Rating: 
Summary: this book sucks in every way possible. starwars is outof gas
Review: first off, whenever you are in the minds of jacen or jaina, they always refer to their parents in their minds as HAN and LEIa, which on kathy tyers part is pretty stupid. and the novel is just another book in this "great" new series that is really a rehash of the last one. who cares anymore about refugees going from planet to planet? this is getting on my nerves, and if not on yours yet, it will be pretty soon. I thought the book moved very slowely and made no real sense. we get a good glimpse at the new enemy, but at the cost of losing interest in the good guys. something needs to happen in the next book, before all of us get bored with this new series. it is totally unaccpetable to have plotlines in a star wars novel even worse than episode one. and you cant do that very easily. there was way to much dialog in the plotline, and not enough action. it's time for the republic to take up arms. han, leia, and luke seem to have been typecast in the same roles over and over again. it is starting to get very old. why can't we get a jedi order novel these days that match those of dark tide one and 2? in my opinion, those two are the best in the new series, and quite possibly the entire novels. take heed, lucasbooks, you have utterly destoryed the quality of star wars novels by taking publishing rights form bantam, but you are on the verge of losing many readers. start bringing out intersting books in the near future, before i move my loyalties elsewhere. PS: anyone who liked this book is completly stupid and willingly to enjoy anything with the name star wars over it. you are george lucas's master race.
Rating: 
Summary: I Didn't Want to Put This Book Down.........
Review: and that is saying quite a bit, since this is the first Star Wars adult novel I've felt this way about in some time. The characterizations are dead on. Luke and Mara interract like a real married couple. The relationships between various members of the Solo family are realistically complex and true to life.One still loves to hate the Vong, but Ms. Tyers kindly spared us from excessive gore and other details of Vong practices as found in previous novels in this series. I plan to go back and read this one again soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I'm surprised to see so many good reviews for this book. I felt that this was the worst book so far in the NJO series. The only reason I'm not giving it a lower rating is because its a hardcover and important to the overall series. I thought it was good that they got all the main characters together in one place for once but the whole book felt rushed, like they tried to jam a 500 page book into 300 pages. The orginization is just terrible and it bounces around too much. The characters are in one setting one second and in the next line its the next day and they're someplace else with no real explanation of how they got there or what happened. The dialogue is boring and jumpy too and its hard to follow who's speaking. Many of the characters also seem like stereotypes and are delegated to set roles in this book. It seems as though Jacen is supposed to be the main focus of this book but he's just irritating and stupid, which is sad because he was a favorite of mine. The only good interactions in the whole book was luke and mara but even that was sub-par. They usually have a little bantering back and forth but in this all they seem to do is say "i love you", "oh i love you to, now dont die". I mean how many times do we have establish that they have a bond with each other, we get the picture! And as for a little comedy and action that usually accompany a star wars book, well there seems to be none this time. Never have I ever been so relieved to reach the end of a book. I mean i had to force myself to finish this thing, and the only reason i bothered finishing it is because i knew its important to the series. So overall, important book to read for the series but bad execution.
Rating:
Summary: BEST OF NEW SERIES
Review: I couldn't put this one down. Just when I thought the new books might start to get predictable, this one through it out the window. It kept me guessing what was going to happen the whole way. Who's gonna make it? Who isn't? What is Jacen thinking!? The traditional characters (-Chewie of course) are all fighting together again and it brings back the original trilogy. I can't wait for the next installment to come out now. Kathy Tyers did a much better job with this book than The Truce at Bakura, and I felt that was a great book as well. Any Star Wars fan will love this book. Definitely recommend
Rating:
Summary: The Best of the NJO so far...
Review: Out of all the NJO books so far, this one is the best. The interactions between Luke and Mara are great. The plot is unpredictable.
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Addition
Review: This is without a doubt a worthy addition to the starwars univers. The book is well writen, and the plot is not only interesting and well thought out, but it fits in nicely with the other books in the new jedi order. This book is definatly worth reading if you enjoy the new jedi order; expect some surprises and interesting developments. I haven't heard anything about the next book in the series, but whoever writes it, I hope he can measure up.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the seris
Review: I thought that the book was great. I also love the seris. I couldn't wait till this new book came out. It was great.
