Rating: 
Summary: A different direction, to be sure, but a welcome one...
Review: While the first five books in the New Jedi Order cycle have their emphasis on galactic events, and essentially serve as an introduction to the means and methods of the invading Yuuzhan Vong, this book focusses a lot more on character development. All of the previous entries in this series have pretty much had the characters spread out all over space, only to almost coincidentally end up in the same area at the end for the huge battle finale, this book refreshingly takes place almost exclusively on the planet Duro, where the Solo clan is helping refugees settle in.This is definitely a welcome change in pace. In most of the previous books, the emphasis on action often lead to unsatisfactory character development, often with key characters being left out of a story entirely. Here, however, each character has ample "screen time," and Kathy Tyers obviously knows every one of them very well. Balance Point is a "Jacen book." Finally, the kid seems to be coming into his own, and coming to terms with himself. Unlike in previous novels where he's just seemed like a whiny brat, I could actually sympathize with him here. And the author also took a little time to explain why his character is so different in the NJO series than in the Young Jedi Knights line. Also in this book we have the best Luke/Mara interactions I've yet seen. Unlike the "witty repartee" we saw in Mike Stackpole's books and the somewhat forced dialogue from Jim Luceno's, Kathy Tyers hits their relationship right on the nose, and gives it a surprise twist. Jaina and Anakin also continue to grow believable as characters, and Han and Leia finally spend some time together again. And, for I think the first time ever, I actually felt sorry for a Hutt. This volume also expands the Yuuzhan Vong culture, making it more understandable, and brings back Nom Anor and Warmaster Tsavong Lah with a vengeance. It was especially refreshing to see how Mara reacted to Nom Anor's presence. The author also tied up some loose ends from earlier in NJO and the SW saga as a whole, most notably concerning Lando, and she had obligatory plethora of cameos. Don't let all my talk of character discourage you, though...this novel also has plenty of action. Lightsaber fights, ship battles, dogfights, evacuations-under-fire, undercover Jedi, and all kinds of cool stuff. I guess my only complain about this book is that Danni Quee is still nowhere to be seen. But now that the first year "introduction" to the New Jedi Order has ended, the series is really taking shape, and this book is easily the best one yet. I very definitely recommend picking this one up. Thank you, Kathy, for a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: Balance Point-Kathy Tyers great reader Michael Cumpsty booo
Review: The story is great, slow at first but picks up through out. I satisfied that Jacen FINALLY found his place in the force, but now his's hunted by the Vong but hey we can't have everything. The thing I didn't like was the reader of the audio version Michael Cumpsty, he is a very dry reader. I want Anthony Heald back. I hope he reads the next book because if Mr. Cumpsty has no inflection in his voice he doens't bring the charicters to life like Anthony Heald did. So I give it four out of five stars minus one for the dry reading.
Rating:
Summary: New Jedi Order Shows Its Force!
Review: Kathy Tyers has returned to the Star Wars univers and at the best possbile time! The Vong have successfully divided the galaxy and the New Republic is on the edge of disaster. Luke and his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker are trying to keep the Jedi Order together while worrying about... a personal issue (see pg. 94). While a comedy of errors is raging on the planet Duros as Han and Leia work against each other without knowing. Jacen has abandoned the Force only to find that he cannot run from destiny. And at the end, the Jedi find that they, not the Vong are to become the focus of the galaxy's wrath. Kathy Tyers left me wanting more and loving every second of the book. Yet some questions for the saga remain... Where is the New Republic Admiral we all loved? Has he turned true Bothan? Where is Admiral Pellaeon. He said that he has not turned his back on the people of the galaxy, yet where is the Imperial Navy? And lastly, as we see the Chiss in chapter one, where are they? According to many sources, the Chiss control over half the galaxy (the unknown regions) and they have not yet moved to assist the NR in stopping this threat... Yet it all, Balance Point should be rated next to Timothy Zahn's calabre in its excellent style and motion. Thank you Kathy for another excellent piece of work!
Rating: 
Summary: Balance between Greatness and Crapish
Review: This book has a reasonably simple plot which is quite easy to understand. In the complicated political world of Star Wars, this was a much welcomed breather. Basically, the entire Star Wars family ends up taking many paths to Duro, which is the Yuzzhan Vong's next target in their push toward Coruscant. The true heart of the story comes in character development, such as relationships between Han and Leia, Han and Droma, Jacen and EVERYONE, etc. These developments are also a great break from previous NJO books. Overall, in these aspects, the book is like the author's other Star Wars novel, Truce at Bakura. However, the book falls short of being great in the same way as TB, just not as much. Because of the simple plot in the novel, the action scenes (which are very short), can be confusing at times. One example which comes to mind is when Jacen and Jaina are flying through the orbital city in a vehicle. Fast readers might have problems understanding what is going on, so slowing down the pace is needed at times. Also, the character development goes to far and makes the plot predictable. The focus is Anakin deciding to stop use the Force. In the end, he must decide whether he should continuing using the force in order to save a loved of his. These sort of things become predictable, and the plot begins to fizzle at the end. Overall, the most memorable impressions I had were that of the recurring secondary characters. The scenes with Randa the Hutt, Nom Anor, & Droma were done particularly well, saving the novel from becoming pointless. I recommend this book, but not highly.
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