Patterns of Force

Star Wars: Coruscant Nights #3

by Michael Reaves

After the Empire's bloody purge of the Jedi, one lone Knight still fights for those who cannot, unaware that he's about to be swept into a cataclysmic battle against the Master of Darkness himself.

Throughout the galaxy, a captured Jedi is a dead Jedi, even in Coruscant's most foul subterranean slums, where Jedi Knight Jax Pavan champions the causes of the oppressed with the help of hard-nosed reporter Den Dhur and the wisecracking droid I-5YQ. But Jax is also involved in another struggle--to unlock the secrets of his father's death and his own past.

While Jax believes that I-5YQ holds some of those answers, he never imagines that the truth could be shocking enough to catapult him to the frontlines of a plot to kill Emperor Palpatine. Worse yet, Darth Vader's relentless search for Jax is about to end . . . in triumph.

The future looming over the valiant Jedi and his staunch pals promises to be dark and brief, because there's no secret whatsoever about the harshest truth of all: Few indeed are those who tangle with Darth Vader . . . and live to tell the tale.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 27, 2009

About the author

Michael Reaves is an Emmy Award-winning television writer and screenwriter whose many credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles. His novels include the New York Times bestseller STAR WARS: Darth Maul- Shadowhunter and STAR WARS: Death Star. He and Neil Gaiman cowrote Interworld. Reaves has also written short fiction, comic books, and background dialogue for a Megadeth video. He lives in California.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've said this countless times in my reviews of series books, but it applies to this one as well: Those readers who enjoyed the previous Star Wars: Coruscant Nights space opera whodunits will find plenty to like about Patterns of Force...but, if you didn't care for novels one and two, then you probably shouldn't read this. Additionally, it was interesting to see droids that were more human emotionally, as well as to see a between-trilogies Darth Vader.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book ends the Coruscant Nights trilogy while also leaving open a door for a future story (Re: The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff). The trilogy has essentially had a different subgenre for each book. Book 1 was a crime thriller, Book 2 was a mystery thriller. This book is basically a pseudo spy thriller mixed with standard Star Wars tropes.

The character of Kaj is what makes this book set apart from the other two. His youthful energy elevates the attitude and personality of Jax as he serves as a mentor to Kaj. It helps mature Jax even more, much the same way that having a padawan helped Kanan mature in the Canon.

The whole crux of the book is surrounding if I5 is going to go an kill the Emperor, and if Vader is finally going to find our main crew in time. The Vader searching for our main crew was tiresome at places, as this has been going on for 3 books now. But the concept of I5 deciding to go assassinate the Emperor was thrilling and brought a great new dynamic to the book.

This book isn't quitek as good as book 1, but its a solid follow up, as book 2 was as well.

The whole final confrontation with Vader at the end of the book was very well done. I actually really liked it (and I often don't like final confronations with Vader in SW stories).

And the ending sets up the continuation of the story really well.

Overall, an enjoyable book, very fun series as a whole, and I enjoyed that each book has it's own subgenre. I'll give this book an 8 out of 10.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the many talented authors within the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Michael Reaves is quickly shaping up to be my favorite. His third novel in the Coruscant Nights series (it was, up until recently with the publication of his fourth book "The Last Jedi", a trilogy), "Patterns of Force" marks a joyous return of Jax Pavan, one of the few (he fears the only) surviving Jedi Knights of the Purge who "moonlights" as a private detective/gun for hire on the dark streets of Coruscant, now overrun with Imperial troops.

What I have enjoyed about the adventures of Pavan is that they are independent of, but still distantly related to, the storylines of the original six George Lucas films. The events of the Coruscant Nights series takes place several years after the events of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and many years prior to "Episode IV: A New Hope". It delves deeper into the aftermath of the Purge (the hunting down and assassination of all Jedi Knights by order of Emperor Palpatine) and hints at the embryonic formation of the Rebel Alliance. It also manages to be its own exciting series, with well-developed characters and events peripheral to the original Star Wars mythos.

In this book, Jax and his partners (a ragtag bunch including a Force-sensitive droid named I-5YQ, a former journalist named Den Dhur, a female warrior Twi'lek named Laranth Tarak, and a former assistant to Darth Vader named Haninum Tyk Rhinann) stumble upon a young boy named Kajin Savaros, who is the most Force-sensitive human Pavan has ever met. The Force runs so strong within Kaj that the boy can't control his own abilities. Pavan learns that Lord Vader himself wants the boy, and the Sith Lord has sent a team of his best assassins, called Inquisitors, to find him, alive. Vader also wants Pavan alive, although Pavan can't figure out why. He thinks it may have something to do with something his friend, Anakin Skywalker, once told him years ago, before Skywalker was supposedly killed during the Purge...

[Jesse Whitehead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Years ago Michael Reaves wrote a book about a janitor working in the Jedi temple who discovers the existence of the Sith. Darth Maul sets out on a quest to destroy that janitor and his droid. To anybody familiar with Darth Maul there is no doubting the conclusion. Reaves brought it all together well and made it feel, at times, like perhaps there was a small chance that some of the characters might live.

Well, they don't.

But the janitor, Lorn Pavan, had a son named Jax who just happened to be Force sensitive and accepted to the temple as a Padawan.

In Reaves first Star Wars book I was impressed with his willingness to kill his main character. Too often in Star Wars the authors are afraid to have anything permanently damaging happen. After each story there is a reset button that puts everything back to The Way It Was. (This reminds me a lot of the episodes of pretty much all the Star Treks – bad things happen, good things happen, reset.) Of course it helped that the main character was one of his own and not one of the franchise mainstays that you can't kill because, let's face it who would read a book where Han Solo got killed (or believe it)? This moved Michael Reaves onto my short list of authors who write awesome Star Wars.

Alas, his presence thereon was short lived.

Michael Reaves has written several other Star Wars novels since then. Most of them are pretty bland. A few are just plain boring. There is never any danger.

In Patterns of Force Jax Pavan is still trying to track down the secret behind the death of his father. He's also trying to figure out what happened to his old friend Anakin Skywalker after the great purge. He's barely scraping by as a private investigator in the underbelly of Coruscant when he comes across an untrained Force sensitive boy named Kaj. Things get complicated since Kaj can't control his temper, Jax's old friend, Laranth, doesn't want to hang out with him anymore, Darth Vader wants to have a talk with him, and his other friends might not be as loyal as he thinks.

It all adds up to a stew that should be exciting. It just isn't.

Nothing really gets any momentum. Kaj gets out of tight scrapes because he has super powers. Laranth can block blasters by shooting the beam with her own blasters. Jax carries around a Sith lightsaber that a stranger mailed to him, even though he has the means to make his own. Drama is introduced simply for the sake of drama. When one of the characters finally does something smart it turns out that he didn't really.

Even the showdown with Darth Vader feels silly and almost bland. The ending leaves enough unsaid between the characters that Reaves can always write more books about them.

This trilogy felt very episodic from the beginning, starting with a lot of promise, then ending with things exactly the same as when they started.

This frustrated me. Jax is a Jedi, living undercover in Coruscant – despite the stupidity of such a move – his life should be more interesting than trying to decide if the local constable knows he's a Jedi or not. By the time of Luke Skywalker there are no Jedi left, which means something bad has to happen to these Jedi who survived Order 66 some day. I'd like to see a book where the empire is not incompetent and incapable of carrying out their prime mission. I'd like to see a story where Darth Vader is not an idiot (even if his storm-troopers can't shoot).

In short this book was a quick and easy read but ultimately unsatisfying. I found at the end that I didn't really care about any of the characters. I just wanted to finish the book.

(5/10)

[Graff Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars: Legends: Coruscant Nights III 03 Patterns of Force by Michael Reaves

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense 

Medium-paced

Plot or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes

3.5 Stars

This is the best story within this quadrology. It may be because I have fallen in love with the characters...and am able to push back on the parts that frustrates me (the change of lore, and incosistancies with other novels in the Extended Universe/Legends).

