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blam's review against another edition
5.0
So it is difficult for me to be unbiaised in this book review, considering that I started reading the book already loving the character of Theron Shan. I play the video game Star Wars The Old Republic a lot (like, a lot) and Theron is one of my favourite NPCs of all time. Everything about him is great, from being the son of a legacy of Jedis without having the Force himself, to being both an excellent agent while being a mess in his personnal life, to of course being one of the best romance of the game.
I was a little concerned though, when picking up the book, that Theron would be treated like some sort of James Bond character. Just by looking at the cover, he looks nothing like in the game! I didn’t want Theron to be turned into some square-jawed manly man. To me, the fact that he can be both the best spy AND kind of a disaster at the same time is part of the appeal of the character.
Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about! The Theron in the book is funny, improvises plans a lot, and ends up being ambushed by unwanted family drama just as much as he does in the video game. Which is great.
The plot of the book revolves around three interconnected plotlines. In the first one, Theron is still hung up over the death of the jedi who raised him. The man gave his life to save a Twilek criminal named Teff’ith. Theron feels like he should keep an eye on her and protect her, despiteTeff’ith vehemently dissagreeing. The second plot line that come in is the main story of the book, namely that Theron gets assigned to a mission to take down the most powerful ship in the Empire. Which gets complicated by the third and final plot line in the book, which is Theron’s sudden meeting with his father, the chief of the Republic’s military. (If you played the game, this is not a spoiler.) Neither of them knew until that point that they were related, which causes a lot of tension, especially since Theron isn’t coping as well as he’d like to pretend about the entire « being the son of a jedi » thing.
All three of these things end up being relevant, as Theron gets sent on the mission with Teff’ith and a jedi master on the orders of his father. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan. But our boy isn’t the best agent for nothing!
The book is a pretty entertaining ride through imperial space, cover missions, hacking battles and firefights. There’s not a dull moment, and all of the characters are pretty interesting. Of course, like I said, I already love most of these characters, so I’m a poor judge. But I loved seeing the references to the game and getting to know more about the universe of Star Wars The Old Republic, especially covering a period between the end of the main storyline and the beginning of the expensions. So many details, at the beginning of the book, delighted me because if you’ve played through what the fans call the « vanilla » game, you’ll read references to stuff that you, personnally, did through your player character! How fun is that!
In conclusion, Theron Shan is the best, 10/10
I was a little concerned though, when picking up the book, that Theron would be treated like some sort of James Bond character. Just by looking at the cover, he looks nothing like in the game! I didn’t want Theron to be turned into some square-jawed manly man. To me, the fact that he can be both the best spy AND kind of a disaster at the same time is part of the appeal of the character.
Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about! The Theron in the book is funny, improvises plans a lot, and ends up being ambushed by unwanted family drama just as much as he does in the video game. Which is great.
The plot of the book revolves around three interconnected plotlines. In the first one, Theron is still hung up over the death of the jedi who raised him. The man gave his life to save a Twilek criminal named Teff’ith. Theron feels like he should keep an eye on her and protect her, despiteTeff’ith vehemently dissagreeing. The second plot line that come in is the main story of the book, namely that Theron gets assigned to a mission to take down the most powerful ship in the Empire. Which gets complicated by the third and final plot line in the book, which is Theron’s sudden meeting with his father, the chief of the Republic’s military. (If you played the game, this is not a spoiler.) Neither of them knew until that point that they were related, which causes a lot of tension, especially since Theron isn’t coping as well as he’d like to pretend about the entire « being the son of a jedi » thing.
All three of these things end up being relevant, as Theron gets sent on the mission with Teff’ith and a jedi master on the orders of his father. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan. But our boy isn’t the best agent for nothing!
The book is a pretty entertaining ride through imperial space, cover missions, hacking battles and firefights. There’s not a dull moment, and all of the characters are pretty interesting. Of course, like I said, I already love most of these characters, so I’m a poor judge. But I loved seeing the references to the game and getting to know more about the universe of Star Wars The Old Republic, especially covering a period between the end of the main storyline and the beginning of the expensions. So many details, at the beginning of the book, delighted me because if you’ve played through what the fans call the « vanilla » game, you’ll read references to stuff that you, personnally, did through your player character! How fun is that!
