Rating: 
Summary: Too many cliffhangers, but exciting as ever.
Review: So maybe this wasn't Zahn's best effort. I'd still say it is far better than any other author's Star Wars books out there.
Zahn has, since the dulogy, been trying to explain the history of Thrawn. This book reveals some parts of the story, those dealing with the ancient Outbount Flight mission, which Thrawn destroyed. His people, the Chiss, have found its remains, and to help apologise for the attack (which Chiss society deplores), they invite Luke and Mara to join the expedition to recover it. Of course, not all goes well...
The biggest problem in this book is that not enough is revealed. You get a reasonably good idea as to what happened to the mission, but a few critical points are missing. At the end, we don't know one CRITICAL fact, that plays a major part in the novel. To reveal what it is would spoil the novel.
However, this should be rectified in Zahn's upcoming Outbound Flight book, so I'm not too worried. Knowing that, I'm willing to take the suspense.
Other than that, however, the novel is awesome. The intrigue and suspense are great, and the storytelling is fantastic. The action sequences are up to Zahn's normal standard. They're very exciting and intelligent, with plenty of clever moments and surprises. There are some great "escape" sequences. It may take a little too long to get started, but once it does, you can't put it down.
People hold Zahn to a high standard (for good reason), and therefore, they may be disappointed at the few holes that pop up in the book. Some may also dislike how none of the lead characters other than Mara and Luke appear. However, despite these shortcomings, I think this is easily one of the best novels in the entire Star Wars bookseries (far better than the New Jedi Order novels). Any Star Wars fan should read it. If nothing else, it's a refreshing taste of Zahn's style, after all that New Jedi Order stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Twisted, tasty, but unfilling! Zahn tries again.
Review: SQ is Tim Zahns return to the Star Wars Universe left off from his "Hand of Thrawn" series. I will admit I never could get interested in the NJO series therefore I am completely unaware of events, politics, technology etc therein. However, TZ attempts to pass over those events, some might argue that he deliberately left them out, but he goes on with a Luke/Mara standalone story about Outbound Flight (OF)! An event TZ created during his original Thrawn series and alluded to briefly again in the 2nd Thrawn series. What begins as a promising suspense filled revelation about Clone Wars-era politics tied together with SW supervillian Thrawn, a story of immensity was awaited. Instead, the book falters from too much promise. Key conditions surrounding OF were just dropped or forgotten, such as Thrawn's involvement? This novel presented Thrawn's legacy only as a passive vehicle reference to create a story surrounding what was otherwise a footnote event in SW literature. What was it about OF that made it so nasty? What happened to its JEDI aboard? Unfortunately, either TZ got bored with this idea and instead went with a L/M save-the-day direction, or else the editors got cold feet, perhaps thinking it would spoil all the surprises that Prequel III will reveal.
On a few occassions, TZ mentions some events from Prequels 1 & 2. Various plotlines that I really cared about but left me hanging were:
-Why did Outbound Flight survive the way it did, if Thrawn, the great tactical genius he was, supposedly destroyed it?
-How did OF get to its current location if that location was deep within heavily defended Chiss territory? Further, this novel presented OF's final resting place as being one quite difficult to reach even under the best of circumstances. Somehow I can't imagine very well, how a derelict half destroyed ship drifting into a starcluster planet, and not pulverize itself to nothing when it "landed".
-Why didn't Zahn tell us more about OF itself? This event, although small in the grand scheme of things, was obviously a pivotal event in Old Republic politics. How come we didn't learn more about its mission? Its crew? or its Jedi?
-Why did the suriviors hate Jedi? What motivations did they have for banshing those they suspected of beind Jedi? Why did they not want Evlyn to be a Jedi? Furthermore, why did they hate the Republic so much? Surely, politics of the day weren't so terrible that these "exiles" would never want to return even that The Old Republic is long gone. Did it have to do with OF original mission parameters or something? -Why were the Vaagari so intent on getting hold OF ships themselves? surely there are more modern ships avaialble?
-Thrawn still might be alive? Not again.
-What about this whole idea Mara had about going back to the Empire's deathbed remains?
-Nirauan, this planet was so full of mystery the first time, why couldn't we see more of it?
-Formbi? Why do I sense their was more to him, and his subordinates such as Feesa, were let us to believe?
