Rating: 
Summary: Callista must die
Review: I expected to hate this book, but I ended up really liking it for the most part. The plot is generally interesting, with a lot of imaginative details. I especially liked the flashbacks to things that happened during the movies, such as the stories about Admiral Ackbar being an Imperial slave and helping the Rebels steal the Death Star plans. That said, this book has some serious flaws, the greatest of them being, of course, Callista's continued existence. Actually, it seems like she was okay in "Children of the Jedi" and "Planet of Twilight," but here she is a personalityless twit with the intellect of a six-year-old. All she does is cling to Luke--I thought I was going to be sick if I read anything else along the lines of "Callista gazed adoringly at Luke." And we're supposed to believe that a Jedi Master is in love with this idiot? In general, Anderson is not very good with characters, and he wisely sticks with action scenes for the most part. Among other problems, his writing style can be annoying--he uses way too many bad similes. Right on page 1 is one of the worst--"Waves of heat rippled like cloaking shields"--and it continues from there. He also has the annoying habit of referring to characters as "the golden droid," "the olive-skinned alien," and such--why not just use their names? The plot could be unrealistic at times--the good guys have way too easy a time getting into the Darksaber and the Knight Hammer. Don't these things have defense systems? Overall, I would recommend reading this book, but you might not want to eat beforehand, as the Luke/Callista scenes can be rather nausea-inducing.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick, Fast, and Action-Packed
Review: Kevin J. Anderson is probably the most controversial writer in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. On one hand, he has been instrumental in mapping out the early course of the series, with novels, anthologies, and comic books. On the other hand, fans have taken a notable dislike towards Anderson's writing style, and his repeated use of superweapons.
Darksaber is vintage Anderson, and like everything else the author has done, is very much a love it or hate it piece of work. Darksaber's focus is divided several ways, but centers on two main plots. On one front, Admiral Daala teams up with Gilad Pellaeon, a character from the Zahn novels. They kill the rogue Imperial commanders, consolidate the navy, and prepare to attack the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. On the other front, Durga the Hutt steals the Death Star plans and sets to work on building his own version, known as the Darksaber. Both plots are fairly standard, and by themselves couldn't support a full-length novel, but work well enough when combined together. Yes, a fifth superweapon (two deaths stars, a prototype, sun crusher, and now darksaber) seems kind of ludicrious, but it's something I could picture an over-ambitious Hutt concieving, so I'll let it slide (if the Empire had created it, then no). Both Daala and Pellaeon have both played major roles in the saga, so it's nice to see them interact for a bit of continuity. Now besides these two threats, other varying subplots weave themselves throughout the novel. Wedge continues his relationship with Qui; Luke tries to help Callista rediscover her force powers; Dorsk 81, with Kyp Durron's help, must accept the fact that his path as a Jedi is different from those of his people, a race of clones. Bevel Lemelisk reflects on his employment with Tarkin, the Emperor, and a young slave named Ackbar. Finally, Crix Madine, a largely underused character, gets some major action and development. Does it sound like a lot? It is. There is a new chapter every few pages, as we jump to a new set of characters, a new planet, a new situation. Strangely though, everything recieves an adequate amount of development. While Anderson's writing isn't as deep as Zahn's (at times it's bare-bones narration) it's still to his credit that none of the plot threads are left behind. At a time when many Star Wars book cycle could be compressed into one volume (Bounty Hunter Wars comes to mind), Anderson gives us exactly that. And, as one would expect from so many plot threads, the book never becomes boring. Still, while I can forgive the overuse of superweapons, Anderson's exaggeration of the abilities of the force can't be overlooked. When Yoda said "size matters not" I'm sure he didn't mean that the force could throw a whole fleet of star destroyers into deep space, especially not when harnessed by a group of trainees. And despite all the tools at her disposal, Daala still isn't a credible threat. This isn't a deep, insightful Star Wars book by any means, in fact with so much going on, it can feel cartoony at times. But if you want a quick read with enough action, adventure, and romance for three novels, Darksaber is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: avoid Kevin J Anderson like a plague
Review: Kevin J Anderson is probably the worst author to ever grace the NYT's best seller lists. He's the worst author in the entire Star Wars franchise, and that's allowing for alot of crap. His writing style is atrocious, simply atrocious. His books do not contain a single quote. Not one. Why? because it is written completely in the 3rd person in which character thoughts and dialogue with each other is summarized. It reads like a condensed novel. Ok, here's an example of what Kevin J Anderson would write, "Chewie thought it over. He said to Han that the blaster wouldn't work because of the missing power pack. He sensed Han was mad." while any half decent author would write something like, "What do you mean the blaster doesn't work!" said Han "Rrrah rah rah" "Power pack? Huh? Why didn't you say so earlier?" How someone like Kevin J Anderson can be successful writer is beyond me. He has absolutely no writing skills whatsoever.
