Jacen Solo is convinced that he needs to command the power of the Dark Side if the galaxy is to be spared chaos and civil war, and is skating down a moral slippery slope, much to the consternation of his family. Boba Fett has his own family matters to deal with, which seem to cross the Solo family even without a bounty involved. And despite the best efforts of galactic grownups to halt an impending war, the conflict between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance continues to heat up— often with help from Jacen. Traviss had plenty of opportunities to see bad ideas in action in the real world during the 2000s, and many of them show up here in an all-too-believable fashion.

The story makes a number of references to the Dark Nest Trilogy (which I haven’t read), but is careful not to require that you’ve read it in order to figure things out. ( )

The Legacy Of The Force series continued. It still is the Jacen Solo storyline that makes it difficult to stop reading. Karen Traviss is writing along the lines of Aston, though she can tend to loose herself in details. A lot of fans will probably be thrilled that Boba Fett enters the series. ( )

(Alistair) Behold, the guys in black with jackboots arrive on Coruscant! And when your men are reminiscing about how much you remind them about the good old days under Vader, is it perhaps not time to worry?

And that's probably all I'm going to say about this book, seeing as how I read it on the couch in about an hour. Good easy-reading Star Wars EU product, but the way in which I read it really doesn't admit of much in-depth analysis, alas.

(Except to say: Wow, Karen Traviss really likes Mandalorians, huh?)

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

Playing on modern-day threats of terrorism and the government overreactions that go along with them, Karen Traviss paints a chilling picture of Jacen Solo slipping into darkness by doing what seems right to him… and so very, very wrong to everybody around him.

Part of what makes Karen's portrayal of Jacen work is how earnest he is; he doesn't see that he's repeating the mistakes of his grandfather, not avoiding them. He starts with the not-so-secret police, and continues right on down to the torture of prisoners…

Which is where Boba Fett comes in. On first read, his presence here (and in her other books in the series) seems like a contrivance on the part of the author. And maybe it is, but it's one that the other authors in the series have picked up and run with, so in retrospect it actually works quite well.

Where Betrayal found Jacen turning onto the Sith path, Bloodlines sees others noticing the changes in him. The book is very much about the war at home: both the one within the Skywalker/Solo clan, and the one Jacen is waging across Coruscant. (And even, to an extent, the one between Boba Fett and Mirta Gev.)

Because of this, Bloodlines is very much a character piece, the kind of work that Karen excels at. The pacing and structure are definitely different from the other authors' works in the series; it doesn't seem to address the GA/Corellia war except in terms of how the war is shaping peoples' opinions on the home front of Coruscant. But while the book may not fit seamlessly in with the rest of the series, it's still telling an essential part of the whole. More, it's an enjoyable work all on its own. ( )

I have to admit that I haven't been keeping up with the Star Wars universe lately. My interest tapered off during the New Jedi Order era, which only produced a few good novels. In spite of this, I was able to dive into "Bloodlines" without much difficulty. There was some backstory, of course, but most of the story was clarified within the course of the novel.

The characters and story itself were engaging, if a bit repetitive. I enjoyed all three of the main plots - Jacen and Ben, Han and Leia, and Boba Fett and Mirta. In some Star Wars books, yout have to skim or skip parts that are unenduringly boring, but not so here.

The one problem I had was that considering the story was about Corellia and Jedi, the Corellian Jedi were barely represented in it. Oh, Corran got a passing nod and a few lines of speech, but that was it. Overall, though, this was a great read. ( )