I like Jax and Laranth, I-Five, and even Den. This motley bunch of rebels...are living in a fish bowl on the planet Coruscant. They know they are being watched, and everyday...they expect the worst.

In this story, we see them come upon a young kid that is ULTRA powerful in the force, with little to NO training on how to supress the urges to use the Force. Which, is a beacon for the Inquisitors to find the kid, but also our merry band of misfits.

Loved the back and forth, and the desire to help the kid, but also knowing they were taking a HUGE gamble.

We know their ultimate goal was NOT going to work, but it is interesting how patient the Dark Side users are...instead of quashing them mercilessly (which honestly, I think is the way that it should've been done...and I'm not a Dark Side user/friend).

Overall, I loved the internal struggles that occurred in this story. It made the characters more rounded and real.

There is only one more book within this arc, and I am looking forward to reading The Last Jedi (and NO, it is not the one you're thinking about).

[CS · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If Jax commits himself and his team to Palpatine's assassination, then what distinguishes him from those who represent the dark side?"
So I was really impressed by number 1, disappointed by number 2, and ready to see how the series would end. So I embarked on the third and final chapter!
Jax Pavan, Den Dhur, I-Five, and Rhinann return in our final installment with the lovely Dejah Duare on what could be their final mission. A rogue Force adept roams the underworld, threatening to blow their operation to the Inquisitors, Force users trained by Darth Vader himself. Furthermore, someone from I-Five's past returns with a plan...a plan to kill Emperor Palpatine! What will our band do, to fight injustice in the galaxy?

I Liked:
In book two, I felt that the character of Rhinann had gone off the deep end. In Book 3, Reaves brings Rhinann back to what he had been at the end of Book 1. He does it well enough, that I can either gloss over the disparities in Book 2 or believe that he changed from Book 2 to 3. I appreciated the "mending" and surprisingly found myself liking the character.
Also, I enjoyed seeing Jax Pavan realize his feelings for Laranth, how much he misses her. When Laranth was first introduced in the series, I was so sure she would be a Mary Sue: you know, tough woman, highly attractive and able to bed men in a single bound. Ha! Reaves must be laughing in his recliner at me. He deftly creates this woman, so real and emotional and...wonderful! Then he broke her and Jax up in Book 2, tearing out my heart in the process (darn you, Reaves!). And now, in 3, he starts to weave Jax and Laranth back together in a most beautiful way. And, not to spoil anything, their resolution is absolutely perfect.
I never liked Dejah Duare, but I love what Reaves does to her. Perfect justice!
Besides the characters (my favorites being Laranth, of course, I-Five, and Den Dhur), which are, for the most part, amazing as usual, Reaves also ties in all the details he has been bringing up in his previous books, not only the Coruscant Nights ones, but also the Darth Maul book and the MedStar Duology. Very nicely done, and always neat to see stuff reused.
The ending!! So fast paced, so much happens in so little time! In this regard, I feel like Reaves looked back at Book 1, how he made it so edge of your seat there and repeated that idea here. It is wonderful, a perfect combination for a Star Wars novel.
Lastly, I liked how this novel touched on so many important concepts, but namely this one: what distinguishes the good guys from the bad guys? It isn't a HUGE part of the novel, but it is sly, tricky, and makes you think. I mean, if the bad guys are bad just because they kill, that means any time the good guys kill (even if it is bad guys), then they have become that which they fight. A very challenging idea, and very important still. Reaves handles it particularly well.

I Didn't Like:
I've already complained about how Rhinann's character has skipped all over the place in this trilogy, but since Reaves "fixed" him in Book 3, he goes off my nit-pick list.
Dejah Duare remains on my list, for being the Mary Sue of this series. I despise her overly done-up sexuality, even if she does rely on pheromones to get her way (or maybe because she does).
I was not very fond of Kajin Savaros. I have a hard time believing that this boy is so powerful (able to blast tall buildings in a single breath); he feels like a Marty Stu. Plus, he is a rather bland character, almost like eating vanilla ice cream, but not even good vanilla ice cream. He really is much less a character than a tool, just to move the plot. And his conclusion makes me wonder if I should even have cared about him in the first place.
The beginning felt very, incredibly slow to me. It took me weeks to actually get into the book. It feels like nothing important is happening, that I can't engage in the story. Thank God Reaves picks it up halfway through!
SPOILER:
My last great complaint is that Jax still lives. Yes, I love how he and Laranth get together at the end, but I really tire of seeing all these Jedi that somehow are able to elude Vader and Order 66. I would have preferred to see him die at the end, like how his father died at the end of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. In this way, I feel that this trilogy is a little too "open-ended". Yes, Jax had his face-off with Vader, but it is obvious that, since neither died, it is only the first face-off. Vader won't just give up on Jax; Jax still lives on Coruscant. And since Jax isn't my favorite character to begin with, I wouldn't have been upset to see him die.
END OF SPOILER

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Star Wars language only.
Dejah Duare pretty much embodies the biggest sexual blips in this novel.
A man is scarred pretty badly in a Force battle. Two people are kidnapped. Other Star Wars fare battles.

Overall:
To be honest, after a few pages, I dreaded this book. I wanted to put it down and forget about it forever. Reaves had kinda lost me after 2, and I didn't think he could bring it around.
Well, Reaves, you proved me wrong yet again! He finished off the trilogy nicely, though I felt that it was still a little more open-ended than I would have liked. So despite a very slow beginning, I give this book a 4.5 stars, rounded to 5.

[Iset · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was not the exciting conclusion to the trilogy that I had hoped for. For a series that was marketed on being a detective noir angle, our protagonist, Jax Pavan, does astonishingly little investigating. Only in the second book does he actually take on and solve a crime mystery. There are none in this book – I don’t count tracking down the Force sensitive youth because that’s given as a warning to them anyway, and it’s a case that they don’t pursue at all because they already have the boy and are intent upon protecting him. I hate to say, because I was honestly looking forward to reading this trilogy, I was enthusiastic about picking up what I thought would be a set of dark, cyberpunky crime thrillers in a rich Coruscant underworld… but I feel misled. That description doesn’t fit the books I ended up reading, and I’m disappointed.

So, what was the third book about, if not a case for Jax Pavan to solve? Well, it sure wasn’t about what was on the cover! Seriously, the scene on the very front of the book never occurs in the story. I don’t know what happened to Reaves’ writing. He wrote a pacy and thrilling chase story in Shadow Hunter, one that gripped from start to finish even though its characters were almost all original. It was tense and awful because we knew how it had to end, and the writing was tight, every scene serving a purpose. The MedStar duology was enjoyable, mostly because it featured the charming Barriss Offee and had something to say about the bloody pointlessness of war; but I think these two books were where Reaves started to lose it. Because the duology was that war makes little sense, especially to those on the ground fighting it, it didn’t have a clear cut plot, and I got the impression that Reaves felt he had to insert one – with Kaird and Black Sun and Admiral Bleyd and macguffins – that I and I suspect a lot of other readers didn’t give a toss about because they were fresh faces who in the end didn’t have a lot of impact on the outcome anyway.

