You're now so famous on our french website for your review of Ascension which is at the equal opposite from my own. 
I read the ARC too, back in june, and wrote a review, which I decided to translate here because THE PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW. Yes, they have. God, I must calm down, I just LOVED this book. I mean, really.
Since the end of the New Jedi Order in the mid-2000, the EU has continued its inexorable expansion into more distant eras: Legacy, Dark Nest and Legacy of the Force delivered their share of works that—I think—never reached the epic awesomeness of intensity, emotion and dreams that the NJO brought me. I’ve always loved the Dark Nest trilogy (sometimes against most of the French fandom), and I sang the praises of novels such as Sacrifice or Inferno, but I must admit that I got into this Fate of the Jedi series with great care. The end is already in sight and as global feeling, I think FOTJ had a huge potential which was put to good use in a few rare moments of grace. One Sith and Legacy connections became few and far as we progressed in the series and the idea of retracing the footsteps of Jacen Solo slowly disappeared…
While Denning delivered good novels (at least of Inferno’s quality) with Abyss and Vortex, Allston lagged behind with its feeble Outcast and Backlash. Golden is somewhere in the middle, with an average Omen and a quite controversial Allies. Though we hoped such disparities, already observed during LOTF would disappear, the whole series just prove the contrary.
I’m being a bit lengthy on the introduction, true. But if I am, it is to rightly take the measure of the quality of Ascension and what it brings to the post-NJO Expended Universe. It’s about time we had such a classy novel ! It’s about time we had a fast-paced story as each chapter brings out a new revelation ! To think that this novel looks like an introduction to Apocalypse makes me hope for the best final. That we needed EIGHT novels to get to this point is close to the worst…
Since this review is supposed to be spoiler free, it will be difficult to explain why this novel is brilliant, in terms of plot. But start with Christie Golden: I’m not a native-speaker (I guess it shows) but when I read her, it’s… smooth. Understandable. Pleasant. And what could be more relevant ? Does it show her writing is too simplistic ? Or kind of… universal ? Fluency, vocabulary, characterization, feelings, thoughts and even humor are way better that in the latest production of Allston. I struggled with Conviction. I took pleasure to read Ascension. The comparison was harsh at the time, because I read the two books in the same week.
Besides her writing, Golden brings back an aspect of Star Wars that is often forgotten these times, well, except in post-NJO. Still, Star Wars needs its good (and right) dose of romance. I got it. A couple of teenagers forming on seven books would annoy any reader a bit picky (or haters) who decided to hate the Skywalker heir. Or Vestara, that is. In my opinion, we needed to get further involved in the "next" generation (even if it still lacks friends for Ben) and it was about time we had some credible teenagers in Star Wars we hadn’t since YJK, or Anakin/Tahiri in the NJO. Ben Skywalker in LOTF was NOT a very healthy teenager. Influenced, a bit grim, not very fun and above all a murdered. I don’t like stereotypes, them being in one way or another. The FOTJ-Ben is somewhere in the middle of the stereotypes. Ok, he is always hungry (as I was) I can definitely remember! Ok, he is very interested in girls (come on , really ? ). So I’m not chocked. Maybe getting involved with a girls was the easy way of depicting a teenager. But god I can identify with this Ben way better than I could identify with the silly kid of LOTF, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I like this Ben : more mature, funnier and closer to what a teenager of his age should think and do (self-mockery, crappy jokes, chasing girls, STEREOTYPE here you come, I welcome you). Golden pens him perfectly as well as his relation to his father. I laughed out loud several times during conversation between the two, being in Omen, Allies and Ascension.
So what about Vestara ? Do you remember the letters of Conviction ? OH MY GOD, that was SO ridiculous, I nearly cried. So I’m happy Golden concluded the matter and went on with real characterization : the immersion in the thoughts of the young woman, I liked. Her journey is not the easy one, turning on her world, friends and family must be a hard thing to do. Sure, she relies on Ben to help carry all this stuff, but I don’t feel that it’s because she is female. It’s only because she is human. No one can take that amount of emotional waves without exploding in a thousand pieces. Girl or not.
For beyond Vestar Khai, the entire lost tribe of the Sith is also born from the writings of Omen and continues in Ascension, just as Greg Keyes did with the Yuuzhan Vong culture in the NJO. The first fifty pages are for people on kesh (alongside Abeloth) whose motives appear clearer to us, before the sudden disappearance of the plot in favor of the Treen / Lecersen conspiracy on Coruscant. The "Coruscant plot" build on the momentum of the previous novel, ten times the intensity. In some 400 pages, the triumvirate, heads of state and senators succeed at a dizzying pace without the reader seeing the biggest coming. Golden keeps waving a red flag right under your nose which lets you with no side vision. I was knocked down several times, and I craved for more !
Did I spoke of Sith ? Hmm, better to leave this issue aside, not to reveal too much. There will be the dark side and bright side, enough to bring people to the light or push them into darkness, may be both at the same time ha ha. You will also enjoy some lightsaber fights (if not the Denning’s one) that are worth enjoying, being fratricide or between mortal enemies. Luke is back to business but not alone: see the whole Jedi Order in action, powered by the same goal, does it sound good? Did I told you about Daala and the Imperial Remnant? For the most part, the last third of the book is dedicated to them. Questionable allegiances? Conspiracies revealed? Squibs? Barabels? Oh, and Tahiri Veila... sorry I got carried away.
