Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!!!!
Review: All I can say is, this book is worth twice what it costs. From the moment I picked it up, to twenty-three hours later when I finally finished it, I lived in the Star Wars universe. The author really nailed just about all the characters perfectly, developed the plot quickly and efficiently, and all the while kept me on the edge of my seat from page one to three-hundred and one. Star by Star was extremely, almost exheedingly dark, and while Dark Journey doesn't entirely abandon that thread, it's a bit lighter, faster paced, and folows up on the events of Star By Star very well, dealing not only with Anakin's death and Jacen's disappearance, but more importantly the surviving characters reactions to those things. Dark Journey opens almost exactly where Star By Star ended, with the nine surviving members of the original Jedi strike team racing out from behind enemy lines in a stolen Vong ship that Jaina struggles to fly, while struggling with her own grief and guilt over her little brother's demise, as well as fear for her captured twin. Because of a desperate need to make her brother's death mean something, Jaina is filled with a lust for revenge, that she is more than willing to use the Darkside to fulfill. The interesting part of this aspect of the story is that in most Star Wars books when a character turns to the dark side it is portrayed as a terrible mistake, but here, even when Jaina is doing things like shooting dark side lighting out of her fingers, all of it is made to seem perfectly rational and even sensible; I know I would do the same thing if my brother was killed in front of me. Anyway, come out of hyperspace near Coruscant, only to discover the terrible truth; the capitol world has been nearly destroyed by Vong attacks and the government is in shambles. Jaina makes the descision to fly to Hapes instead, a temporary haven she deams safe because of Tenel Ka's status there. What she doesn't take into acount, however, is the amount of malice and hatred that many Hapens still feel towards the Solos, on account of the destruction of the Hapen fleets at Fondor at Anakin's hand... Anyway, I won't give away the rest of the plot, but I'll tell you right now, it's one heck of a ride! However, if you're looking for major overall plot changes, you might as well just skip this one, since nothing really changes at all as far as the war goes, and this is primarily a character driven story, with many sweet touching scenes, but little progress. We learn how much Jacen and Tenel Ka loved each other, but anyone who's read Young Jedi Knights knew that already. We learn who Jaina really loves as well, (a MAJOR dissapointment for me) but really we that already as well. Also, the previous generation has almost no part in this story. Anyway, if you're into Star Wars and this series, I gaurentee you'll love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Underrated Story. Fine Addition to NJO Series
Review: First, if you haven't read Star by Star, or if you don't want to know the vague storyline for Dark Journey, DON'T read this review.
This is a revision of my first revieww, because after I read this book a few times my perception of it changed. This story is another well written addition to the New Jedi Order series. It wraps up many of the loose storylines that James Luceno's NJO books started. The story itself focuses on Jaina Solo and the escape of the Jedi strike team from a Vong held world as told in Star by Star. With the recent death of Anakin and the capture of Jacen, Jaina is dangerously close to the dark side. As they strike force flees from the Vong, they go to the Hapan system where more intrigue awaits. Kyp Durron is prominately featured again, and he continues to evolve in a well rounded character. It is really up to Durron to make Jaina see how dangerous the line she is treading is. This story revolves around Jaina, Kyp, Jagged Fel and the Hapan Royal family. While the Skywalkers, Han & Leia all play minor roles, almost nothing is said of Jacen. None of the chapters are from his point of view. The reader hears about him early in the story, but nothing is confirmed. Again this is a good story, the characters are well written, but the lack of any of the story from Jacen's perspective is a bit of a let down. At first this story seems a bit lacking when compared to other NJO books, but that is simply not the case. Its a very subtle book, in perfect harmony with Jaina's first steps on the path to the dark side. Many readers dismissed this book out of hand, I encourage NJO fans to read this story. Its essential to the continuation of the NJO, and is really a good book on its own.
Rating: 
Summary: Was this really an NJO book?
