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Summary: Vector Prime foreshadows the future of the Jedi
Review: The New Jedi Order sereis begins with Vector Prime, a great book with a shocking end. It begins with Leia Solo, her daughter Jaina, and Mara Jade Skywalker trying to settle a dispute between two planets. They meet Nom Anor, a mysterious ruler who has sinister plans or the galaxy. Eventually, Leia, her husband Han, her children, Mara, her husband Luke, Chewbacca, Artoo, and Threepio are off to the Outer Rim to meet Lando Calrissian. A seemingly unrelated story involving an outpost on a desolate planet also occurs. It is interesting to see how everything comes together. The book may shatter some Star Wars fans faith in the series, but for most people it is an enjoyable read and a great beginning to what looks to be a great series.
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Summary: an awesome start to a new series
Review: This is a great book. A new enemy has entered the universe and they show just how tough and determined they are. They are here to take over, believing that the Republic is theirs as told to them by their gods, and they will do anything to anyone that they consider inferior to themselves. There is a major character death in here, but it is necessary to show just how dire the threat of this new enemy, the Yuuzhan Vong, is and to let readers know that this is one fight that the Republic may or may not win.
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Summary: A GREAT INTRO TO THE NJO
Review: this book is simply wonderful. I read this book last spring and couldn't put it down (like all the others)! This was a great intro to the New Jedi Order and it had a lot of action! However, a MAJOR character dies...
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Summary: Entertaining story, but terrible writing
Review: I am a sucker for anything in the Star Wars milieu and the overall arc of the plot is very compelling and kept me engaged. But this was a terribly written book. It's so bad I found it distracting; I wanted to get out a red pen and make corrections. The plot too goes off or seems especially silly--even suspending your disbelief far enough to get you into a Star Wars novel. I'm not just talking about the famously controversial plot turn, which although satisfying has a certain authenticity to it. But many of the characters actions just don't make much sense. I put the book down several times in frustration.
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Summary: The Force is Not Strong in This One...
Review: A bad start to an (almost) otherwise great series. First of all, let me say that I am a big Star Wars fan who liked the prequels and the Yuuzhan Vong, and I think that Darksaber and Children of the Jedi were sort of okay. If you're still here, I'll continue with my review. Vector Prime should've been really good. It should've. But it wasn't, and I'll tell you why. Despite supposedly being darker and more ominous than the Bantam books, Vector Prime reads much like one of Kevin Anderson's books, except with fewer exclamation points and a little better writing. I'm sure Salvatore's non-Star Wars books (none of which I have read) are very good, but the fact remains that his first attempt at writing in George Lucas's universe was a dismal failure. Now, where shall I begin?1) The writing. As I said, despite its supposedly being darker than most SW novels, it reads almost like a cartoon. If Star Wars was more fantasy than sci-fi, it probably would've worked better. 2) The characterizations. Ugh. Somehow, Salvatore managed to butcher most of our beloved Star Wars characters. Jacen's become a whining brat (just when I thought he couldn't get any worse) who opposes Luke's plan to re-establish the Jedi Council (how'd our ex-farmboy even find out about that?) for no plausible reason. Mara Jade's suffering from a mysterious illness (that won't make sense until future books) and comes off as really annoying in this one. Lando's suddenly a technical genius who has managed to acquire several models of TIEs. Seeing as how they were originally built for the Empire, and just six years earlier they'd been forced to start using Preybirds because they only had one main shipyard that couldn't produce their signature fighter fast enough, it strikes me as a bit odd that Lando and his smuggler buddies have gotten so many of them, including a couple TIE Advanceds if I remember correctly. Still, VP isn't the worst we've seen our heroes portrayed. 3) The plot. Okay, so an evil alien species wants to take over the galaxy. There's something original. Or is it? These new baddies are no Ssi-ruuk or Yevetha. They're the Yuuzhan Vong, extra-galactic invaders with bizarre bio-technology that, along with the aliens themselves, seems to exist outside the Force. (This also won't make sense until later.) However, despite these ground rules, a mistake is made in THE VERY FIRST BOOK!! How is it that Anakin felt the dovin basal on Sernpidal die? That's what I'd like to know. Anyway, that plot seems kind of promising, but it won't become so until Mike Stackpole takes over for the next two books. No, Salvatore introduces us to the Yuuzhan Vong with the Praetorite Vong, a small invasion force made up entirely of Yuuzhan Vong indendants, which are, essentially, politicians. Oh, goody. You must admit, the only interesting character in this entire book is that Yomin Carr fellow, and (semi-spoiler) he gets killed off by the supposedly terminally-ill Mara Jade. Well, stranger things have happened. Despite its promising premise, Vector Prime comes off as rushed and poorly paced. Don't even get me started on that idiotic asteroid belt sequence. Prefect Da'Gara is one of the poorest villains I've ever seen, and Danni Qui, or however the heck you spell it, is a moron. It seems that the Yuuzhan Vong have created giant grasshoppers that can survive in space, eat through a ship's hull, and go into hyperspace. These things in themselves wouldn't be bad, but it seems these "grutchins" somehow manage to move through the airless vaccuum of space with wings. ??? I don't get it. And (here's another spoiler) how they beat the Vong was just completely moronic. I don't even remember how they did it. Something about using shieldships (which Lando conveniently managed to get more of after all of his originals were destroyed in The Thrawn Trilogy) to make the yammosk war coordinator freeze, and then the whole planet exploded? Yeah, that of something similarly stupid. And whatever happened to the coralskippers' ability to rip the shields off enemy ships? Why didn't they do that in the final battle? 