Rating: 
Summary: With the Good always comes the Bad
Review: Great book. Best SW novel yet. Tim Zahn is a master at tight, exciting storytelling and brilliant characters. His Sw books are 100% yummy goodness. OK. But Mara Jade fans, don't rejoice yet. Do a search under New Jedi Order (new SW book coming out in November) and read the excerpt. I have been crying, ranting, and sobbing uncontrollably for the past two days on account of this excerpt and I see no reason for stopping anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST
Review: Has anyone thought about what Shada said at the Han and Leia's apartment on Coruscant? That she and Karoly saw Han gun down Greedo at the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope. That means that the two women in the green clothes and black hair (the Tonnika Sisters) are Shada and Karoly!
Rating:
Summary: PURE STAR WARS MATERIAL. IN OTHER WORDS, THE BEST EVER!!!
Review: WHOA!!! Vision of the Future blew me away! Timothy Zahn is the best author who ever lived!! The entire storyline is pure genius! Even though it's a book, I really felt honored just to read it. The various plots have a lot to offer as well. FOr example, Luke following his instincts and heading to the Nirauan system to rescue Mara turns out to be the best thing he could've ever done. For both him and for Mara. You see a side of Mara that remained hidden until then. And the Talon Karrde sub-plot! Whoa!! That was something to remember. Especially Jorj Car'das! The stories he told of his adventures with Yoda and Dagobah....well, they're amazing. And those Aing-Tii monks he learned to use the Force from! That one really gets you thinking. And anyone whos a fan of the X-Wing series know who Booster Terrik and Mirax Terrik Horn are. The son Valin is the perfect follow-up of I, Jedi's children hints, but the absolute fear I felt when reading about the Errant Venture's mission posing as the Tyrannic.....and Garm Bel Iblis' strict rules that nothing must stop them from completing the mission, even if it meant blowing a hole in the station where civilians may be killed....the station where a famous slicer is on a mission of his own.... Well...you get the picture. There's so much more to talk about, the sleeper clone regiments on Pakrik Minor, the "relaxing" vacation and then the galaxy changing missions of Han and Leia, Corran and Wedge trying to discourage sabotage attempts on the shields of Bothawui, the realization of what The Hand of Thrawn truly is, the increasing heat in the Imperial leadership, the tidbits of info on the Mistryl and the loyalties of Karoly and Shada, its all to much to fully explain with only 1000 words. But what other then STAR WARS and Timothy Zahn can pull that off? Nothing, nothing can and nothing will, just like nothing can or will top this book. A true must-have for STAR WARS fans. If you don't have a copy yet, get one. Period.
Rating:
Summary: Great book! Couldn't put it down!
Review: This book had non-stop action. I loved the interaction between Luke and Mara. I can't wait to see what Zahn writes next. He left it wide open for more great novels. P.S. Newcastle, England. The whole cloned emperor thing comes from the comic book "Dark Empire" which is sold on Amazon.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent - but where is Chewbacca?
Review: I thought this book was an excellent read and I found it hard to put down. But for the fact that Chewie disappeared and the whole newly-discovered galaxy he introduces [and all the possibilities it entails] seems to be forgotten about almost as quickly as it is introduced stops it from being 100% perfect. However it is still a fantastic book - I read in two days and then started Spectre of the Past again so I could read Vision of the Future all over again. Brilliant! Oh - what is all this mention of Luke going over to the dark side with the cloned Emperor? Is this a new book or just the possibility for a new book?
Rating:
Summary: What more needs to be said?
Review: This book is absolutely wonderful. I almost regret that I finished it under 12 hours, but it was worth it. Zahn cleans up the mess other authors left behind and finally settles up with Luke & Mara. He also creates a new problem, but one that can be dealt with later but still has some reality to it. Even though Chewie and the twins etc were left out, that was nice. I was glad that Zahn didn't include them- not that I don't like the characters- it's that he didn't add them in. That keeps the plot nice and healthy. It was also nice to a Tendra (if even briefly) because everyone else seems to have forgotten her and is a usable character. Absolutely the best. (I already said that, didn't I?) Take your time to savor this book.