In this Coruscant Nights trilogy, Reaves has felt to me like his writing is meandering more than ever before. He has a penchant for bringing back some of his previous characters, even if it doesn’t make sense to do so, perhaps just because he thinks they are cool. Kaird of the Nediji, for example, serves very little function in the first book of this trilogy, and likewise Den Dhur, the washed out reporter, has nothing to do in Books One or Three – although he does contribute to Book Two when, ya know, Jax Pavan actually takes a case in what is advertised to potential readers as a Jedi-turned-private-investigator series! A lot of this book feels very haphazard and the protagonists feel like they lack agency, with many situations imposed on them, having to move safehouses, and plenty of characters just talking to each other about what they think other characters might think, without reaching any decisions. It was kind of dull, actually. Jax couldn’t grip my attention with how vacillating he was, and it was obvious that Kaj was a real problem as they couldn’t keep him locked in a room forever. It seemed like Reaves didn’t know what to do with some characters who didn’t have a helpful role to play in this third book, so he surrendered them up to sudden implausible betrayals and death. There was a certain hastiness to the writing which added to the implausibility. Kaj, for example, has his memory completely wiped in just a few hours because the plot needs this to happen, and then is shipped off-world at the end for healing, but mostly because he can’t be kept in a Force-shielded room for the rest of his life and Jax (and Reaves) don’t know what else to do with him – so it almost erases all the effort we went to as readers getting to know him, if we’re never going to see him again and his story has zero resolution. Throughout the trilogy, Reaves has persistently got his timeline wrong too, heightening the sense of hastiness. Barriss Offee giving I-Five the bota happened during the Clone Wars, perhaps three years previously, but the books tell us it was twenty years ago or more. Likewise, Lorn Pavan’s last stand was, we’re told, over twenty years previously, even though it happened thirteen years ago. Overall, this just combines to create a sensation that this trilogy was low effort, meandering, didn’t know quiet what to do with its characters, and did not at all live up to its promise of being a detective noir in Coruscant’s underworld.

I’m disappointed. The high point of the trilogy was the middle book, which at least had a criminal case for Jax to solve and gave Den Dhur an important role. But the conclusion returns to the below average performance of the first book.

4 out of 10

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so this book might have earned a third star if it weren't for the extremely distracting fact that Michael Reaves cannot count. His timeline is extremely muddled and some of it makes no sense. Normally I let things slide, especially if they're one-time errors, but this was so constant and frustrating that it really pulled me out of the book.

Though I will note that some of this carries over from the previous books, let's look at some examples:

-Jax is stated at one point to be less than five years older than Kaj, who is stated to have just turned fifteen. This makes Jax nineteen. His father is stated as having died more than two decades ago. That puts at least two years between his father's death and his birth which is... impossible?
-Even if that math worked out, it's established that Jax's father was in his life until he was two. Which would mean he could have died seventeen years ago, max.
-Except! It's also set up that he died just shortly before the Naboo trade embargo--which was fourteen years before Coruscant Nights takes place.
-At another point, Reaves notes said trade embargo as having happened eighteen years ago.
-Minor gripe: back in the first book, Jax is stated as being nearly the same age as Anakin, who is twenty-three at this point.
-Major gripe: in both this book and the previous book, Reaves put that the bota was discovered twenty years ago. Except it was found during the Clone Wars. Which started four years before this book takes place.
-Added bonus: the message last book about the bota was from Barriss Offee who, if the message really were twenty years old, would have been two at the time it was made. That's a talented toddler.

The last ones, about the bota, made me actually put the book down while I recited the Jedi Code to myself.

There is no emotion; there is peace.

Okay, I'm kidding about that last part.

I have other complaints that brought this down to two stars, but they involve some major spoilers for the ending so read on at your own risk:

-There's little to no emotional consequence for the fact that Jax's party was cut in two. Two people died and one was sent away! This is a big deal!
-There's not really much emotional consequence for the betrayal, either, though it's at least talked about.
-A sentient droid with a Force signature? Really? Did we have to go there?
-Speaking of said droid: outfitting him with a ridiculous arsenal--in his hands, at that. This is getting ridiculous.
-Kaj. A lot of his scenes were good, I really enjoyed Jax working with him. But he was also kind of ridiculously overpowered and apparently just sort of randomly became super overpowered?
-And re: Kaj being sent away... well, we'll see if The Last Jedi does anything with that (and I don't think it will, based on the fact that Kaj isn't in it), but that's not a neat way to tie up that loose end at all. At least it isn't given the setting and the fact that we can't have any Jedi or Jedi-like beings around by the time Luke starts training with Yoda.

I felt a bit bad for dropping this down as low as two stars, but now that I've written all that out, I think it's justified to me.

Sorry Reaves, but even Jax's characterization was more interesting in the first book.

[Wesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

By the time I was on the 3rd one of the trilogy, I just wanted to finish reading and be done with it.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get it. Wrapping up a trilogy is hard work. It’s very rare that a run of 3 films, books, or comics ends as strong as it starts. Aside from maybe The Fast and the Furious Franchise that actually got better after the 4th one and maybe The Lord of the Rings which stayed consistent throughout, I can’t think of many trilogies that showed growth by the time they concluded.

Even the Star Wars films, my all time favorite franchise, isn’t immune. The original trilogy definitely ended on a high note, though RotJ wasn’t as good as ESB, and Lucas did end up redeeming himself with RotS (and I’ll ignore the new trilogy because we all know how Disney screwed the hell up with those), but overall, the franchise tends to end on a lower point than where it started.

The same is true of Reave’s Coruscant Nights series. Jedi Twilight started with a bang, and set an amazing precedence for the rest of the books to follow. Unfortunately, the next 2 just couldn’t meet that goal.

Patterns of Force is the weakest of the bunch, letting the trilogy kind of fizzle out with a whimper instead of the roaring finale it should have been. Of course, it’s a decent book (and a pretty good Star Wars book to book), but comparing it to the first (and even second) book, really highlights how weak it is.

I can’t really put my finger on where things go wrong with Patterns of Force but I think part of the problem is the direction Reaves went with it. The first two were more tech-noir, cyberpunk themed, complete with a gritty look at the Coruscant underworld. Patterns on the hand, is more of a straight thriller. Nothing wrong in and of Israel’s, however, the change in genre was jarring.

I also think the plot wasn’t as strong as it could have been. Obviously Jax and Den and I-5 trying to protect a fledgling Jedi from Vader and the Inquisitors seems like a great idea in concept; it’s just that the exposition felt off. It felt rushed and not nearly as in depth as previous entries. The same with the conclusion. There could have been a lot more to explore and stretch, but at 288 pages (nearly 100 pages less than Jedi Twilight), Patterns of Force was just too short of a book to wrap up this entire story...even if it felt far longer at times. I know, weird. But if you’ve read this whole trilogy, you’d understand.

There’s no doubt that the Coruscant Nights series, as a whole, is one of the most underrated trilogies in the Star Wars library. It’s different and takes the franchise in an interesting direction. A direction that could have been translated really well to the big screen. It’s just a bummer that it ended on such a pedestrian note. Reaves is a far better author than what he presents here in the last book, but it shouldn’t put you off from reading this trilogy or any of his other works.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 Stars
Recommend: No. Only for those intent on reading the entire EU.

This trilogy was disappointing and I often found myself wondering if there was any point. One of the downsides of writing within an existing universe that already has stories told in the future, is that you can't alter things that would change those stories. So I think Reaves would've done much better if he wouldn't have included any of the existing characters like Darth Vader and just created an entirely new cast. As he wrote it, you know certain things can't happen because it would alter existing stories too much. Reaves is now one of my least favorite Star Wars author, which is surprising after how much I love Maul: Shadow Hunter.

Besides not having a point, I think Reaves didn't get the message that the final book in a trilogy is supposed to be exciting and have a plot. Even when something finally does happen, the setup felt so ridiculous that you just roll your eyes.

One major problem for me was that Reaves seems to make basic mistakes like understanding where his books fit in the established timeline and what happened in previous books that he himself wrote. In the last book, he had three or four lines that were ridiculously off in terms of timeline, and there were a couple more examples here. At one point, he says that I5 has been holding the Bota for two decades. His own med-star series, where the Bota was obtained, was 19-20 years before ANH. So, according to Reaves, the events of this story are happening alongside A New Hope or even a year afterward. The timeline at the front of the book says it happened somewhere between 11-19 years before ANH. This is such a basic and simple thing to get right that it is insane that he can repeatedly make these mistakes and that nobody would catch them along the way. Even more ludicrous, Reaves can't even remember what happens in his own stories. In Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Lorn gives I5 to Tuden Sal and then gives the Sith holocron to Palpatine.
In this book, Reaves says that Pavan gave Tuden Sal both I5 and the holocron. . This is pathetic levels of laziness and sloppiness.

