do the same thing for the Tribe's storyline. Here's to hoping it can only get more interesting and exciting.

On the other hand, following Luke and Ben's exile has been a surprisingly intense experience. Each book seems to have them uncovering more information about Jacen's transformation into Darth Caedus, and is probably the biggest reason why I'm still so invested and interested in continuing this series.

[Denae Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I still hold a grudge against TD for killing off Anakin Solo.
Oh, and I'm not interested in Force philosophy stuff. I'd rather have the action and intrigue and small romance between Jaina and Jagg and the worry about the unknown disease and poor Ben. I don't need people communing with the dead or arguing about whether the Force is one color, two, or a rainbow.
As in, this series got way too complicated when Anakin died. Chewbacca I can understand (have to kill off some main character, okay). But making Jacen go to the dark side (when he was a wonderful young lad in KJA's YJK series) and killing Mara and Jaina killing him.....it's just wrong. I liked the simpler days of the Thrawn trilogy and Jedi Academy trilogy and Children of the Jedi book and DW's Courtship of Princess Leia. The New Republic before the Yuuzhan Vong was the best. Nice, simple, Force-sensitives fighting the bad guys.
Oh, though I think putting Daala in charge is a pretty interesting turn of events, along with showing the awfulness of the media (boo Javis Tyrr).

[Martina (sith acolyte) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my 3rd or 4th reread of this book and I enjoyed it so much. I love the Star Wars Universe and these characters. It was such a comforting and entertaining read. Definitely one of my favorite series of all time.❤️

[Dexcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good series so far. I definitely prefer Fate to the Legacy of the Force series. The Luke and Ben duo has been lovely. The beyond shadows scenes were pretty trippy in typical Denning fashion.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

My opinion of Troy Denning as an author has improved. I found his "Invincible," the last of the "Legacy of the Force" series to be a fairly weak and unimpressive work. When you've got the last two children of Han Solo and Princess Leia fighting to the death as Jedi and Sith Lord, you expect more. Or at least I expected more. But we got medical waste flinging and a bunch of digressive subplots.

But on to the present...there still isn't much going on in this "Fate of the Jedi" series, however. But in "Abyss," Denning is able to distract from that by at least giving us some mysteries to ponder.

Of course, the main mystery of the whole novel is not resolved...and done so in a very frustrating "cliffhanger" manner that I'm coming to expect from books in this series. Personally, I'm not a fan of such obvious and heavy-handed maneuvers.

The mystery I'm talking about is who did Jacen Solo see on the Throne of Balance? This vision of a dark future for the galaxy seems to be what drove him to become a Sith Lord in order to PREVENT an even greater evil from taking over the galaxy.

The single BEST thing in this book is the sequence where Ben and Luke are able to confront the spirits of Anakin Solo, Mara Jade Skywalker and Jacen Solo. Some closure is given with regards to Anakin and Mara, but Jacen proves to be a different story. Since the visionary figure on the Throne of Balance is now Jacen's daughter Allana--not a shadowy, armored figure of evil--the author seems to be saying that Jacen's reign of terror was actually a good thing in some way.

What else is going on? The main villain seems to be a creature named Abeloth who seems to be held prisoner inside the Maw (the collection of black holes with a few unlucky planets and installations mixed in). Except "she" is no longer bound by the forces she once was and her pure evil is sure to be a problem for the Jedi and Sith alike. Abeloth draws in the lost tribe of Sith very quickly and uses them for her own purposes. I'm hoping they don't make Abeloth an "evil planet" (which would remind me of the Fifth Element, a movie I despise).

Luke and Ben are near where Abeloth has been toying with the Sith and encounter the Mind Walkers or Mind Drinkers or whatever they're called. Luke and Ben eventually leave their bodies behind and journey with ensnared Force users...the Mind Walkers...to Abeloth's world. That's where they encounter the spirits of those who have died. When Abeloth senses that Luke and Ben will not be ensnared willingly, she sends the Sith after them. That doesn't go well for the Sith and the lone survivor, Vestara Khai, whom we've been following for a while, flees on her own from both Abeloth and the Skywalkers.

Meanwhile, Daala has brought in Mandalorians to help solve her Jedi problem. She is still trying to bring the Jedi under strict governmental control. And the Jedi keep going crazy. Though now it looks like Abeloth might be the cause of their madness, since all the afflicted were young people hidden in the Maw as children during the Vong war. And Ben remembers Abeloth reaching out to his mind as a young child.

I'm leaving a few things out, but you'll get the general idea from above. Coruscant is rife with plots. The Jedi are pitted against Daala. Daala wants the Jedi leashed for good. The Moffs want the "good old Empire" back. And so on.

The scene where Luke and Ben get some closure from the dead is what elevated this book from two to three stars for me.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entry in the Expanded Universe takes the Star Wars franchise into new territory...which, at times, doesn't quite feel like the saga we've come to know.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say Troy Denning understands Star Wars and the Skywalker story!!!

[Cal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could remember how far into this series I read... I'd love to confidently say I read the whole thing. I do, however, know that I read AT LEAST this far, and I remember this book and specifically it's cover.

Of course it was cool to read about Jacen's downfall and Luke yearning to discover it, although I remember this series (as a youth) being a little too "dreamy" or "otherworldly" for me. I'd probably love it now. It's probably Lovecraftian or something like that. Maybe one day I will go back and read the whole thing. I think, if I remember correctly, that this series took a hard blow from the community.

Also, I read these on a Nook, sadly.

UPDATE: This book was between okay, good, and great. Really, the best part was all the Force enhanced lucid dreaming and astral projecting. I guess Abeloth is a part of the father son and sister group? I need to look more into that. I was never a big fan of the Mortis stuff, but maybe this material makes it more palatable? I’ll have to go back and rewatch it sometime! Pretty decent read, looking forward to Backlash.

[Erik Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will preface this by saying that Mr. Denning is a professional writer and I am not. I also had to wait six weeks to post this in order to allow the vitriol to be diluted by the unavoidable annoyances of life. And laziness. Ok, mostly laziness, but definitely some kind of sedentary rage as well. The man can move a story forward, but it amazes me that he is still a relatively major player in Star Wars novels.

I suppose I could sum up my feelings about this book like this: If you mention the Killiks one more time I think I may just light myself on fire . I get it. You wrote a gloriously mediocre trilogy. You also wrote one of the worst Star Wars novels in print Tatooine Ghost(we're talking The Crystal Star/Planet of Twilight bad). To be fair, you wrote one of the best novels of the New Jedi Order series, Star by Star. Tell us a new story, not the one you've already told. It is tedious and insulting to read.

