Rating: 
Summary: Getting worse.....
Review: Let me preface this by saying I'm a huge SW fan. I've read all the books, and played the games. This last Triology, to me, emphasizes all the things that are going wrong with the SW paperbacks. The stories are degrading into a chain of chance encounters, conveniant rendevous, and bumbling badguys. Worse, the books are getting longer, and the stories they tell are getting more boring, mundane, and pointless. I expected something *SPOILER ALERT* to come out of the whole Zonama Sekot search. Maybe a battle or an explanation of how at least the planet will help the new alliance. No, rather, a whole triology on a boring search with nothing to show for it except, "Hey look, we found the planet, cool." It's like the authors are taking very scant ideas, stretching them out as far as they can go, and then handing them off to the next author or triology to deliver the climax. Problem is, the last 6 or so books in the VV wars have delivered nothing in the way of excitement. This Triology was one of the worst. It's getting so bad, they could knock off Han, or Leia or (hopefully) Tahiri, and no one, at least not me, would care much. It's sad when you love a universe for 25 years and it comes to this, not caring what happens to the main characters anymore. If you want a series where the characters truly get to you, and you tear up when they die, try Weber's Honor Harrington series. In depth character development and written much better than the trivial Star Wars crap that has come out since 2001.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Fun
Review: My expectations weren't very high for this book, but it turned out to be a fun read. The characters are well-drawn and fun to hear about, and there's plenty of action! I always enjoy space opera about heroes who have few resources and have to fight a powerful enemy, and this one delivers. If you really like this book, though, I'd suggest checking out Steven Harper's books, too. His Silent Empire books DREAMER and NIGHTMARE are great reads. Action, intrigue, and fascinating characters!
Rating: 
Summary: Thank God it's over
Review: No, really. I've watched the NJO novels go from good to great to...this. "Reunion" is not the worst novel in the NJO series--that distinction belongs to "Refugee," the preceding novel--but it comes really close. It's taken three books--three long, exhaustive, mind-numbing books--for Luke and the rest to finally make it to Zonama Sekot. But before they can form any sort of alliance with the planet, it orchestrates the kidnapping of Danni and the alleged appearance of a coralskipper in the strange region of space Zonama Sekot is sheltered in.
And then you have the Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and Imperial Fleet plot in which they encounter strange life forms and battle with Tahiri's current state of unconsciousness; the one saving grace is that the shoeless Jedi spends most of her time in the novel trapped in her own mind, so we really don't have to listen to her mutterings. Just internal monologues and Riina/Tahiri battling it out. The symbolism of unity between Vong and Jedi is so obvious it's ineffective.
And the Nom Anor plot is so cookie cutter it's laughable; all it does is give us insight into Shimmra's arrogance, deteriorating mind, and venemous hatred for all things heretical (am I the only one who thinks Onimi is the true power behind the throne and the grotesque appearance is only a masquer?).
I stand firm by saying the strongest entry into NJO was "Star by Star;" the rest has been lukewarm at best, "Reunion" at worst.
After this mess, there are only two books left, so I suppose that's good news; I'll be glad to see the resolution. Hopefully, we'll have another "shocking" death to close out the series; perhaps Mara or Han or Jaina will join Chewbacca, Anakin Solo, Borsk Fey'lya, and the other cannon fodder in the Star Wars literary trash heap; it couldn't be worse than what is sure to follow the bizarre NJO arc.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God it's over
Review: No, really. I've watched the NJO novels go from good to great to...this. "Reunion" is not the worst novel in the NJO series--that distinction belongs to "Refugee," the preceding novel--but it comes really close. It's taken three books--three long, exhaustive, mind-numbing books--for Luke and the rest to finally make it to Zonama Sekot. But before they can form any sort of alliance with the planet, it orchestrates the kidnapping of Danni and the alleged appearance of a coralskipper in the strange region of space Zonama Sekot is sheltered in.
And then you have the Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and Imperial Fleet plot in which they encounter strange life forms and battle with Tahiri's current state of unconsciousness; the one saving grace is that the shoeless Jedi spends most of her time in the novel trapped in her own mind, so we really don't have to listen to her mutterings. Just internal monologues and Riina/Tahiri battling it out. The symbolism of unity between Vong and Jedi is so obvious it's ineffective.