Did I say how much I loved this novel ?
I read the ARC too, back in june, and wrote a review, which I decided to translate here because THE PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW. Yes, they have. God, I must calm down, I just LOVED this book. I mean, really.
Since the end of the New Jedi Order in the mid-2000, the EU has continued its inexorable expansion into more distant eras: Legacy, Dark Nest and Legacy of the Force delivered their share of works that—I think—never reached the epic awesomeness of intensity, emotion and dreams that the NJO brought me. I’ve always loved the Dark Nest trilogy (sometimes against most of the French fandom), and I sang the praises of novels such as Sacrifice or Inferno, but I must admit that I got into this Fate of the Jedi series with great care. The end is already in sight and as global feeling, I think FOTJ had a huge potential which was put to good use in a few rare moments of grace. One Sith and Legacy connections became few and far as we progressed in the series and the idea of retracing the footsteps of Jacen Solo slowly disappeared…
While Denning delivered good novels (at least of Inferno’s quality) with Abyss and Vortex, Allston lagged behind with its feeble Outcast and Backlash. Golden is somewhere in the middle, with an average Omen and a quite controversial Allies. Though we hoped such disparities, already observed during LOTF would disappear, the whole series just prove the contrary.
I’m being a bit lengthy on the introduction, true. But if I am, it is to rightly take the measure of the quality of Ascension and what it brings to the post-NJO Expended Universe. It’s about time we had such a classy novel ! It’s about time we had a fast-paced story as each chapter brings out a new revelation ! To think that this novel looks like an introduction to Apocalypse makes me hope for the best final. That we needed EIGHT novels to get to this point is close to the worst…
Since this review is supposed to be spoiler free, it will be difficult to explain why this novel is brilliant, in terms of plot. But start with Christie Golden: I’m not a native-speaker (I guess it shows) but when I read her, it’s… smooth. Understandable. Pleasant. And what could be more relevant ? Does it show her writing is too simplistic ? Or kind of… universal ? Fluency, vocabulary, characterization, feelings, thoughts and even humor are way better that in the latest production of Allston. I struggled with Conviction. I took pleasure to read Ascension. The comparison was harsh at the time, because I read the two books in the same week.
Besides her writing, Golden brings back an aspect of Star Wars that is often forgotten these times, well, except in post-NJO. Still, Star Wars needs its good (and right) dose of romance. I got it. A couple of teenagers forming on seven books would annoy any reader a bit picky (or haters) who decided to hate the Skywalker heir. Or Vestara, that is. In my opinion, we needed to get further involved in the "next" generation (even if it still lacks friends for Ben) and it was about time we had some credible teenagers in Star Wars we hadn’t since YJK, or Anakin/Tahiri in the NJO. Ben Skywalker in LOTF was NOT a very healthy teenager. Influenced, a bit grim, not very fun and above all a murdered. I don’t like stereotypes, them being in one way or another. The FOTJ-Ben is somewhere in the middle of the stereotypes. Ok, he is always hungry (as I was) I can definitely remember! Ok, he is very interested in girls (come on , really ? ). So I’m not chocked. Maybe getting involved with a girls was the easy way of depicting a teenager. But god I can identify with this Ben way better than I could identify with the silly kid of LOTF, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I like this Ben : more mature, funnier and closer to what a teenager of his age should think and do (self-mockery, crappy jokes, chasing girls, STEREOTYPE here you come, I welcome you). Golden pens him perfectly as well as his relation to his father. I laughed out loud several times during conversation between the two, being in Omen, Allies and Ascension.
So what about Vestara ? Do you remember the letters of Conviction ? OH MY GOD, that was SO ridiculous, I nearly cried. So I’m happy Golden concluded the matter and went on with real characterization : the immersion in the thoughts of the young woman, I liked. Her journey is not the easy one, turning on her world, friends and family must be a hard thing to do. Sure, she relies on Ben to help carry all this stuff, but I don’t feel that it’s because she is female. It’s only because she is human. No one can take that amount of emotional waves without exploding in a thousand pieces. Girl or not.
For beyond Vestar Khai, the entire lost tribe of the Sith is also born from the writings of Omen and continues in Ascension, just as Greg Keyes did with the Yuuzhan Vong culture in the NJO. The first fifty pages are for people on kesh (alongside Abeloth) whose motives appear clearer to us, before the sudden disappearance of the plot in favor of the Treen / Lecersen conspiracy on Coruscant. The "Coruscant plot" build on the momentum of the previous novel, ten times the intensity. In some 400 pages, the triumvirate, heads of state and senators succeed at a dizzying pace without the reader seeing the biggest coming. Golden keeps waving a red flag right under your nose which lets you with no side vision. I was knocked down several times, and I craved for more !
Did I spoke of Sith ? Hmm, better to leave this issue aside, not to reveal too much. There will be the dark side and bright side, enough to bring people to the light or push them into darkness, may be both at the same time ha ha. You will also enjoy some lightsaber fights (if not the Denning’s one) that are worth enjoying, being fratricide or between mortal enemies. Luke is back to business but not alone: see the whole Jedi Order in action, powered by the same goal, does it sound good? Did I told you about Daala and the Imperial Remnant? For the most part, the last third of the book is dedicated to them. Questionable allegiances? Conspiracies revealed? Squibs? Barabels? Oh, and Tahiri Veila... sorry I got carried away.
Did I say how much I loved this novel ?