It is clear that Mr. Denning has a fascination with hive minds. Ok, you tried it in Star Wars, no joy. Tried it again in Star Wars, still no joy. If this topic is that important to you try writing a Star Trek novel about the Borg. I'll read it. Hell, I'd look forward to it. Just please, for the love of Vahuti, stop beating us over the head with killiks and their various re-skins.

I know you have better in you Mr. Denning. Please start writing for us instead of yourself... or at least write like your job depends on it.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m disappointed it took until the third book for the Fate of the Jedi series to find a track to get back into, but really glad it did. Otherwise, I think I would have given up on a series for the first time ever. Surprisingly, I’m looking forward to the rest of FOTJ now instead of wondering why I’ve let myself be ruled by forces greater than those measurable by the common man: fandom and a great desire to find out what happens in the EU (at the cost of very thin hardcovers that are not worth the price).

First things first, and for those of you who’ve finished the book already, can you believe Denning waited a whole four chapters before making another Jedi go crazy?! I can’t and I just read it! Before I go nutty with glee, Tahiri’s not dead yet. She’s even been let off the hook (damn, that didn’t even last a whole book), but (BUT!) there’s finally something interesting happening between the lackluster and overhyped “romance” that is Jag and Jaina.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, a quick synopsis:

Luke and Ben have left the Aing Tii and made their way go the Maw Cluster, that big ominous splotchy area of space that’s been revisited so many times it’s no wonder LucasBooks has finally saturated its very existence with lots of significance and pre-planning. Two other Jedi have “gone crazy,” but this time Cilghal’s got an idea of potential victims and is unsurprised when they do so. Her theory is far from reassuring: if the Jedi who were kept in the Maw as children during the NJO are all in danger of harming themselves or others then the Order has a precarious situation in their hands, especially since a connection does not a cause create. Without a cure or any idea of why Jedi are falling like flies, it would seem that the Jedi, under the lead of “Grand Master” Kenth Hamner, are ready to give up the humanistic approach and let Chief of State Daala encase every last victim in carbonite and have done with it. However, the Jedi have a few more tricks up their sleeve and, if Han and Leia have anything to say about it, won’t be giving in to Daala’s overbearing need for power and control.

That is, with the help of all of their allies, Jedi and non-Jedi alike. And by non-Jedi I mean politician friends. Like Jag and the surprisingly loyal Wynn Dorvan. I say surprisingly because of the two, I never would have suspected it’d be Jag that turned out to be a slimy sleeze ball. Wynn is answerable to Daala herself; Jag is answerable to the Imperial Remnant, all its angry, bitter Moffs, and his genitals (but even that’s questionable). When Jag tells Jaina he’s overheard Daala mention bringing Mandalorians in to police the Jedi, he makes her promise not to tell anyone, knowing full well the awkward position he’s put Jaina in. What actually happened we find out later when Wynn contacts Han and Leia and tells them he let Jag find out that information on purpose thinking he’d be the Good Friend and warn the Jedi, or at least warn other trusted people who could then warn the Jedi. Which we already know he didn’t do.

I loved that Jaina’s loyalties are being tested here, especially with the tension it brings to her relationship to Jag and her family. It makes the couple interesting in a way that moved my indifference for Jag to interest even as I find myself agreeing with Han that Jag just isn’t good enough for Jaina. His position is a little reminiscent of the political fine line Leia used to walk as the Chief of State, but without the emotional investment that makes Leia so easy to love as a character. Jag is just too rigid for me to invest in his relationship with Jaina (which, when it isn’t subject to that same rigidness, is reduced to make-out sessions), but it makes for perfect characterization in terms of what he’s best at: political and military maneuvering.

In the scenes where he’s pulling his weight as a political figurehead, Denning made him bad ass. And I loved that, I actually liked Jag in those scenes because he’s showing honor and duty, the staples around which he was raised and written to uphold. It may not warm me to his character, but it makes me appreciate and understand where he’s coming from and that, I can respect.

Another thing I liked in Abyss was the other tension-causing situation: Javis Tyrr and his unending quest to feed Daala’s anti-Jedi sentiment. I’m not going to take offense that the “good Jedi” are having their names slandered for the purpose of advancing Daala’s political agenda. It’s actually good cause for drama, the thing which engrossing novels thrive on. And Abyss was an engrossing novel. No, I don’t believe the Jedi are bad, baby killers (I made that up), or anything else Daala and her unending supply of gullible supporters take solace in finding suspicious beyond belief. But FOTJ giving them a hard time after dealing with Sith Lord after Sith Lord, especially when the last one was the son and nephew of prominent political and public figures? Totally worth it. Everyone’s being called to task in this series: Luke, Tahiri, Daala (okay, the Jedi have to do a lot of smart dancing on this, what will inevitably prove to be, long task, but still!), Jacen, and because the majority of those are Jedi, the Order itself is under suspicion. If I was a civilian, I’d be tired of Jedi, too.

And apparently, the Jedi are tired of Jedi, too. When two young Jedi decided to “quit”, I thought the same thing Lecersen did, “Jedi can do that?” (p. 110) At the very least, it kept the story on its toes and me intrigued enough to want to keep on reading. There is no doubt that Abyss is a page-turner. Even the weirdness that Luke and Ben found in the Maw Cluster was interesting. Interesting in a Waru kind of way, but interesting nonetheless.

I may be partial to that kind of weirdness, having grown into the EU with stuff like Waru, the Corellian Trilogy, Solo babies wielding lightsabers to save Uncle Luke, Callista… If you didn’t buy into that oddball stuff, there wasn’t much of a way for the early EU to survive in your heart or imagination. Lucky for me that it did because I was totally engrossed in the hypnotic weirdness of Those Who Dwell Beyond The Veil. I was even creeped out when Qwallo Mode eerily channeled Emperor Palpatine’s bribes and Anakin Skywalker’s desires when he said, “Do you think you can stop us all from dying?” (p. 99) Man if that didn’t make me shiver.

Although, I have to admit, it was almost a little too much when bad D&D names like the Lake of Apparitions, Mirror of Remembrance, Mists of Forgetfulness, Throne of Balance, Font of Power, and Pool of Knowledge started creeping into the narrative. Denning definitely doesn’t get points for originality there if he’s the one that came up with those award-winning titles. The ghosts (or whatever you want to call them) Luke and Ben ran into were also stretching my belief and for the sake of spoilers, I won’t say who or what they saw, but I was disappointed Nimueh or some other Lady of the Lake didn’t pop a hand out with some ultra mega Lightsaber of Vanquishing in her grasp to offer Luke the means of finally riding the galaxy of evil once and for all. Some things just weren’t meant to be.

