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| Inferno (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 6) | 
 enlarge | Author: Troy Denning
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.38
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New (39) Used (32) Collectible (1) from $1.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 7820
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0345477553
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345477552
ASIN: 0345477553
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Luke Skywalker wanted to unify the Jedi order and bring peace to the universe. Instead his wife Mara lies dead at the hands of an unknown assassin, his wayward nephew Jacen has seized control of the Galactic Alliance, and the galaxy has exploded in all-out civil war.
With Luke consumed by grief, Jacen Solo works quickly to consolidate his power and jumpstart his plan to take over the Jedi. Convinced he’s the only one who can save the galaxy, Jacen will do whatever it takes, even ambush his own parents.
With the Rebel confederacy driving deep into the Core to attack Coruscant and the Jedi under siege, Luke must reassert his position. Only he can lead the Jedi through this crisis, but it means solving the toughest problem Luke’s ever faced. Does he fight alongside his nephew Jacen, a tyrant who’s illegally taken over the GA, or does he join the rebels to smash the Galactic Alliance he helped create?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
Luke returns, Jacen goes mad - the best so far September 16, 2007
30 out of 30 found this review helpful
Fast paced and on plot, Inferno is the tightest and most engaging novel in the LotF series. Were it not for the lobotomized villain and the contrived ending, it might have been near perfect.
As this sixth volume opens, Jacen prepares to launch a decisive strike against the Confederation fleet. To do this, he must rely on the Jedi, and to rely on them he needs leverage to insure their cooperation. And so under the guise of protecting children, he sends a Galactic Alliance Guard squadron to hold the Jedi Academy hostage, after which things begin to spin out of control, including author Troy Denning's depiction of Jacen. Once a thinking man's villain, he has been transformed into a megalomaniacal, hostage-taking, child-killing, planet-destroying madman. At some point in the story you wonder what happened - who's this Darth Caedus guy and where did _he_ come from?
Where Caedus is laughable, Luke is again human, rescued from the sidelines where he spent the previous five volumes as an inefficient and ineffective politician and parent. Now center stage, he leads the Jedi out from under Jacen's nominal control, helps forge a new political alliance to try and contain his increasingly bizarre nephew, and personally takes the fight directly to Caedus. Sadly, this knock-down, drag-out concludes in a contrivance that can only have been intended to string out the series. Battered, bruised, and with a knife stuck between his shoulder blades, Jacen lays waiting for a death blow, one Ben is ready to deliver. Luke stops him, though, and the two walk away to wait for a moment when "the time is right." Thousands or millions more will die because Luke didn't act when he had the chance, a decision that will no doubt be the source of great lament and self-recrimination in forthcoming volumes.
While it may seem that there is no plot left to develop - Jacen having been abandoned by the Jedi, his political allies, and even his wife - a preview of the seventh installment finds Caedus scheming to bring the Hapan fleet back into the fight against the Confederation. While it is unlikely this plan will be any more successful than his others, it is the arrival of Alema Rar at the end of Inferno bearing a message from the ancient Sith home world of Korriban that portends a more dramatic show down between the forces of light and dark.
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 I love this book especially the ending-Beware Spoilers August 28, 2007
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I was really worried Inferno would let me down and in the beginning of the book my worries increased as Jacen feigned innocence in the death of Mara and even attended her funeral and that Luke didn't seem to figure out Jacen had killed her. When Luke fails to act while his Jedi academy is being held hostage by Jacen's military I was more angry then worried but for once I was completely surprised and happy. First we have what I've been waiting since Betrayel everyone realizing how far gone Jacen has gone and unite together to take him down. Luke's plan to go after Jacen was brilliant and caught me completely surprised. I also liked Ben's plan he too had me worried for a bit there but I was happy to learn it was all part of his plan. I swear the best part of the whole book was Jacen getting his butt kicked...even though he's still alive I respect Luke's reasons for not taking out Jacen until its on his terms. Tenel Ka's part also worried me the way she so easily handed over her fleet to Jacen in the beginnign the book but I loved the way she took it back. She was finally the strong, smart Jedi she used to be. The same with Jaina Solo, after being regulated to basically a secondary charactor in the Legecy of the Force (and I wasn't all that impressed with her during the NJO either) finally does something really big like defeating the military that was holding the Jedi Academy hostage. Completely awsome book.
 Weakest writing of the series... August 30, 2007
7 out of 19 found this review helpful
I hadn't read any Star Wars books since the late 90s, but a friend of mine recommended the Legacy of the Force series. I bit the hook and have been hooked every since, blazing through the first 5 books in less than a month.
I had pre-ordered Troy Denning's book "Inferno" a while back, and when it arrived I prepared myself for more of the great saga in the making. I was severely disappointed.
First of all - Troy Denning's writing style seems to be the weakest of the authors involved in the Legacy series. His characters lack the depth that they do in books by other authors, and instead seem to be caricatures of the 'good' or 'bad' guy that they are portrayed as. Jacen's moral questions, beliefs, and ultimate 'trigger' for his path down the dark side are thrown out the window by Troy Denning, instead replaced with a character who would think walking around and kicking puppies was the point of being a Sith Lord just because it was an evil act. Jacen seems more like the "Bwahaha I'll get you Gadget!" type of villain in this book as opposed to the cold, calculating, self-justification type of villain he has been, and I believe the character in question deserved more justice in what may end up being his final portrayal in a series.
