As Revelation opens, Jayna Solo decides to learn techniques from an old adversary of the Solo family, Boba Fett. She feels that only then can she prepare for a final showdown with her brother, Jacen. Meanwhile, Ben Skywalker risks his life to make contact with a former colleague in the Galactic Alliance Guard, Commando Captain Lon Shevu. With Shevu's help, he hopes to prove from forensic evidence that Jacen Solo killed Mara Jade Skywalker. With the help of his sister and his brother-in-law, Luke Skywalker is making plans of his own: plans that involve hindering his nephew and finding a safe haven for the Jedi to hide temporarily while planning for a final assault of their own. While these events are going on, Jacen realizes that "the folks back home" might lose support for the war without a major victory, so he hatches a plan to attack and sieze Fondor and its shipyards. Conquering Fondor won't be easy since it is well protected. Since his actions have alienated Hapes, and the Galactic Alliance fleet is spread thin, he decides to make an offer of alliance to the Imperial Remnant. But, Jacen's apparent capricious actions in recent weeks have alienated some in the Galactic Alliance, and he seems oblivious to the fact that everything he has strived for by taking the path of the Sith could slip away.

Karen Traviss does a great job of juggling these plotlines and (as mentioned from the title of this blog) she does provide various revelations in setting up the final volume, Invincible. Most of the reveleations are given to the characters of the book and were "known" to those reading the series previously. What is new is the reaction of the characters that receive the revelations. And among the revelations is the return of three characters from the Expanded Universe - three characters who, before this volume, hadn't appeared anywhere in the Legacy of the Force story-arc. Her characterizations are also right on target, from the characters from Episodes IV-VI to the characters introduced in Legacy of the Force to the characters we've come to know from other books in the EU. And, even though we know that Invincible will be the final volume, Traviss is still able to surprise us with a cliffhanger. I'm eagerly awaiting the final volume.
Final rating: **** (on a scale of 0-4 stars).