Rating: 
Summary: The tide turns as the galaxy unites.
Review: In the previous New Jedi Order novel, "Destiny's Way", the Galactic Alliance (nee' New Republic) earned its first major victory against the Yuuzhan Vong in this horrific, genocidal war. With peripheral assistance from the Imperial Remnant and a brilliant plan devised by the legendary Admiral Ackbar, the Alliance eschewed using a dangerous biological weapon in favor of a carefully devised conventional warfare trap. As a result, a huge Vong strike force, led by the evil Warmaster Tsavong Lah, was wiped out in the vicious battle of Ebaq 9. The casualties included Lah's own death and the reputation of executor Nom Anor, who championed the assault in the first place. These events, at the conclusion of "Destiny's Way" gave hope to the Star Wars reader that it may actually be possible to win this war against the Yuuzhan Vong.
"Remnant" the first book of the "Force Heretic Trilogy" continues the progress of its predecessor while still reminding the reader, in horrifying fashion, of the monumental threat still posed by the Vong. Now that the Vong have taking over the galactic homeworld of Coruscant, among numerous other planets, and have recently suffered the devastating loss at Ebaq 9, the alien invaders have decided hold steady and regroup. Only on a few occasions is a strike force sent on an offensive mission. Those missions, however, are not for occupation or conversion. They are for complete annihilation. Using slave ship technology, the Vong capture between thousands to millions of 'slaves' while leaving the planets in smoldering ruins. In the midst of a diplomatic mission to strengthen ties with the Imperial Remnant, the Jedi encounter the latest Vong annihilation strike, aimed at the Imperial core world of Bastion.
"Remnant" focuses on a two-pronged mission by the Alliance and Jedi to reconstruct the infrastructure that will be necessary for governing the post-war galaxy and to search for a mythical 'living' planet called Zonama Sekot that may hold the key to ending this war. This is easily one of the more enjoyable New Jedi Order novels in terms of subject matter. It continues develop the relationships with Imperial Remnant and Grand Admiral Pealleon (an underground fan favorite in my mind). It also spends some time growing evolution of Jaina and Jacen Solo in mature young adults and their relations with others, Jag Fel and Danni Quee to name a few. There is also a great deal of exposition of the Yuuzhan Vong Shamed One's heretic underground. This form of heresy, which Nom Anor had sworn to eradicate, provides the means by which he can continue to survive following his failure in the previous novel.
The only negative aspect of this book is the author's seeming unwillingness to use a chapter structure to the book. "Remnant" is broken down into just four large sections that, over the course of 400 pages, can be quite ponderous. There are a number of breaks throughout the sections, but no real chapter breaks. The previous time this technique was used was in "Shield of Lies" the second book of the Black Fleet Crisis series. That was an unmitigated failure. It's a risk to use this type of format, and it can only be successful if the subject matter is worthwhile. Fortunately with "Remnant" it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Good ... Some bad.
Review: This book was a mixed bag.The bad: Tahiri. Someone needs to tell Shelley Shapiro (the editor of the series) about the importance of foreshadowing. For Tahiri's mental problems to suddenly come out of the blue a year after Anakin's death makes no sense. In Enemy lines--the duology after Star By Star--she was fine, she was strong. Aned why must we be subjected to her when she no longer really has a role to play. Her function in this story was to serve as Anakin's girlfriend, but he's gone and she should also vanish from the page. Unfortunately, it appears we're stuck with the little basket-case. This is why we're stuck with her: she's a kid. The uberkinden--superkid--triumverate was broken up with Anakin's death, but now it appears that the triumverate has been restored with the addition of Tahiri to join Jacen and Jaina. This series has concentrated on the uberkinden way, while all characters over the age of twenty are treated as cardboard cut-outs. Additionally, these "old" characters have had their brains sucked out of their craniums and they stumble through the series like morons. The character who has been associated with the worst character assassination has been Luke Skywalker. Here is a man who has killed millions of humans in the name of political idealism all without thinking about the morality of doing so. Now the Vong come on the scene, and Luke is paralyzed by doubt and indeciciveness. But then Luke had to be paralyzed by doubt so that this series could drag on and on and on. At one point, a Del Rey marketing flunky said in an interview--which has since been removed from their SW site--that they initally wanted to release 8 books a year. This would have lead to quality control going right out the window, a casualty of corporate greed and would have lead to books being churned out of dubious quality. The Nom Anor subplot was extremely boring. The only thing I want to read about is the Vong being utterly wiped out. I care not about their society. The Good: The Empire. Williams and Dix captured Pellaeon's character perfectly, along with the moffs, most notably Moff Flemnic. "The Empire will always strike back." The only thing that disappointed me was seeing Chimaera sustain heavy damage.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Unknown Regions
