Rating: Summary: Very Interesting Review: I enjoyed this book because after the tragic loss of my favorite character, Anakin Skywalker, (curses to Troy Denning), I was hoping to find a new favorite. Maybe Jaina will turn out to be just that. In this book she is embracing some aspects of the Dark Side of the Force. I found this particularly interesting because for one thing we don't get to see much of the dark side. Every Jedi in the galaxy is running around avoiding the dark side except those dark jedi that are out there. Nobody wants to write anything about the dark jedi. As reader it would be nice to know what they avoiding. Anyway, I as a reader of the Star Wars series was ripe for some dark side butt kicking due to our grievious loss of the absolute coolest jedi out there (again curses to Troy Denning). Jaina fit the bill in this book. This book is all about character developement. Someone is going to have to fill the void of Anakin. The publisher threw this out to see if she is going to be interesting enough. NOTE TO PUBLISHER: Better Jaina that that namby pamby Jacen. As far as I'm concerned they could have killed that milk-sop, fence-sitting, conscientious-objecting, waste of a force strong sissy along time ago. So by all means develop Jaina, kill Jacen, or not....just don't waste to much time on him in the books unless your going to give him some teeth. Anyway....I enjoyed this book alot.
Rating: Summary: CATION!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! Review: Strange stuff happens when Jacen Solo isn't around to keep a lid on things. Jaina turns to the dark side; Tennel Ka becomes a queen; The Cheif of State tries to personally go up against the Yuuzhan Vong; and Kyp decides to reastablish the Jedi Council. Needless to say Dark Journey is one interesting book.
Rating: Summary: If you like politics then this is the book for you. Review: The author, Elaine Cunningham, did a very good job with the characters, scene descriptions, and political points. She did real well with the power struggle involving the queen mother's throne. In order to keep my attention the book needed to be more fast paced with more action.
Rating: Summary: Great! Review: This book is all about Jaina. It's probably the best New Jedi Order book so far, so read it!
Rating: Summary: Sometimes you need a little politics and less battle.... Review: War is not just battle. War has many different sides and politics is a HUGE side of war. So.....I think Elaine Cunningham did a fantastic job with this book. I'll admit after reading and falling in love with the characters from YJK it was a bit depressing to see head strong all about the light side of the force Jaina Solo, suddenly become cold and calculating. But you know it was realistic. Horrible stuff happens in life and people dont always come out of them with their previous frame of mind. Anyways taking into account what I said, this book was fantastic and it was really worth the wait and worth the money and the read. If you skip over this one, you will miss a great book dedicated to a great character. It was very action-oriented but in a different way. I really think that you should give this book a chance and in the books after, I feel that the politics and all the spectualtion about where Jacen Solo is will be helpful. It was a beautiful story and I highly recommend it.
Rating: Summary: Waste of Time Review: After looking forward to the next segment of this series, I was extremly disappointed with this book. The writing and story line left much to be desired, the book before this was wonderful, full of action and left you really wanting more. Unfourtnatly I wasted six dollars and the time it took me to read it.
Rating: Summary: Not the worst ever but bottom 20% for sure Review: Other than developing Jaina's character quite nicely (Kyp's too), the book was shallow. The plot developed slooooowwwwwwly, the coolest scenes were brushed over. For example, at the end the story climaxes with a great battle, commanded by Jag Fel himself. Cool. Only we never even learn what happens. No play-by-play, no strategy commentary, no command decisions by the kid,.... NOTHING. No offence, but women authors write boring Star Wars books. Too much emotional crap, not enough story. Bring back Stackpole and Alston, plEASE
Rating: Summary: Complete filler material for Star Wars fans Review: Despite the great ramp up and action packed novel that Star By Star was (book 9 in the New Jedi Order Series), I felt this sequel did nothing to advance the overall plot of the Yuuzhan Vong war. Hopefully you'll continue to read the rest of my review with an open mind on why I am critical on this latest adventure. First and foremost, there is nothing wrong with the writing style; it is easy to read and descriptions are colorful and fun enough, but it's the actual lack of content that disapoints me. After events in Star By Star, Jaina Solo, Zekk, Tenal Ka, Ganner and Lobacca have escaped the clutches of the Vong by using Nom Anor's analog frigate and eventually find there way to the Hapes Cluster (introduced way back in the Courtship Of Princess Leia). Once here, Jaina is briefly re-united with Han, Leia, Luke and Mara, but the reunion doesn't last long. Fearing Jacen Solo met a simliar fate of that to Anakin, the main plot line of this book is