Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not all it's cracked up to be.
Review: As science fiction goes, this book was good: the plot was interesting and the characters were well-done. As far as Star Wars, though, it could have been better.According to previews, Rogue Planet was supposed to develop the characters of Obi-Wan and Anakin, whose personalities got lost in the swirl of lightsaber battles and podraces that was The Phantom Menace. Bear was about 50% successful with this task. We see clearly into Anakin's mind and his internal struggles between light and dark that will ultimately decide the fate of the galaxy. This was very well-done, culminating in Anakin's "first kill" -- an accident which reveals a part of him to himself. Obi-Wan, however, is characterized as a meticulous, outright boring person with almost no sense of adventure, humor, or mystery. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I really think this part could have been done better. The plot itself was exciting and fast-paced, for the most part. Obi-Wan and Anakin spend half the novel having an awesome ship built, only to face a fairly predictable disappointment at the end. Creatures known only as Far Outsiders are skillfully woven into the plot, and logic would say that they are the Yuuzhan Vong. The overall effect is one of mystery and intrigue, which builds suspense and makes this story a good read, even if it's not the best Star Wars book I've read.
Rating:
Summary: The good Jedi adventure!
Review: I liked so much this book. Like other Star Wars great authors (Timothy Zahn and my beloved Kevin J. Anderson, Greg Bear knows that Star Wars isn't only a science fiction Saga. There is mopre than droids and spaceships! There's legends, magic and myths. The idea of a living planet and the creation of the ships from organic matter was very well conducted. The relation between master and apprentice is perfectly developed! 'When I ended the book I asked myself: oh, my...why two friends like them will become such foes! The first contact Anakin has to the Dark Side is a very tense moment. It's perfect! And the introducion of the favorite bad guy: Tarkin! Really great. Negative points: Ke Daiv is not well developed, because I understood he isn't a vilain. He is a very complex being, but he ended up looking a little pathetic. The character Jabitha is unecessary. She serves just to be forgotten in the end. And the real mission of the Jedis(to find Vergere) become nothing when Obi-Wan and Anakin found something more interesting to do in Sekot. It could be worked in a better way. Well, these are little details. I like the book and, as a veteran Star Wars fan, I'm sure that reading Rogue Planet you will have a more deep and wide view of the real dimension of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker! May the Force be with you. Brazil, July - 2000
Rating: 
Summary: Not that good
Review: I don't read Star Wars novels, and after reading that one I don't think I will again. Now don't get me wrong, the book started off great with the sewer race that was cool and actually got me into the book but as I got deeper into the book the slower it got. I don't recommend it to anyone
Rating: 
Summary: It seemed like a good idea
Review: It seemed like such a good idea. What Star Wars fan wouldn't want to read an adventure story about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and their exploits before the events in the next Star Wars movie? But, in execution, Star Wars: Rogue Planet is fairly uneventful and mostly unsatisfying. The chief problem with the novel is also its selling point: The relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. We all know how this ends. All Star Wars fans remember the lightsaber battle on the Deathstar. We want to know where it went wrong. We want to know why it went wrong. Where did Obi-Wan fail, and where did Anakin go bad? That, or at least a good foreshadowing of those events, is the appeal of Rogue Planet, and yet it's exactly what the novel cannot do. As a practical point, George Lucas hasn't written the key events yet. That leaves the author Greg Bear with little to work with other than the themes from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. That's not much, and ultimately, we fail to learn anything more than The Phantom Menace told us. Obi-Wan is a nice, if not daring, guy. Anakin likes racing, building droids, and worries about his Mother. Is that all? A vivid story might rescue the book and make it a good sci-fi adventure, if not terribly revealing, but the story is not very engaging. Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to investigate the disappearance of another Jedi and discover an unusual planet that builds living ships. The bad guy is Tarkin the future Moff, who "held Vader's leash" in Star Wars. He's interesting, but underused. The rest is tepid and passable, but not really memorable. For an author of Greg Bear's talents, Star Wars: Rogue Planet is disappointing. It's far from the worst Star Wars book on the shelves, but we hoped for so much better. Maybe Bear we'll get another shot with more creative options.