When it comes to little things I liked or disliked, I’ll just mention them briefly. For the fans that don’t particularly like the Mandos--and some will no doubt find glee in the fact that a few of them get beat up by Jedis (GASP) or empathize with Leia finding them “too cold” to waste the sacrifice of one of their own and risk an entire mission to save a pal--I , as a Mando fan, thought they were still good in this book. Because we got to read from their point of view in LOTF, they were written to be sympathetic characters, but since in Abyss they were hired by Daala to police the Jedi, that automatically puts them on the “bad guy” side with a job to do, one that the reader is not supposed to like. We never get inside of their head; their involvement here is transparent. That doesn’t bother me at all.

But Leia’s got a problem when she says they’re “too cold”. Why? Because a page earlier she’s just done the same thing she accuses the Mandos of doing! Which is telling her companions to dump the Jedi cargo (an actual Jedi) if it comes to that because the mission is more important than saving everyone; saving one is “good enough.” I mean, come on. If you’re going to criticize Mandos, at least don’t make your sympathetic characters out to be big hypocrites!

I was caught off guard with Luke assuming Ben was going to be the next Grand Master after him--as if it’s a duty passed on through the family like royal responsibility.

I was confused when Han and Leia freely discussed Jacen’s real relationship to Allana (still do not care for her) with Allana. I probably just forgot which book they decided to finally tell her the truth, but was it actually written in the text that Allana was told? Was that a real scene or something that happened between books?

I’m not sure how I feel about Abeloth. Creepy? Denning managed to make the Lost Sith a little more interesting, but I’m wondering how a tribe that was so isolated for such a long time is familiar with popular culture enough to know who Luke and Ben are. Although, referring them (the Lost Tribe) as “a particular strain” (p. 309) of Sith is hilarious. The Sith as some kind of virus is exactly the metaphor I was looking for!

Denning does not know how to write C-3PO. I think he mistakes the "missing the point" humor at 3PO's expense we all know and love and instead writes him as an annoying, extremely detail-oriented droid.

The expressions “bloah,” “barvy,” and “sleemo” are stupid and should never be used again. I mean it.

Abyss might have raised more questions than given direct answers (I think Daala knows more about the Maw than she lets on), but I liked this. It gave more direction and potential for the rest of the series to explore and, hopefully, answer. So far, it’s the best out of the three and I’m totally looking forward to Backlash. I think the extra 100 pages helped a lot.

[DiscoSpacePanther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definite improvement over Fate of the Jedi: Omen, Troy Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Abyss continues the story set 40 years after the Battle of Yavin dealing with the role of the Jedi Order in the new Galactic Alliance, and the fallout from Darth Caedus’s rampage a few years earlier.

Abyss flows better and is more adult in writing style than Omen, although at times it does drop back into the clichés established by the earlier book (for example, no opportunity is wasted to describe a particular character as ‘gorgeous’—they apparently have no other defining features beyond gorgeousness and their ethnicity).

The level of intrigue is much more interesting than in Omen, plots thicken and characters circle around each other with metaphorical (and then literal) daggers drawn, which makes the drama more intense, and keeps the reader involved.

Characterisation is solid—as always I am particularly sensitive to when Han and Leia don’t behave or speak as they should—and Abyss doesn’t make any serious missteps. Luke sometimes feels a bit off, but I am happy to allow that, because the unusual situation in which he finds himself (thankfully, it is not a daft character-breaking situation such as his fall to the Dark Side in Dark Empire). It was good to see him battered, bleeding and bruised but still unbroken—Luke should always be indomitable whatever continuity he is in. His relationship with Ben Skywalker feels more realistic in this novel, too—Ben is becoming more interesting as a character in a way that he never was in Legacy of the Force, where he wasn’t that much more than Jacen Solo’s sidekick for much of that series. Instead, here he is beginning to grow and mature.

In fact, the biggest negative for me was the extended scenes of Force visions. There are few tropes in speculative fiction that I like less than the ‘vision quest’—I usually find it lazy (because the writer couldn’t cope up with a better way to communicate their ideas), unconvincing (because what seems profound and full of meaning to one author or reader ends up feeling like a confused jumble of half-though-out imagery and pseudo profundities), unoriginal (because it is a tool that so many writers reach for), and boring (because, to be fair, we’ve pretty much seen it all before). Unfortunately, Fate of the Jedi: Abyss has not one, but two, characters have to undergo this process—the first to find out what happened to a character that did the same thing in a previous series of books, and the second to find out what happened to the first, and to try and rescue them—and it all gets a little bit repetitive and clumsy.

There is plenty of action in this book—not too much starfighter combat, but plenty of lightsabres and blasters, and it all builds to a quite bloody climax, yet leaves plenty of room for the story to grow in later instalments.

Finally we get a better look at some of the antagonists: Natasi is far better in this than she has been in previous appearances—she is not unhinged any more, which is a relief—and she actually seems to be acting with some semblance of a sensible motivation. Vestara and Lady Rhea get some interaction with some Jedi for the first time in five thousand years, and there is some surprise to be had on both sides. These two af far better realised in this novel than in Omen, where they weren’t much more than comic book caricatures. And at last we get our first real introduction to Abeloth, who seems to be the biggest of the bad thus revealed in the series. She is appropriately creepy and Lovecraftian, and I am looking forward to seeing where the story takes her.

A return to form for Fate of the Jedi: Abyss—I am looking forward to Aaron Allston’s Backlash now.

[Declan O'Keeffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 separate storylines that were interesting at first, but have been kinda dragging for the entire series so far. They're all just waiting to converge, and i can't really say i am really overly invested in any of them.

They have some good moments in them. Im just not overly invested in any of the arcs yet. The "sith" haven't really caught my attention yet, Luke and Ben's story is just a bit slow, and while I enjoyed the political machinations between the senate and the jedi at first, I just want it to pick up a bit.

I dont know if it's just the writing or that the 3 separate plots that I should care about just aren't all that interesting just yet. Or maybe im just tired of the long ass series at this point, just taking their sweet time getting to the good stuff over the span of a few too many books.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the last one, but wow is this series uneven. There's just too many story threads happening at the same time for any of them to really get justice. It took 3 books for 2 of the stories to finally converge, that's way too long.

I'm not sure who mapped out the overarching story, but they did a really poor job of mapping it out for all the different authors.

Once again Luke and Ben the most interesting. Once again Leia and Han the least.

I'll be taking a break from this series. I honestly might even jump right to the last book. Which, is a shame, but these just aren't good enough to warrant the time spent.

