I finally finished the book today.  Of the three Dark Nest books, I kind of like this one the best.  Not that it's a Pulitzer Prize winner or even among the upper echelons of SW EU, but definitely the best of the three.  I admit I wasn't terribly interested in bad bugs and those anal-retentive Chiss, but this one was paced a little bit better and wasn't too steeped into Killik kulture.  Also, Denning can still write Han and Leia pretty well.  There are even some genuinely funny moments, such as Jacen and Tenel Ka attempting to hide their illegitimate kid from everybody.  Okay, I thought it was funny.  *Shrug.*  I'm also happy with the Jedi finally moving away from the moral relativism introduced in the NJO.  Whew!  It took Luke, who really ought to know better, long enough to figure it out.  Not everything is resolved and some characters' fates are vague enough to bring them back in another book.

What I didn't like...the A/P stuff.  It actually goes to the heart of what I think hasn't worked out too well in EU books since the NJO, and that is the Skywalker clan actually feeling like a family.  I didn't like that the discovery of A/P's relationship are all from the darkest moments of ROTS and on top of that, they're inaccurate.  A lot of it is stuff that was eventually cut from the script, but apparently no one gave Denning the memo or took him to see the movie.  And why couldn't the editors have changed that before going to print?  Luke only sees the bad stuff out of context (and Artoo being around to conveniently record certain scenes grew to be far fetched).  Not that Luke would be entirely happy about what really transpired in ROTS, but all he does is get mad at Anakin and leaves it at that.  The whole thing serves only to erase Luke's doubts about Mara possibly being involved in Padme's death (apparently Luke can't add) and to test Jacen's reactions.  This is huge stuff, yet Luke isn't curious beyond absolving Mara, and Leia isn't involved at all.  Don't they care about their mother?  Don't they wonder what the hell led Anakin to this point?  I freakin' care more than they do!

The thing is, Denning also wrote the excellent Tatooine Ghost.  What happened, dude?

While I'm at it, can someone please find a way to write Jacen and Jaina to be likeable people?  And I'm tired of Luke getting pwned by everybody.

Next up, Outbound Flight[/i[.