Star Wars Canon Book Thoughts- Outlaws: Low Red Moon

Hello friends! It’s been a bit, as I’ve decided not to do the monthly entertainment update for a while. What I’m going to do instead is post about new Star Wars books or shows and what I think about them as they come up. (I will also continue to post my Legends Reading Challenges; I’m working on Knight Errant right now). The latest canon novel is Low Red Moon, based on the video game that came out last year.

As you probably know, I’m not a gamer. I almost decided not to read the book out of lack of interest. But this is a prequel to the story of the game and so, theoretically, you don’t need to know anything about Outlaws beforehand. And I heard there were cameos by Fennec Shand and Q’ira, so my interest was piqued. Also, I liked Mike Chen’s earlier book, Brotherhood.

So, I got the book, and watched a few story videos of Outlaws just to get a feel for the characters. And just so you know, if you plan to read the book or play the game, there are

TOTAL SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

So, in the game, a man named Jaylen Vrax and his BX Commando droid ND-5 work with a woman named Kay Vess on various missions in the criminal underworld. This book takes place before they meet Kay, and the very beginning is about ten years before.

We meet the Barshas, a wealthy and powerful family who own Barsha Corp., which builds engines for various kinds of ships. The parents are Nytyl and Roisem Barsha, who are pretty terrible people, and two kids: Jaylen, the natural child of Nytyl and Roisem, and Sliro, the child of Nytyl and…some other woman we don’t meet. The parents favor Jaylen, of course, and treat Sliro horribly, particularly Roisem, who always reminds him he’s only “half a Barsha,” and Jaylen is the heir. Jaylen sees this, doesn’t really like it, but also accepts it as normal behavior. He’s fond of his brother Sliro and tries to maintain a good relationship with him, but it’s clear Sliro is resentful, of Nytyl and Roisem, and perhaps even Jaylen, on occasion. Jaylen is groomed to take over Barsha Corp., while Sliro is found a postion in the Empire, which has been in power for a few years now.

Jaylen decides he wants to run the company with Sliro’s help, but before he can announce it, his family is arrested on charges of corruption and exiled to a family compound on an island on the planet Gus Treta while the Empire decides their fate. While there, he tries to find out what happened to Sliro, who never showed to the official announcement, but there’s no word on him. They get the news that the Empire will not imprison them, but all their holdings are confiscated. That’s when the droid shows up.

ND-5 is a former Separatist Commando droid, created for battle and assassination. He has been reprogrammed by…someone, to kill the entire Barsha family. And he does, all except Jaylen. With another droid’s help, Jaylen manages to put a restraining bolt onto ND-5 to prevent him from killing him, but not before he witnesses the murder of his family. He manages to escape the planet with ND-5, unsure of what is next.

Nine years later, Jaylen Barsha is now Jaylen Vrax. ND-5 is still with him. They’ve been travelling the galaxy, looking for work in the criminal underworld to stay afloat. At this point, along with the restraining bolt, there’s a fused chip in ND-5’s neural core, and I’m kind of confused about the state of these things and why Jaylen has been lying to ND about it for years. Obviously, he was at first terrified that the droid would kill him, but along the way it turns out that, with adaptation and learning experience, he probably wouldn’t, but Jaylen wants ND-5 completely under his control, and so refused to remove the restraining bolt, and lies about his prior programming taking over, etc. etc. It was hard for me to keep up, lol. But basically, ND-5 is completely loyal to Jaylen, even wanting to prove his loyalty again and again, but Jaylen refuses to remove the bolt under the lie that if he does, ND might revert back to his original programming and kill him. He keeps telling ND-5 that they’re partners, but clearly Jaylen is using him for his own purposes. And in all fairness, the droid did murder his family, which is something Jaylen can’t get out of his mind. But you also feel bad for ND, because he just wants to be Jaylen’s partner and basically be his own “person” and make decisions on his own. So there’s a tension there.

A central part of the book is about ND-5’s restraining bolt, ND-5’s push for autonomy, and Jaylen’s reluctance to give up control.