Review: Don't get me started on how horrible this book was. I was appalled that this could even carry the title "New Jedi Order." This is the worst book in the entire New Jedi Order series. It was all about Jaina and only about Jaina. There was almost no noticable plot and I think Jaina is a little old for being such a child. You think Anakin and Jacen are dead, that's no reason to regress to a child! This writer captured grief all wrong for starters.Secondly, a book just about Jaina doesn't appeal to EVERYONE. The general idea is to make a book as appealing to all audiences as possible and Cunningham failed miserably. The book is not fit to follow Star by Star and would be better off as a very long side story. The only somewhat notable thing that happened was the discovery of the Yammosk signals and the ability to jam them. Aside from that it was pretty much a garbage book with nothing happening.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay entry to the series, but not terribly interesting.
Review: Star Wars books seem to come in two types: ones that break new ground and create interesting characters and situations, and ones that simply mark time (and make money) until the next good book. Dark Journey is an example of the latter type. The same people who are screaming at George Lucas to eliminate Jar Jar Binks and other superfluous characters should also scream at the Expanded Universe writers that we are sick of reading about Jedi turning to the Dark Side and back. Whatever happened to the Dark Side "forever dominating your destiny" if it's so easy to turn back to the good side? When I finished Dark Journey, I realized that nothing had really happened since Star by Star (unless you count the possible death of one character). The battle scenes were vague and unconvincing, and the action frequently jumped awkwardly, dumping the reader into a new situation with no setup. The book was readable and held my interest, but I left it with a sense that it could have been much better. It's too bad they can't have Michael Stackpole and Greg Keyes write the rest of the series by themselves.
Rating:
Summary: There's something about Jaina
Review: Lots and lots of character development for Jaina Solo. The other characters get some development but not much for anyone else. Elaine Cunningham keeps Jaina in the spotlight for the entire book with a few appearances by Jag Fel. All other concerns as battles , other characters and the Yuzzhan Vong invasion are secondary to Jaina. I'd have really liked a closer look at Hapan life and Tennenial Djo & Prince Isolder.
Rating:
Summary: Sassy Journey
Review: Enter woman author #2 in the New Jedi Order series, Elaine Cunningham. Unlike Kathy Tyers, who essentially handles a typical sort of Star Wars story involving all the major characters, Cunningham focuses on Jaina in order to create what she must have envisioned as a women's Star Wars book, by a woman and about a woman. Romance and powerful, consuming emotions take center stage, with Jaina as the sassy vixen around whom it all revolves. I am a woman, and I am offended by this insult to the maturity and intelligence of my gender. Where to begin? Cunningham's writing is atrocious. She has neither a sense of continuity nor of how characters should be expected to react emotionally to events. Han and Leia have just lost one, maybe two children, so they joke around and flirt. Then, later, we get a few sentences about how profound their sadness is. How trite, Ms. Cunningham. It's good to know that the Solos were officially upset while fooling around on the Falcon. Similarly, every male in the galaxy seems (completely irrationally) to have the hots for Jaina Solo, who, sassy vixen that she is, is not adverse to indulging their fantasies. The book opens with Star Wars Spice Jaina sitting on Ganner's lap and making lewd comments about it. In the middle, she manipulates the usually practical Kyp Durron with her womanly wiles and unbelievable Force powers. The book closes with a gushingly sentimental Kyp "saving" his soul mate Jaina, who's taken her sassiness a little too far. This is as over-the-top as Moulin Rouge, but with only a fraction of the emotional depth. Cunningham's treatment of the Force is as simplistic and flawed as her treatment of human emotions. In a series that focuses on questioning the nature of the Force, this novel is completely out of place. The message here seems to be that you can be totally evil (Cunningham might say "sassy") without going over to the dark side. Also, it seems more okay for Jaina to be evil (than it is for other people). Cunningham rewrites history, saying that Kyp used the Force to convince Jaina to help him in Greg Keyes' last book (Rebirth; and I thought Jedi mind tricks only worked on the weak-minded). This is bad of Kyp. Jaina uses such mind tricks frequently, and this is