Two Series Finished: mini-reviews

I recently read the final installment of two different book series, and I'm sad to say that I'm glad they're done.

The first was Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse, by Troy Denning wraps up the nine-book Fate of the Jedi series set years after the movies. With a focus on too many characters - both protagonists and antagonists - a rather boring main villain named Abeloth, and too many scenes of characters having coffee or dealing with the media, this series went far too long and was pretty much just mediocre. The publishers have talked about shorter series from now on. GOOD CALL!

The other was Sky Dragons, by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey, the latest installment in the Dragonriders of Pern series, and what I think is the final installment in this current story-line about a small group of people led by a young woman into the past to rebuild their dragon population to fight Thread. Sounds great, right? Like the Star Wars series, it went on far too long, taking several books to wrap up what would have made a nice single book or three. (RIP Anne McCaffrey. It's a shame her amazing career had to end with this book.) What's really disheartening is the some of the earlier books in the this particular series by Todd, and by Anne and Todd together, were much better. The dragons aren't featured nearly as much as they should be, and this series went on and on like a daytime soap opera.

I'm a fan of both Star Wars and the Dragonriders of Pern series; it saddens me that I'm glad this chapter of their literature is over, but hopefully this means it will get better from here. I will continue to read the books in both expecting the best.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse, by Troy Denning is out now.
Sky Dragons, by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey, is due to be published June 26, 2012.
Both were provided to me by the publishers through NetGalley for review.