Well, let's get right down to business, shall we? "What?" you ask. "Jade has no updates for us? I was sitting on the edge of my seat, so eager to hear about her life, but alas, there are no pre-blog updates! I shall go forth and waste away!" Or maybe not....

Anyhoo, I recently finished The Cestus Deception by Steven Barnes, along with the included e-book, The Hive. And I have quite a few opinions that I know y'all are just dying to hear!

First off, I think authors of books that take place between the movies have a harder challenge than authors of whatever series are the latest development in SW history (currently the Legacy books and I think whatever comics that Cade Skywalker is in [correct me if I'm wrong]). Authors of between-movie-books (BMB for short) have to convince you that you just HAVE to read what they have written, that it's in some way essential to your SW knowledge and the SW timeline. You are more likely to read books by authors writing about the cutting edge of GFFA history, however, because you can't wait to find out what will happen next. With BMB's, you already know that certain main characters will live or die, certain people will or will not fall in love, stuff like that. You have to be convinced somehow that the story you're reading is actually important. It really has to draw you in where you're biting your nails over what will happen next. So there has to be minor characters you absolutely adore, an intriguing plot, good writing, great suspense, etc.... The author has to step up his or her game. How did Mr. Barnes do, you ask? Decent, IMO.

He added an interesting new type of droid instead of just the usual battle droids, super battle droids, and droidekas: JK Droids. These droids are also known as "Jedi Killers" because there is a Force-sensitive creature inside the droid that can anticipate your movements.

He took advantage of a character that has interested me since early 2005(ish) : Asajj Ventress. She was mentioned in the ROTS novel, and I was really curious about her. One of these days I'm going to get around to watching the Clone Wars cartoons so I can see her there, but in the mean time, I enjoyed reading about her in this book. Whoever invented her character had a great idea! I like how quiet and lethal she is. Still, I can see many of her faults, which kind of explain why she's only a dark side adept or whatever. Does anyone think she's pretty? I've only seen one picture of her that I actually like: the cover of Jedi Trial. Sort of a strange beauty, but still interesting. Cold and lethal.

Mr. Barnes' writing style was easy to read, which I really appreciated, especially after reading Cloak of Deception by James Luceno! (My dad actually read Cloak of Deception and wrote down all the words he didn't know, and looked them up. He eventually found all but one. Then a week later, he found it somehow, maybe in a different tense or something. This guy uses insane words!!!!) I'm all for good writing, but I also enjoy understanding what I read (yet another reason that Matthew Stover is my favorite SW author!!!) I think Mr. Barnes did a pretty good job with this. However, I do think the book sort of went on longer than it needed to.

I loved how he sort of humanized the clones. I was really able to identify with them, instead of just thinking of them as a bunch of obedient soldiers with the same face, like most people in the GFFA did. He showed how they had been raised, what they thought of the world, how they reacted to what people thought of them, etc. I really like clones now, so I can't wait to read the Republic Commando series!

I fell head over heels for Nate/Jangotat. I think he and Sheeka Tull were my two favorite parts of the entire book!! From the time they met,
SPOILERS..........................
I knew they were going to fall in love!! So either the book was sort of predictable (which I think it was, and not just in this instance), or my perception skills are getting better. But man, Sheeka was so perfect for him! She was exactly what he needed! I SQUEEEED out loud a few times!
END SPOILERS

Well, in my infinite wisdom, while reading this book, I decided to go on to Wookieepedia. First mistake. Then, while reading something about Obi-Wan (I think), I saw something about the bio droid threat. I thought to myself, "Hmm, is this the same thing that I'm reading about now?" So I followed the link. Second mistake. Sure enough, that was exactly what I was reading about. Unfortunately, there was a little box in the article that listed the characters, and a little box next to that that listed which characters DIED. I saw that little box, and I saw the names.

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
SPOILERJangotat dies!!!!!!!!!SPOILER
SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER

Ahem. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I was so mad when I saw that!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend was like, "Wow, that was stupid. Why'd you go and do that?" Thanks. Well, at least
SPOILER......................
Sheeka has the baby to remember Jangotat by!! I squeeeeed out loud when I read that!
END SPOILER

Also, The Hive was really enjoyable! It's only the second e-book I've ever read, but it's definitely my favorite. It had a point, and it was interesting! I was probly more on the edge of my seat for that than I was for the book! My only issue was that I wasn't quite sure where in the book it was supposed to fit. I had an idea, but then Obi-Wan learned some info for the first time that he also supposedly learned for the first time somewhere in the book. Weird.

Well, all in all, I think it was a pretty good book. Definitely not my favorite, but it was interesting, and I think it's worth reading at least for the highlights I mentioned.
My rating: 6 out of 10 (10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest).

MTFBWY and happy reading!
Jade