Anyway, in the early years Jaylen tried to find Sliro and find any information on who might have sent the droid to kill the Barshas, all while trying to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld. Early on, he found a code name–Low Red Moon–associated with the slaughter of the Barshas, but could find nothing further for years. After nine years, he decided to let go of the past and focus on the future. This led to a mission with Fennec Shand, one that got him a datapad with a list of ISB agents and their code names, a list he could sell or trade in the criminal underworld to get himself ahead. The mission is a success, but the list contains a name–Low Red Moon. He’d almost forgotten about it, but now he wants to follow up and track this agent down.

The name attached to the code name is Madel Nureth, who they track down. She turns out to be an accountant who works for the ISB, cleaning up financial records between the Empire and the criminal syndicates. Jaylen and ND find her and follow her, as she’s heading to a meeting with Crimson Dawn. But before they can confront her, they’re incapacitated by a Hutt agent, who’s also following her. But then the Hutt agent is incapacitated by someone else, a shadow. The shadow takes Jaylen, while Nureth takes ND-5.

Turns out, the “shadow” is a Zabrak named Mill, who saves Jaylen’s life by killing the worm that was injected into his body (ew!). It’s not stated in the book at all, but Mill is a character created by the author in his other book, Brotherhood. She was a young Jedi Padawan who accompanied Anakin on a mission, but what she really wanted to do was to study medicine and heal. There are clues in Low Red Moon that she is a Jedi, but I wouldn’t have remembered Mill from Brotherhood if I hadn’t seen it mentioned elsewhere in a review of the book. Anyway, she and another former Jedi named Vivert travel the galaxy, collecting medical equipment and trying to help people. She doesn’t tell Jaylen they’re Jedi, but he’s bewildered by their altruistic motives. Vivert is being held by Crimson Dawn for…reasons, it’s all very complicated and has something to do with a bacta tank owned by a Hutt, a bacta tank they want, but now the Hutts want the tank back and to kill Vivert because she knows a Hutt is sick and vulnerable, and somehow Crimson Dawn is involved, and….I don’t know, I give up, lol.

So Jaylen and Mill decide to go to Crimson Dawn, for several reasons: Jaylen still wants to find Madel Nureth and how she’s involved with Low Red Moon, and to get ND-5 back, and also to offer the datapad to Crimson Dawn to get on their good side and further his underworld career. Mill just wants to get Vivert back, and maybe to get the elusive bacta tank. So in they go to meet with Q’ira, to offer her the gift of the ISB list. Meanwhile, Madel Nureth is cooking their books, and messes around with ND-5, who is in off-mode, or something, and finds out that this is the droid that she was ordered to send to Gus Treta to kill the Barshas.

Then the Hutts show up causing some trouble, wanting Vivert and the bacta tank. Vivert escapes and meets up with them, and they hatch a plan: Jaylen will smooth things over between Crimson Dawn and the Hutts, thus securing the trust of both syndicates; Mill will go with Jaylen, while Vivert and ND-5 will deal with Madel Nureth. There’s some details concerning who gets the datapad, and who gets the bacta tank, and somehow proving to the Hutts that Vivert is dead, but my brain is fried by this point, lol. Let’s just say the negotiation goes well, peace is restored, Jaylen and Vivert go back to her ship, and ND-5 and Vivert find Madel Nureth. ND-5 ends up killing Nureth, because she knows who Jaylen is. Even now, ND-5 is protecting Jaylen, and he doesn’t even have the restraining bolt on (can’t remember why, lol). But Nureth had unlocked some files in ND-5 that neither Jaylen nor ND-5 had access to, and these files revealed who it was that had ordered Nureth to send ND to kill the Barshas. And it turns out the perpetrator was…(drumroll, please!)–

Sliro.

Big surprise. I already knew this from watching some of the Outlaws story game play, but I didn’t mind knowing. Even if I didn’t, it’s pretty darn obvious throughout the book who sent ND-5. And Jaylen, smart in so many ways, never suspected. It throws him for a loop. Jaylen Vrax decides to seek vengeance for Jaylen Barsha, and to use his new underworld status to help him in that. And to keep lying to ND-5, about the restraining bolt, and his programming. Even though Nureth told ND that Jaylen was lying to him, the droid refused to believe it.