We get two new primary characters in this book, and neither was good. Probus Tesla is the supposedly incredibly powerful sith adept. He regularly has direct interaction with Darth Vader and may be the highest level inquisitor. He spends most of his time though getting whipped by Kaj or having the inner dialogue of a teenage girl wondering if Vader likes him. He is apparently extremely powerful and capable, just not anytime we get to see him. Far worse than him is Kaj. Kaj should've just been named plot convenience. Half of the plot only happens because he has a panic attack or freaks out and removes his disguise in public
or the decide to take him for a walk and get immediately recognized. Plus, this completely untrained and pathetic individual has god-like abilities. He is seriously far more powerful than any other force user we've ever seen, including Yoda and the Emperor. It was bad enough when he had the raw power to beat the top Inquisitor with relative ease, he then atomizes another. He uses the Force to turn an opponent in atoms. He's just a ridiculous character..

The plot was boring and meandering, not what you would expect from the final installment in a trilogy. Two brand new characters are chasing each other. We suddenly have a plot to assassinate the Emperor, which goes nowhere. Halfway through the last book in the trilogy, Jax starts training a padawan. That was the moment I started wondering if Reaves bothered to write down any form of plot for the trilogy before getting to this part. They spend most of the time arguing on what to do. They occasionally get chased by Inquisitors. Laranth and Kaj are easily captured and then they give Vader everything he wants. Luckily, Vader tests the bota right there instead of securing them all somewhere else and testing the bota where he won't be in danger.
He even says the holocron would help him, but luckily enough for our heroes he says screw it and does it right there. Unluckily for him, the bota has apparently decayed in the last 20 years (even though it's impossible 20 years have passed) and he basically has a force freak out, allowing everyone he has been desperately searching for for the entire trilogy to escape.
No bota left in the galaxy.

Part of the finale could've been really good. The betrayal by Dejah in theory could've been compelling if Reaves did a much better job. I like the idea that she both felt hurt when Jax blocks her out and to also have her becoming addicted being near to the Force. Reaves needed to show this happening though. Dejah has been established by Reaves to be a loyal member of the team and has even made her wealth available to fund them. It would've been in her character as Reave's described her to maybe dump her interest in Jax in favor of a new guy like Kaj. It is completely different to have her betray her friends to torture and death. I'm sure Reave's didn't show anything develop at all so that this would be a twist, but it made it seem absurd. I laughed at the absurdity of Jax infiltrating the Inquisitors. A couple show up with Vader, and somehow Jax just becomes one. How the heck did he accomplish this? Even if he somehow did it with nobody noticing, the one or two others wouldn't recognize that he wasn't their partner? They weren't wearing masks..

Reave's couldn't resist the philosophical musings of an idiot:
"If Jax commits himself and his team to Palpatine's assassination, then what distinguishes him from those who represent the dark side?" This argument is so cliche and also stupid. For some reason, people think this is profound and it has always been a pet peeve of mine. Palpatine slaughtered billions in this trilogy alone, but yeah, killing him would make you just as bad.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the four book series Coruscant Nights. This edition continues the adventures of Jedi Jax Pavan, his companions Laranth, Den, Rhiannon, Deja and the fantastic droid I5-YQ, my favorite. We’ve met the crew in previous books and this chapter serves more as character development wrapped around a story to kill the Emperor. While I read the first two books fairly quickly, this one really dragged at times for me. The ending was well worth the wait with some twists and turns. I5 is probably the most unique droid in the Star Wars universe, he would be fabulous on the big screen. His near sentience, sense of humor and loyalty make him stand out. Other reviewers have given the story away, so I won’t. The ending was true to the series. On to the last book, The Last Jedi.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the recent broadcast of the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series, there is an extra power flowing through the Lucasverse. It flows considerably through the events and characters of this novel, which mirrors many of the concerns and peregrinations presented in the TV series. There is perhaps a touch too much talking and not enough doing...but boy oh boy when the action occurs it explodes. I was wondering if I had made a mistake skipping ahead to book 3 of the Coruscant Nights trilogy...but I'm now very glad I did.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Reaves’ third entry in his “Coruscant Nights” series gets back to what made the first book work so well, and away from all the things that hindered book two. Gone is the slavish, checklist-list like fixation with hitting all the noir tropes, and present again is the character driven plot that evolves naturally from the relationships of Reaves’ ragtag band of misfits.

Del Rey seems to have been conducting an interesting little experiment over the last few years, attempting to cross-pollinate the Star Wars EU with other genres, I suppose in an attempt to catch the attention of new readers. “Death Troopers” went for the horror crowd, and was a solid effort. Karen Traviss’ “Republic Commando” novels had a pretty heavy military underpinning. Christie Golden and all the “Fate of the Jedi” writers have been shooting for the young-adult , chapter book crowd (zing!).

And with “Coruscant Nights”, the EU tried to cross over into the noir, murder mystery genre. The only problem with this was that the series wasn’t actually very noir, and when it tried to be (in “Streets of Shadows”) it got so caught up trying to shoehorn in all the noir trappings , it forgot how interesting Den Dhur, Jax Pavin, and Laranth Tarak were when you just left them alone to have their adventure.

“Patterns of Force” is a vast improvement over “Streets of Shadows” since it actually focuses on I-5’s heritage, Jax Pavin’s relationship with his father and his ambiguous role in the practically extinct Jedi Order, and Den Dhur’s insecurities about his place on the team.
Reaves doesn’t avoid 100% a few noir touches here and there, making sure to include a convincing femme fatale and a shady ally who may end up providing more harm than help, but the tone is firmly rooted in the basic Star Wars EU house style.

The entire “Coruscant Nights” series is further proof that the EU is at its best when authors get to play in the Star Wars sandbox with their own characters and not the over exposed Luke, Leia, and Han. I’ll definitely be there if Reaves ever shows up to toy around with these characters again.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5 stars.

This is the third book of a trilogy and the other two must be read before this novel. We return to our little group on Coruscant that help people get off that planet. In this one someone comes to them with an outlandish plan that they consider. Also, they come across a teen who is strong in the force but has had no training.

I enjoyed visiting this group once again. The author has created a nice dynamic between the characters as they struggle with survival. I loved that he uses the concept of Inquisitors that are used by the Empire. While reading about this I wondered if the new canon cartoon borrowed this concept from this book. While reading this trilogy I did think the author has too many balls in the air and he does that again with this book. I did not care for the idea of introducing a new character and story line when the trilogy is trying to wrap up. That being said there is a great twist at the end that I did not see coming.

This trilogy is an entertaining read in this universe. The author has some great characters and the reader does get invested in their plight. It is an easy read and the pace never gets bogged down.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay ending to a decent series. Tied up the major loose ends satisfactorily.

Reaves has the bad habit of introducing a "bum of the month" bad guy and saving Vader for cardboard cutout cameo appearances. Such is the bane of fan fiction. However, he did leave himself plenty of hooks for a future series.

Quibble: the cover art shows a light saber duel between Vader and Javan which never happens.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #194

Background: Patterns of Force was written by Michael Reaves. It was published in January 2009. Reaves has written or co-written several Star Wars novels, including the Coruscant Nights trilogy (of which this is the 3rd novel).

Patterns of Force is set about a year after Order 66 (18 years before the battle of Yavin). It picks up shortly after Street of Shadows (my review). The main characters are Jax Pavan, I-5, Den Dhur, Laranth, and Dejah Duare. Darth Vader plays a significant role. The entire novel takes place on Coruscant.