[Chendall Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thus far, this is the best of the series. Taking the foundation of the previous books, the payoff for what has been teased arrives. New storylines are expanded, the Jedi are emphasized and focused upon, and the writing is improved. The voice is better. The scenes all make sense. Interpersonal conflict is expanding and added. Different factions are at work, and even better, their motivations are well-differentiated among them. An added and expanded Sith narrative is one of the major triumphs of the novel. I flew through this book and found myself highly attentive to the overall narrative. If you've made it through the first two, don't stop now: 5/5.

[Ryan Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troy Dennings first entry into the series, Abyss ties together the first act of the 9 book series. With intrigue, solid plot, and a focus on Luke and Ben’s journey, Abyss sets the stage for the next act with ease and leaves just enough curiosity to make you reach immediately for the follow up.

[Chris Lienard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting good!!!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. I'm enjoying the relationship between Luke and Ben. I'm not really caring for the relationship between Jaina and Jag. I don't like that he put his honor above her loyalties to her family and the Jedi.

[Aaron Druilhet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, good series. If you don't like star wars, you may not like it as it as you need a lot of background knowledge

[elef · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was sure this book was going to be 3 stars but somehow it didn't give me the same hype as first 2. i loved anakin, mara and jacen part tho!

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book, with a lot of reallt great plot points. Some parts were a little hard to follow, but the book is just another great addition to the series

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 2023, I decided to reread the post-NJO books set after the Dark Nest trilogy, especially as I abandoned the Legacy of the Force series after Sacrifice all the way back in 2007. This shakes out to the nine books of the Legacy of the Force series, the nine books of the Fate of the Jedi series, three standalone novels, and five short stories.

This week’s focus: the third book in the Fate of the Jedi series, Abyss by Troy Denning.

SOME HISTORY:

In Book IX of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men are blown off-course onto an island inhabited by the lotus-eaters, and they soon discover that “those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotos, / never cared to report, nor to return: / they longed to stay forever, browsing on / the native bloom, forgetful of their homeland.” Sound at all like the Mind Walkers in Abyss to you? (Although the Mind Walkers do not just forget about their home, but in separating their minds from their bodies run the risk of forgetting about their bodies left behind—and starving to death—as well.) Fate of the Jedi: Abyss by Troy Denning made it to number seven on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of September 6, 2009, and was on the list for two weeks.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

All I knew about Abyss going in was that Luke and Ben went to the Maw, and…that’s it. I knew a little about Abeloth, but I didn’t know that this was the book where she first appeared.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

On Coruscant, the war of wills between Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating as more Jedi fall prey to madness, and individual Jedi push back against Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo's dark downfall, so he and his son Ben head towards the distant Maw Cluster to seek out the mysterious Mind Walkers. But little do Luke and Ben know how close they are to a Sith strike team that has uncovered an ancient evil and seeks to exterminate the Skywalkers…

THE PLOT:

Abyss continues with the same subplots as Omen: we followed Luke and Ben in the Maw; Leia, Han, Allana, Jaina, and the struggling Jedi Order on Coruscant; and Vestara Khai and the Lost Tribe of the Sith as they chase the Sith meditation sphere Ship into another part of the Maw.

Luke and Ben have left the monks at the Kathol Rift behind, and travel into the Maw Cluster near Kessel because of “bad vibes.” It’s pretty perilous navigation to get there (again, shades of The Odyssey), and when they land at Sinkhole Station their ship needs repairs. They meet the Mind Walkers, who are not a particular Force sect but instead a whole bunch of different Force users who have drawn to the Maw and basically separate their minds from their bodies until they starve to death. Luke follows the Mind Walkers into this spiritual realm, and Ben slowly realizes that the Mind Walkers are trying to kill the Skywalkers. Ultimately, Ben goes through that metaphysical journey too in order to pull his dad out.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant two more young Jedi Knights succumb to madness—these being Jysella Horn’s friends that we met in the previous book, the Bothan Yaqeel Saav’etu and the Ramoan Bazel Warv aka Barv. The Solos are able to capture them, but it leads to a standoff between Galactic Alliance forces and the Jedi. Jaina and Jag discover a journalistic bug, and Jag reveals that Daala wants to hire Mandalorian mercenaries—but Jaina cannot tell the Jedi, it’s confidential info. The Jedi find out anyway through Leia and Han, and now the Solos are on the outs with Jag for keeping information from them. Their plotline culminates in Leia and Han sneaking the young maddened Jedi offworld to safety in the Hapan Cluster while Jaina carries out a counter-offensive and brings the Horns to see the terrible spectacle of their frozen kids in the GA Detention Center.

Finally, the Sith Strike Team follows Ship into the Maw Cluster and lands on a weird planet with carnivorous plants. They meet a beautiful woman named Abeloth, and only Vestara comes to realize that Abeloth’s true form is like something out of a Lovecraft story, and that the Sith are being manipulated here.

CHARACTERS:

Luke and Ben are definitely developing a good rapport, where Luke is not just Ben’s teacher, but they can both joke about things and talk through situations together. As soon as they get to the Maw, Ben starts to feel weird: he remembers coming there as a toddler, sensing a needy/evil presence and withdrawing inside himself, and the more time he spends on Sinkhole Station the more paranoid he becomes. (Of course, Ben’s paranoia is somewhat justified, because the Mind Walkers ARE trying to kill the Skywalkers.)

But I felt like we didn’t spend as much time with Ben as we did with Luke’s spiritual vision quest. I usually find the esoteric aspects of the Force interesting, but I never was confronted with almost an entire book of Force woo-woo before! So of Luke and Ben’s stops on their Force pilgrimage in Jacen’s footsteps, the Mind Walker section worked the least for me. Each step (the pool, the font of power, the river with the dead, the mists in the distance) felt like really obvious traps Luke had to work through, and connected to Abeloth in some way? Especially after Luke sees her in the distance, and the Mind Walkers say “oh, that’s the lady in the mist.” This is some really kooky stuff, and it’s strange and unsettling.

Luke and Ben jump back into their bodies just in time to flee from Sinkhole Station, because surprise! the Sith are attacking them. (My sense of time was very fuzzy here, and I wasn’t initially sure how the Sith got from Abeloth’s planet to the Station so darn fast, and how much time had elapsed while Luke was tripping the Light Metaphysical.) All the Sith are killed except for Vestara Khai, and Luke lets her escape so that they can follow her and investigate these newfound Sith. The only progress made on the “why did Jacen fall?” front was that Luke realized he saw a different thing in the pool than Jacen did (Luke saw Allana in a throne room; Jacen saw a Dark Man on the throne), so maybe Jacen’s fall was precipitated by seeing that vision.