And so that’s where they are at the start of the Outlaws game, where Kay Vess gets involved with Jaylen’s schemes to destroy Sliro. Kay becomes very fond of ND, and in the end, after Jaylen kills Sliro, she removes the restraining bolt so ND can finally kill Jaylen–not out of programming, but because he wants to be free of him. There’s an epilogue in the book, showing ND with Kay and her little friend Nix on board her ship (their ship, I guess), and everyone’s happy. ND has found a family, of sorts, and can make his own decisions and be his own person.

So, I liked the book, despite being a little confused at times. I liked the cameos by Fennec, Q’ira, and Mill. I like ND-5. Jaylen is more complicated. Like ND, he needs to reinvent himself, learn and adapt after his original purpose is taken away from him. But unlike ND, those pesky human emotions get in the way. He’s traumatized by his family’s slaughter, naturally. He’s stuck with the droid that did the deed, and no matter how much ND proves his loyalty, Jaylen can’t let go of his need for control. One could argue that ND-5 is “only a droid,” but I think we Star Wars fans know better than that.

My rating: Three out of Five Lightsabers

Star Wars Legends Reading Challenge: Fatal Alliance

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I posted about my Legends Reading Challenge, but I’ve finally finished The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, by Sean Williams. On top of it being quite a hefty read (482 pages!), I put it down a few times when I was busy reading current canon like The Last Order and Mask of Evil. It didn’t help that the story wasn’t (at least initially) very compelling to me. But let’s get into it.

SPOILERS!!! (Legends have been out for years, but just be aware.)

The story takes place about ten years after the sack of Coruscant by the Sith, as related in the book Deceived. There’s a treaty, but also a very cold Cold War between the Republic and the Sith Empire. It starts with a strange ship being intercepted by a smuggler called Jet Nebula (not his real name, as you can imagine). He’s on a job for the Hutts, but decides to see what kind of cargo this ship has as a bonus. But before he can board the Cinzia, it self-destructs. He takes what’s left of it back to the Hutts, who decide to auction off what they have. Tasha Bareesh, the ruling Hutt, doesn’t reveal what it is, but lets it be known that it could be very profitable and change the balance of power in the galaxy.

Into this mix comes several characters: Shigar Konshi, a Kiffu Jedi Padawan who is sent to Hutta to investigate what it may be (his master is Grand Master Satele Shan); Eldon Ax, the apprentice to Darth Chratis, with instructions to steal whatever it is; Ula Vii, a Republic envoy who is actually an Imperial spy, sent by the Republic to find out what it is and who hopes to use it to please his Imperial masters; Larin Moxla, a disgraced Republic soldier (who is also Kiffu like Shigar) who meets and accompanies the Jedi Padawan; and Dao Stryver, a Mandalorian whose interest and motive in acquiring the item is a mystery to all. All they are told is that it’s from an unknown planet that could hold untold riches in minerals and/or have a strategic advantage. Naturally, both the Republic and the Empire want those things.

They all have competing interests and loyalties, they all end up on Hutta, and naturally chaos erupts and battles are fought. As they all fight each other, whatever it is the Hutts have escape the vault it’s locked in. Turns out they are droids, but unlike any droids they’ve ever seen. They dub them “hexes” because of their shape, but they are super-resiliant, adaptable, and lethal. They can join together to increase their strength. And they endlessly scream “We do not recognize your authority!”

Turns out the killer droids were made by Lema Xandret, a particularly skilled droidmaker, who hates the Sith Empire with a rage she put into these droids. The Sith had taken her young Force-sensitive daughter, named Cinzia, and that loss and rage fuels her to create droids that could wipe out the entire galaxy, if attacked. Here’s the twist: the Sith apprentice, Eldon Ax, is that child who had once been Cinzia. She doesn’t remember her mother, Lema Xandret, and only wants to finish her mission for Darth Chratis (who she hates, by the way).

The Essential Legends edition of Fatal Alliance, with Eldon Ax and Shigar Konshi on the cover.

Anyway, the droids in the vault are finally destroyed, but Ax leaves with a piece of the “nest” from which the droids can replicate themselves, and Stryver has the ship’s navicomputer, both of which lead them back to the planet they originated from. Shigar has psychometric abilities and a piece of a droid, from which, after some persuasion from his master, he’s able to discern the coordinates. Or close enough. Envoy Vii ends up with Shigar, Larin, and Jet Nebula.