Summary: Jedi-turned-private-investigator Jax Pavan and his ragtag team of sidekicks have settled into a comfortable routine and established a good relationship on jobs with the local police prefect, all while they smuggle targets of the Empire off-planet as part of the local resistance. This status quo is disrupted, however, by the arrival of a figure from I-5's past with a terrifying proposition, and the appearance of a rogue Force adept with incredible potential. Jax finds that he can't ignore either of these unwelcome incursions, even though they threaten to focus the Emperor's full attention squarely on him and his friends.

Review: This novel isn't really measurably worse than the two that came before it, it's just the final nail in the coffin of squandered potential that this series has been. If you're going to defer the resolution of almost every plot thread from the beginning of the trilogy (and even a few from previous series), maybe don't end with a total anticlimax.

Reaves expends so much effort trying to generate a whole novel-worth of story out of essentially nothing and the result is mostly tedious. There are 6-8 subplots floating through this, very few of which have enough substance to bother with, and he stretches them out by constantly using them to distract from one another. Laranth seems really upset whenever she sees Dejah and Jax can't quite put his finger on why, but he can't ask either of them because Tuden Sal needs an answer to his proposal for I-5 and Jax needs to think about it, but oh he can't because Kaj just had a Force freak-out and the Inquisitors are closing in! Oh, here's Laranth to help him get out of it, maybe he'll talk to her. Nope, Dejah just walked in so Laranth took off . . . Wonder what's up with that? Oh, well, no time to worry about that I-5 needs an answer! Repeat ad nauseum for 200 pages. Most of this nonsense could be resolved with about 2 pages worth of dialogue if the characters would ever pause to talk to each other, but (for absolutely no good reason) they don't ever do that, and so the novel drags on and on but doesn't go anywhere.

Reaves continues to be very sloppy with descriptions and details, both logistical and in-universe. Like here's a bit where Dejah (a Zeltron who excretes seductive pheromones) enters the room for the first time in the novel: "All eyes turned to her, all ears tingled in anticipation of her voice, all senses stretched toward her, involuntarily desiring to lap up every effusion of her softly gleaming carmine skin--with the exception of Rhinann and Dhur, whose physiologies, though humanoid, were too alien to respond to Duare's endocrine advantage." Also with the exception of I-5 who is, of course, a droid. So who does that leave? Jax and Pol Haus . . . So "all eyes in the room" except for 60% of the eyes in the room.

Or how about this: "Imperial Center was home to literally trillions of beings from across the length and breadth of the galaxy, and finding a single one among them all was more difficult by far than finding a single grain of sand on Tatooine, Bakkah, and all the other desert worlds combined." Okay, so . . . There are 7.5 QUINTILLION grains of sand on the planet earth alone, or in other words 7.5 million times a trillion. And earth is, of course, not made up entirely of desert. And Wookieepedia lists DOZENS of desert planets . . . I'm definitely veering into pedantry here, but that comparison is just stupid on its face and that kind of thoughtlessness pulls me right out of the novel. To say nothing of the fact that, despite how impossible it supposedly is to find anyone among the trillions on Coruscant, 2 or 3 people per novel go hunting for Jax and are able to track him down. This is, in part, because he's operating UNDER HIS REAL NAME. One of the people who figures out who he is literally just does a name search and is like, "Oh, look, a Jax Pavan is on the Imperial list of Jedi who are unaccounted for." I mean . . . come on.

There's also more nonsense regarding Anakin Skywalker, like when Jax "recalled one of the rumors of where and how Anakin was supposed to have died on Mustafar--thrown into the magma stream by ... no one knew who." There's literally only one person in the galaxy who knew Anakin fell into lava on Mustafar and though he didn't survive: Obi-Wan. So where exactly is this rumor coming from? And then there's this special stone which is the MacGuffin that links Jax and Vader (and, like a true MacGuffin, nothing comes of it). The stone is Anakin's and Jax has it, because supposedly (according to Jax) Anakin approached him in the Jedi Temple and "he just asked me to keep it for him while he went to Tatooine." Ummm . . . Pardon me one moment: When did Anakin go to Tatooine? We know he didn't return at all between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, and when he went during Attack of the Clones, it was a spontaneous last second trip directly from Naboo. Plus, why would Anakin (of all characters) feel the need to entrust something to a character he never had a relationship with in any other story (or to anyone, why not just leave it in his room with the rest of his possessions)? Nothing about this scenario checks out, and it's just sheer carelessness. If you can't get it right, don't do it at all.

C-

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review of the other edition.

[Jeff Cothern · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the Author

Michael Reaves received an Emmy Award for his work on the Batman television animated series. He has worked for DreamWorks, among other studios, and has written fantasy novels and supernatural thrillers. Reaves is the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Wars: Coruscant Nights novels Jedi Twilight and Street of Shadows, and Star Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, as well as the co-writer (with Steve Perry) of Star Wars: Death Star and two Star Wars: MedStar novels: Battle Surgeons and Jedi Healer. He lives in the Los Angeles area.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

One

The library was his favorite place in the entirety of the immense Jedi Temple complex. He went there to absorb data as much through the pores of his skin as through any study of the copious amount of information stored there. He frequently went there to think—but just as often he went there to not think.

He was there now—not thinking—and almost as soon as he recognized the place, Jax Pavan also realized that this was a dream. The Temple, he knew, was no more than a chaotic pile of rubble, charred stone, and ashy dust. Order 66 had mandated it, and the horrifying bloodbath that the few remaining Jedi referred to as Flame Night had ensured it.

Yet here he was in one of the many reading rooms within the vast library wing, just as it had been the last time he had seen it—the softly lit shelves that contained books, scrolls, data cubes, and other vessels of knowledge from a thousand worlds; the tables—each in its own pool of illumination—at which Jedi and Padawans studied in silence; the tall, narrow windows that looked out into the central courtyard; the vaulted ceiling that seemed to fly away into eternity. Even as his dreaming gaze took in these things, he felt the pain of their loss . . . and something else—puzzlement.

This was clearly a Force dream. It had that lucent, almost shimmering quality to it, the utter clarity of presence and sense, the equally clear knowledge that it was a dream. But it was about the past, not the future, for Jax Pavan knew he would never savor the atmosphere of the Jedi library again. His Force dreams had, without exception, been visions of future events . . . and they had never been this lucid.

He was sitting at one of the tables with a book and a data cube before him. The book was a compilation of philosophical essays by Masters of the Tython Jedi who had first proposed that the Force had a dual nature: Ashla, the creative element, and Bogan, the destructive—light and dark aspects of the same Essence. The data cube contained a treatise of Master Asli Krimsan on the Potentium Perspective, a “heresy” propagated by Jedi Leor Hal that contended—as many had before and since—that there was no dark side to the Force, that the darkness existed within the individual.

Yes, he had studied these two volumes—among others. He supposed that all Padawans studied them at some point in their training, because all entertained questions about the nature of the Force and desired to understand it. Some, he knew, hoped to understand it completely and ultimately; to settle once and for all the millennia-long debate over whether it had one face or two and where the potential for darkness lay—in the Force itself or in the wielder of the Force.

When had he studied these last? What moment had he been returned to in his dream?

Even as he wondered these things, a shadow fell across the objects on the table before him. Someone had come to stand beside him, blocking the light from the windows.

He glanced up.

It was his fellow Padawan and friend Anakin Skywalker. At least he had called Anakin “friend” readily enough, but the truth was that Anakin held himself aloof from the other Padawans. Even in moments of camaraderie he seemed a man apart, as if he had a Force shield around him. Brooding. Jax had called him that once to his face and had drawn laughter that he, through his connection to the Force, had known to be false.

Now Anakin stood above him, his back to the windows, his face in shadow.

“Hey, you’re blocking my light.” The words popped out of Jax’s mouth without his having intended to say them. But he had said them that day, and he knew what was coming next.

Anakin didn’t answer. He simply held out his hand as if to drop something to the tabletop. Jax put out his own hand palm-up to receive it.

