The time of sacrifice is at hand
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Here is the fifth book of the Legacy of the Force series. It is Karen Traviss second entry into the series and as anyone who has been following the series so far knows something massive is on the cards for our favorite heroes and the galaxy. Sacrifice delivers on that expectation and does it in a way that I genuinely did not imagine. The civil war that really kicked off with the drastic change in fortunes for the Corellian and allied systems in Exile threatens to kill the Galactic Alliance by stirring up countless of old internal feuds between its member states leaving them in a situation in which they will not be able to counter the rebel Confederation forces. The stage is set for Jacen Solo to begin reshaping the world around him in order to fulfill his destiny, whatever the cost.
Sacrifice like Bloodlines (Karens previous book) is lighter on action than ones by the other authors, however the complexity and intelligence she brings to the storyline with each of her books has really been of benefit to the series. The main focus of the book is on Jacen Solos struggle to work out what the mysterious tassel prophecy means and what he has to do to become the Sith Lord he thinks is needed to put the galaxy in order. All the while making massive strides in the real world concerns that will be essential to his mission once he has made the final step to Sith Lord. Both aspects of Jacens story are gripping. The moves he makes to ensure that the Galactic Alliance will be his to control and subvert are fascinating especially with the addition to his rise to power of his ally the Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force Cha Niathal. The book also follows Mara Jade Skywalker as she sets out alone to get to the bottom of the tangled web of Sith plots and kill Lumiya but what starts out as a simply hunt for her soon takes on a completely different dimension. This part of the book were handled amazingly well as we see Mara Jade Skywalker dredge up her past as the Emperors Hand in order to be able to protect her son Ben. Mara Jade Skywalker is written here as well as anybody has written her even her creator Timothy Zahn. Just like in Bloodlines the book features Boba Fett and the Mandalorians. Now to be honest their part in Bloodlines was beginning to look out of place since it hadn't been mentioned since that book. However Sacrifice brings them back and brings them back in a way that was more satisfying to the overall storyline as the Mandalorians begin to restore their homeworld after the devastation of the Yuuzhan Vong War and start to play a part in the galaxy even if they are not picking sides in the main conflict. These are just some of my personal favorite elements as there is so much going on that it would be impossible to cover it all.
The book has a very major event that I shall not reveal as it would be considered a massive spoiler for anyone who has been reading the books. It has enormous repercussions for everybody and will be a major driving force for the second half of this series. It will be the main thing that will stand out for this book but I felt that there is a great deal to like in addition to this event. One little detail I particularly liked was the little in universe press clippings and journal entries that marked the start of each chapter, they are present in Karen Traviss Republic Commando books and in Bloodlines but I found these ones to be especially good this time around.
This book needed to deliver and in my opinion it did. It had a great grasp on the characters and put huge events in motion while not simply having it be a massive punch up between the Galactic Alliance and the Confederation (although this is on its way). It sets up the second half of the series extremely well.
This paperback edition of Sacrifice contains the short story "A Practical man" which was originally released as an e-book. It is by Karen Traviss and it is about Boba Fett and the Mandalorians during the Yuuzhan Vong war. Well worth the purchase of this edition.
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