They all converge on the planet Sebaddon, which is near a black hole just outside of the galaxy itself. They all reluctantly agree to work together to destroy the colony of hexes (Lema Xandret and the small colony are already dead) to save the galaxy. They hatch a plan to have mixed troops attack two spots on the planet: the equator, where the CI (central intelligence governing the hexes) seems to be, led by Satele Shan and Eldon Ax; and the southern pole, where the actually factory building the hexes is located, led by Darth Chratis and Shigar, as well as Larin and some troops.

While on the ground, which is a very unstable, volcanic landscape, Darth Chratis tries to seduce Shigar to the dark side (doesn’t seem like a good time to do that, but whatever, lol). The Sith Lord and the Padawan fight, and Shigar has to fight the dark side, the anger, within himself.

On the equator, Satele and Ax come upon the actual central intelligence of the whole operation: a clone of Lema Xandret’s daughter, Cinzia. She’s younger by a few years, and suspended in a red, bacta-like substance, where she’s lived her whole life. The red fluid has some kind of metal in it that blocks her Force abilities. Lema had put her here to protect her, but she’s been a virtual prisoner. The droids had killed Lema Xandret when she sent the ship out to make a deal with the Mandalorians, as they were programmed to fiercely protect Cinzia. But her mother somehow lives on in the fluid, talking to her daughter in a kind of telepathy. The hexes take orders from Cinzia now, but she’s been so isolated and protected, she’s quite naive and doesn’t know anything about the outside galaxy, or the battles that have been taking place above the planet. She wants to know Ax better, her “sister,” what her life’s been like. Ax is appalled, naturally, and doesn’t really want anything to do with her. Her mother, “alive” through the liquid, starts to strangle Cinzia when she doesn’t listen to her and decides to help them with the hexes. Satele breaks the glass of the tank to save her, but she’s not used to living outside the tank, and dies shortly thereafter. But Cinzia told Ax she could control the hexes, like her, if she uploaded her DNA into the matrix, which she does.

After that, the battles end and Ax announces to Darth Chratis she no longer answers to him. He scoffs, of course, but then she orders the hexes to attack and kill him, and then to destroy themselves.

Afterward, Ax goes back to Dromund Kass and becomes an apprentice to Darth Howl, who is on the Dark Council. I was kind of hoping she’d leave the Sith Order, but no, she has her own ambitions and Darth Howl is the pathway to that.

Shigar is now allowed to take the Jedi Trials, which he’d been denied at the beginning of the book. I liked him throughout the story, but he does seem a bit angry and rash. I think he’s meant to join other Jedi later on who want to engage the Sith in battle sooner rather than later, if only to end the cold war and get on with it. Another war is coming.

As an aside, I just want to say that yes, Lema Xandret was a little insane, lol. Okay, a lot insane. But as a mother, I totally understand her maternal rage. If the devil stole my child to raise as evil, I’d burn down the galaxy in revenge, too. Just putting that out there.

So, all in all, I thought the book was fine. It took me a while to warm to it and get to know the characters, and actually care about what happens to them. They all had their own personal battles to fight, which tends to draw me in more than space battles, lol. But by the last quarter of the book, I was eager to see how it all worked out. I do believe this book is linked to the Old Republic video games, so there’s probably some stuff about these people or events I don’t know or understand. But that’s okay. In the end, I give this book:

Three out of Five Lightsabers.

Next up is The Old Republic: Annhilation, by Drew Karpyshyn.

Onward!

Legends Reading Challenge: Deceived

Hello friends, the Legends Reading Challenge continues with…

(As always–SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp. You know, I really thought I’d have to slog through the Old Republic books, but they’ve been surprisingly good. This one, especially, I thought was quite good, as it had interesting, complex characters that had to make difficult decisions.

There are three interweaving plotlines in Deceived. One is of Darth Malgus, who, at the beginning of the book, leads the assault on Coruscant and destroys the Jedi Temple. At his side is Eleena, a lovely lavender Twi’lek, a former slave that Malgus had taken pity on and rescued. Now she is is his constant companion, lover, and stand-in-conscience, and is absolutely devoted to him. During the assault, Malgus defeats Master Zallow, a Jedi Master, and the Sith force kill all the Jedi in the Temple.