Rating:
Summary: Greg Bear writing Star Wars! Very good.
Review: 'Rogue Planet' is sort of an anomaly. It is much more of a stand-alone story than other Star Wars novels, yet manages to fit snugly into the timeline all the same. Where most other novels in the series focus on key historic events - and some of the more popular characters' places therein - 'Rogue Planet' takes us on a trip away from the Republic and almost even away from the known Galaxy. Far away from that chewy centre, Bear still succeeds in presenting us Anakin and Obi-Wan, Tarkin and Sienar - even Vergere and the Vong! (Albeit cameos, it must be said.) He manages to continue their stories fluently and convincingly.
Moreover, as the story unfolds, and the secrets of Zonema Sekot (the Rogue Planet) are slowly being unfolded, you know you're reading an exceptional addition to the Star Wars story cycle. However, the real eye catcher is Greg Bear himself. His writing is fluent and exciting, he makes you want to turn page after page. He manages to fit the events in his novel into the greater scheme as if he owns it all, while usually Bear's stories are far from the techno-myths that Star Wars is made out of. No event and character seems forced and uneasy in its position; something that cannot be said for all other "Old Republic" Star Wars novels. 'Rogue Planet' is a breather, the pearl in a string of beads. My favourite "Old Republic" novel by far. This one gets four stars. Bram Janssen,
The Netherlands
Rating:
Summary: not bad, i wanted to know more about Sekot
Review: This Star Wars novel is set several years after the events of "The Phantom Menace." To better place it in relation to the two prequel films, Anakin Skywalker is 12 years old. He is the Padawan apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi is no longer the reckless apprentice that he was when he served under Qui-Gon Jinn. Kenobi has found his center of peace, but Skywalker is even more reckless than perhaps Obi-Wan once was. Anakin sneaks out of the Jedi temple to seek dangerous races. The novel opens with one such race (which I still don't quite understand the logistics of), but as the race begins (and Obi-Wan tries to find him), Anakin is attacked by one of the racers, an alien race called a Blood Carver. This begins an exciting chase that Obi-Wan joins shortly after it begins. Anakin Skywalker has a lot of energy and he is frustrated by the lack of responsibility given him by the Jedi Council. To channel this energy, the Council sends Obi-Wan and Anakin on a mission to the strange (strange because next to nothing is known about it) planet Zenoma Sekot to investigate the planet's organic spaceships, and also to investigate the disappearance of the Jedi Vergere, who was last heard from on that planet. At the same time as the Jedi mission to Sekot, we also see Tarkin (a younger version of the Grand Moff Tarkin from "A New Hope") plotting his own deeds in regards to that planet and we see Tarkin's continuing rise in the Republic (not yet the Empire). For a Star Wars novel, this one was pretty good. I enjoyed the story, found it interesting and I wanted to know more about Sekot and the battle that occurred on that planet (though I understand this ties in better to the New Jedi Order series that comes much later), and I got to see Anakin develop a little bit more so that I could better understand his anger, his frustration, and how he develops into the man that he does. Sure, every novel that has Anakin Skywalker as a boy/young man will show shades of the future Darth Vader, but a novel that didn't would seem a little strange, to not hint at it at all. This was a well done Star Wars novel, though I'm not sure it would work quite so well without the shape of the Star Wars universe and the preceding (and later) novels.
Rating: 
Summary: A well-written and thoughtful effort
Review: There are some great moments in this book. The quality of Bear's writing shows through; although most chapters are very short, they utilize a good sense of pacing.
The plot has been criticized as being un-SW-like and not having enough action, but I don't agree. I feel that this novel adequately fits the SW universe, except for later implied continuity problems with Ep.II.
