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His character is pretty believable and deep (for Star Wars). There is some material that goes beyond the game (such as the supercomputer on Raxus Prime, which I didn't think added much), as well as some changes to the story (notably, no hostage scene in Bespin).
At only double the price of the book, you might as well play the game and get the story that way (it's a pretty short game).Overall, 3.5 stars. However, I thought the video game was pretty fun and tells the story very well, with lots of cutscenes.
I think the Force Unleashed story is pretty good, and actually a lot better than much of the Expanded Universe material (which I stopped following years ago). In fact, by not going too far into Vader's mind, it preserves the Dark Lord's mystique better than "Shadows of the Empire" (where Vader comes off like a confused little boy).I agree with several other reviewers that the book follows the game a bit too closely.
Better than most Star Wars books, but doesn't add much beyond the Force Unleashed video game. The emotional journey of the Sith Apprentice is actually pretty compelling (I won't go into too much detail).
I for one am glad it didn't focus too much on the regular Star Wars crowd like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
She's not about to let an over confident Sith get in the way of her duties. Hostility doesn't make for a good shipmate. I'm also tired of reading about the "best" pilot/apprentice/whatever who did everything phenomenally well in their careers, did it early, and are infinitely better than their peers, past and present. She doesn't fear (much) his scalding gaze and threatening undertones.
In the meantime, I'm still glad I finally got around to reading The Force Unleashed. I don't think I've ever read an in-depth study of any Sith, other than Anakin; the star of the Prequel Trilogy had his psyche picked apart so we could have the movies in the first place. The narrative couldn't sustain his internal conflicts for very long before they became tired and useless. I don't particularly like massive egos. Also, I think I'm just tired of reading about third rate characters being molded into something more important by having certain relations to either Vader or the Emperor.
I can't help but feeling the romance was only here because the story needed something to keep The Apprentice wavering and because Juno is a female. I'll have to look elsewhere for the type of Star Wars books I can really dig my teeth into. There was nothing in the narrative that suggested the story should take the most predictable path and have the two of them fall in love. Captain Juno Eclipse has two jobs to do: pilot the Apprentice around the galaxy and stay alive. There's only so much repetition of the same archetype I can take before my brain says, "no more."It's not enough that Darth Vader's apprentice is unnamed (he's so great, he doesn't need a name--his presence is enough for celebrity) and gifted in so many ways that are better than everyone else: he's fast, he's strong, and he kills on command--his assigned pilot is top notch, too. A character can boast all they want or simmer under the surface with barely contained self-love and admiration, preen themselves flailing a weapon around and showing off to their underlings or other, less worthy souls, but they still wind up getting killed in the lamest, most easy way ever. I think I understand why I don't like the Darth Bane books and why I didn't like The Force Unleashed as much as I could have. Their relationship was one of curiosity, probing, and an attempt to understand one another because despite their differences, The Apprentice and Juno were stuck with each other in the same ship.
Putting aside her credentials, she wasn't a very compelling character. I appreciate Sean Williams' bringing the two together, but disagree with the romance. I was impressed with his transformation, but ultimately was left feeling like Sith are boring for a reason: they're single-minded ego-maniacs with anger management issues. Both have Sith as protagonists. Also, friendship doesn't necessarily lead to romance. I can't fault Williams too much--he was writing based on someone else's story.With regard to the writing: there's some redundant prose, but Star Wars novels are so filled with expected action, it's hard to avoid the dreaded "show don't tell." For example, when The Apprentice has been fighting Kota in the control room for a page and a half, Williams pointed out the obvious, "The duel raged all across the control center" (p.27). Are Sith really supposed to be this two dimensional. Other than that, I think Williams was a good choice for this book.
But I was more interested in her backstory than I was her current situation. Sith have massive egos. The ending also bridges itself to the Rebellion and "A New Hope" which, while functional, actually disappointed me.Not only does Starkiller (the codename for our protagonist) take us back and forth across the same three planets over and over again, he pays lip service to his duties to the Dark Side in what's never a completely believable manner. That perspective is often lost among all of the books that take for granted the foreknowledge of Jedi before the Purge.The friendship Juno develops with The Apprentice was touching, but should have remained a friendship. It was made pretty clear the control center was The Apprentice's destination and I hadn't read any passing narrative with either character passing through any doors or through hallways once the fight began. It should have stayed a working relationship, if only because that's what it was.
It was accessible and, while I haven't played the video game, seems like it filled in whatever missing moments in time the game had to skip. That trope needs to be dropped.While I didn't enjoy this book too much, there are other people who will appreciate the adventure and tragedy better than I did.
I'm not too pleased to have what I felt was a mediocre character turn into the symbol of the Rebel Alliance--the ultimate exercise in ego. She'd proven herself well and on assignment performed as expected: brilliantly, with no hitch to upset her tempestuous charge.
It's clear from the beginning he can't be all that bad if he has an obvious emotional attachment to a droid. What happened to slightly above average, average, or even really below average protagonists.I'll tell you why these massively huge, uncontrollable egos bother me.
There were no sparks. The only interesting thing about her was discovering she was raised after the Jedi Purge, learning of the Jedi as legendary and mythical nightmares of imagination.
Jacen Solo's recent dive into the Dark Side was enough to provoke my desires for him to finally do something as a character. Darth Vader hand-picked her because of her talents and accomplishments.
Right. Of course, it pretty much ended the way I was expecting, but still, it's the journey, not the destination. I never finished the video game because I got bored with it pretty quickly, so I figured the only way I could see how it ended was to read the book based on it. Man, was it a fun, action-packed read.
Ya,ya,I know It's just a game. If you ask me, I wouldn't buy this game with my allouance. And becides,if DarthVader has to wear his mask to breath, how does he eat. It's a cool game with lots of cheat codes and cool levels with lots of forcetricks and enimies. It's stupid how you die and it would be cool if you survived the shockand there was a whole other game to finish off the Empire. It's cool how you can get all of the lightsaber colors,butit's no surprise a selfish and evil stupid idiot like DarthVader would betray him. GameSpot was really excited for the game to come out, but it was alot less then we expected.
However, the novel does little to develop the Darth Vader character. While "Force Unleashed" is an overall good effort, it is far from an outstanding work. The book was built around a video game and graphic novel that preceeded them.
An entire well-developed series could have been built around this character. With all of the potential of the story, the book is very flawed. The twists in the plot seem to exist more for the sake of having a twist than adding a logical element to the story.
Sold on the basis of Darth Vader having a secret apprentice, "Force Unleashed" had the potential to be among the better Star Wars novels. The Starkiller character's development is far too rapid. It seems quite obvious that the priority of this particular segment of the Star Wars franchise was the video game not the book.
As a result, this particular product is lacking in many areas.The idea of a secret apprentice is an intriguing premise. Furthermore, certain elements of the plot seem far-fetched based on what is already known about the Star Wars Universe.
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