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Great review corax. I just finished up Outcast myself, and thought I'd post some of my opinions here.

In some ways, Allston does a great job of bringing up ideas that the fans have been talking about all over message boards not only since the end of LotF but from even before that. To those people who argued 'Kyp got a free pass but Jacen didn't' - that's brought up. The mess that was Tahiri in LotF is brought into focus in Outcast (ironic since it was Fury that ignored her) and she brings up numerous arguments (Han and Leia's parenting, why Jacen fell) that fans have been talking about. If ever I was to guess at an author who reads message boards, I'd guess Allston does.

At the same time, I'm feeling only ok about Outcast. Unlike DJ (who mentioned this in one of the other review threads) I felt like there wasn't enough of a BIG THREAT in this novel. We've had a number of smaller novels since Invincible (Millenium Falcon and Shadows of Mindor come to mind) - I wanted FotJ to begin the next BIG arc. I loved Betrayal because it was HUGE. So much going on in that book - a rocking start to the new series. Outcast in comparison feels like a slow burn, almost a book prologue to the rest of the series.

While the Force sickness could be a big deal, it's not enough of a big deal in Outcast. Yes Valin's plight is well done, and I agree with corax, I really felt for him, at the same time, this should have ramped up by the end of the book with an entire outbreak, multiple Jedi contracting the disease. There's an odd bounty hunter working for the government who carries a lightsaber that isn't a Jedi - is she a Sith? Again, who knows. While I understand holding some things back for future novels, some hint as to her ultimately affiliation would have raised the threat level of this novel - even if it was in the final pages (think of the scenes from Phantom Menace when Maul talks to Sidious "we shall have our revenge" - that's the kind of thing that I feel like this book should have had). Instead it all feels a little random.

Yes I love what's going on with Jaina and Jag, though I find it a little odd that Jag can escape from his duties as Head of the Galactic Empire so easily to play bounty-hunter. Yes, I'm sure the stuff they're doing (capturing Seff to give the Jedi a chance to figure out what's going on with Valin) connects to the Luke/Ben plot - but it also seems very similar to what Jaina and Jag were doing in most of LotF (namely, tracking down Alema Rar). I did like that things are not being made easy for the Jedi - the observers (and especially the reintroduction of Tarc) was a good plot point, made for some good tension. The government isn't exactly on their side, but they're not full out enemies of the state either. Still, I can see how this can lead to the future we've seen in the Legacy comic.

The Han/Leia/Allana stuff... oh how I wanted to enjoy this. But honestly, it felt like a drag to me. There were some hints that there's a connection between Kessel and Centerpoint - so again, those fans who wanted closure on what happened after Centerpoint blew, we may still get that in FotJ. But again, not enough about it in this novel. Celestials were mentioned, but I'd have liked a bigger hint that there are things to come, that there is in fact some connection between this story and the rest (perhaps the descendants of the Celestials are another Force group Luke and Ben will visit, providing a connection - but I'm just making that up, it's just something I would have liked to have gotten a hint about). Yes, ultimately I liked how Allston introduced the rag tag group of pilots - and even gave us updated descriptions of some of them as well as their families, but even then, I felt like the space piloting wasn't as exciting as it could have been. Why not have the thing go to hell - like the bogeys figure out what they're doing and start detonating the planet, so it's crashing all around the pilots as they try to improvise a new plan while avoiding collapsing tunnels, etc. It all just felt rather tame. I did like seeing Lando and Tendra and Chance (and Lando needs a cover in this series as well as a big role), and I did like the omnious voice talking to Allana - I do suspect there's more to be learned on Kessel still (the avians and the pyramids are at the top of my list of connections to the bigger story).

Without Luke and Ben retracing Jacen's footsteps, I swear there wouldn't be a story in FotJ (at least as given to us so far in Outcast). This is the glue that holds this story together, and like corax I felt it was the best part of the book. I looked forward to getting back to them each time the story moved away from them. Ben has some great fight scenes, and Luke has a pretty good one himself. Ben shows a lot of the analytical side (and the 'getting to the point' side) of his mother. I see real character progression here, someone who acts like a teenager at times, and a little wiser beyond his years at other times due to what he's been through in LotF. As before Outcast, I'm looking forward the most to their continuing journey in FotJ.

So ultimately, I liked Outcast. It's not my favorite Allston novel, it's also not my least favorite of his. I wanted to really like it, so I'm finding myself mildly disappointed - and yet I have no real reason to feel that way. I think it has more to do with my expectations after Betrayal (one of my favorite Star Wars books ever) being set too high, because in all seriousness, Outcast is a good novel. And I'm seriously looking forward to reading Omen.