So, Crosscurrent came out a few weeks ago now, but we’re still finishing up reviewing some related material, with this the last book in the Dark Forces trilogy. I didn’t have access to Rebel Agent, but reading Obi John’s review really helped me understand what was going on in this final volume – so at the very least, my recommendation is if you choose to read these book, you read them all. For more on my thoughts, click on the link below.

At around 130 pages worth of story in this finale, you’d think that the author wouldn’t waste too much time – but I found that not to be the case. The opening chapters give us a look at the folks who are trying to make a living on the planet Ruusan and the ‘Jedi’ who report to Jerec. I had a lot of difficulty with the fact that Jerec’s minions are often just called Jedi (only once getting the extra designation of Dark Jedi) – while I know this is prior to the prequels and so the Sith were still a mystery – it’s an annoyance, and one that carries over into one of my favorite parts of the book. But I’ll come back to that later. So, we get some farmers, who were of course saved by… say it with me now, Morgan Katarn, who are aware that Jerec’s forces have come to their planet. Jerec’s mishmash of Dark Jedi then proceed to send the farmers and outcasts into hiding – in the hopes of ensuring they stay out of the way while his people raid the Valley of the Jedi.

Then we get to spend some time with the Alliance fleet, who are under attack and are saved by a combination of Kyle Katarn, Luke Skywalker and General Solo. As Obi mentioned in his review last week, the General Solo thing tipped me off that this is after Return of the Jedi – yet it seems that Kyle has only been on one mission since his successful retrieval of the Death Star plans (hmm, guess that Dark Trooper thing was all a dream) and the Alliance still doesn’t exactly trust him – although, Mon Mothma now seems to regard him as no threat to her. Anyway, Kyle and Jan make their case for why they must be allowed to stop Jerec because the fate of the entire galaxy is at stake! – and then we get to spend some more time getting to know a criminal who’s been locked up by the alliance that Kyle and Jan need to pilot a cruiser to sneak them onto Ruusan.

That’s about the half-way point and I’m already bored of even writing this review. Let’s start to really skip ahead. Kyle and Jan meet up with the displaced farmers, use the man who knew Kyle’s father to get past Jerec’s forces and into the Valley of the Jedi – one of Jerec’s men betrays their cause, Jan gets herself captured, and Kyle learns the secret of the Valley and frees the spirits there and defeats Jerec.

Honestly, there’s not a lot to recommend this book – but there were some things I really liked. Dave Dorman’s art was fantastic, a huge step up from Soldier of the Empire. Storywise, there were some nice connections that I’ve never made before reading this book. I never realized the Valley of the Jedi from this story was the same location as used in the Darth Bane books (or Jedi vs Sith). I slowly started to understand that Ruusan is the same planet where the Army of Light fought the Brotherhood of Darkness (though here again the issue of calling Kaan’s people ‘Jedi’ – not even Dark Jedi, just Jedi instead of Sith crops up) – I had never made this connection before. However, it’s not like this story is any sort of finale to that one – I’d never realized there was more to tell about freeing the souls after the Mind Bomb, and I’d have never been the wiser if I hadn’t read this book. Ultimately, I enjoyed the connections, but I got more out of the Darth Bane books than I did this one. So, after a rocky start and rocky finish, I’m glad I finally delved into these books – but I can’t say that they’re required reading by any stretch.