the seemingly downward spiral of Jaina towards the Dark Side. Vengance is on her mind, and she demonstrates how cunning she can be by starting to taunt the Yuuzhan Vong into comming to get her. However, this is done at a cost of self-discovery and maybe some heightened tesion between her and her Jedi peers. Ironically, through all this, it is once rouge Jedi, Kyp Durron, who finally sees the errors of his ways over the last few years and decides now he needs to get back on track and bring Jaina back in line as well. Tied into this is a political scandal with the ex-Queen Mother of Hapes and her bid for power of the Hapes thrown. And if she can't have it, she will find a suitable Queen to be her puppet (enter a typical re-hashed plot of Prince Isolder being manipulated and Han being bumped out of the way). It was also kinda silly to see that the Vong war-masters son, Khalee Lah, was introduced into the series as someone who may capture Jaina. Well, it could have been a good idea if he was actually utilized much more than he actually was. Han and Leia play some minor roles in this novel (namely at Anakins funeral which was very anti-climatic for a Star Wars novel), with Luke & Mara playing absolutely none. None of the rest of the familar cast was even present. By the way, with such a large war going on where is the Imperial Remanent, Hutt's, Peace Brigade, etc..etc..? A total lack of any mention or presennce in this novel really detracts from the overall feeling of the war. The only interesting points in this novel were these: 1) A slight tease of a possible relationship between Jaina and Jag Fel (Baron Fel's son)...which never ends up going anywhere so I have no idea why it was included, and 2) Jaina and Lobacca discover a way using Vong bio-technology to confuse the enemy ships in battles. This may have a dramatic effect on future novels and how the war progresses. However, despite these two small shiny spots, the novel was pretty slow, little action, and long on Hapes politics.
Rating: Summary: You call this a Star Wars book?! Review: This book is centered on Jaina Solo, the oldest Solo child and twin sister of the missing Jacen. After the death of her youngest sibling, Anakin on a deadly mission on a Yuuzhan Vong worldship, she is forced to hijack a frigate with the remaining Jedi survivors. Filled with grief and rage, and a thirst for vengeance, she seeks haven in the Hapes cluster, her alien enemies not far behind. Unfortunately, the Hapans still hold a heavy grudge against both Jedi and Solos, due to the destruction of their fleet at the hand of Thracken Sal-Solo, a distant relative, at Centerpoint Station, a weapon enabled by Jaina's brother Anakin. As the title suggests, she supposedly turns to the dark side. Although I commend the author for an excellent plot, there are far too many flaws in this piece of work. Cunningham repeatedly refers to Jaina as being eighteen, though the previous book, Star by Star, written by Troy Denning stated the heroine as being nineteen. As for her turning to the dark side, that would be an overstatement. Anger and vengeance might lead to the dark side, but obviously she did not take that path. She never came close to being like Darth Vader. There is a brief lightsaber encounter with her new master, Kyp Durron, but nothing more than that. "You're right" is not a retort. It may be about Jaina Solo, but Luke is only mentioned a couple of times in this novel. Not to mention a whole lot of other major characters, like Mara, Harrar, Gavin Darklighter and Vergere, just to name a few. The only key favorites are Han and Leia, if you don't count Prince Isolder and his crazed (opinion mine) mother Ta'a Chume. What's up with that? Where have all the Yuuzhan Vong gone... the only battle with the Vong is at the end. The whole general plot of this series, as far as I can see, is about these aliens conquering their galaxy, is it not? Why does it take so long for the Vong to track Jaina's stolen ship down? And why is the battle so short? Come to think of it, why is every battle only a few pages long? ...These additions give it a nice touch amidst the many errors. This book seems like it was written in haste. It is pretty dragging, though it does have its good parts. Even if I like the surprises, I wish Troy Denning and Greg Keyes and Kethy Tyers could've written the rest of this series instead.
Rating: Summary: Fair but not great Review: A competent but not great addition to the NJO sequence. Cunningham toys with several interesting ideas/plot elements--Jaina Solo flirting with the Dark Side; Kyp Durron looking for new purpose and method; some intriguing interpretations and explications of Vong technology and culture; Hapan court politics--but she doens't quite tie it all together into a great story. The plotting is severely episodic (Cunningham makes frequent jump-cuts between sequences without any justifying explications); character motivations are weak; and the development of the central theme--Jaina's moral slippage--is underdone (the sequence involving the Hapan genetic engineer is obviously significant--so why does Cunningham shy away from telling what happens?). Not an embarrassment like Vector Prime, but definitely not a great read like Star by Star or Onslaught.
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