Rating:
Summary: Wampas, Death Star plans, and Hutts, oh my!
Review: Darksaber, written by Kevin J. Anderson (The Jedi Academy Trilogy), is the middle book in a loose trilogy which chronicles the eventful yet destined-to-fail romance between Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Knight Callista. (The other books, Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight, are both by Barbara Hambly.) Of the three, Darksaber is the best one, combining references to the Classic Trilogy films while continuing various storylines that take place in the Expanded Universe. As Luke takes Callista across the galaxy on a quest to restore her Jedi powers, events elsewhere crop up to challenge the skills of his Jedi Academy's students. Admiral Daala, the Empire's only female admiral is back and thirsting for revenge against the New Republic, and the Hutts, under their leader Durga, are secretly planning to build a new superweapon based on the Empire's Death Star. Facing these twin (and uncoordinated) threats, Leia Organa Solo, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the mostly untested Jedi trainees must stand firm and defend the New Republic, or face certain defeat. As far as Star Wars Expanded Universe novels go, Darksaber is an enjoyable book to read, though it suffers from being linked to two books which I'm not particularly keen on. Its strengths are that it has more Star Wars action and comes closer to the spirit of the movies than Hambly's "bookend" novels of the three-book arc, and I like the way Anderson foreshadows some story elements of the New Jedi Order series. However, it would have been nice if Anderson had avoided the almost predictable storyline of "the enemy has another Death Star-based superweapon! We must destroy it before it destroys us!" Still, Star Wars is not Shakespeare or Proust, and Darksaber is a quick and enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Good action SW novel
Review: I really enjoyed reading this novel, not for any literary reasons but because it was full of action and tied a lot of other plots together from other books. It was a hard book to put down. The action sequences were better than most I have experienced in SW novels and seemed much more like the movies. I also enjoyed how the author linked events in this book back to other books and the movies through well-written flashback sequences. I had three problems, however. The first was the single-dimensional character of Callista; the second was the new superweapon (yet another) which was doomed to failure from the start and hence, not a real threat; and the third problem was the chronology. By this I mean we see adventures of Luke and Callista occurring over what seems to be a couple of weeks and yet the new super-weapon, trimmed-down Death Star planet buster weapon was built from scratch during the same time frame. Something didn't jive there. Still, the overall reading pleasure was quite high. If you read only a select few SW novels, read the ones by Timothy Zahn, and Kevin Anderson (including this one)
Rating: 
Summary: Very Poorly Written
Review: This is quite possibly one of the worst Sci-Fi books I have ever read. I REALLY love Star Wars, and I read this in 2 days, but not because it was great. The story is just fine, though the lack of imagination of the author cuts the book short. I basically like any story that involves Star Wars. The story was not the problem. It was fairly imaginative. Some things were stupid, as in how the Darksaber was destroyed, because the author was not smart enough to think of a better way to destroy it (I'm not gonna tell how it was destroyed, read the book). The writing is just plain horrible. I don't see how this man can live with himself and being such a grotesque writer. Seriously, a three year old could write better. I laughed several times during the book because several parts were funny, then I realized he just copied some lines straight out of the movie! There is almost no dialogue. He just puts all thoughts and stuff into paragraphs. The sentences lack depth, and so do the characters. I constantly was rooting for the Imperials, because I was so tired of the dumb Rebels. I like the Jedi as much as the next guy, but whilst reading this book, I just wanted them to stop. If all the Jedis had to die for the book to end, so be it! Maybe the Imperials would not allow a stupid book like this to be published! Screw freedom of speech! I haven't read a great deal of Star Wars books (I am mostly into fantasy at the moment), but this has got to be one of the worst. I've read Timothy Zahn and he is light years ahead of Kevin Anderson. I would be much happier if Anderson never wrote a book again in his life. Well, at least not a Star Wars book.
Rating: 
Summary: Creative and fun
Review: This is a book that would be better if you read Children of the Jedi first. I didn't, but it helps. Plot: a couple of Hutts get together and try to build a death star, with the help of the bio-re-engineered creator of the first two. (see, the emperor kept killing him, and re-creating him) Some Imperial Leaders reach an agreement to focus on the destruction of the "rebellion" It's a good book, and I think worthy of your time.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, just not good....