Rating:
Summary: Page number discrepency.
Review: The hardcover version supposedly has 520 pages. the paperback is supposed to have 832, according to you. What's with that?
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly good; some problems.
Review: Don't get me wrong. I consider Tim Zahn the best writer in the Star Wars series. He does a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the Star Wars World, his characterizations of Luke, Leia and Han are dead on, and his new characters are developed to similar perfection. So, you ask, what is the problem? There were a few: The bringing together of Luke and Mara seemed forced, as if there was some sudden presure to get him hitched. Yeah, I understand that they had this force consciousness sharing thing, but I believe the same thing happened to him with Callista on the Eye of Palpatine, so the experience didn't hit me as unique. I was also disappointed at the Tallon Karde storyline. I liked the confrontation/realization scenes with Car'das, but Karde seemed to have lost some of his luster from the first Trilogy by the end of this book, and pairing him up with Shada, though cool in her own right, seemed like a consolation prize (c'mon, he's always had a thing for Mara.) Near the end of the book, scenes switched too rapidly for my taste, although that feeling may fade with a re-read. Finally, like Palleon and the aliens, I simply missed Thrawn. The bad guys in this novel were many, but not nearly as compelling. Overall, a noble effort, but I look forward to what will develop with the unknown regions. As for Luke and Mara, Heck, I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I'm dubious as to whether this relationship will last. Fundamentally, I think Luke and Mara make better firends than lovers.
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Summary: Avoid the audio cassette at all costs! But buy the book!
Review: VISION OF THE FUTURE, the book, is a fast-paced, intricately plotted novel that abounds with interesting characters and situations. VISION OF THE FUTURE, the audio cassette, is...a rather boring story about peace treaty negotiations and Imperial schemes that abruptly go awry. They cut out so much of the story that the little they left was confusing and ultimately yawn-inducing.The sound effects were intrusive -- the background spaceship hum during the first scene between Paelleon and his aide was so loud that at first I thought I had a defective tape. Anthony Heald, the narrator, uses low, whispery voices for the women characters -- making them sound like a bad female impersonator act. And he gives Mara Jade a vaguely American Southern accent to boot -- ugh. I kept picturing a six foot man with five o'clock shadow laced into one of Scarlett O'Hara's dresses whenever Mara spoke; not a pretty picture. His other voices aren't as annoying (except for Shada's lisp -- where did that come from?!) but they are far from perfect bulleyes'. Almost all of the Luke/Mara story is thrown out (not a bad thing, really, considering Mara's voice) so much of the book title's significance is lost. I pity anyone who used the audiocassettes to skip the book and then has to deal with any future books' use of the Unknown Regions. Completely gone are all the scenes set over and on Bothawui -- not a complete tragedy except for any fans of Rogue Squadron -- but without these scenes one wonders just why the Camaas Document was so important. To make a long review short -- BUY THE BOOK! SKIP THIS VERSION!
Rating:
Summary: Great!!!,Exciting, Pure Thrawn Genious, However...
Review: This was a great book, it was exciting, and had a great ending. However I like the trilogy better, perhaps because it was fresh. In this book Zahn brought back an enemy and worse he distoeted him, so you never get a feel for Thrawn as you did in the original trilogy. I thought that was one of the bad parts. Another I didn't get is the Luke and Mara relation ship, Zahn didn't give the reader enough relationship devlopment. It seemed as if Cupid shot them with arrows and they were in love. Other than those big flaws the book was other wise good. I liked the way how Trawn's tactics once again used politics against the Republic. I also liked the many sub-plots, however some seemed rushed. while others left unsolved... the old lady on Bothawau for instance, or the new aliens that use the force differently. However even though a reviewer said he wouldn't mind if this was the last SW book, I think there's room for more. Especially with those strange aliens and the new alliance, and the Hand of thrawn there's lots of openning for contiuation especially between Luke and Mara.
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