“It” was a pyronium nugget the size of the first joint of his thumb. Even in the half-light it pulsed with an opalescence that seemed to arise from deep within, cycling from white through the entire visible spectrum to black, then back again. Somewhere—Jax just couldn’t remember where—he had heard that pyronium was a source of immense power, of almost unlimited power. He had thought that apocryphal and absurd. Power was a vague word and meant many things to many people.

“What’s this for?” he asked now as he had then, looking up into his friend’s face.

“For safekeeping while I’m on Tatooine,” Anakin said. His mouth curved wryly. “Or maybe it’s a gift.”

“Well, which is it?” Jax asked.

The answer then had been a shrug. Now it was a cryptic phrase uttered in a deep, rumbling voice not at all like the Padawan’s own: “With this, journey beyond the Force.”

Jax laughed. “The Force is the beginning, middle, and end of all things. How does one go beyond the infinite?”

Instead of replying, the Anakin of his dream began to laugh. To Jax’s horror, Anakin’s flesh blackened, crisping and shriveling as if from intense heat; peeling away from the muscle and bone beneath. His grin twisted horribly, becoming a skull’s rictus. Worst of all, laughter still tumbled from the seared lips.

Jax woke suddenly and completely, bathed in cold sweat.

With this, journey beyond the Force?

That was impossible. It made no sense—and what was with the burning? He shivered, his skin creeping beneath its clammy film of sweat as he recalled one of the rumors of where and how Anakin was supposed to have died on Mustafar—thrown into the magma stream by . . . no one knew who.

“Is something wrong, Jax?”

Jax glanced over from his sweat-soaked bed mat to where I-Five stood sentry, his photoreceptors gleaming with muted light.

Jax hesitated for only a moment. It might seem a futile monologue to discuss a dream with a droid, but I-5YQ was no ordinary droid, and even if he were, there was value to talking out the puzzling dream even with a supposedly nonsentient being. If nothing else, Jax reasoned that sorting through the images, actions, and words aloud would help him understand them.

He sat up, leaning against the wall of his small room in the Poloda Place conapt he shared with the rest of his motley team. “I dreamed.”

“I’ve read that all living things do,” I-Five observed blandly.

Jax was seized with sudden curiosity: Did I-Five dream? Was that even possible? He wanted to ask but quelled the urge, instead launching into a detailed re?telling of his own nighttime visitation.

When Jax at last exhausted the account, I-Five was si- lent for a moment, his photoreceptors flickering slightly in a way that suggested the blinking of human eyes. Finally he said, “May I point out that this would seem to contradict the knowledge you received through the Force some months ago that Skywalker was still alive?”

“Well, yeah.” Jax ran fingers through his sweat-damp hair. “Although he might have been injured on Mustafar, I suppose.”

“Possibly, although other possibilities abound. It might have a more metaphysical meaning, for example. Or it might be an expression of your own inner fears.”

“That’s not usually how Force dreams work, but I suppose it’s possible. I’ve never had one like this before,” Jax admitted. “I mean, a dream of the past, rather than the future, for one thing. And an edited past at that. Anakin didn’t say anything about the Force when he gave me the pyronium, he just asked me to keep it for him while he went to Tatooine. And I think I’d have noticed if he burst into flames,” he added wryly.

I-Five’s “eyes” flickered again, seeming to convey amuse?ment.

The door chime sounded; Jax checked his chrono, but I-Five was ahead of him.

“It’s oh seven hundred hours.”

It wasn’t a terribly early hour this deep in downlevel Coruscant where few acknowledged either day or night, but most sentients seemed to agree that some hours were impolite for calling on one’s neighbor.

Jax rose and padded out of his room into the larger main living area, noticing that the rest of his companions were either asleep or out. I-Five followed him.

As he moved to the front door of the conapt, Jax sent out questing tendrils of the Force to the being on the opposite side of the barrier. In his mind’s eye he saw the energy there, but he perceived no telltale threads of the Force emanating from or connecting to them.

Every Jedi experienced and perceived the Force in intensely personal ways. Jax’s particular sensibilities caused him to perceive it as threads of light or darkness that enrobed or enwrapped an individual and connected him or her to the Force itself and to other beings and things. In this case there seemed to be no threads . . . though there was a hint of a, well, a smudge—that was the only word Jax could think of that even vaguely fit.

Curious for the second time that morning, he opened the door, smiling a little as I-Five stepped to one side to take up a defensive position where he would not immediately be seen by whoever was outside.

In the narrow, starkly lit corridor stood a short, stocky male Sakiyan whom Jax guessed to be in his sixties, dressed in clean but threadbare clothing. He blinked at Jax’s appearance—he was wearing a loose pair of sleep pants and hadn’t bothered to put on a tunic.

“I—I apologize for the hour,” the Sakiyan stammered, blinking round eyes that seemed extraordinarily pale in his bronze face, “but the matter is urgent. I need to speak to Jax Pavan.”

Jax scrutinized the Sakiyan again, more thoroughly and with every sense he possessed. Sensing no ill int...

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two entries in the Coruscant Nights trilogy were lukewarm. This one fares a touch better . . . but not enough to really redeem the series completely.

Jedi Knight Jax Pavan and his random collection of friends cum private investigators remain on Coruscant, solving crimes and avoiding detection from the Empire. The government now uses Inquisitors, Force users trained or groomed by Darth Vader, to track down rogue Jedi. Two things kick off the action in this book: The discovery on Coruscant of an untrained Force-sensitive boy named Kajin, and a visit from Tuden Sal, a man who knew Jax's father, Lorn Pavan. Kajin eludes the Inquisitors several times, inciting a massive search of the lower levels of Coruscant. And Sal comes to Jax with a mission from the underground organization, Whiplash. They propose using I-5YQ to assassinate Emperor Palpatine because a protocol droid can sneak through security in a way that a sentient organic can not.

In this book, Michael Reaves tumbles further down the rabbit hole of his own imagination. He ties in characters and plot elements from his previous Star Wars books Battle Surgeons, Jedi Healer, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, and of course the first two books in the trilogy, trying to tie everything up in a neat bow. And it almost works. Kajin provides some fascinating new blood, and his untrained Force abilities offer much of the energy in the story; a few of his battles with the Inquisitors are epic. The story of I-5YQ retains some interest, as does the final fate of characters such as Den Dhur, who I've appreciated since the Medstar duology.

Unfortunately, there are simply too many coincidences to make the novel's plot seamless, and there are too many subplots to give every character their due. By the time the team has its final confrontation with Vader, the clash feels brief and perfunctory. One wonders if Reaves was up against a hard stop word count, or if an earlier manuscript was edited down. The climax feels rushed and doesn't completely satisfy.

I still wish there was a way to give books half-stars, as this one probably deserves two and a half, not three. But I am giving Reaves the round-up on this one, and hoping for better from his final book, The Last Jedi which is still to come in my reading list.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Jedi Twilight, Reaves established a compelling iteration of the classic Jedi-and-motley-companions archetype. Jax Pavan and his companions are brought together by circumstance and the machinations of a much larger plot running through Reaves' books, from Star Wars: Darth Maul Shadow Hunter to the Medstar Duology and the Coruscant Nights series.

In the first book, Reaves shows the potential in his crew. Jax experiences the emotional fallout of Order 66 and life in the Dark Times, and the fear of having Darth Vader seeking him out is palpable. There is a coherent threat around which the group organizes.

Street of Shadows takes a detour into a murder mystery plot with only the flimsiest of ties to the main plot, perhaps in order to live up to the theoretical "noir" angle of the series, something that is just not really there. The element of fear is present but not very well felt - Aurra Sing is good but it's the second book in the series, so we know Jax is going to beat her, come on.

I was looking forward to Reaves bringin' it back to the main plotline for this one, giving some resolution to Jax's relationship with Laranth, Vader's search, the story of the bota, and how the group ties into the nascent proto-rebellion Whiplash. Overall, it was not a very satisfying conclusion.