Meanwhile, Jedi Knight Aryn Leneer is on Alderaan with a Jedi delegation meeting with the Sith for a peace treaty. It doesn’t sit well with Aryn, as she had recently fought the Sith on Alderaan. When her former Master, Master Zallow, is killed by Malgus, she feels his death and is devastated. Once Coruscant is taken, the Republic has no choice but to acquiesce to the Sith’s demands. Aryn is furious that they are capitulating, but the Jedi and the Republic really have no choice. Aryn decides that she will leave the Order and pursue vengeance for her master’s death.

The third story involves a former Republic commando named Zeerid, who is now running spice for a criminal syndicate called The Exchange. He is only doing it for the money to take care of his daughter, Arra, who had been in an accident that killed her mother and left her with no legs. Zeerid wants to give his daughter a better life, and is now in debt to The Exchange and feels there is no way out. His boss wants him to deliver engspice (a highly addictive form of spice) to Coruscant, which has been shut down by the Sith. At the same time, a rival operative employed by the Hutts called Vrath Xizor is trying to stop the shipment, either by destroying the spice, or killing Zeerid.

Darth Malgus and Eleena Daru, by Aleksandra Skiba.

These characters will all come together and collide during the course of the story. Aryn, who had fought beside Zeerid before and considers him a friend (and perhaps a little bit more), seeks him out to help her get into Coruscant, and he happens to be going there. Vrath tells Malgus about Aryn, and Malgus figures out that Zallow was her master and she’s probably looking for him. So he goes to her.

I love these characters because they’re all wrestling with some form of internal conflict. Malgus, who is furious that the Sith are seeking peace when he wants war, knows he has a weakness: Eleena. He loves her, and that makes him vulnerable, particularly to other Sith lords like Darth Angral and Lord Adraas, who use the idea of Eleena to undermine him. Aryn obviously has left behind the Order to seek vengeance for her master’s death; she chooses to do this without too much doubt, but realizes that when she seeks to hurt him through Eleena that perhaps she’s gone too far. And Zeerid hates himself for dealing in spice, but feels he has no other choice in order to help his daughter; he later kills Vrath in order to protect her, and must live with the idea of being a murderer.

There are some great lightsaber duels and fight scenes, and I like that the plot remains fairly simple but interesting nonetheless. The characterizations and personal stakes involved are enough to keep me invested. Particularly at the end, when Darth Malgus defeats Aryn in battle but lets her go for sparing Eleena; he then turns around and kills Eleena after admitting to her that he loves her. He recognizes that she is his weakness, and he mustn’t be weak or vulnerable in any way. It’s tragic and so very Sith-like, lol. So Malgus lives, but Aryn keeps her soul and goes to live with Zeerid and Arra on Dantooine.

My only gripe is that there are too many names that begin with the letter A: Arra, Angral, Adraas, and Aryn. Whyyyyyy, Paul S. Kemp????

Rating: I’m going to give this one 4.5 out of 5 lightsabers (not sure what half a lightsaber looks like–the hilt or the blade? Or split down the length? Lol.) I really liked this one, but I need to read more Legends to get to know what a 5-star book looks like (I’ve heard great things about the Bane trilogy, so we’ll see).

Up next is Red Harvest, by Joe Schrieber. Just in time for Halloween: zombies!

Star Wars Legends Reading Challenge-Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void

Hello friends, and welcome to the first post of my Legends Reading Challenge. The first book in timeline Order is Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, by Tim Lebbon. It was published in May of 2013, and ties into a collection of comics called Dawn of the Jedi. (I’m only reading the adult novels, and not any comics or junior novels, etc).

Into the Void takes place about 25,000 years BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). It has date references such as 3,500 TYA, 7,537 TYA, 10,661 TYA, etc., with chapters starting with a quote from some Master. TYA stand for “Tho Yor Arrival,” which refers to eight ships that arrived in the Tython system long ago, from a mysterious, far away system, and which held Force-sensitive beings. They began the settlement on Tython and eventually became the Jed’aii Order. These ancient Jedi strove to find a balance between Ashla (the Light) and Bogan (the Dark).