Review: 'The New Jedi Order' series has begun to shift gears. The Galactic Alliance, formerly the New Republic, has managed to halt the advance of the Vong for the moment. Now they need to figure out how to decisively defeat the enemy and reclaim the conquered areas of the galaxy. To that end, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade-Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and other Jedi head to the unknown regions to find the mythical planet Zonama Sekot. Fans of Star Wars novels will recognized this from 'Rogue Planet,' the prequel novel by Greg Bear. At first, I thought this was a bad move. Personally, I thought 'Rogue Planet' was the worst of the prequel novels, so I hated the thought of this direction for the series. Fortunately, this novel of the 'Force Heretic Trilogy' never gets there. Luke and company stop in the Imperial Remnant, looking for guidance into the Unknown Regions of space. Upon their arrival, they discover a Vong fleet attacking the Imperial homeworld of Bastion. Luke and his companions are drawn into the conflict with the ultimate hope of brining the Empire into their struggle with the Vong. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Princess Leia set off on their own mission. Their goal is to re-establish contact with worlds that have not been heard from since the invasion began. They bring along their daughter, Jaina, and the Chiss Squadron under the command of Jag Fel. This storyline is full of intrigue and their first stop brings instant trouble and mystery. This is a decent beginning to the series. I still do not like the idea of bringing Zonama Sekot back into the Star Wars universe, but I trust Williams and Dix will do it well. Anyone who has read 'Rogue Planet' knows that Sekot repelled a Vong invasion from the Prequel era, which explains the Galactic Alliance's interest. The end of 'Remnant' foreshadows the direction of the rest of the trilogy, and it looks promising. It was good to see Grand Admiral Palleaon in action again. It was also nice to see storm troopers and tie fighters again in a Star Wars novel. The novel dragged a bit in places, but otherwise was an entertaining read. For those new to the series, this novel does a good job of summing up how the characters have gotten to this point of the series. However, I still recommend reading the entire 'New Jedi Order' series from the beginning. I'm looking forward to reading the second and third novels of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Could Have Been Better
Review: I liked this book for the most part, but there are things that could have made it better. I would have liked alot more scenes with Jaina and Jag. Danni and Jacen get on my nerves. What about Tenal Ka? In previous books, didn't she have feelings for Jacen? Why isn't she brought into the picture? I also don't really like the way that Tahiri is having the psychological problems. She's proved herself strong in the other books, why have her break down now? Truthfully, I wish Aron Allston was writing this trilogy. He's been, by far, my favorite Star Wars novelist. Especially the Wraith Squadron series.
Rating:
Summary: 1st of 3
Review: In this new series Mara, Luke, etc go off to find a wandering planet. Han, Leia, etc. try to restore some order to the galaxy. And Tahiri faces her past.
Rating:
Summary: A word from (one of) the author(s)
Review: This probably isn't the correct forum through which to do this, but what the hell... I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has offered some feedback here. It's always nice to get feedback, both good and bad, and always interesting to check out the diverse opinions of the readers. Sean and I knew from the outset that we would never be able to please everyone that read these books, so the extremely negative reviews we have received here really doesn't surprise or discourage me. It is impossible to please everyone all of the time--especially when talking about the broad fan base that Star Wars has! I mean, even Star By Star had its decriers, and to me this was a fantastic book--if not the best of the series so far. So, again, thanks for all comments offered. To those that did like Remnant, I hope the trilogy continues to please; to those that didn't like it, I hope the next 2 books go some way toward changing your opinion about us as writers in general! But if you choose never again to read any of our work, then this is, of course, your prerogative. God knows I have come across writers in the past who simply didn't do it for me, and to this day I haven't been able to pick up another of their books; therefore it seems only fitting that there are readers out there that feel the same about my own work! :-) As for the star rating I have given, well I would have personally preferred not to give one at all, being as I am one of the authors and therefore somewhat biased. But of course, this is kind of necessary when doing these reviews, so I have given it a 4 out of 5. It's not my favourite of the trilogy, but personally (and I hope I don't come across as conceited here) I still think it holds up pretty well... :-) Happy reading, all...