-Car'das, why bring him into this story? In the last series, TZ opened this character as one who doesn't just conviently show up. He knows how to hide. Why use him only as a way to tie the poorly used Dean Jinzler with Formbi and the Chiss? Whats his motivation? Where did he go? OF struck me as quite a treasure trove even for the likes of him?
-Why is this novel called Survivor's Quest? what 'quest' were the OF crew really trying to acheive. A better title would have been Survivor's Dilemma or something along those lines. All and all, i was dissappointed in this novel, it is better than many I have read, but it just leaves too many more questions than answers/resolutions? Many of these questions were central to the plot early on, but are quickly forgotten. For people who seek the truth, this novel doesn't have it.
Rating: 
Summary: Another amazing novel by Timothy Zahn
Review: This book was an amazing read. For any Mara Jade fans out there I would definately recommend you picking this book up. Being she is Timothy Zahn's character no one else writes her better. He stays true to her sarcastic nature but shows us into her core as a new and loving wife. The ocassional "Skywalker" still slips out of her mouth as she gets irritated at Luke. Gotta love it! Some parts of the book drag a little bit but the second half of the novel runs rapid in that "I just have to read one more-no two more-chapters" kind of pace. It is a very character motivated novel and insightful into the love and marriage between the Skywalkers. It is a must read to bridge the loooong gap between The Hand of Thrawn and the NJO. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: okay, but not great
Review: This is a pretty good book, but there are many plotlines that are left unresolved when the last page rolls around. I was left dissapointed, because I know that Zahn is a better writer than this!! Is there a sequel in the works?
Rating:
Summary: Luke and Mara at their full power
Review: This is a review of the 5 CD, 6 hour Audio Book. The story takes place after Vision of the Future, after the comic where they marry, UNION and before the New Jedi Order NJO period. This book is such a joy that I have already listened to it twice. It stars Luke and Mara as a wise cracking team in search of the Outbound Flight which disappeared 50 years ago with 50,000 people. I was reminded of Nick and Nora of the old Thin Man movies from the 40's, except with light sabers because of the way the characters confronted their mystery with humor and brilliant dialog. Outbound flight was a Jedi lead group of Dreadnaughts that were to explore another galaxy, but disappeared. The story was originally told in the first Zahn trilogy, with Grand Admiral Thrawn finding and using the workable remnants of that fleet to attack the New Republic. In this story the Chiss have located what was left of the expedition and want to return those remnants to the new republic. An expedition is put together that includes the Chiss, another race who is apparently grateful to the Jedi and Outbound Flight, a New Republic ambassador Luke and Mara. This is Luke and Mara the way they should have been portrayed in the NJO. In NJO they were often included in stories, but written in a manner to keep them out of the way of the main plot. I suspect together, they are too formidable a team, and in NJO the writers were told to minimize them to keep them from solving the problems too easily. In NJO Luke was often written as if he was the half idiot son of a crazed monster, and Mara was given a disease to keep her half incapacitated. But here, they are the devastatingly powerful team we would imagine them to be. As good as the story is, it has a flaws and unanswered questions. Why would the remnants of a Jedi recruited and lead expedition revolt kill and imprison Jedi? Why would the Chiss permit inclusion of enemies into their expedition? Luke's final solution was confusing; I had to go over it a few times to understand it. Those minor questions aside this is a most welcome addition to my SW library. The CD production is superior. I am very pleased with the longer audio book versions now being made. The older SW audio books were usually 2.5 to 3 hours max. Some have criticized this book as targeting teen audiences. I would saw NJO targeted young teens. This book is a throwback to what got me hooked on the expanded universe. Lets hope we get more of these types of books and less of the type that make Luke a fumbling lost fool. Lets have more of L&M together.
Rating:
Summary: OUTBOUND FLIGHT DID NOT CRASH ON NIRAUAN!
Review: This is definitely the least appealing of Zahn's full-length Star Wars books. But I said that in another review which I seem to have deleted.
I'm beginning to think that reviewers such as Harriet Klausner may not be reading the books very thoroughly, to put it mildly. Why? As the title of this review states, OUTBOUND FLIGHT DID NOT CRASH ON NIRAUAN.
It's just that the text material in the book jacket says that it did. No big deal... I guess some so-called "editor" has some problems with reading comprehension.
