Broken (Legacy Vol. 1)

This review is more of the entire Legacy series than just the first volume.  I apologize for the deception . . . sort of.

Background

Set 125 years after Return of the Jedi, the Star Wars Legacy series deals with a galaxy very different than that seen in the movies.  After the Rebels defeated the Empire in ROTJ, they created a New Republic.  That crumbled during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion (as presented in the 19-book New Jedi Order series, discussed here), and was replaced by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (GFFA).  That, in turn, was defeated by an alliance of the Sith reborn (no longer only two, but now an army) and the remnants of the Empire (led by Emperor Roan Fel, descendant of Baron Fel from earlier comics/books).  This alliance all but destroyed the Jedi Order (again).  Once they obtained power, the Sith betrayed the Empire and seized the throne outright; now two factions (Sith + their Imperials vs. Imperials loyal to Fel) have been at war for seven years since.

Broken (Volume 1)

Cade Skywalker escaped the Sith's destruction seven years ago, but walked away from the Jedi Order after watching his father (Kol) murdered at their hands.  He now lives a life of drug-aided escapism, and works as a bounty hunter with Deliah Blue (an ironically pink alien) and Jariah Syn.  He's drawn back into galactic affairs when Marasiah Fel- daughter of the Imperial Emperor and sought by the Sith- needs his help to escape capture.  In the process, he encounters his old Jedi comrades.  Cade has a choice- does he return to assist, or walk away for good?  As he mulls his options, the ailing Darth Krayt, Sith Lord and Emperor, has learned of Skywalker's unequaled healing abilities and is seeking him at all costs . . .

The Rest of the Series

The remaining ten volumes can be summarized as follows (spoiler warning, this section only):
- Cade spends most of the time deciding what his destiny is.  He oscillates between Jedi, Sith, something in between, or nothing Force-related.
- The Imperials loyal to Fel join forces with the remnants of the GFFA to combat the Sith.
- The Sith and Imperials loyal to them engage in a web of deceit, backstabbing, and in-fighting, even as they also deal with the Fel Imp/GFFA alliance.
- The Yuuzhan Vong make some appearances, which was a neat tie-in to the New Jedi Order series.
- Darth Krayt turns out to be A'Sharad Hett, former Jedi from the Republic days, who learned some weird magic or something to survive this long.  He spends the entire time obsessing over Cade's healing abilities and trying to get him to join the Sith.  It doesn't end well for him.

Thoughts

The Legacy series was 'risky,' as it didn't involve the standard crew, but proved a hit with fans and ultimately produced fifty issues (collected in eleven trade paperbacks).  I enjoyed it well enough the first time through (years ago), but this time, it started growing stale.  There are two reasons:

1) There's a startling lack of originality in some Star Wars Expanded Universe tales, and this is a great example.  The vehicles, factions, and personalities vary so little, even 125 years in the future. Sith vs. Jedi, Empire vs. Republic, and a Skywalker at the heart of it.  That gets annoying/boring/repetitive.

2) Since Disney has largely 'thrown out' the expanded universe material, reading these appears to be an exercise in futility.  I still enjoy the tales set during/immediately after the movies, but I'm reasonably confident that stories this far out will be re-done, anyway, so why bother?

In the end, these aren't bad stories- just not very good/original ones.

Rating (for series): B