And the Nom Anor plot is so cookie cutter it's laughable; all it does is give us insight into Shimmra's arrogance, deteriorating mind, and venemous hatred for all things heretical (am I the only one who thinks Onimi is the true power behind the throne and the grotesque appearance is only a masquer?).
I stand firm by saying the strongest entry into NJO was "Star by Star;" the rest has been lukewarm at best, "Reunion" at worst.
After this mess, there are only two books left, so I suppose that's good news; I'll be glad to see the resolution. Hopefully, we'll have another "shocking" death to close out the series; perhaps Mara or Han or Jaina will join Chewbacca, Anakin Solo, Borsk Fey'lya, and the other cannon fodder in the Star Wars literary trash heap; it couldn't be worse than what is sure to follow the bizarre NJO arc.
Rating: 
Summary: Adequate if a little rushed NJO book
Review: Overall this series has been a bit of a dissappointment. After beginning so strongly with Force Heretic I, the next two books failed to live up to my expectations. Force Heretic III does rebound from the rather predictable middle volume in this trilogy. As with the other two books, this book reads very quickly, the action is fast paced and exciting. Yet the story is too predictable. The biggest downside was the discovery of Sekot, and mythical planet that seemed to have been found with a minimum amount of work by Luke and his crew. The seens with Sekot also failed to live up to expectations. In contrast, the scenes with Han, Leia and Jaina more than made up for the deficiencies of the Sekot crew. Their portion of the story was fast paced and very enjoyable and it is from this part of the story that I give this book a 4 star rating. The NJO writers also need to decided what they are going to do with Danni Quee, she just seems to float around without any development or point to her existance. The Tahiri problem seems to have been solved and I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, for it deals with her. One question I do have is this: Who was the Force Heretic? Nothing any of the Jedi did seemed all that out of the ordinary for Jedi. The title of the series really did not make sense. Overall this series gets a 3.5 across the board. The excellence of the first book almost makes up for the problems of the next two. Really this book deserves 2.5 stars but as that is not allowed I'll give it 3.
Rating:
Summary: A good end to the trilogy.
Review: Reuinion overall was a very enertaining book that moved the New Jedi Order storyline in many new directions. The action on the ground on Esfandia was great. It was awesome to see speeder bikes be a major part of the story. The scenes with Jaina, Tahiri, Jag, and Droma were pretty awesome. It seems that Jaina is the action star of the series as of late, with the absence of Anakin Solo. While it was pretty much a good book, it lacked some things and was disappointing in places. First of all, Zonama Sekot is not what I thought it would be. Well, I knew it would be green and have lots of plants but, it didn't seem all that powerful and I think it could have been described better. Secondly, the lack of romance upset me. Yes, Jag does reveal his feelings for Jaina, but they don't even kiss once throughout the novel. Also I was hoping for a romantic scene between Jacen and Danni. I would always grow hopeful in the scenes with these two but then something would happen and Jacen would have to run off. There wasn't really even romance between the older couples either. Han and Leia seemed to bicker the whole time and Luke and Mara seemed to always be around Dr. Hegerty. Another bad thing is that a lot of characters were underused. Leia for one. Her big scene is trying to cut through a door with a lightsaber. Danni, one of my favorites, was unconsious half the time. And then there is R2-D2 and Tekli! Why the hell were they brought on the mission if Luke is going to make them stay in the Jade Shadow the whole time! I think those two could have been used much better. My final complaint is Jacen Solo refusing to fight! What is up with that! We know that Jacen has his morals and stuff but, I want action! Put him into a scene that he has to use that lightsaber of his. I was starting to like him in Traitor when he had to hack down Yuuzhan Vong but now he is as boring as ever. There are good things about Reunion. Tahiri's character is taking a nice turn. She seems like a killing machine now. Nom Anor's plot took on a lot of unexpected twists, which was nice. I do think that Shimmra could be more evil though. Reuinion is a very good book though, and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it for any fan of the NJO!
Rating:
Summary: Huzzah! The Last We'll See of Williams and Dix!
Review: Sean Williams and Sean Dix continue their rape of the Star Wars universe. As I stated in my reviews of the previous two books in this trilogy, they don't understand any existing characters from the Star Wars galaxy. There is little more to say on the subject, and thus there is little new to say about this book. I must admit, however, that this was the best book in the series, simply because it had the most Yuuzhan Vong scenes, and whichever of the pair writes the Vong does a better job. Perhaps the unbelievably awkward and illogical dialog that the pair write for every character seems to fit because the Vong are supposed to be totally alien. I was going to give this book a slightly higher rating because of this, but now I remember the dozens and dozens of major continuity errors, many of which were conflicts with Timothy Zahn's last duology, the obvious best source material for the regions Williams and Dix explore. They clearly didn't read or didn't understand Zahn at all.
