Definite Spoilers ahead.......You've been warned......
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..SPOILER SPACE (not that we really need it on here)
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Well, I just finished reading it tonight, and I have to agree with you. To be honest, the first battle Jaina has with Caedus seemed more dramatic than their last fight. The last one seemed to end way too quickly. And I thought there'd be more interaction between Jacen and Jaina, upon the realization that it was actually his sister and not Luke that lopped off his arm. Where was the drama there?
And yes, definitely some loose ends. You never really find out the fate of Mirta. Did they fix her up enough to where she's not going to be paralyzed or what? At first, I was a little bummed that Boba can't ever set foot on Mandalore again, because of the nanovirus that targets his specific DNA (or Mirta, for that matter). However, after thinking about it for a while, you know he's going to be really angst and ticked off at the universe now. I mean, he can't even visit Jango's grave anymore unless they dig him up and re-inter him somewhere else. This does set up the possibility of him having to move to another planet to live, which I think would be really cool if it ends up being Concord Dawn. Especially after they finally re-solidified the fact that he was a Journeyman Protector on the planet in the last book. They still never explained why he used the name of Jaster Mereel, though. I know that was part of the retro, but it's never been explained other than to "honor Jango's old mentor." Maybe in the next book? My wife was telling me that she heard Karen Traviss might be doing an all Mandalorian book sometime in the future. No info on whether it'd be present day Mando's or KOTOR era, though. Although, I'd think it'd be more modern Mando's. Perhaps this will pick up with Fett where we left off here? And where exactly does he stand now with Mirta Gev, after Caedus convinced her it was Fett's fault she ended up the way she did. Did the mind influence go away after he was killed, you think? I hope so, because that part really didn't make any sense to me.
I like how they tied the Fel Dynasty into the Star Wars Legacy comics, though. That explains why one of the Fel's are in charge of the Remnant in the that series of comic books. I think, though, with Fett's friendship with Admiral Daala, that between the two of them, the Moff's in charge of the Remnant forces are dead men walking. Daala gets her revenge for the death of Pellaeon and Fett gets his for the nanovirus and for Mirta. I still think Han should have taken one of them out, though. Just to prove he's still human. The same old Han. That he can actually "shoot first." Ever since the whole "Greedo shot first" thing, Han has become a softie. They even joked about it in "Bloodlines." Boba Fett told him he needed to learn to "shoot first" or it was going to get him killed one day.
Didn't seem to be that big of a deal to bring Tahiri back to the Light side, either. It felt like Jar Jar Binks. "Meesa give up." And that's that. I was hoping to see something of Ben visiting Shevu's widow at the end of the book or something. Maybe going to the funeral. And they never said what happened to Admiral Niathal, did they? I remember something about one of the Moff's talking about part of their fleet engaging Niathal's and Daala's fleet, but never what happened. Wouldn't she be in charge still, instead of Daala. That was a big gap of info right there.
Oh well. The devil's in the details, they say. Overall, still a decent book, but all the loose ends kind of spoiled the ending of it all. It seemed kind of rushed at the end, didn't it?
Just my two-cents, anyways.
--Sadriel Fett (BFFC Moderator)
"I'm just a simple Fan, trying to make my way in the universe."