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** spoiler alert ** JADEN KORR DUOLOGY #1: CROSSCURRENT

First of all, this is one of those confusing books as far as a publication goes, specifically from a marketing point of view.

This novel takes place in the Legacy Era (mostly). Set after the Legacy of the Force book series events, and follows the character of Jaden Korr, one we first met in the video game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, where we can take on the role of players and the adventure. And now, this novel, Crosscurrent, finally establishes a definitive history for Jaden Korr, even 20 years after the events in the Jedi Academy video game. The surprising thing comes when we start thinking about who would buy a novel about a character we met once and who was never spoken of again. It is true that we have novels like the Dark Forces Trilogy, Revan, and the entire line of The Old Republic novel publications, but who in 2010 even remembered Jaden Korr? Then the book appears and it is directly connected to the video game, apart from that, it has the same main character and in general, it is something fascinating. I mean, I think it's a wonderful thing that books like these exist. The closest thing I could make a comparison to describe Crosscurrent would be Jeff Grubb's Scourge, a novel that follows as the main character a random Jedi we've never heard of before, and it's incredible. After all, we're supposed to be in the Legacy Era, and that's what Legacy is about, passing the torch to a new generation of heroes, enough of Han, Luke, or Leia, we needed more stories focused on these new protagonists.

It is a good novel, I recommend it. I think Paul S. Kemp is a great author, but I wouldn't want to see him writing in the "main story". More than anything, because his violent, gory, and Edgy style fits better in standalone stories that don't affect the universe. Also, it reminds me of a certain important author (named Tory Denning) in the Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series. I don't think they're both bad authors, but I just don't want to see their writing style in the main story.

The plot of this first novel is filled with a lot of action. After Emo Edgelord Darth Caedus' Second Galactic Civil War, Jedi knight Jaden Korr finds himself dealing with a lot of doubt after he kills a group of people at Centerpoint Station. Jaden has a vision where he sees several peculiar characters, such as Mara Jade, Lumiya, or Kam Solousar. These visions take him to travel to a moon in the unknown regions. There he meets two scrap metal collectors, Khedryn and Faal and Marr Idi-Shael.

Jaden befriends these scrap metal collectors and obtains the coordinates that lead him to this frozen moon. And, this is where things start to get weird. Throughout the book, the story is divided into two plots that take place in the past and the present. The past plot includes a Sith Ship from 5000 years before the Battle of Yavin, more specifically, from Naga Sadow's Great Hyperspace War. And yes, we have time travel, which is explained to us in the first 100 pages, and a little Lore about the origin of the Lost Tribe of the Sith. As I said, the book is divided into two main plots that are divided into two stories that intertwine at one point with the time travel thing, and it's wonderful. On the one side, Jaden Korr and his new allies, and on the other, the Sith ship that travels through time to the present. Now, Jaden's mission will not only be to find answers to his visions on the frozen moon but also to try to stop the Sith ship together with a Jedi from the past who seeks revenge against his former traitor Padawan who joined the Sith.

To achieve both, they are divided into two groups: Jaden and Khedryn will travel to the frozen moon, while the Jedi of the past, Relin Druu, and the Cerean Marr will board the Sith ship to stop the former Kaleesh apprentice, Saes Rrogon, captain of the Sith ship Harbinger. Marr and Relin achieve their objective and the Sith ship is destroyed, but with the sacrifice of Relin, who in his last moments understands that all his actions and motivations were influenced by the dark side.

Meanwhile, Jaden and Khedryn travel to the frozen moon and find an abandoned Imperial facility and it's basically in there that they discover hybrid clones of Jedi and Sith made during the time of Thrawn. The experiment failed and the clones killed everyone in the facility by dismembering them and putting them in a Spaarti cloning cylinder they call the "mother". Jaden encounters a clone of Kam Solusar, which he defeats, only to be attacked by an Anzat agent of the Order of the One Sith. This Sith Order has a minor involvement in the story, but it consists of Darth Krayt having visions just like Jaden and that is why he sent one of his agents to investigate. The Anzat is defeated and killed by a shot from Khedryn. However, they fail to prevent a ship full of crazy clones from escaping from the moon. And that would be it, it leaves the space open for a sequel that was given and it is the second novel of this fantastic duology.