Overall, Omen was a good book. It stumbled in some parts, and some dialogue was choppy and kinda forced.Anyway, I will start by reviewing the parts with Luke and Ben: Eating all that food was totally unnecessary. How many times do we need to be reminded that Ben is a "hungry teenager?" The jokes were kinda dumb, and the techniques that Luke were using, like the lighting-rod technique, totally could've been expanded more and made into a cooler part. Also, it seemed like the author was predicting things before it happened, so nothing in the book really came as a suprise. The Aiing-Ti were interesting, but I found the whole advnture there unsatisfying. I mean, all that work and they found out hardly anything about Jacen, and they could'nt even help the Aiing-Ti. It was kind of like the adventure served no purpose except for Ben learning to flow-walk, and the Sith finding out about Luke's presence. About Ben flow-walking- That could've been done so much better. I mean, the part in Jacen's life he flow-walked to was boring, and he could've done something better withthe technique. Hopefully we will see it in Abyss, even though Ben claims he won't do it anymore... And just a question-what was the point of some random Aiing-Ti assaulting Luke? That served no purpose, since we already knew the rift between the Aiing-Ti was widening. Okay, onto the Vestara part:
The charater has a lot of potential, but in this book she seemed kind of one-dimensional. I don't know if it was because she was 14 or what... I didn't like how the book kept switching between regular tine, and then two years back, because by the time I was done reading the Vestara part, I would sometimes have to go back and refresh my memory on what was going on with the other characters. IMO, the book should have been split into 2 parts, one Jedi, one Sith. There definetly could've been more Sith parts, anyway. The Jedi: Gotta get this out of the way: The characterization of Daala pissed me off in this book. I don't know if that is how she is supposed to be becuase I never read the old books she was in, but she seemed like something was up her butt sideways the whole book. I liked her better in Outcast. All the podium crap speeches, all the "the Jedi must be controlled" business is just tiring and childish. Kenth Hamner is just going to get weaker and weaker as these books go on. There is no doubt in my mind that he will let Daala push him around. The Unit is a dumb name...I do like how Jysella was handled though...but i HATE how Corran was handled! I don't think he would be grumpy and snappy at the Jedi Council, just a little agitated. I mean, his wife has been kidnapped before, and even then he kept his head and worked toward a solution. So why is he acting wierd now? It was also pretty predictable that Natua Wan would go crazy. Why else would Han and Leia just bring some random Jedi to the Livestock Exchange with them? By the way, that whole scene was great. Besides the J/J bits, it was my favorite part of the book. Han and Leia were good in this book, I guess. Just because I don't really get where Amelia is gonna keep that pet... Onto the Jaina and Jag section!!!!! They get their own section because I am totally biased. Okay, one word: Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Jaina Solo was the most awesome character in the book. I loved how she was portrayed, and it was interesting with the whole Javis Tyrr reporter thing. One of these days, Jaina WILL kick his butt. The whole date mission was amusing and fun (curved and carved, all the way!!) And Golden nailed how Jaina would act on camera and with talking to her parents and Daala. Perfect. Page 206 was epic for all J/J fans. Can someone say 'ENGAGEMENT??!?!?!' It was a great scene, becuase Jaina was so clueless, and Jag picked a perfect time to propose. I t will be fun to see how other characters react. Also, it was kind of the author to describe Jaina in some other clothes rather then the usual jumpsuit/Jedi robe get-up. All in all, the book gets a 3/5.