Rating: 
Summary: Force Heretic a Fake
Review: I won't run back over the plot; other people have written better synopses than I could. I just feel compelled to moan over the downward turn this promising series has taken. Honestly, I never finished the book. I meant to, but set it down one day and found several weeks later I still haven't actually read the last hundred pages. I don't really feel like I can, but will eventually because after jumping on this ride, I have to stay on until the end. I never liked Nom Anor, or all the time devoted to dealing with his every move. I found his earliest movements here interesting, but they quickly became drawn out and redundant. I am furious over the romance brewing between Jacen and Danni. Tenel Ka is much stronger a woman and character than Danni, and Tenel has been dumped by the series like a flat tire. Tahiri I have always liked. But while I see some potential for her latest problems, I fear they are nothing but a red herring and are bordering on ridiculous after all this time. They also withheld too much info to be fair to the reader. Saba and her distress over the accidental killing of her people is sad, yes, but where have I heard that before? A common theme in the SW universe. The teams and their missions made me yawn. And Han and Leia deserve so much better than this! Williams and Dix should never work together again. And to think that they were responsible for THREE books!!!!! I wish Troy Denning could have taken the helm after Star By Star and never let it go.
Rating:
Summary: good read
Review: This is a decent book that flows nicely, but it is a little short. I can't wait until the next book!
Rating:
Summary: Competent but not exciting
Review: Just another one of those New Jedi Order books, with few of the plot twists and turns that made winners of many earlier books in the series. Just about everything is tidily wrapped up here, with "OK, on to the next adventure" of Force Heretic II. It's competent, but not thrilling SW. The back inside cover says "the epic, all-original STAR WARS series comes to its stunning conclusion in November 2003." All we can hope is that Williams and Dix aren't involved, because if they are, it will be anything but stunning.
Rating: 
Summary: Two heads are NOT better than one
Review: This was the first of the NJO series that I just couldn't finish. I kept putting the book down. The authors couldn't keep my attention. I guess I'll have to force myself to re-read it, if I'm going to endure their next books. Maybe this would have been better if only one author had worked on it, rather than the tag team of Williams and Dix. I noticed there were some parts that I really enjoyed, like the story about the slave transport in the prologue, and the Imperial Remnant. There were other parts, like the story about Nom Anor and the Shamed that weren't very interesting, nor were they plausible. I just wish they were able to write the rest of the book with as much passion as they put into the prologue. Maybe this reflects the strength or weakness of the authors? Perhaps they each wrote different parts of the book, rather than collaborating on the entire novel? I bought the book based on the teaser about Luke and Mara searching for Zonama Sekot. I wish I had opened to the last page to read that, even at the end of the book, Luke has not found the "force" planet. You get to read the next one or two or ten books to find out what happens. Argh! I've followed the NJO series from the beginning. I don't mind waiting, but this is a new low. If you're going to tease us like this, at least let him find the planet, even if it takes another book to flesh out the story. I realize that maybe this isn't the author's fault. Perhaps I should get mad at the editor or publisher. Still, after 400 pages you expect that some part of the teaser will be resolved!! I can understand stretching out the Vong story for 10 or 15 books, although my patience is starting to wear thin. However, trying to write 2-3 books about the subplot of Luke and the force planet, or Nom Anor and the Shamed Ones just won't work. There just isn't enough there to keep you entertained. If the original trilogy had been done like this, "Star Wars: A New Hope" would have been written as a series of 10 books... the back cover would have a teaser about the destruction of the Death Star, and the last page would end with "Luke Skywalker turned off his targetting computer and trusted in the Force. Would he be able to destroy the Death Star? Whatever it took, he was going to do it. THE END"
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