The connection of this book to Ep.II should not be overlooked. It seems that, as happened with Splinter, elements in the book may have influenced the development of the upcoming film script. In fact, the pacing of the novel is reminiscent of Ep.II; a slow first half in which crucial plot elements clunkily fall into the main characters' laps, and an action-oriented second half. In any event I think Charza Kwinn from this book would have worked much better than Dex in Ep.II as an Obi-Wan ally; Charza's nature and the inside of his ship seem Kamino-esque anyway.
The usual structure for a SW book is like a Peter Jackson LOTR movie: keep alternating back and forth between three or so groups of characters doing different things. Here, there are only two groups to alternate between for much of the book: 1)Seinar and (possibly) Tarkin, and 2) Anakin and Obi-Wan.
The only reason I can accept backstory on Tarkin is because the prequels did not get into it, and it makes sense that he could have been involved in significant events prior to ANH. Other than that, I don't find it to be very interesting. I find the characterizations of Sienar and Tarkin to be possibly the weakest aspect of this book, so accordingly in a Sienar chapter I was usually pretty eager to get back to what the Jedi were doing.
As I alluded to above, the book somewhat contradicts Ep.II by implication, since it is implied that Zonama Sekot gave Tarkin inspiration for the Death Star. Strangely, Bear further muddies the situation by stating Tarkin's plans for an "Expeditionary Battle Planetoid" even BEFORE the Zonama Sekot mission.
As far as not fitting the universe, let's face it. Once the Republic-Empire battles are dealt with, there are threats to consider which originate from outside known space. As Stent says in Vision of the Future, there are a hundred different threats out there that would freeze your blood if you knew about them. I have no problem envisioning Zonama Sekot-style worldships as part of this extended setting.
This, in a way, could be described as the first NJO book, since it describes the first interaction of the Vong with Sekot and with the Jedi Vergere. I have not read the other novels involving Zonama Sekot in the NJO continuity, so I do not know whether Bear's successful portrayal of Sekot is continued in an intelligent or consistent fashion. One would hope so.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak and Weird
Review: Greg Bear is someone that I respect, but this novel read like an attempt to make Star Wars into hard Sci-fi. I normally write reviews that are paragraphs in nature but the following is the best way to describe this book. Did Bear do a good job? Yes Is this an interesting book? Yes, somewhat. Does it feel like Star Wars? No, not even close. Does it do much to expand the Star Wars world? Not really. Does it have any redeeming qualities? Yes, It gives an explination as to why Qui-Gon didn't fade away in EP 1, and they build a cool ship with neat technology. Would I read it if I weren't a Star Wars Geek? Probably NOT!
Rating:
Summary: Looks Good
Review: I haven't been able to read this book since I've had it. It looks good but, I just don't read. Now I have a book project something in my English class. So I figure I'll finish what I've started. I am now looking foreward to reading it. It looks good.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre addition to the Star Wars Universe
Review: There are 2 different ways of viewing Rogue Planet. The first way is the most common, as a stand alone story taking place after Episode I where we slowly start to see Anakin Skywalker descend into the dark side. In a very slow and tedious way. Or the book can be viewed as a prequal to the New Jedi Order series. In this viewpoint, Rogue Planet comes off very well. It introduces Vergere and really helps the reader to understand why Sekot could be important 40 or 50 years after Rogue Planet takes place. The relationship between Anakin and Obi-wan is inconsistantly written. There are times when Bear seems to get lost in his story and forget how is characters act. OVerall, the first time I read Rogue Planet I found it filled with unnecessary characters, overblown dialogue and pointless plot. Now, when I view the book in light of the NJO series I find that many of the characters are still unnecessary and the dialogue is still overblown but some major plot points now make sense, something very important when you are reading a book. Yet, this book for all its relevance to the NJO series is still a slightly above average addition to the Star Wars Saga.
| 