Review: Darksaber is the second book in the so-called Callista Trilogy. Kevin Anderson writes a decent if unoriginal story, using many of the same characters from his Jedi Academy Trilogy. First the good: having the Hutts try to costruct a Death Star type weapon was a decent idea, the areas introducing some of the back story to Lemeslick, Tarkin and Ackbar were equally good and fun to read. It was nice to see Leia as the Chief of State if only for a short time. Unlike some other books, where Han and Leia are running around all over the place without guards, escorts or anything else essential to a chief of state, Anderson writes Leia as a leader of the Galactic Senate at some points. At others, he reverts to form. The death of Madine is handled very well, as is the return to Hoth and the one-armed Wampa. The bad: Continuing a tradition of useless Star Wars characters, Anderson brings back Qui Xu as Wedge Antilles main squeeze, Admiral Daala, the most inept Imperial commander to grace the expanded universe also returns, and of course everyone's favorite dead Jedi inhabiting the body of one of Luke's former students also returns. To think that Admiral Pelleon would at any point defer to Daala is outrageous. She's a totally inept officer, but at least she is able to kill off the annoying Moffs. Qui just does not need to be anywhere near the military. She's a scientist with no memory, get rid of her. Callista just never fit into the Star Wars universe. Somewhere along the line, someone decided Luke needed a girlfriend and so she was invented. Her only being able to use the Dark Side of the force is stupid, as is her continuing whining about her fate. Luke Skywalker clone Kyp Durron also returns, now a full Jedi Knight. Wow, he went from mass murderer to full Jedi in about a year, Luke needed to spend more time with him to move that fast. Overall, Darksaber is an ok read. There are many better Star Wars books out there and several that are worse. There are some key elements needed to understand the SW universe better such as the background of the Death Star, Tarkin etc., but there is just too much recycled material to make this a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars
Review: While this book does not stick out in my mind as one of my favorite Star Wars books, it is an important part of the expanded Star Wars Universe. It is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: Anderson treads a well-worn path here, with yet another superweapon that must be destroyed. Can no-one think of a more original plot? This novel descends into farce, with the Darksaber project undone by Durga the Hutt's cheapskate mentality, Bevel Lemelisk's gratuitous recollections of his previous executions, and the Darksaber finally being destroyed by accident without ever firing a shot. What was the point? If this book was supposed to be comic, it fell very flat indeed.
Anderson unfortunately cannot resist the temptation to populate the story with the characters and settings from his Jedi Academy Trilogy. They are no more interesting, or better drawn, than they were in those books. The same poor plotting, bad writing, and cringe-worthy dialogue also make the transition ("We're the Champions of the Force!"). How Anderson ever got a book contract is beyond me.
Many other features of this book grated. Anderson's continual references to the movies and previous books sit so awkwardly in the dialogue and the characters' thoughts that they come across as a deliberate attempt to show off the fact that he's done his homework. Crix Madine's appearance is absolutely pointless. His character is so lacking in depth and does so little that his death had no impact. It could have been another character altogether - no-one would have noticed the difference. The sequence on the surface of Hoth was embarrassingly bad, and nothing more than meaningless filler. Would the supposedly-progressive New Republic really execute Lemelisk, as threatened by Wedge? Why can all the trainees on Yavin be referred to as jedi knights, even though (with the exception of Kyp and Dorsk 81) they are obviously still in training? Callista's abrupt character change in this book is jarring, compared to her personality in Children of the Jedi. And why has Callista got it in for Daala? That is a feature of the story that makes no sense whatsoever. Another thing that makes no sense is how one person is able to cripple a Super Star Destroyer.
And Daala? Ah yes, Daala . . .
I've never been able to decide whether Anderson truly intends us to believe that Daala is a military genius whom prejudice and circumstances have always conspired against, or whether he has always meant us to think that she is, as she herself comes to realise at the end of Darksaber, an incompetent with an over-inflated sense of her own abilities and significance. If it is the former, this is a serious indictment of Anderson's writing abilities. Whatever the answer, it's not difficult to believe that Grand Moff Tarkin whisked her off to command the Maw Installation because he could thereby keep her out of the mainstream of the Fleet, and her total lack of command experience would barely matter in an installation that was pratically impregnable anyway. And the idea that Pellaeon would be frightened of her, after all he's been through, is ludicrous.
Darksaber is embarrassingly bad. You will miss nothing by not reading it.
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