Books like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 8: Destroyer

Bullet Review:I really feel JJM stepped it up with this volume. He embraced his new plot and dove in which is exactly what KOTOR needed. Exploring Jarael's background - as well as Chantique's - was really a keen move too.Jarael is one of the best written female characters in Star Wars, up there with Mara Jade and Princess Leia. Maybe not the most glowing of compliments, but true.Full Review:This volume embraces the Crucible storyline dealing with Jarael's past (set up in the previous volume) and runs with it. Zayne and Jarael are determined to bring down the Crucible, the crew that has been abducting people and forcing them to fight for years.After the Covenant storyline was wrapped up in "Vindication", I was wary about the direction of KOTOR. Many series lose their way when their primary storyline ends - and even KOTOR felt like it might have fallen that way with the beginning of "Dueling Ambitions" volume 7. Fortunately, JJM started exploring Jarael's character, really pushing the envelope there (how often do you see a main character being a former SLAVER?)."Destroyer" takes that concept and runs full bore with it.The first story, drawn by Ron Chan, addresses Malak and the Republic. The Jedi are now neck-deep in the war with the Mandalorians and Malak wants Jarael to join. Art is a bit weird at times here, though it was a great break from Bong. I thought it odd that Malak only tried to sway Jarael and not also Zayne, but what do I know?The second story is where the Crucible plot really takes off. This is drawn by Bong Dazo, and while there was some of his typical goofiness in the panels (in one panel, Jarael looks more like a dancing slave girl than the lead slaver, which lead to some confusion on my part when she took the reins of the conversation), the story was great.But the last one - WOWSER! Brian Ching draws this, and it's dark and gritty, and absolutely wonderful! The end of this one was heart-breaking and aggravating - I wanted to grab Zayne and yell, "WHY ARE YOU BELIEVING HER??!"To some, that may sound like my similar complaints in other books, where I actually didn't like the characters or the story. While Zayne isn't my favorite character here (he's a bit too bland for my tastes), that's not why the scene generated that reaction. People in real life make MISTAKES. We believe the person we shouldn't, listen to advice that is bad, and aren't perfect. When I see a loved one say something that I know is wrong, I similarly want to grab them by the shoulders and go, "No, listen to me, you have it wrong!"THAT is much different than wanting to strangle a character who is too stupid to live, who constantly makes the wrong decision (and yet always ends up coming out OK in the end) or who has to rely on someone else to constantly save his/her skin.Really, this whole series is about nuanced, intrigue, complicated characters. Jarael isn't a damsel in distress. Sometimes she needs to be saved - but so does Zayne or Gryph or Rohlan or Slyssk. Zayne isn't perfect; sometimes he is duped by those around him. Gryph may be greedy for money, but there is also some compassion in him. And so on. And so forth.These are the types of characters I love to see in a story - characters who aren't perfect Mary Sues, but aren't also the anti-Mary Sue (nobody likes me, everybody hates me, why don't I eat some worms? type of character). They are characters with depth, with strengths and weaknesses that the author isn't afraid to let them mess up once in awhile.Rambling aside, this was really good, not as good as the Covenant storyline, but much better than volume 7. Definitely excited to move on to Volume 9! I can't believe I'm getting so close to the end!