Most of the interesting elements have gradually fizzled out of the story, to be replaced by much less subtle and interesting things. Jax has grown into his role as leader of the group, so we no longer feel the stress and compromise forced by the Dark Times. He's just gotten used to it and figured out how to get away with being a jedi when that's super dangerous and illegal. Incidentally, we don't see any of the social ills of the New Order either. It's really not clear that anything that bad is going on, in a time when the characters should still be in shock about how much bad stuff is going on.

The only things we see about the Emperor's evil are personal. Once again, the simple expedient of revenge becomes the motivation for far too many characters. Tuden Sal (a Sakiyan - apparently Reaves' favorite alien species) shows up and asks the group to have I-5YQ assassinate Palpatine. They consider this for far too long, even though it's obviously a terrible plan. Sal wants them to do it because Palpatine destroyed his business, and I-5 wants to do it to avenge Lorn Pavan. They display a remarkably dim view of the bigger picture - political coup, violent murder of ancient order of peacekeepers, genocide of Caamasi, corrupt oversight of criminal activity by Black Sun and others, political oppression at every level, etc.

The same myopia makes Jax think it's a good idea for him to try to train Kaj Savaros, a character with no personality other than his immense strength in the Force. I suppose it makes sense that Jax would want to keep Kaj from 1) dying while fleeing the Inquisitors 2) being converted into an Imperial human weapon or 3) being consumed by his power and turned into a rogue, out of control who knows what on the street. But it is just obviously a terrible idea/impossible to try to turn him into a Jedi.

I always used to think the Inquisitorius was really badass and looked forward to the day when the Dark Times were opened and we got to hear about them. Reaves dashed my hopes on that score completely. The Inquisitors are presented in a really blase way, no mystery or excitement, just a strangely numerous group of Force-users trained in an Order like the Sith or Jedi, with Masters and Temples and the like. None of this makes any sense - where did they come from, how did they emerge and train for the years required to reach the point they are at in this novel without detection by the Jedi, why are they so flipping boring, etc.

As frustrating as it is that I-5 is reduced to a revenge-seeker, far more flummoxing is Rhinann's transition from a complex being, fearing Vader, feeling pride in his work, uncomfortable with emotions and untidiness, willing to work with the Jedi for reasons that aren't too clear, to a one-dimensional *thrill-seeker* willing to do anything to experience the Force. I don't know where this is supposed to come from, but I was just totally incredulous every time Reaves said "Rhinann was really scared and thought about leaving (which he could easily do at any time). He was bound to the group by no particular bonds of loyalty or camaraderie, but he stayed anyway cuz he really wanted to know what it would feel like to touch the Force."

He even agrees to go meet with his old boss Darth Vader, who would surely seek his death, just because there's a chance he might snag the bota sample in the middle of the fray and take it to experience the Force before dying in battle. This line of motivation is nonsensical for any being, but certainly makes no sense for someone as logical and cowardly as Rhinann. Remember, he's with the group in the first place simply because he couldn't handle being around Vader at all.

So the main plot is based entirely on revenge motives, introduced as an idea by an outsider, and blown up into an obsession for the group. They are no longer responding to any direct threat or problem - they clarify constantly that Vader doesn't know where they are, and they've already beaten his best assassin, Aurra Sing, they are financially set for life because Dejah is a zillionaire, and two group members just want to quit and go home because there's no reason not to. There's nothing holding the group together except camaraderie. They have goals - help the Whiplash and investigate crimes for Pol Haus - but there's nothing to write a book about.

I'm not entirely sure what happened in the denoument of the whole thing, really. Laranth and Kaj got kidnapped, and so the whole assassination plan turned into a rescue plan, but virtually no elements of that plan were transferred, so the assassination thing became irrelevant. A big showdown happened where Dejah and Rhinann were present for no reason, it is revealed that Dejah betrayed the whole group for petty hedonism (she wanted to feel the Force too!, just as an empath, not a user), Vader thought he was getting the ingredients to supreme power (another try for an edge to let him defeat Palpatine, presumably, though this is never discussed) but ended up just getting sort of short-circuited by the bota so everyone escaped. Technically, it wraps up all the plot lines, but it just wasn't satisfying and didn't make any sense. :(

I wonder if The Last Jedi is any better?

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was plain fun. It's not a great novel, not really; Rhinann's character journey is far too static to carry the page time it was given, the final confrontation feels anticlimactic relative to its build-up, and there is still no proper noir feeling. Plus, there is an element of editorial sloppiness throughout this book that pertains to its place in the timeline. I can't help but get the feeling Reaves had to do a u-turn in where Coruscant Nights was supposed to be set (beginning vs. end of the Dark Times), and the series never found its footing. Chalk it up to my current hypothesis of Del Rey's editors adopting a fully hands-off approach after 2005.

But those character interactions. This might be Reaves' most fun novel to live in. I came to really feel for I-Five and his relation to Lorn and Jax in here, and the droid's firmly settled among my favorite EU characters as a result. Editing and genre errors aside, the setting is fun, too: The Inquisitors haven't been this fun since... Dark Forces II, probably? It's great to have finally read another EU novel that justifies its place as part of a bigger, ever-expanding whole.

Speaking of, why couldn't these books have gotten the The Last of the Jedi treatment - a series of connected one-off adventures? Spend a novel setting everything up and then allow Street of Shadow's murder mystery plot to really carry an entire book, even if it's on the shorter side. This character group has so much potential even still, and I find them much more interesting than Ferus Olin's squad. In fact, that series could have very much benefitted from the trilogy treatment, with how much space it took up... Ah, missed opportunities.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jax Pavan and his - friends? helpers? investigators? - group of beings are dealing with guests, both invited and otherwise. One such guest brings a mission that might get them all killed: assassinate Emperor Palpatine. But it's hard to make a decision about this when a dangerously powerful Force-sensitive being appears on the streets. Jax Pavan is about to get up close and person with a Sith.

Reaves once again delivers the expected noir vibes and cliches, just as he did in second book, which makes me wonder what the heck happened with the first instalment. But I digress. Jax Pavan has been blandly two dimensional thus far, though he managed to seem semi-competent at times...alas, in Patterns of Force he becomes so frustratingly dense that I wanted to cut him in half and hurl both pieces down a reactor shaft.

The story itself... as the conclusion to a trilogy, it is woefully inadequate. I'm just as disgruntled today as I was when I first read this book. Frankly, I'm amazed that a 4th novel was ever greenlit - I can't actually remember much about it, so I'm hoping it provides some kind of closure. I'm not holding my breath.

EDIT: There's one Doctor Who reference that I'm aware of and at least one emordnilap (Mas Sarrih is clearly a nod to "Sam Harris" - whoever that is). I'm always reading character names backwards now. Emordnilaps are exhaustingly prevalent in the Legends books.

[Katrin von Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't been particularly impressed with the first two books of the Coruscant Nights trilogy and therefore went into the third and final installation with relatively low expectations. Having finished it, I have to say that Patterns of the Force (as well as the rest of the trilogy) had potential, but suffered in execution. Specifically, the author uses too many "silly" ideas in this novel for it to be taken seriously. Spoilers follow.

The story begins pretty much where the last book left off: Jax, Den Dhur, Dejah, Rhinnan, and I-Five are aiding Whiplash and living off of Dejah's money while Laranth is working on her own to help Whiplash. Tuden Sal, a character from I-Five's past comes knocking with a proposition for I-Five: assassinate the emperor and rid the galaxy of his tyranny. This causes great debate amongst the group for the obvious reason of the risks involved. During this, Jax finds a boy with great, uncontrollable, and practically undefeatable Force abilities named Kajin, who is being hunted by Probus Tesla, an Inquisitor. This ends up playing a big role in the book. Laranth enters the picture again and some discoveries about the late Ves Volette's sculptures are made. Rhinnan continues to pursue his obsession with possessing the Force while Den seriously contemplates leaving Coruscant to return to his home planet. Things eventually come together to produce the discovery of a traitor in the group, an interesting revelation about I-Five, and a final battle with Vader.