Secondly - Troy Denning's portrayal of Luke Skywalker has always been weak, as if he has a 'Luke-fetish', throwing the character's strength in the Force way out of proportion. If Troy Denning had penned Return of the Jedi's script, Luke would have been able to force the Emperor down on all fours and have Vader walk him around on a leash to eat out of a dog bowl without batting an eyelash. The series will likely end with Luke Skywalker sneezing on his way past Jacen's Star Destroyer, causing the sun to go supernova and wiping out everyone in the vicinity (except Luke of course who will block the blast with his lightsaber).
Finally - there are some important events which occur in this book, I just wish they had been portrayed by one of the other authors who could have given some more emotional weight to the story instead of the "Luke Skywalker here to save the day!" type events where you know exactly what is going to occur. There is no believability to Denning's writing, you are just forced to read about how awesome Luke Skywalker is and how abundantly clear the morality is between Jacen versus the Jedi - unlike the ambiguity of the prior books which at least give you some sympathy for Jacen's fall from grace and understanding of the choices he made - even if you ultimately disagree with him.
The writing seems forced, as if he had to follow an outline (which he did), because if he had it his way Luke would have wrapped up the series here by cleaving the Star Destroyer in half with his lightsaber. Denning even alludes to the likelihood of that event during Han Solo's imagination of what it would take to kill Luke.
I'd even take Miss "Boba Fett takes up 1/3 of the book" over this guy's writing. At least hers is good, despite her need to name-drop Fett everywhere.
 ...what HAPPENED?! August 31, 2007
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've enjoyed thoroughly every entry in LotF so far, and having read every single Star Wars book before that, I know what a rarity that is. But I really thought this series had it's head(s) in the right place, building slow but powerful arcs believably. This all came to a head in Sacrifice, with the deaths and such, really making me believe I was reading a powerful and important story.
Then THIS happened.
Everything that could possibly be wrong with a tie-in book is wrong with this book. Illogical plotting, badly used & badly characterized main characters, overly indulgent use of self-made characters, unnecessary destruction of the universe...and after all that, and ending that is so clearly dictated by the story's original outline rather than any driving plot force that it stands as the most illogical and frustrating finale to a Star Wars novel ever written. Seriously, you won't find plot twists this bad outside of daytime soap operas.
Let me give you some examples. Avoid these if you don't want to know what happens, but trust me when I say, you won't care. They're not any better presented in the book than they will be in this list.
1) Juun and Tarfang (you remember them, the cute, comic relief Sullustan and Ewok from the Dark nest books?) manage to force the Wookies to imprison Han and Leia, when Han and Leia have just come to participate in a negotiation. No WAY the Wookiees would do this, as characterized in any other Star Wars book.
2) Jacen, having inexplicably become a total blithering idiot, SETS FIRE to Kashyyyk, then is SURPRISED when it makes Tenel Ka and the Jedi turn against him. No, seriously? Burning a whole planet? That's not a giveaway at ALL. Not even lip service is payed to justifying this, it's just evil gloating villain nonsense, with the occasional "trust me, it's what's best for the galaxy."
3) Ben sacrifices much of his remaining dignity, and Luke goes on one of the riskiest missions ever, to confront Jacen. Then, they beat him. He's on the floor. He's DOWN. And Luke says "we'll be back, to kill him...WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT." And they leave. That's it.
What in God's name would prompt the writer of the best NJO book, and the best book trilogy since Thrawn (possibly including Thrawn), to write such complete and utter garbage? Nothing in this book makes sense! It's not even 300 pages, but still was a chore to get through. I've almost never been so frustrated with a book.
 Legacy Fails to Live Up to the Name August 30, 2007
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
Let me preface this review with a few facts about myself. I am what most people would refer to as a fanboy. I own every single SW book that's been published. I've read most more than once. For me to give a SW book this bad a review is very telling. Especially for this series, which started out moving in a direction that I've wanted to see for year, only to subsequently veer off into "cliched rehash of Ep.III" territory. I have to admit that the overall score probably more reflects the series thus far as a whole than this individual book, however the problem is this book highlighted every single thing wrong with the series and added to it.
The largest problem comes from characterization. Jacen, who was a well fleshed out character coming into this series (The only real good thing to come from the NJO), has been butchered beyond recognition at this point. Apparently going to the dark side and becoming a Sith Lord automatically impairs mental function, because a character that used to be highly intelligent, sensitive, stoic, and tactically a genius has evolved into a complete moron and the poster child for Emo Villains. There's virtually no trace of what made the character great, and subsequently a potentially awesome villain, into a joke. For an all-powerful Sith Lord he gets his butt handed to him by everybody. He makes tactically retarded mistakes that are completely out of character, not to mention obvious. It's just a mess.
Plus Denning has to play with his pet characters as opposed to the ones we've all known for years, to the point of making the story feel less like a SW book and more like a generic action/adventure sci-fi. The perfect example of this is the Eulogy at the beginning of the book. The person chosen to speak is the very worst choice imaginable, and doesn't make sense given the situation. There are no less than 5 other people who should have been there/would have been better choices. Instead Denning opts for one of his own creations. I have no problem with new characters, I do have a problem when they take away from the feel of the book and take you out of the story. The plot points were also paint by numbers and fairly amateurish as well.
Overall this was the worst book of the series to date, when after the events of Sacrifice it needed to be one of the strongest. They've really dropped the ball with this series overall to the point where I've seriously considered not coming back for the next installment. This just doesn't feel like Star Wars to me anymore. For a fan like me, thats saying a lot.
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