6. The Entire Concept Of Traitor
Traitor should be required reading for every scifi fan. Its a very short novel, with a small cast of characters. I actually think its more of a play than a novel, with only four main characters and about 3 important locations. Its about the unmaking and remaking of a single character, Jacen Solo. The book is full of philosophical conversations and conundrums, intertwined with a fantastic understanding of Jedi, the philosophical underpinnings of the Force, and different Vong technologies. The conclusion of the book resolves one of the problems that people like me, who like our shades of gray, have always had with the Star Wars Universe: Everything in Star Wars is black and white, evil and good, light side and dark. But whats revealed in Traitor is that the dark side is the great lie of the Jedi. The Force is life itself: it doesnt take sides. The only evil we find in it is what we bring. The evil of the dark side is really the evil in ourselves. And the good of the light side is really the good in ourselves. And neither would exist without the other to define them. Its a really, really good book. Go read it. You dont need that much background, I promise.