In Abyss, we spend more time with this lost tribe of the Sith, and get to see some more of their culture. They feel very old to me; there’s this archaic, courtly manner to their speech and behavior, but it’s like Machiavelli on steroids as they’re constantly scheming to get the upper hand on other Sith. Vestara is sort-of-friends with fellow apprentice Ahri Raas, but she can’t trust him because his master is at odds with Lady Rhea. The Sith follow Ship to Abeloth’s planet, where the deadly flora pick off the Sith until their shuttles are all destroyed and there’s only a single Sith ship left in orbit. The Sith are captivated by Abeloth, and only Vestara begins to see her as she really is: an eldritch horror, with tiny black eyes and a huge mouth and arms that end in tentacles. (Not sure if I want to google a picture of her or not, because that sounds freaky.) I think it’s pretty clear that Abeloth is the evil presence that Allana sensed on Kessel, as well as the needy presence that reached out to Ben—and somehow, she’s making the young Jedi mad and trying to call them back to the Maw. The Sith want to take Abeloth back to Kesh, but Abeloth wants the Skywalkers…thus the Sinkhole Station ambush. So Vestara’s on the run, scared and alone, and Abeloth remains to evilly menace in a future book.

Over on Coruscant, Cilghal and Tekli finally realize what links the mad young Jedi: they all spent time in the hidden Jedi base in the Maw during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Of course, they don’t know about Abeloth, but this is progress! They don’t have a cure, though, other than noticing that the non-Force bubble from ysalamiri seems to calm them.

Jaina and Jag may be officially engaged, but they’re still trying to figure out their relationship going forward—and it’s not helped by the fact that Han and Leia feel betrayed by Jag withholding information. This was a frustrating development to me, because everyone knows that Jag is Mr. Honor so why get mad when he’s a pedantic rule-follower? That’s who he is! Anyway, I also felt like Leia behaved recklessly at times in this book, by siding with all the anti-Kenth Hamner Jedi. As a former diplomat, you would think that Leia would understand the nuances that are at play here and have a little more sympathy for Kenth’s (bad) politicking, but she felt overly brusque at times.

Kenth seems in way over his head, though. I don’t think that Kenth Hamner was a good choice to lead the Jedi Order, because he’s not able to bridge the gaps between all the different factions and get them to communicate. When confronted with Leia and Jaina disobeying, he lectures them which just makes them run amok even more! However, this seems like a Luke problem at its source, because I think “Luke as Grand Master” meant he made all the decisions and the Masters seldom had to step up into serious leadership roles.

ISSUES:

We got surprisingly little of the Sith plot line here. They chase after Ship to Abeloth’s planet, they become enthralled by Abeloth as she slowly picks them off, and then they ambush Luke and Ben on Sinkhole Station. That’s…not a lot, and as I was reading the book I kept wondering when the Sith would show up. Their first scene is in Chapter Eight (out of Twenty-Eight), their second scene is in Chapter Fourteen, and then their plotline doesn’t really pick up momentum until the last few chapters. After Omen set up the Sith and their culture I was expecting a lot more with them, but Abyss didn’t significantly use the Sith until the end, and they felt like the least of the subplots here.

My next issue was (again) a continuation from books one and two: I still don’t care about the young Jedi who go mad, and the scene that moved me the most was when Jaina escorted the Horns to the detention center. Corran and Mirax seeing their kids being treated like wall decorations, and Mirax lashing out at a Galactic Alliance guard? Their grief was moving, and really contrasted with how I felt about Barv and Ya’qeel’s gradual madness. We just met that duo in the previous book, we’re told that Allana liked Barv but then only see them interacting together once. Ya’qeel…seems nice? IDK. But we know so little about them that their horrible fate didn’t affect me much.

I found the novel’s sense of time hard to grasp: the end of Luke and Ben’s subplot comes with the revelation that Luke spent weeks and weeks with his mind separated from his body. They’ve been on Sinkhole Station for a while, and Vestara likewise talks about the Sith being on Abeloth’s planet for days and days. But when we cut over to the Coruscant plotline, I didn’t get that same sense of time passing. Jedi fall mad and Tahiri’s arrested and Han and Leia sneak Jedi off Coruscant, but I didn’t get that same sense of days and days passing as I did with the two Maw subplots. I almost would like a daily breakdown of what happened where, because I can’t correlate the Coruscant stuff with the spooky Abeloth/Mind Walker things—I don’t see how it fits together.

But my biggest issue with Abyss related to how hard I found it to visualize stuff like Abeloth and Abeloth’s planet—and how disorienting the ending especially felt. To a certain extent, Luke and Ben’s time in the spirit realm is meant to be confusing, and Abeloth’s planet (complete with carnivorous flora and tentacle lady) is meant to be super weird. But like the timeframe issue, I ended the book somewhat befuddled about how the Sith got from Abeloth’s planet to Sinkhole Station because we didn’t see the travel process part of it, and from Luke and Ben’s POV they return to their bodies and then BAM! red lightsabers are cutting through the door. I’ve had this issue before with Denning’s books, where I can’t picture the action scenes, and that carried over to the final confrontation on Sinkhole Station. I’m swept along for the ride, but if you asked me to draw a storyboard of what happened…yeah, I can’t do that.

IN CONCLUSION:

Building on the wave of Jedi madness, Abyss pushes the Fate of the Jedi series into a creepy, Lovecraftian direction with the introduction of this dark side spirit, Abeloth. Luke and Ben are also aware of the existence of more Sith, and will presumably chase after Vestara Khai in the next book. I continue to not be super engaged in the plight of these mad young Jedi—because I don't know them!--and I wasn’t happy with the introduction of a conflict between Jaina & Jag and Han & Leia, but I guess everything can’t be sunshine and roses for the Solos.


Next up: the fourth book in the Fate of the Jedi series, Backlash by Aaron Allston.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/sOgfPKAJqpI

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as fast-paced as the previous series, but still pretty decent. Not liking the direction of FOTJ but it is what it is. I wonder what book 4 will hold.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny first edition editing fail: In a galaxy long, long ago...

Abyss is an interesting read. I rather harbor enmity towards Troy Denning's prior two SW books, and his final Dark Nest entry was similarly poor in my estimation. Between those sits his first entry in the LOTF series, an improvement upon its immediate LOTF predecessor that nevertheless really only served to dumb and drag down its series. Abyss retains some of that energy, but is also a mostly fun and focused read. Here we have the uptick in pacing FOTJ needed.