In conclusion, Theron Shan is the best, 10/10
eridal582's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
fionasongbird's review against another edition
5.0
Really fun spy story in true Star Wars style. I really like Theron and Teffith. The climax is intense and gripping, with a satisfying conclusion.
nightxade's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. This is a basic adventure that covers the Star Wars standards, making it a fun, light read, though not as memorable as many others I've read. Theron Shan is a rather unimpressive character, despite the claims to his expertise as an SIS agent. I read [b:The Lost Suns|13078294|The Lost Suns (Star Wars The Old Republic Comic, #3)|Alexander Freed|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348524346s/13078294.jpg|18245437] before writing this review to see if I was missing anything, but no, there's not much to him. His main purpose in this book is to add more depth to his parents, Grand Master Satele Shan and Supreme Commander Jace Malcom (Star Wars really does love its illustrious titles). Having played Star Wars: The Old Republic, on which this book is based, I was disappointed in the limited interaction with these two characters after seeing them in the various trailers -- in fact, Jace Malcom was unnamed when he was introduced -- so the few moments spent with Satele and Jace helped to flesh them out a bit more.
The writing did not seem to suffer from the immaturity I felt was present in Drew Karpshyn's Mass Effect books I have read. Or perhaps it was the nature of Star Wars that made me feel like Drew was more comfortable writing this story. My opinion on this is very likely skewed by the fact that I "read" this in audiobook format. Music and special effects aside, Marc Thompson does an exceptional job, especially the character of Teff'ith. I'll excuse his Satele Shan. No one can replace Jennifer Hale.
The writing did not seem to suffer from the immaturity I felt was present in Drew Karpshyn's Mass Effect books I have read. Or perhaps it was the nature of Star Wars that made me feel like Drew was more comfortable writing this story. My opinion on this is very likely skewed by the fact that I "read" this in audiobook format. Music and special effects aside, Marc Thompson does an exceptional job, especially the character of Teff'ith. I'll excuse his Satele Shan. No one can replace Jennifer Hale.
monitamohan's review against another edition
3.0
These Old Republic books have felt a lot like reading a highlights reel of these events and characters. I can’t quite connect the dots because, well, I don’t even know where to go and look to fill in the gaps.
This one though was far better than the previous two installments. The story was tight and I loved the action scenes. Even the back and forth of the climatic battle was well done which isn’t easy in written form.
The characters were much more measured as well, and somewhat more likeable. I do wish there had been more female characters leading parts of the story. I really felt their absence. Even though the main baddie is a woman, she was very underdone.
Now, I know that these books slot into a grander narrative so some of what is in here has already been dictated by other properties, but why is it that science-fiction and fantasy fall into the trope of secret pregnancies that have to be carried out? It’s totally bizarre. There are space wizards and aliens, but pregnancies must obey the exact same laws of reality. Weird.
Not the worst book in the series. Action was fun.
This one though was far better than the previous two installments. The story was tight and I loved the action scenes. Even the back and forth of the climatic battle was well done which isn’t easy in written form.
The characters were much more measured as well, and somewhat more likeable. I do wish there had been more female characters leading parts of the story. I really felt their absence. Even though the main baddie is a woman, she was very underdone.
Now, I know that these books slot into a grander narrative so some of what is in here has already been dictated by other properties, but why is it that science-fiction and fantasy fall into the trope of secret pregnancies that have to be carried out? It’s totally bizarre. There are space wizards and aliens, but pregnancies must obey the exact same laws of reality. Weird.
Not the worst book in the series. Action was fun.
styxagent5's review against another edition
3.0
Probably my favorite of the four books as someone who never played through the games, probably cause the story is more "complete" in respect to the books alone. Definitely planning to play the games now.
Small non story spoiler
But unless I misremember towards the end a sith warrior uses two purple lightsabers during a fight. I found this odd and wasn't sure if it was a reference, an oversight, or if sith with different colored light sabers wasn't uncommon in the games or that time period.
Small non story spoiler
But unless I misremember towards the end a sith warrior uses two purple lightsabers during a fight. I found this odd and wasn't sure if it was a reference, an oversight, or if sith with different colored light sabers wasn't uncommon in the games or that time period.
franklc29's review against another edition
3.0
The best of the Old Republic series this book combines everything great about the world of the Old Republic. It had powerful Jedi, Sith Lords, espionage, intrigue, spies, battles, explosions, etc. A very quick and fun read this one was great.