4) The infamous death scene. This is my biggest spoiler yet, so you might want to skip this part if you've not yet read the book, although, even if you haven't, you probably already knows what happens. Chewbacca dies. Unlike most SW fans, I don't object to killing off some of the main characters (I didn't like most of them anyway), but only if their deaths serve a purpose. In this book, Chewbacca was killed off to shock readers and make them realize that their beloved characters were no longer immortal. It was a pointless, meaningless death. He died shaking his fist at a moon! The walking carpet didn't even go out in a blaze of glory, tossing Yuuzhan Vong around like they were stormtroopers. Supposedly, Chewbacca sacrificed himself to save Anakin. However, this makes absolutely no sense. Whatever happened to the Force? "Size matters not," to quote a certain green Jedi Master. Anakin could've levitated the old Wookiee up into the Falcon with ease. But he didn't, so, contrary to what his siblings would have him believe, it really is his fault Chewbacca died. Besides the scenes with Yomin Carr, the only good part of this book is the very end, with Han talking about his bubble. If I've offended anyone who liked this book, I apologize, but you must admit that my arguements have merit. Read the Dark Tide duology or Traitor, then read this one again and see if your perceptions have changed any. If they haven't, then good for you; you're entitled to your own opinion. This has been mine. Please tell me if you found it helpful or not, and, if the latter, I encourage you to read this book anyway. It's not the best out there, but it's not the worst either, and it sets the stage for (better) things to come. Do-ro'ik vong pratte! And woe to our enemies!
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Summary: How could they kill. . .
Review: A good book. With the introduction of the Yuuzhan Vong, the Star Wars Galaxy has taken on a new direction. Not since the dark days of the Empire, has the freedom of the Galaxy been under so much a threat. R.A. Salvatore has done justice to the franchise and his work has literally started a new chapter, a new beginning to the Star Wars Saga. The Solo children are coming into thier own. Leia is drawn back into the politacal arena. Mara Jade is gravely ill. This book has twists and turns and a huge, huge, surprise. It is a must read for those who know and love Star Wars, as is nessisary for all those who want to read the other New Jedi Order books.
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Summary: Excellent start for the New Jedi Order Series
Review: I had been busy getting a graduate education while working full time and raising a family and I had left SF and Fantasy books behind for a few years. After graduating in May 2002 and enjoying Episode II, I decided to restart my SF and Fantasy reading with RA Salvatore's Vector Prime (New Jedi Order Book # 1). To tell you the truth I loved this book and it hooked me up so badly into Star Wars and The New Jedi Order series that I went ahead and bought all the rest of the series already published. This book did not only hook me up with The New Jedi Order, but with RA Salvatore's other works, which I have been reading... I do not read SF and Fantasy looking for art although RA Salvatore is an artist (among others such as R. Jordan, T. Goodkind, E. Haydon, D. Eddings, J.R.R. Tolkien, etc.), but mainly for its entertainment value and I could not do anything else until I finished reading this book. It is non-stop action and a great introduction to the Vong (yes Vong without respect)... Mara Jade Skywalker's one-on-one with a Vong is awesome... read it! ...
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Summary: The first of the best new series in a long time
Review: This is the first book in a long series, which you may have gathered if you read other reviews. An avid reader and SW fan, I have read most of the other books, triologies, etc, and I must say, that now, 14 books into the New Jedi Order, i am amazed. This series is GREAT and it will challenge alot of what you think you know about the SW universe. This book was good, not the best I ever read, but it lays the ground work for a journey you will NOT want to miss. RA Salvatore has done a nice job giving tidbits of the characters who will play roles in upcoming books, so if you want to read the later ones, you gotta start with this one. I was glad for a new adversary; I agree that the Empire/superweapons were getting stale. The Vong are unlike anything anyone has faced, and this is just the beginning. Go get this book and read it, and then read all the rest in order.
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Summary: Vector Prime
Review: I personally loved this book. I must admit I am biased because RA Salvatore is my favorite author, but I simply didn't have as much of a problem with this book as so many people seem to. If I could this would 4.75 stars, sine it was worthy of the full 5 but definatly not deserving of only 4. I can't really sya anything that hasn't been said, but just wanted to tell people to read this book for themsleves, ALL THE WAY THROUGH, before decing anything about the series.
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Summary: Great Story!!!
Review: I could not put this book down. R.A. did a great job with the all the chacaters in this story. The plot couldnt have been put toghter any better. ... I cant wait to read the rest of the "THe New Jedi Order" series now. Hopefully the authors will explain how Han Solo is handling the lose of Chewie. I hope R.A. does more Star Wars Novels in the future.
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