I had to look up a few of these things on Wookieepedia, as I didn’t know much about this time period and the book doesn’t exactly spell it out. I have a feeling the comics delved much deeper into the ancient lore. This book tells the story of a particular Jed’aii, Lanoree Brock, that lived about 10,000 years after the Tho Yor appeared. She is a Ranger, akin to a Jedi Knight’s role and responsibilities, travelling the system and helping out in whatever way she can. There is no hyperspace travel at this point, so they’re contained to the Tython system.

Lanoree is called back to Tython to speak with the Jed’aii Council concerning a new mission. They’re concerned about a cult called the Stargazers, who have developed a device that, if detonated near a supposed “hypergate,” will either cause a hyperspace gateway to open up, or cause a black hole that will swallow the entire system. They want Lanoree to find this group and stop them. The twist is that the leader of this group is Dalien Brock, Lanoree’s brother, who has long been thought dead.

The book flips back and forth between the present and the past; it tells of Lanoree and Dal’s relationship and childhood. Their parents are both Jed’aii, and Lanoree has a strong connection to the Force. Everyone expects Dal to have that connection as well, but…he doesn’t. This seems to be something they can’t accept, as they believe he’ll eventually “allow the Force in,” as if he’s actively pushing it away. This kind of confused me–is he Force-sensitive or not? Because if you’re Force-sensitive, why would you actively reject it? Dal seems to hate the Force and everything about it, but I assume it’s because he can’t access it. His parents and sibling don’t seem to accept this and keep encouraging him to continue with his studies. He and Lanoree travel across Tython on their “Great Journey” to different temples where they study different aspects of the Force. Each time, Dal fails miserably. Is it any wonder he becomes bitter and hateful? They keep expecting him to do this thing he cannot do.

Anyway, Dal becomes obsessed with the ancient myth of their ancestors, who they were and where they came from, and is determined to somehow get back there. He finally murders a Jed’aii student and flees to the Old City, which is a ruin built by an ancient race, the Gree. Not much is known about them, but Dal believes there is a hypergate deep in the bowels of the City. Lanoree follows him, hears him scream, and finds his bloodied clothing. Everyone assumes he’s dead.

In the present, it seems her brother is definitely not dead, and Lanoree is instructed to find him and stop him–kill him, if she must. With the help of a Twi’lek Jed’aii contact named Tre Sana, she follows a trail from Khalimar to Nox to Sunspot, playing a game of cat and mouse with Dal, who she believes has gone completely mad. Twice he tries to kill her, and twice she survives. She finally catches up to him back on Tython as he brings his device to the Old City and very nearly initiates the device before Lanoree kills him.

An artist rendering (Albert Umanov) of Greenwood Station on the planet Nox.

It took me a bit to get into the book, but once it got going, it was fine. I found the Jed’aii Order interesting, especially the temples the young learners had to visit on their “Great Journey” to finish their training. Tython itself is described as a planet strong in the Force, and it seems only Force-sensitives can manage to live on the planet. Their code wasn’t as solidified as we see in the later Jedi; these Jed’aii strive for balance between the Light and the Dark. I can see where some fans got the idea for the “Gray Jedi” in this story.

Lanoree herself, though she doesn’t relish killing, separates quite a few heads from bodies in this story, if it serves her mission (with a metal sword; there were no lightsabers yet). She also studied and had a proficiency in Alchemy, a “manipulation of the flesh through use of the Force,” which I thought very weird, to say the least, lol. She conducted experiments on her ship, the Peacemaker, in which she grew living tissue from her own cells, and which she used to heal herself when Dal shot her in the chest at point-blank range. She was always trying to balance the influence of Bogan (the Dark) when she felt pride and power from her accomplishments. She was also tempted to try Dal’s device herself after he was dead, to see what would happen. Just for a minute.

This was a fairly entertaining book, and I learned a lot of Legends Lore about the early incarnation of the Jedi, a good start to my Legends Reading Challenge.

Three out of Five Lightsabers

Up next: The Old Republic: Revan