From reading Klausner's review, it's like she only read the book jacket, while being compelled to put out a 5-star review. I don't see why anyone who actually read the book would think that Nirauan was the crash site. Nirauan was merely the site for the meeting between L&M and the Chiss government.
Nirauan's defining feature is a huge fortress in the shape of a hand. No crashed Outbound Flight dreadnaughts, sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: What a boring read!
Review: This is probably one of the worst Star Wars books printed yet. The story is centered around the vessel "Outbound Flight", which has been mentioned in several other Star Wars books. In this book, Luke Skywalker finally gets to board the legendary ship. Instead of using this tale to explain more about the ship and unlock Jedi mysteries for Luke, Zahn has used the tale to tell of the growing bonds between Luke and his new bride, Mara Jade.
Luke,Mara, and the rest of the all-new character cast get caught up in a highjacking. All of the main characters are duped into allowing themselves to be highjacked. Luke and Mara (when not bonding) come out looking especially inept. Their Jedi abilities are portrayed weakly and they are put in the role of detective which is really weird. Mara's character development really made me not like the character. The other characters, especially the Imperial commander, are also pretty inept fools.
I really wanted to see Luke learn more of the secrets of the Jedi that were destroyed by Palpatine. What better way for Luke to find old Jedi artifacts and knowledge? Luke comes away from this adventure no wiser about the Jedi than when the book began.
If you want to read a good mystery, find one written about a detective. Don't go into this one thinking that Luke and Mara even have the chops to find their way out of a marked exit door. You'll be bored the whole time you read about each character's next blunder.
Rating:
Summary: Not His Best Effort
Review: This was a complete disappointment. I really looked forward to reading another Timothy Zahn Star Wars novel but this was boring, predictable, and had poor character development throughout. The relationship between Luke and Mara was barely explored except with some "mystical Jedi nonsense". Mr.Zahn's previous efforts for the series were outstanding---what a shame this did not meet his own standard of excellence.
Rating:
Summary: Utter and Complete Disappointment
Review: This was not written by Timothy Zahn. I don't care what the cover says, this was scribbled out by an amateur hack in a week. It was unpolished, unbelievable, and a travesty to Zahn's earlier masterpieces. If he really did write this book, it takes Zahn from being the best writer in the Star Wars library, to the absolute worst, surpassing even that team of two guys who wrote that abysmal duology in the middle of the New Jedi Order series.
A few unforgivable weird things:
-Not once does it mention anything that ocurred during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Not a single mention of a ravaged Coruscant, a Republic in utter administrative chaos, or razed worlds. Admittedly, the entire book takes place far from any of the events of the NJO, but still; this is just very strange.
-Although this is supposed to be the first of a new series, the only part that might lead into this is mentioned in the last 5 pages of the book, in a bout of wildly unsubstantiated guesswork by Mara. Several pieces integral to the book's specific plot are left unanswered, but instead of making me want to rush to Amazon to see when the next book will be released, I'm just annoyed.
At least he doesn't have any technical errors about technology, etc. He does bring in a reference or two to the prequels, which is slightly annoying, since the vast majority of the Expanded Universe was written before the films were released. For some reason, the sudden mention of Naboo, droidekas, etc. tend to just stick out.
Chances are, people will buy this book because of what it is and whose name is on the cover, without reading any of these reviews. I certainly did. But if anyone does bother to dig this deeply, here's my advice: skip this one. If it turns out you absolutely must have the backstory, hunt it down at a library. Certainly don't waste your money on the hardcover edition.
Bottom line: poorly written, huge letdown.
Rating:
Summary: The master of Star Wars literature is back!
Review: Tim Zahn can tell a Star Wars story like no other. This is a fabulous return to the galaxy far, far away and absolutely delightful for the Star Wars fans. Zahn weaves a spellbinding plot that kept me guessing, but always guessing wrong. The new species- the Geroons and Vagaari- and the new Chiss characters are very well written. Zahn tied together the Clone Wars era and SW literature very well, and tied up almost all loose ends. You are left with questions at the end, which make me wish for a sequel (or two). After the end of the fabulous 'New Jedi Order' series, I was left to wonder what I would do for a Star Wars fix. This novel solved my problem (for a time). If you're thinking about purchasing this, do it! You won't regret taking a trip to the galaxy far, far away.
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