something that "not even Jacen would question." These problems are only the tip of the iceberg. The book is filled with emotional non-sequitors, massive errors in continuity, and bawdy exploitation of the concept of "woman." So is there anything to like? Well...by far the best thing about the book is that Cunningham doesn't get to write Jacen or Anakin (and mess them up). Second to that? The book is short and not quite as pathetically childish as a Kevin J. Anderson book. Also, I guess the concept that Jaina is an awful and disconnected person makes sense...the authors of the series have been building that from the beginning. Her reaction to her brothers' situations should probably be reprehensible. However, the way Cunningham exploits this opportunity to write Jaina as a bad girl is really uncalled for. She warps other characters almost beyond repair in the process (especially Kyp) and seems to revel in Jaina's badness rather than condemning it. What's worst is that she passes off the evil that Jaina does as "girl power." Maybe this speaks to teen angst or something (I might have liked the book more back when I was an angsty teen), but only in a destructive way. Conclusion: readers who can't resist the guilty pleasures of bad romances and bawdy women, rejoice; readers who want a reasonable treatment of the aftermath of the devastation in Star by Star, you're out of luck--your best bet is to read this with a sense of humor.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull, Boring, Just Not Star Wars
Review: this was by far the biggest bust in the whole NJO series. There's barely any action, and without Jacen and Anakin, it's not a good book. Although Elaine Cunningham is developing Jag and Kyp to fill the role of the two lost jedi brothers, the book is just dull with Jaina being taught how to be a lady by the queen mother on hapes and really lacks a strong male presence. Also, Han and Leia are not mentioned enough and the book just stinks! It's pretty obvious that the author is a first time star wars author who should never write another book in her life!!! I only hope the next books are better. Bring back Zahn, Stover and Allston!!
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars
Review: This is an interesting story, although it focuses mainly on Jania Solo. Kyp also has a big part in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Kinda okay... kinda.
Review: I've been keeping my distance from the New Jedi Order books ever since I heard about the deaths of Chewbacca and Anakin, but I noticed recently that my library had "Star By Star" so I said "What the heck" and took it out. It was reasonably enjoyable, and made Anakin's death a little more tolerable. It would have done very well to include much more interaction between the characters, but it was a solid book on the whole. To make a long story short, I figured I might as well read the rest of the series, and bought "Dark Journey". I was engrossed but disappointed. Dark Journey starts off well enough, but then the plot just stops. It never got boring, but when I looked back on what I had just read, it seemed like approximately nothing had happened. Jaina's dark side issue was vague throughout the whole book, which was extremely disappointing. As I neared the end, it seemed like the author had suddenly said, "Oh crud, I need to wrap this up soon and I've gone absolutely nowhere!" Suddenly things started happening again, there was a battle, and Jaina had a conversionary experience. All very vague still, but tolerable. The epilogue is satisfying, and conveyed the appropriate sense of relief, though my imagination created more than a few the emotions in this book. Dark Journey's primary crippling problem is vagueness. Even with my limited skills at narrative, I'm pretty sure I could do better on that count. I'm not sure what Ms. Cunningham was thinking, but Dark Journey just doesn't deliver. My rating is good because the story did have a satisfying emotional flow - if I couldn't quite tell what was going on with the characters, I could get a sense of what they were feeling. Because of this I don't feel entirely cheated... but it's a near thing.
Rating:
Summary: a pretty good entry
Review: This is a pretty good entry in the New Jedi Order series. It takes place immediately after Star by Star and is basically about Jaina dealing with what happened on that mission. This is about her slide towards the Dark Side, what choices have led her here, and what she decides once she realizes what she's been doing. This story is about character development. It doesn't advance the war against the Vong, even thought there is a battle at the end and for once the Vong get their butts kicked. It is kind of surprising who pulls Jaina back and what choice she makes at the end, but overall, a good read.
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