Rating:
Summary: The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over
Review: Shouldn't the line read, the harrowing search for an interesting and exciting plot is finally over but the authors unfortunately failed in their mission. Their creative writing styles abandoned in the cold of space. Left only with their combined attention deficit disorder where they capable of putting enough words down on paper to be considered a book. Incomplete thoughts and jumping from sub plot to subplot while failing to engage the reader this inept writing team continues bore us and take us in circles enticing us with the promise of adventure, strong characters and distant worlds yet we only receive a round trip to nowhere.
Rating:
Summary: Best of 3 in this mini trilogy.
Review: The 'Force Heretic' story arc concludes with this third installment (or book 17) of the New Jedi Order series which has spanned the last few years, and thank God. Heretic I & II seemed like complete filler material to me, doing little to advance the overall grand storyline that the New Jedi Order had set in motion. They did introduce a few marginally interesting points, but due to teh fact they were so drawn out, verbose, with little payoff it was a struggle to read through those. However, Heretic III was far superior to its prequels. We finally see the resolution of Tahiri, the young Jedi girl who was saved by Anakin (who she was smitten with) from horrible experiments the Vong had dealt to her when she was in captivity. Finally, her bipolar personality story point comes to a head. We also witness the 1st major campaign with the allied New Galactic Alliance (formerly The New Republic) and the Imperial Remnant. This makes for an exciting dynamic, and the ensuing space battle is one of the best to be read after many books. Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba finally see their quest for the search of the living planet, Sekot, also come to a head. Here the authors really make up for a campy and wild story regarding Sekot to the point where it actually can be read as plausible. Sekot hold some deep secrets regarding the Jedi, the Vong, and itself and its place in the galaxy. While some questions are answered, others are introduced in a exciting way which really helps make up for the previous two books attempts for the reader to care about finding Sekot. And within the pages concerning the Vong, as always, Nom Anor's character shines. Nom's character makes the whole trilogy bright spot as his scheming and malicious ways make for great reads. Especially the attempt on his life from one of his own, and the revealing of one of his spies to Shmirra. More Nom, less filler. After reading all three books, I am convinced that the story could have been much tighter and acceptable if completed in two. Unfortunately, the epilogue only hints at what is to come and the reader must decide if reading the three novels really accomplished anything on a 'grand galactic' scale.
Rating:
Summary: Best of 3 in this mini trilogy.
Review: The 'Force Heretic' story arc concludes with this third installment (or book 17) of the New Jedi Order series which has spanned the last few years, and thank God. Heretic I & II seemed like complete filler material to me, doing little to advance the overall grand storyline that the New Jedi Order had set in motion. They did introduce a few marginally interesting points, but due to teh fact they were so drawn out, verbose, with little payoff it was a struggle to read through those. However, Heretic III was far superior to its prequels. We finally see the resolution of Tahiri, the young Jedi girl who was saved by Anakin (who she was smitten with) from horrible experiments the Vong had dealt to her when she was in captivity. Finally, her bipolar personality story point comes to a head. We also witness the 1st major campaign with the allied New Galactic Alliance (formerly The New Republic) and the Imperial Remnant. This makes for an exciting dynamic, and the ensuing space battle is one of the best to be read after many books. Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba finally see their quest for the search of the living planet, Sekot, also come to a head. Here the authors really make up for a campy and wild story regarding Sekot to the point where it actually can be read as plausible. Sekot hold some deep secrets regarding the Jedi, the Vong, and itself and its place in the galaxy. While some questions are answered, others are introduced in a exciting way which really helps make up for the previous two books attempts for the reader to care about finding Sekot. And within the pages concerning the Vong, as always, Nom Anor's character shines. Nom's character makes the whole trilogy bright spot as his scheming and malicious ways make for great reads. Especially the attempt on his life from one of his own, and the revealing of one of his spies to Shmirra. More Nom, less filler. After reading all three books, I am convinced that the story could have been much tighter and acceptable if completed in two. Unfortunately, the epilogue only hints at what is to come and the reader must decide if reading the three novels really accomplished anything on a 'grand galactic' scale.
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