Let's start with the things that don't work. Kenth Hamner, acting Jedi Grand Master, effectively has his character assassinated. Rather than the practically minded and yet still sympathetic leader figure we saw in Outcast and Omen (and going back to NJO), this novel decides to portray him as a Machiavellian egotist. Wait a second... didn't this exact thing happen with Cal Omas in NJO vis-à-vis Dark Nest? Yes, actually: though instead of just doing whatever with a previously established character, now we're dragging Kenth through the mud to serve the bigger and seemingly ever-lasting point of having the Jedi be wholly incompetent whenever Luke is not around. Or at least that's my interpretation. Look: this novel otherwise continues the series' lower stakes, lower intensity approach to conflict. I appreciate that. So why throw in this wrench, especially when it's just regurgitating what DNT/LOTF already dabbled in?

Worse is the treatment of Jagged Fel, whom I am convinced Denning personally didn't like. Okay well I know that because of how the Jaina romance thing panned out in his prior books. Anyways, again, as with prior books, this one seems to have it out for Jag. There's this ultra convenient plotline about him, as a Chief of State of a sovereign state, withholding information from the Jedi-minus-Jaina, and then it blows up on him in the face of Solo Family Drama. Now Han and Leia hate him. Lower stakes, sure, but do we need this type of family drama? Plus, The Powers That Be have still not recognized that Jaina and Jag are in their 30s and not two 16 year olds on their first date. I never feel like these characters are actual adults.

I have forgotten what else Han and Leia and Allana do in this book.

Finally, there are two problems I have with one of Abyss' highlights: The Luke & Ben subplot brings us to the Pool of Knowledge, a place of appropriately pulpy esoteric nonsense where the two see three people of their past. The first, Anakin, gets a really great send-off here. He talks with Luke and Ben about keeping up the Light as Jedi, talks to Ben for the first real time, and makes veteran readers tear up one final time. This is a great scene, perhaps my favorite in this book. Second, we get to Mara Jade, who talks about penance and keeping in the light. Apparently, because of her time as Palpatine's enforcer, she's now, literally, suffering in Force Hell for her transgressions. Theological problems aside, did we really need this? It's nothing new for Denning, he teased a subplot of this kind for her in The Unseen Queen, but it never went anywhere. Now, I guess, he picked it up again to have the last word on her. As with Kenth/Cal, I have to wonder if maybe he just can't help himself sometimes. I tend to identify this nihilistic strand in his Star Wars works. Speaking of: Jacen is the final apparition, and he's wholly unrepentant about everything he's done. Yes, just put that knife in. Whatever, redemption is not even a real scenario in this universe anymore, apparently. What's more confusing is the continued haze surrounding his motivation for falling dark: Apparently, as of this novel, it was to prevent his daughter Allana specifically from suffering a dark future. This, obviously, does not at all work with what we saw in DNT and the important LOTF books, though Denning did maneuver everything in this direction in Invincible. Mainly I just have to wonder what the point of this entire plotline, yes, this entire foundational half of the Luke & Ben plot is. It makes very little sense compared to what we read in prior books, never mind how those make even less sense compared with NJO. It's just this never-ending game of shifting narratives we're being fed.

That's a lot of negativity, but it makes up a comparatively small part of this book. Indeed, I did enjoy most of it. For starters, Abyss doesn't quite escape the series' Insane Jedi Repetition, but it at least makes it interesting: we already know Bazel Warf as a player in FOTJ, and his POV is perhaps the most entertaining yet. Actually, wow, Bazel Warf: FOTJ continues to have fairly immaculate continuity between novels. We're thankfully far removed from the days of Evil!Jacen and his weekly personality change. Wynn Dorvan gets a good scene in, and even Daala works as a reasonably antagonistic character. Tahiri's trial is only teased, but I'm okay with that since the presence of Nawara implies Allston will take it up again; again, we have this inter-series connectivity comparable to Han mostly sitting out Dark Tide before Agents of Chaos. Oh and I guess the Mandalorians have finally arrived in this series, two books late. That type of silliness aside - and if anything it's Outcast's fault for not building on its predecessor - I'm just glad I can take FOTJ seriously as a cohesive series again.

Without a doubt, the real reason to read this book is Luke & Ben's subplot. As with the Jedi Insanity sections, it follows FOTJ's episodic blueprint. The Force Sect of the Day are the Mind Walkers, an amalgam of people from different traditions that came together to... leave their bodies and swim around in a Force-trance state in low-G. So basically they don't get anything done and (similarly to the "dead" Baran Do in Outcast) just engage in "lotus eating" the entire time. A fun and appropriately SW-esoteric concept. We actually get to spend time with them, too, so they're already better than what Omen did with the Aing-tii. Yet what really elevates this subplot above its predecessors is that it also furthers the overall story. This entire scenario ties into the Mysterious Entity at the Maw, and it even intersects with the Lost Tribe from book 2. Finally, Denning even gave this plot a proper action climax! For this alone, Abyss stands as the most robust, the most solidly constructed FOTJ novel so far.

What I particularly liked here was the atmosphere. The Mind Walker stuff is set in an abandoned space station full of corpses and gloomy lighting, and before all of that the act of arriving there carried a sense of the weird with it. Denning's action set pieces still lack in flow and description, but these more sublime settings are well-presented. Moreover, Luke engages in the esoteric, and is transported to an ethereal courtyard with a Harry Potter pensieve and orange sulfur steam and everything, and it's just fun. Fate of the Jedi marks the return of weird, pulpy Science Fiction/Fantasy scenery. Consider also the Lost Tribe plot: they're exploring an Inner Core jungle world that's completely off. The rivers are crimson-colored, the sun is blue and gives everything a corresponding tinge, and most notably, the flora predates the fauna. Pure entertainment.

I also enjoyed the Lost Tribe plot in of itself. Pacing-wise, it should have probably happened in the prior book, but I'm still glad it's here. I liked Vestara more in here than in Golden's book; she seemed more appropriately Sith, had more believable struggles in the personal and with her community's harsh prestige-based rules. It's worth mentioning Abeloth as well. As of this novel, she's an intriguing presence: a sort of demonic figure who pretends to be benevolent but hides a terrible core. Her true form is very much ethereal, and she just... stands around in many a scene. It's a type of silent horror that creepypastas and the like have made capital of ever since, and a reasonably solid fit for Star Wars.


