This was simply horrific. I think my comments made below while reading this atrocity of storytelling should be more than adequate convey my dismay, but I can't resist the temptation to throw a few gifs into a scathing review. So here goes. Anderson's characterization of the Big Three (Luke, Leia, and Han) is a weak dilution of their portrayal in the original trilogy. Furthermore, these caricatures are set against a weak, convoluted plot, where once again, recycled enemies are threatening the whole galaxy, and Friendship and Bravery win the day. Callista is easily the very, very worst character I've ever been exposed to, ever. And I've read some bad, bad books. She spends the entire book bemoaning the fact that she no longer has the Force. She makes Luke feel incredibly guilty for having the Force, which I think qualifies her for Worst Girlfriend Ever, considering Luke is the most important and most talented Jedi in the universe. I had a girlfriend like this once. She was an English major, I was a history major, and we took an English class together. On one of the papers, I got an A and she got a C. Somehow this was my fault. In any case, I could really sympathize with Luke in this situation. They don't even have sex, so there's nothing to redeem this relationship...not even her amber hair, which "thrashed around like waves of exotic spice". Yes, that's how Anderson describes this horrifying woman. Luke, please ditch this idiot and bang Mara Jade. You know she wants you. Ask me. Ask anyone. Do we care whether or not Callista can use the Force anymore?Does anyone care about Luke and Callista's little tour of all the places that made Luke who he is all the planets from the original trilogy?So feed her to the goddamned wampas and let's get back to the plot!! Surprisingly, I found the sections with Admiral Daala and Crix Madine the most interesting. Madine gets very little attention in RotJ, so essentially, Anderson got to use him as an original character. I would be preferred to see the entire Hutt storyline stripped away, instead pitting Daala and Madine against each other. No plucky Jedi kids, no fucking annoying Callista, no whiny-ass Luke. I want to see Madine and some Republic commandos infiltrate Daala's base with Han (only if another author was writing his dialogue. Anderson managed to fuck him up, too) and blowing the whole nefarious Imperial plan to bits. I kept struggling with why people would want to keep rebuilding the Empire. The central concept to an Empire is the Emperor. Without that, that political system is essentially a military junta. Go with that, guys! It's on wikipedia and everything.
When I was younger, I was a massive Star Wars fan - not uncommon for my generation, because the original films were reissued when I was eight and Episodes I, II and III soon followed. I was also a bit of a reader, as you can probably tell. The result? I delved into the universe (pun intended) of Star Wars books and lost myself for several years.Darksaber is one of the best, featuring many of the favourites from the original films and a few new characters. Set eight years after Return of the Jedi, Luke and Han return to Tattooine and discover that the Hutt family is building a secret superweapon, a rebuild of the Death Star called 'Darksaber'.Yeah, imagine that. The Hutts owning a Death Star. That can only mean trouble. Couple that with the existence of Admiral Daala, who I think I was a little in love with, and you've got a plot in the making. Kevin's writing is believable and captures the essence of the original films well, but he has had the practice - he authored the Jedi Academy Trilogy, which went on to become a New York Times Bestseller. In fact, he wrote over twenty Star Wars books, and he now has forty bestselling books to his name.Interestingly, it's easy to picture the main characters as they were in the films, only with more worry lines and the odd grey hair. It helps that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and co. have all aged publicly, and only the non-human characters are difficult to place. Then again, most of the returning characters are human anyway, which could be an intentional ploy on Anderson's part. It's hard to tell.However, this is not the sort of book that you can just pick up and read if you're not already a Star Wars aficionado - it turns out that a lot of people take Star Wars very seriously, you know the type. And because of this, the writers of the Star Wars novels have a lot of material to research, the number of characters, places and storylines that have already been explored number in the hundreds, if not the thousands.This gives the writers a supply of source material with which to shape their own stories, and they frequently refer to events that have happened in other novels, especially the author's own. If you love Star Wars, you'll like Darksaber - if you like Star Wars, you'll struggle through it. Be warned.
What do You think about Darksaber (1996)?
I had forgotten what a fantaatic book "Darksaber" is! In addition to the standard swashbuckling action one finds in a "Star Wars" novel, it is also both poignant and darkly humours. I was initially disappointed that Anderson chose to stay within the source material of the films (seriously, there are more planets in the universe other than Tatooine, Hoth, and Dagobah.) But, he makes up for this by protraying each setting with such detail that you can close your eyes and are immediately seeing Jabba' Palace of Echo Base for the first time all over again. Top notch story, and excellent rendering of the characters. A first rate effort all around.
—Robert
KA has an uncanny talent for continuing the Star Wars story. The plot was wonderful and entertaining with several things happening at once. I enjoyed seeing Pellaeon still alive and causing trouble. I did have a problem with the treatment of Crix Madine, I did not like the ending. The Callista storyline also made me mad, but then again it leaves things open. The use of the Jedi Academy students was wonderful. Even if you haven't read the Academy series anderson makes you feel like you know the characters. The only other problem was the wasteful Hoth scene that had no point other than location placement. This is a terrific book with only minor flaws that can be overlooked because the book is so good.
—Ian Reay
Ce livre est la suite directe de Children of the Jedi. Calista est une jedi qui a vécu dans un système informatique et que Luke a ramené dans un corps. Le problème est qu'elle a perdu ses pouvoirs Jedi. Luke part au travers de la galaxie et va aux endroits determinants de sa vie pour voir si Calista pourrait retrouver la maîtrise de la Force. Pendant ce temps, Leia découvre que les Hutts ont construit une nouvelle super-arme et tente de la détruire. On assiste aussi au retour de l'Amirale Daala qui tente de détruire l'Académie Jedi avec l'aide de Pellaeon, l'ancien assistant du Grand Amiral Thrawn.Kevin J. Anderson est vraiment un mauvais écrivain de Star War. Ce livre est encore pire que son Académie Jedi. Je n'ai jamais compris en quoi Calista pourrait retrouver ses pouvoirs Jedi en retournant sur les lieux marquants de la vie de Luke. Pour la partie de la super-arme, ça commence à tourner en rond. On peux passer à autre chose. C'est un autre livre écrit dans la période où n'importe quoi sortait.
—Yves
