Crucible: Star Wars Legends

By: Troy Denning

Narrated by: Marc Thompson

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and Luke Skywalker return in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which will challenge them in ways they never expected - and forever alter their understanding of life and the Force.

When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes - and far deadlier consequences.

Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.

©2013 Troy Denning (P)2013 Random House Audio

An off-kilter and sometimes satisfying swan song

First, I'll answer the first obvious question. Yes, Marc Thompson does a brilliant job with the material. He easily elevates the book by a star at least. In fact it's safe to say that the book is worth the purchase just for Thompson alone.

There are a couple of bothersome things about Crucible. The villains and Denning's penchant for physically torturing our heroes. The bad guys are touted as geniuses but they're really dumb and silly. They should be no challenge for Luke, Han and Leia. I think had Denning played up the B movie aspects of the story with some humor and irony the way Matt Stover did with Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, we'd really have a tongue in cheek winner here. As it is, the ride is pleasant enough except for the odd torture sequence.

I don't think Denning knew that this would in all probability be the last post ROTJ novel. It was mostly written before the announcement of Episode VII. As it is, it is an oddly appropriate conclusion to the era. In lieu of this being a possible end I felt good about Denning's inclusion of so many well loved characters even if they often had little to do.

A good farewell

This book was amazing & sad at the same time. This is the last book we get all our favorite characters together in. I wish there were more stories after this and thats the only bad thing I can say about it. I have listened to all the legends unabridged stories and love all these characters. Here's to hoping we get more in the future.

Good but I wish it wasn’t over.

I just wish this wasn’t the end of the Legends continuity. I desperately want to see the adventures of these characters continue, they are a galaxy better than what the new canon has produced and it’s a crime that they may never get a proper ending.

It's nice to see what happens after Apocalypse!

Would you consider the audio edition of Crucible: Star Wars to be better than the print version?

Absolutely, no questions asked. Marc Thompson brings out the story so vividly in my head that whenever I'm done reading a book that he narrates, I sometimes think that I've "seen" the movie, so powerful is the imagery he creates.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crucible: Star Wars?

The Cantina scenes; Lando; new characters.

Which character – as performed by Marc Thompson – was your favorite?

Hmmmm.. Difficult.. very difficult to answer... He does them all best!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The failure to prevent what happens at Lando's mining colony.... The bad decisions of a certain mandalorian.. it was sad :(

Any additional comments?

I really like the music, voice effects and sound effects that are added to this book, on top of Marc Thompson's stellar performance! My brain really creates an actual movie on the fly in my head !

Great ending to true star wars novels.

This is a great way to conclude what I believe to be the true star wars novel saga. While I like the new direction the cannon has taken, I think these are the real stories in a galexy far far away.

Great listen if you're desperate for post FotJ

If you’ve listened to books by Troy Denning before, how does this one compare?

This is Troys weakest work that I've read. I've loved his work in LotF and FotJ but this one falls flat

What does Marc Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Marc knocks it out of the park again.

Best Star Wars Book of 2013

If you could sum up Crucible: Star Wars in three words, what would they be?

The Continuation of life after The Fate Of The Jedi

Who was your favorite character and why?

The regulars of course. Luke, Jaina, Lei,Han,Lando etc.... But the author has created some new characters that rock. I miss a strong female villain. But this book has several.

Which character – as performed by Marc Thompson – was your favorite?

All of them he should redo every book. He makes the saga great. I hope he is highly paid.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me have faith in star wars books again. I love them but the last few were just okay not bad but just okay. this one rocked.

Any additional comments?

Please have Marc Thompson redo the New Jedi Order but make it unabridged. You would sell a lot of copies. Since they have like 19 books in series that's a lot of cash. do it.

An amazing ending to a galaxy of stories!

Where does Crucible: Star Wars rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely a 5 out of 5! I love all things Star Wars and and really enjoyed the conclusion to Luke, Han and Leah's journey.

Who was your favorite character and why?

You can't love just one character in this story. The whole cast is great!

Have you listened to any of Marc Thompson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Marc Thompson is the Star Wars god! He nails every character on the money! Luke, Lando and even Han Solo. An amazing voice actor.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Witness the final battle of the galaxy's greatest heroes!

Any additional comments?

The new Star Wars books are pretty good, a few misses along the way, but still decent. Though if they don't satisfy your Star Wars hunger, I'm glad that there's a whole galaxy of original stories to look back on.

Good, but

As much as I enjoyed the story, including a fantastic bookend to the three characters that have held center stage throughout Star Wars long lifespan, this story has the unfortunate job of following Fate of the Jedi. The Qreph Brothers pale in comparison to Abeloth and the Lost Tribe as antagonists, and only have any real beef Han Solo. A beef that never really sees any proper payoff. They're not as smart as they're set up to be and make the same mistakes as every other arrogant villain that thinks they're brilliant. Several times, the heroes fall into traps they should be able to avoid easily and jedi danger sense goes inactive with no real explanation. Fortunately, other aspects, like watching Han play his enemies, character interactions,the involvement of Zevara Khai, and the mysterious monolith with connections to the force more than make up for the week main villains. The bizarreness of being in the monolith alone is fascinating and the way it tries to tempt Han with the force hints at a dark nature that could carry a narrative all on it's own. I absolutely recommend Crucible even in spite of the boring villains because what it does right, is done extremely well.

Classic Legends

This a classic legends book. All the Star Wars characters we know and love from the old EU.