Fate of the Jedi: Abyss stands as Troy Denning's best Star Wars novel since The Joiner King. It doesn't always conceal Denning's worst authorial traits, nor does it really have much to say, but it works quite well as an easy entertainment Star Wars adventure. I deem it an improved Tempest. On that note, my opinion of FOTJ's first three-book checkpoint is notably higher than what I thought of LOTF at the same time: the series' foundation is less thoughtful and "philosophically ambitious", but it also hasn't yet thrown itself overboard. The books are flawed, repetitive, and ultimately just decent, but they're well-meaning and I don't hate the cast. FOTJ is poised to tell a more structured second third - provided the authors pick up on Abyss' set-up.

[Sonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3rd installment of the Fate of the Jedi series Abyss, felt like a hit and miss for me. Although certain elements were intriguing, more often then not I was bored out of my mind. Mainly on the fact with Luke's astral meditation story arc and the endless philosophical debates that followed just made the whole story lag on and on. The hired initial Mandolorian threat was less satisfying than I would have liked. Though I doubt this will be the last time we'll see them, maybe hoping to see Boba make an appearance somehow. The girls in Abyss were irritating as usual (barring Leia), and the Tribe of Sith story arc was quite frankly disinteresting. But there was some redeeming qualities in Abyss, especially concerning who Luke and Ben meet during their adventure through the Maw. I have to admit I did tear up. :)

Ben and Luke's meeting with Anakin and Mara was one of the saddest moments of the series so far. Luke having to come face to face with Anakin, the Jedi Knight he sent on a mission that cost him his life, and Ben having never met Anakin, coming face to face with one of his Idols. Mara's encounter was bittersweet, her death in Legacy of the Force was cheap and unnecessary and it was good to see her, even if only one more time. Luke and Ben's conversation with Jacen and Luke's astral journey, really displayed the Jacen in a positive light. Although he did become a Dark Lord of the Sith, his intentions were pure and had the galaxies interests at heart. It was heartening to see Ben forgive Jacen, and for the deceased Solo to pass along much needed encouragement to the person who would come to lead the Jedi Order in the future.

Jaina's duel allegiances conflicting was interesting, but was resolved too quickly without it sinking in enough to be a major plot focus (though I'm sure it will be an area of focus in the next installment). Overtime, I've come to loathe Jaina, the last Solo child. More often than not, she acts in brash, arrogant, and selfish manner that doesn't help her image. And I guess I'm not being too nice to the women in Abyss with my next comment. Honestly I'm sorry to say but I can't stand Allana. Just imagining her young girly voice asking all those trivial questions and stupid comments... its so irritating. I often find myself being bored through the Leia/Han adventures, but Allana's presence just totally kills it for me. I'll be looking forward to her maturing and growing up though.

Sith side story arc was disinteresting. I found that I was not too interested between their inner squabbling between themselves or the dangers they faced on the strange planet. Although I've come to sympathize with Vestara. After having so much of the story of the POV of Vestara, Im beginning to think that she wont be an antagonist in the long wrong. There's too many points in the story where it seems to be apparent that even though she is a ruthless sith, she is also a loving, insecure girl, who may have a change of heart (and beliefs) as the story progresses.


Confrontation came to head between the Sith and the Skywalkers, the climax as the ending really came to late for me and ended too soon to really enjoy, especially since the majority of the Abyss lacked any action at all. Overall, it was ok, not bad... but out of three novels so far, my least favorite. "

[Ithlilian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series for some reason even though there are plenty of things wrong with it. It's not just that it's Star Wars because up until now I have disliked pretty much every Star Wars book I tried to read. It's not the characters because I find them tiresome at times. I think I like it because I want to know what happens when all the loose ends come together. I want to know what's making Jedi crazy and am interested to see if the people turn against the Jedi. The random mysteries that Luke and Ben run into are also pretty nifty. The problem is that this is pretty similar to the last two books. We have Han and Leia making fun of each other and breaking rules, swinging their celebrity around to get things done while juggling their granddaughter. Then we have Luke and Ben on their mission to discover weird crap about the galaxy, I mean to discover what made Jacen evil...because it's not like that could have just happened on it's own, something had to *cause* it...silly Jedi. Then we have the Sith running around after a ship called ship, doing their try not to kill each other thing. They come off as a bit weak and stereotypical in this which is a definite downgrade from the last story, but they are still Sith so I'll keep reading. That's pretty much it. The pages flew by and nothing really happened, 6 more to go woohoo!

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a huge story, this is a decent Star Wars tale, but it has some elements I don't like. I like more adventure in my Star Wars books, and while this has that, there's a lot of politics as well, which happens more and more in these books. It's a really big story, going over many books, and they take their time with a lot detail for the Fate of the Jedi arc.

Luke Skywalker and his son Ben travel the galaxy to find clues as to what happened to Jacen Solo. They really want to know what led their friend, cousin and nephew, to the Dark Side. They find a few groups of obscure, non-Jedi force users, and get a few clues that they need to go to the Maw, a unique grouping of black holes.

Back on Couruscant, capital of the New Republic, things get worse between the Jedi and Daala, the Chief of State. Daala is a former Imperial and has rigid ideas about law and order. She isn't willing to let the Jedi operate independently, especially not after some of them are apparently going crazy. Some are scared of the Jedi- insane Jedi running amok aren't good for anyone.

Things go bad on Coruscant, and keep deteriorating. The Jedi don't know what's behind the madness inflicting their Order, and have no idea how to stop it, but Daala's methods aren't helping. Off in the Maw, the Skywalkers have no communications, so they don't know that a Sith assassination squad is closing in...

[Kaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

FATE OF THE JEDI #3: ABYSS

The third novel in the Fate of the Jedi series, “ABYSS,” by Troy Denning.
So far the first two volumes of the series have been pretty fun and great, and as far as this book goes, the quality still holds up. The characters are quite well done and this is probably one of Denning's best SW novels.

We have the same plot or at least a similar one with the whole thing about the Jedi Knights going crazy because of this mental illness. Luke and Ben continue their journey to find that disturbance in the force they felt in the Maw. Everything is moderately consistent and the story still feels very connected to the previous novel.