Rating:
Summary: You Will Like This One
Review: Kathy Tyers wrote her last book for The Star Wars Galaxy in January of 1994, when she penned "The Truce At Bakura". In the intervening six and one half years she clearly has developed both as an Author, and placed herself among the top writers for Star Wars fans, with her new book "Balance Point". This is the 8th book in this new series, and while subtle shifts are beginning to take place, or at least hinted at, The New Republic does not fair any better this time around, and the group that should be beyond reproach is threatened with persecution. The threat is particularly sordid and indicative of how badly the traditional alliances have become blurred, because the threat is delivered by a member, and in a place, that such an action has previously been unthinkable. The theme of this book is not vastly different from the previous installments. However fans should enjoy that, instead of being spread across the galaxy, the members of the Solo Family, and the Skywalker pair of Luke and Mara are fighting together this time. Han is again prominent in the story, and the action sequences, whether individual combat, or large-scale invasion are very well done. The Solo Kids are no longer Kids, they have all come into their own albeit it different ways. Even Jacen seems to have sorted out what direction he will take in his relationship with the Force. The mood is still dark, and the friends we have followed into a third decade, while not fragile, are now sporting some gray hair, except for those...but that would be a spoiler and a humorous one at that. There are few light moments, but one will become a classic. Again I cannot spoil the scene, but Anakin is no longer a child, and the view from a 16 years old perspective, is...different. There are also some gestures/sacrifices that come from the least likely of players, and it was instances like these, that give the slightest bit of hope, that the end of this series will not end all we have come to know and enjoy. There is a long way to go in this story line, and this particular installment ends as dramatically as any of the previous seven, and perhaps even more so. Kathy Tyler has delivered a great book, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A different direction, to be sure, but a welcome one...
Review: While the first five books in the New Jedi Order cycle have their emphasis on galactic events, and essentially serve as an introduction to the means and methods of the invading Yuuzhan Vong, this book focusses a lot more on character development. All of the previous entries in this series have pretty much had the characters spread out all over space, only to almost coincidentally end up in the same area at the end for the huge battle finale, this book refreshingly takes place almost exclusively on the planet Duro, where the Solo clan is helping refugees settle in. This is definitely a welcome change in pace. In most of the previous books, the emphasis on action often lead to unsatisfactory character development, often with key characters being left out of a story entirely. Here, however, each character has ample "screen time," and Kathy Tyers obviously knows every one of them very well. Balance Point is a "Jacen book." Finally, the kid seems to be coming into his own, and coming to terms with himself. Unlike in previous novels where he's just seemed like a whiny brat, I could actually sympathize with him here. And the author also took a little time to explain why his character is so different in the NJO series than in the Young Jedi Knights line. Also in this book we have the best Luke/Mara interactions I've yet seen. Unlike the "witty repartee" we saw in Mike Stackpole's books and the somewhat forced dialogue from Jim Luceno's, Kathy Tyers hits their relationship right on the nose, and gives it a surprise twist. Jaina and Anakin also continue to grow believable as characters, and Han and Leia finally spend some time together again. And, for I think the first time ever, I actually felt sorry for a Hutt. This volume also expands the Yuuzhan Vong culture, making it more understandable, and brings back Nom Anor and Warmaster Tsavong Lah with a vengeance. It was especially refreshing to see how Mara reacted to Nom Anor's presence. The author also tied up some loose ends from earlier in NJO and the SW saga as a whole, most notably concerning Lando, and she had obligatory plethora of cameos. Don't let all my talk of character discourage you, though...this novel also has plenty of action. Lightsaber fights, ship battles, dogfights, evacuations-under-fire, undercover Jedi, and all kinds of cool stuff. I guess my only complain about this book is that Danni Quee is still nowhere to be seen. But now that the first year "introduction" to the New Jedi Order has ended, the series is really taking shape, and this book is easily the best one yet. I very definitely recommend picking this one up. Thank you, Kathy, for a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Balance Point-Kathy Tyers great reader Michael Cumpsty booo
Review: The story is great, slow at first but picks up through out. I satisfied that Jacen FINALLY found his place in the force, but now his's hunted by the Vong but hey we can't have everything. The thing I didn't like was the reader of the audio version Michael Cumpsty, he is a very dry reader. I want Anthony Heald back. I hope he reads the next book because if Mr. Cumpsty has no inflection in his voice he doens't bring the charicters to life like Anthony Heald did. So I give it four out of five stars minus one for the dry reading.
|