My first complaint comes in the form of Kajin, the insanely powerful, but untrained, Force sensitive boy. He's simply unbelievable. I find that a lot of Star Wars books include this concept of a new, powerful, Force sensitive being, and it's getting rather old. This attempt in particular was very unbelievable. As a reader, I just had a really hard time believing that a fourteen-year-old boy could be that powerful. Not to mention, he was a rather shallow character overall that just didn't do much for the story. The book would have been better off without him.

I actually really liked the idea of the light sculptures acting as a Force shield. It doesn't seem to have settled well with other readers, but I thought it was a good attempt on Reaves's behalf to add something unique to the Star Wars universe. I doubt any other authors will pick it up, but for this trilogy, it worked well enough.

I know that the idea of Inquisitors has been used before Patterns of the Force, but I still find the concept to be a bit ridiculous. The "Rule of Two" has already been well established in the Star Wars continuity, and I fail to see how this college of Dark Side users (supposedly trained by Darth Vader himself) fits into that rule. Probus Tesla himself was an interesting character whom I wouldn't mind seeing more of, but the Inquisitor school that Darth Vader somehow finds time to oversee was just silly.

Speaking of Darth Vader, Reaves still didn't manage to portray the Dark Lord correctly. It almost seems as if his characterization has gotten worse with each book. His conclusion in this novel was one of the most disappointing, out of character actions I've read in any Star Wars book (and I've read a lot). For whatever reason, I have a difficult time picturing Vader basically getting high off a Force drug and falling out the window. Again, this actually did start as a relatively interesting idea and was then turned into stupidity.

I did, however, like the idea of a traitor in the group, and much like in one of the Medstar books, I was completely shocked by who it turned out to be. Even though I doubt it'll have much of an impact on the overall Star Wars series, it was a fun twist in this trilogy.

Finally, there's the little revelation with I-Five. Some people seem to have enjoyed this addition to the book, but I think it ruined what was so great about I-Five. He was a droid who acted very human-like, even down to thinking and reasoning beyond the limits of a typical droid. Making him sentient and giving him a presence in the Force cheapened the character's appeal, in my opinion. Plus, I found it to be silly and unrealistic, even by Star Wars standards.

Where Reaves really excelled was the characterization and relationships between the characters. He seems to be very good at this when it comes to his own characters. By the end of the novel, I felt like I really knew Jax, Den, I-Five, Laranth, and even Probus Tesla. I didn't particularly care for Kajin, but I believe I've already said that. Laranth, in particular, was a favourite of mine. However, while the author did a fantastic job with his own characters, his portrayal of already established characters fell a bit short.

As for the entire Coruscant Nights trilogy, I wasn't impressed. Another reviewer commented that Reaves should stay out of Jedi lore, and I'm inclined to agree. I loved the Medstar duology and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, but this trilogy just didn't appeal to me. Reaves seems to work best when he's working with non-Jedi characters of his own creation...and that's what he should stick to. I commend him for attempting to put a new spin on the Jedi, but it didn't work and came off as being a bit silly. Not to mention, the portrayal and use of Darth Vader was pathetic.

The focus for the trilogy seemed to be characterization of Reaves's characters, and it succeeded in that aspect. Reaves fully developed his characters and made most of them very believable. I appreciated that as a reader.

However, the overall plot was weak...very weak. The author had the tendency to keep introducing shallow, new characters and halfhearted subplots instead of developing a strong main plot. I rather enjoyed the noir feel the books had, but it was lost without a strong plot to compliment it.

Overall, Patterns of the Force was a very weak book, especially as the finale to a trilogy. It came off as silly, rushed, and, frankly, not really thought out. It, and the rest of the trilogy, had great characterization of Reaves's own characters, but failed to portray Vader accurately. This is hardly the worst book or trilogy in the Star Wars series, but it's far from being one of them best.

This review is also posted on Amazon.com

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patterns of Force started off as probably my favorite of the series. I enjoyed the many characters and their different relationships, schemes, and plotting. That's easily the best part, even if they still refer to themselves as a family, something that is incredibly unearned.

Reaves' writing is at it's best for the series too, paragraphs of unneeded, unrelated exposition has been cut, and the book is shorter and better paced for it. However by the finale he's written a particular female character very sexistly, and it's downright annoying.

The big problem is the meandering plot, that doesn't really pick up until the final act, and how that final act is terrible and unsatisfying. It reads like a strange fanfiction that is so desperate to cram the author's weird unfitting creations into situations that just end up being off-putting and don't really fit. Hopefully you've read Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and the Medstar duology, otherwise so much of this book and ending will mean nothing to you.

Honestly the book doesn't really fit in either Star Wars continuity and for an ending to the trilogy, it proves that this series isn't worth reading, and fell into obscurity for a reason, sadly squandering it's amazing potential that it never lives up to.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've given this an extra star compared to the others as it did manage to be a bit more surprising and entertaining than the two other books. It is also shorter, and the books getting slightly shorter per book in the series is definitely one of the good points. It also wastes less chapters on purely introductory things, again a plus. And for once it doesn't have one or more completely unnecessary extra plots! The plot(s) actually make sense and fit together without having to use a number of plot devices.
That said I still have no desire to reread this book, and I consider it more like 2.5 stars than the 3 I've given it.

I'll be honest; I only finished the series, because I was determined to see it through and read it to the end, not because I had any real hope that it would turn out much better than the other two. It was basically a 'I own this book, I will read it and be done with it' case.

[Jennifer Alexandrovna · Rating 2 out of 5]

finally finished w this series... this one manages to throw a couple twists and turns towards the end that make it a bit interesting but honestly what a slog. while (thankfully) free of awkward cameos from other established EU characters this one manages to have seemingly no story at all. There's a force-sensitive kid they meet, there's an altogether nonsensical plot to kill the emperor (that manages to be frozen on ice most of the story and revived in the last 50 pages in a truly incoherent way), and the story is driven along by increasing Stakes around a macguffin that (very predictably) turns out to be just hot air. Luckily, the characters the author decides to kill off at the end are the most boring and annoying ones, so there's that. Consistent in quality with the rest of the series, as far as I can tell

[Brian Washington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars patterns of the force is the third book in the Coruscant nights trilogy. Which follows our merry little team into the depths of Coruscant, as they escape danger and certain destruction from the inquisitors and Vader.

Overall, the series is still fantastic, this book even though serves as a deep breath. It’s fairly contained within what I would imagine to be about 5 miles. We find our team with some new choices to make as far which direction to go, and why.

As I mentioned for the previous review what’s great about the series is each character really has their own story, and this pause in the action even though it’s not a complete pause. Serves to just further explore the decisions and motivations of each character, making for what I’m hoping is going to be a satisfying conclusion.

[Andrew Haile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad to finally be finished with this trilogy. It was a bit of a slog with an abrubt and surprising ending. The ending was the best part of the novel but still wasn't good. All the time I devoted to this trilogy just to give me a quick unsatisfying ending. A fairly boring story with some decent characters and writing. The trilogy as a whole was around a 3/5 for me and that's being generous because a few good scenes sprinkled throughout the trilogy. One scene made me laugh a lot and I enjoyed most of the Darth Vader scenes. I'd say pass on this series unless you are trying to read every Star Wars book.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The small resistance group is still on Coruscant, and someone asks I Five to assassinate the Emperor. Meanwhile, an incredibly powerful young force user is reeking havoc. And the Bota from previous book series is in demand by the Inquisitors. This is a fun, fast-paced novel. I-Five continues to be my favourite character, and this story adds a lot more depth to him. The Inquisitors are shown as being a real threat, and that makes the danger to the group feel more real. A good end to the trilogy.