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** spoiler alert ** Okay...now they're just making it up as they go along...I'm convinced.

Thanks to my local library, I was able to get my hands on Troy Denning's "Vortex," the sixth in the "Fate of the Jedi" series.

And even though I read through the book in one day...that was more about me wanting something to keep my mind of my recent break-up with my girlfriend of three years than it being a stellar work of fiction.

At the end of book 5, Abeloth was dead, the crazy Jedi were cured and the Lost Tribe of Sith and the increasingly unstable Daala were the main threats.

Not so fast...SPOILERS AHEAD...because Abeloth is alive...some of the crazy Jedi are still crazy (see book #7 for more on that) and the newly sane Jedi are still at risk.

So...yeah...it really seems like the Lucas brain trust is making it all up without a clear plan...like the elaboration of a bad liar. you can't just reverse yourself as a storyteller so obviously and retain the respect of the readers. And that's not the first time they've done this in this series. It's like when TV shows "take back" large chunks of story, saying things were a dream or a coma fantasy. You know what I mean.

Abeloth's death was too neat and tidy and wasn't very "epic." But I never thought of her as that great of a villain. I can't help imagining her as a deranged Muppet. And now she can "infect" others and make them...her...somehow. And apparently ALL of Luke's old girlfriends are in danger. Any Force user Abeloth gets tentacle cozy with becomes some sort of copy of her. Not to mention those who swim in the dark side waters on her jungle prison planet (pretty sure she's NOT the planet now, which is at least something...though the planet seems to be partly to blame) also become like her, but in a more minion-y type of way.

What seems to be coming is that an EVEN longer time ago, though not in a galaxy any further away, very bad creatures did very bad things and left behind much dark side energy in their places of worship/power. And Abeloth is the result. I keep waiting for Cthulhu to pop up and wave a festive grouping of tentacles at the Jedi before eating them.

And now Abeloth is trying to "restore" the dark future Jacen Solo went all Sith Lord to prevent. Jacen's daughter Allana (a.k.a. Amelia Solo war orphan) is now the future Jedi queen upon the Throne of Balance and Abeloth wants to eat her or become her or something icky to make sure the bad guys keep showing up for work.

So what else is happening in "Vortex"? Let's see...

The cat and mouse game between Luke and Ben Skywalker versus the Sith Gavar Khai and High Lord Taalon on Abeloth's planet continues...with comely Sith Vestara Khai caught between both sides as they pursue Abeloth away from the jungle prison world. She wants to betray the Jedi and seduce Ben to the dark side, but she also really cares for Ben. She sounds really cute. I hope the two of them get to use two straws to sip from the same blue milkshake. But Vestara keeps betraying Ben and making him resolute and sad. Luke lets it happen because his son has to learn. And killing off a hot red headed Sith girl who seems to remind us all of his late wife might bring up issues for him (and from the fan base).

Back on Coruscant, the Jedi are preparing to make war on Daala because it seems like she's becoming the tyrant that nearly everyone thought she would be, using Mandalorians to suppress slave uprisings on distant worlds and persecuting the Jedi. The slavery plot thread is still going on, though it seems to come to a nasty end here--mainly to illustrate Daala's increasing facist/Imperial tendencies.

Then, when the Jedi have finally had enough of Daala, acting Grand Master Kenth Hamner goes rogue to defend the status quo--trying to keep the Jedi from launching their Stealth X's--and gets himself killed in battle with Saba the Barabel Jedi Master. Not that I really cared for him as a character, but his sudden shift to such a rash and destructive path seems way out of character. He never struck me as the "one man army" type. Kyp Durron, sure. Even Kyle Katarn. Not Kenth Hamner. Since Daala's Mandalorians killed Hamner's assistant in cold blood, you'd think he'd be the last to give his own life to support peace with Daala, an obvious tyrant. The explanations for Hamner's behavior don't add up for me. It's a flaw.

And the trial of Tahiri Veila drags on and on...this trial was a mediocre "B" plot best resolved in one book, not spread out over how many now? Four books...and counting? She killed the guy when she was bad. But now she's good. It's a pickle. She didn't even kill the Admiral in this series of books. Just an example of more padding that stretched this series, which it seems could easily have been done in three books (maybe six?) instead of the full nine they're giving us.

You know who I miss? Boba Fett. He may have been the best part of the "Legacy of the Force" series.

The Jedi rebellion against Daala is handled with some good planning and cleverness. I liked the Sabacc Tournament ruse that gets so many famous hostages in one place. The new rebellion is long overdue, considering how tyrannical Daala has become. But that's what you get when you put Imperials in charge of things. Of course, the main candidate to replace Daala has to be Jagged Fel. But that's just my opinion. Wynn Dorvan seems a bit too easily infulenced and shady, but he's the one we're supposed to think will end up in charge of the GA in the end.

And I'm forced to admit that as often mediocre as these books are...they're FAR better than many of the other Star Wars books out there. I'm still slogging through book one of "The New Jedi Order" (a.k.a. the Yuuzhan Vong are VERY boring) series. I got that book for free and I still want my money back.