Inferno is the next book in the Legacy of the Force Saga and I must say it has an apt title and the most appropriate cover art I can think of. I suppose there were people who worked long and hard at their jobs to make that be the case, and it should be taken for granted, but it doesn’t happen nearly often enough.

This book picks up with the funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker. An event that Han and Leia were supposed to attend, except that their son, the newly christened sith Lord Darth Caedus (nee Jacen Solo) ordered them arrested before they arrive.

This was the event that sparked the burning funeral pyre of Mara Jade Skywalkers death and sent the Jedi Council into action.

The book plays out as an enthralling game of brinksmanship between the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and the Dark Lord of the Sith.  Luke is determined to prevent Jacen’s apprentice (his son, Ben) from turning to the dark side and is working hard to keep Jacen from leading the Galactic Alliance into a second darkness.  It’s harder than it seems.  Jacen has lead a coup against the government and has taken control and starts making sacrifices like they were going out of style.

Apparently, the Sith way is to sacrfice everything you have, every battle no matter what.  In this way, they have nothing left by the end of their pathetic and hate filled lives.

It seems as though Jacen is heading in this direction further and further.

I would like to say though, that the best part of this book is Luke Skywalker.  Through this series I’ve been wary of Luke.  He seemed to be withdrawn from being the Master he was by the end of Return of the Jedi.  He was pussy-footing around, even letting Jacen walk all over him.  In fact, I think he made some of the same mistakes with Jacen’s handling that Mace Windu and Yoda made with Anakin. But with his wife dead, Luke is angry.  Very angry.

And Jacen Solo wouldn’t like Luke when he’s angry.

He cuts loose in ways that were shocking and tremendously exhilerating.  As I read it, a line from the mediocre film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back came to mind over and over again. Remember when Mark Hamil (dressed idiotically as “The Cock-knocker”?) said, “Don’t fuck with a Jedi Master, son.”?

That’s the lesson this book taught me about Luke all over again. You just don’t mess with Luke Skywalker.

And over the course of the series, I think we’ll learn how much more truth there is to that.

My other favorite thing about this book is that everyone seems to want Darth Caedus dead. But the thing that makes it most interesting is the wide breadth of his former loved ones would all step up to the challenge. And the deeper into this book you get, the more you realize that he’s truly lost all love from his family. Will Ben or Luke kill him for killing Mara (when they end up finding that out for sure)? Will Han and Leia kill him for turning on their family and laying waste to Kashyykk, the Wookiee homeworld? Will his twin sister Jaina kill him out of a sense of duty?

Anything is possible and I’m waiting with baited breath to see just how it all plays out.

To purchase Inferno on Amazon, click here.

Other reviews in this series:
Betrayal
Bloodlines
Tempest
Exile
Sacrifice