Luke and Ben find a station much like Centerpoint Station in the Maw and search for this strange group of force users called the "Mind Walkers", whom Jacen also visited on his five-year journey after touching the Codex and feeling the same disturbance in the Force as Luke. This station is a smaller version of Centerpoint Station, created by the Celestials, known as "Sinkhole Station". Once there, they meet the “Mind Drinkers”, also known as the Mind Walkers. These Force-sensitive beings come from numerous sects and orders of the force including the Disciples of Ragnos, the Fallanassi, the Jensaarai, the Potentium Heretics, the Reborn, the Far Seekers, the Inner Seers, and several others. Among the most notable we have a former Jedi from the Galactic Republic era, Seek Ryontarr, and one of Luke's Jedi Order who was considered missing in the Tapani Sector. The Mind Walkers have come to combine their Force traditions into one that focuses on a form of quasi-death that separates the mind from the body to go "Beyond Shadows". This allows any Force user to seek knowledge, and Jacen apparently did so during his quest for knowledge of the Force. While Ben remains mostly with the Jade Shadow, Luke goes "Beyond Shadows" to see what Jacen had seen on that astral plane after learning from the Mind Walkers that he saw a dark man sitting on a throne ruling the galaxy. Luke fears that he's the dark man who forced Jacen to turn evil and travels to this plane of the force. They take him to the "Font of Power", which offers great power but is contaminated by the Dark Side. He's then taken to the "Pool of Knowledge" to possibly see the future, but instead of accepting its power, both Luke and Jacen (in the past) refuse to use it. Instead, Luke briefly uses it to get a vision of the so-called "Throne of Balance" that Jacen had seen at the end of Legacy of the Force: Invincible. Unlike Jacen, who saw a dark man, Luke sees Jacen's daughter Allana sitting on a white throne ruling the galaxy with peace and justice.

Although the Throne of Balance had already appeared in Legacy of the Force: Invincible, here there is another Retcon concerning the previous series; because it is obvious that Jacen had never before seen that vision of a dark figure ruling the galaxy with Darksiders at his side and that it was perhaps what prompted him to begin his quest to control the galaxy and prevent such an event..

Luke meets a woman there. This woman who has extremely long light hair, silver eyes that really shine, a smile that literally goes from one ear to the other, and many tentacles is Abeloth. By the way, nothing is explained about the training to access this astral plane of Beyond Shadows, they just sit there, float, and are teleported. How Abeloth got there is also not very clear; so I guess we'll have to go with the "it's beyond mortal understanding". They also continue with the idea that Jacen is destined to become evil and more nonsense.

Ben soon joins Luke in "Beyond Shadows" when he sees that his father's body will no longer last in that state. Luke and Ben visit the “Apparition Lake,” where they risk falling underwater into the “Depths of Eternity", in order to see the reflective surface of the Lake, known as the “Mirror of Remembrance". In the "mirror", they speak with the spirits of Anakin Solo, Mara Jade Skywalker, and Jacen Solo. Anakin Solo talks to Ben and tells him not to let others put too much faith in him, the same way people had put so much faith in Anakin himself and not to get them killed like him lol. Mara warns them about the danger that Abeloth represents. Jacen appears and says that he does not regret his actions, but forgives Jaina (I assume for killing him) and Ben for betraying him. Luke then asks Jacen if that dark man was Luke himself, to which Jacen says no after confirming that somehow the future changed and that his daughter is now the one sitting on the Throne of Balance. He also suggests that Luke and Ben can learn about Abeloth by entering the “Mists of Oblivion,” but they refuse and return to the physical world.

I think it's a good idea in concept, that Jacen saw this vision of the dark man ruling the galaxy, as a way to explain why he went crazy from one moment to another in the second Dark Nest novel. IN CONCEPT, because Jacen in Dark Nest doesn't seem like someone who is trying to save the galaxy, but simply someone who is seeking a deeper understanding of the Force. Maybe if this whole Throne of Balance thing had been introduced earlier, it would probably make sense, but now it just looks weird and makes the Timeline more confusing...

Enough, next story.
On Coruscant, Valin Horn, Jysella Horn, Seff Hellin, and Natua Wan are still affected by whatever is driving the Jedi crazy. Two other Jedi Knights, Bazel Warv and Yaqeel Saav'etu also go mad. The Jedi stop them before Chief of State Natasi Daala's forces can capture them. Shortly thereafter, Imperial Chief of State Jagged Fel tells Jaina Solo, his fiancée, that Daala has recruited the Mandalorians as a force to potentially use against the Jedi. Jag forces her to promise to keep it from the Jedi and her parents, as her secret. We also have this reporter, Javis Tyrr spying and we find out he works for Moff Lecersen. This is expanded further here and we see how Lecersen gives him surveillance droids to spy on the Jedi. Tahiri's trial begins and, as her lawyer, she has Nawara Ven, a Twi'lek who is the equivalent of that lawyer from The Simpsons who doesn't win any case. There is a lot more filler, and basically, the Coruscant plot ends when Han and Leia along with the help of Jaden Korr and other Jedi help smuggle the deranged Jedi out of Coruscant and take them to Shedu Maad, where they will be under the protection of the Hapan forces of Tenel Ka. By the way, Jaden Korr makes an appearance here and it seems as if the events of his duology never happened or maybe he just went back to normal. Anyway, it was a good cameo.
The only thing I didn't like was the drama between Han and Leia with Jag for not telling them about the Mandalorians.

Lastly, we have the Lost Tribe of the Sith on their journey in search of Ship that has taken them to the Maw. There they find a planet and a strange woman who calls herself simply Abeloth. When the Lost Tribe of the Sith, led by Lady Olaris Rhea (with her Sith apprentice, Vestara Khai), encounter Abeloth, everything seems to be going well, but they are slowly annihilated by Abeloth's control of the planet. Vestara is the only one to realize Abeloth's true nature, after saving her master from drowning and seeing the terrifying true appearance of Abeloth, who until then had shown herself to be a beautiful woman. The Sith want to take Abeloth to Kesh to gain Lord Vol's favor, but Abeloth convinces them to go capture Luke and Ben. There are weird moments, like when Vestara and her friend Ahri are sunbathing naked… By the way, they're both 16 years old, so it would be fair for both of them… right? NO. The good thing is that it doesn't go into details, Thank God.

The Sith board Sinkhole Station to kill both Skywalkers. They meet Luke and Ben, they fight and the Sith following their nature betray each other, and that prevents them from killing the Skywalkers. During the fight, Luke marks Vestara with a blood trail so he can track her and manages to kill Lady Rhea. Of course, his death is very descriptive, losing an arm, a leg, and more Edgy stuff. Only Vestara survives the battle, her best friend, Ahri Raas (who betrayed her in the middle of the fight), is killed by Luke, who cuts him in two with his lightsaber... After the battle, where fourteen of the fifteen Sith were killed, Luke plans to follow the trail of the only survivor, Vestara, and find out what these new Sith who literally came out of nowhere mean, and if they have any connection with Abeloth.

So the novel ends with that, that's the basics of the three stories and it's solid. He has a fast pace, although he still has the typical Denning problems. The characters aren't very well represented, especially Jag, Jaina, Han, and Leia. The configuration and description of the scenarios and environments aren't very good, it is difficult to imagine what is being described to us. But it's still good, not at the same level as the first two novels, but very close.