Rating: 
Summary: What Episode One Should Have Been
Review: As I was reading this novel, it became clear to me exactly what was wrong with Episode one... They were trying too hard. They wanted to cram as much detail and as many people, places, and techno-gadgets into the story as they could. Rouge Planet is a condensed story about the master, Obi Wan, and the padawann, Anakin. It allowed us to understand the bonds that they form and the training process. Albeit there was a little foreshadowing into the darkside of Anakin in the film, in Bear's book it is very structured and obvious, but still well done. I recomend this book to any, like myself, who love Star Wars, but as it is not as lingo-heavy as some others, like the X-Wing series for example, it is a great book for any casual fan too!
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Summary: ROGUISHLY RAVE REVIEWS FOR LATEST STAR WARS ADVENTURE
Review: For the millions of people who saw Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and who eagerly await the completion and release of Episode II, comes a new novel that will give the reader a taste of things to come. In fact, not only does this book wet the appetite of the average fan, but also drenches the reader with every fantastic aspect of the epic that truly is Star Wars.Set three years following the events of Episode I, Rogue Planet is centered on young Jedi Apprentice Anakin Skywalker. Twelve-year-old Anakin excels in training with his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, but finds himself becoming more and more reckless as he seeks out ways to indulge his thirst for danger and excitement. At the same time a new threat to the Republic slowly begins to influence the Senate, causing its deterioration and rumblings of corruption. A key player in this developing dark new order is middle-aged Commander Tarkin, whose connections with Chandler Palpatine enable him to gather more and more political power. With orders from an unknown official, Tarkin enlists the aid of evil ship designer Raith Seinar, so to lead a fleet of ships in an attack and conquest of a legendary planet known as Zonoma Sekot. The Jedi Council, wanting to calm Anakin's wild nature, decides to give him a mission in order to tame his restlessness. The Council assigns Obi-Wan and his apprentice to investigate Zonoma Sekot, and look into the disappearance of another Jedi Knight, who was sent to the same mythical planet a year before. Facing mystery and unknown dangers from the planet and outside forces, Obi-Wan and Anakin must find a way to solve the conundrum that is Zonoma Sekot. To do so they must become more than teacher and student, and more than Master and Apprentice, instead they have to trust each other and the Force as they've never been able to before. One of the great aspects of this novel is that it delves deeply into the character of Anakin Skywalker. It gives the reader insight into the mind of a young boy who has to face his responsibility to the Jedi, the Galaxy, and to himself, while at the same time control his emotions and rash decisions. The reader is able to sympathize with him and his feelings of doubt, loneliness, anger and frustration, as well as, ponder the question of how such a child could eventually become one of the Galaxy's greatest enemies? Unlike the Episode I movie, and even the novel based on the film, this book lets the reader get to know each character on a very personal level, while simultaneously providing adventure that will make the reader eager to turn each page. The novel's creator, and multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, Greg Bear, envisions a tale full of fantasy, imagination, emotion and mystery. Bear writes with such expertise that it is easy to forget that one is reading a novel and not watching a motion picture. This book pulls the reader in right from the start and takes him on a journey through a strange new world, the politics of evil, and the psyche of one boy whose destiny is shrouded in darkness. If for no other reason, this book is definitely worth taking a look at because of its great variety of characters, whose ambitions and internal conflicts make them much more than legends of American pop culture and science fiction, it makes them almost tangible.
Rating: 
Summary: STAR WARS AS HARD-CORE SCI-FI?!?
Review: THIS BOOK GETS OFF TO A GOOD BEGINNING WITH ANAKIN TRYING TO RECAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF PODRACING IN THE TRASH TUNNELS OF CORUSCANT, HOWEVER IT QUICKLY DEGENERATES INTO A HARD TO FOLLOW, DIFFICULT TO SLOG THROUGH DESCRIPTION OF A WORLD WHERE FABULOUS SPACE CRAFT ARE ORGANICALLY GROWN TO SPECIFICALLY MATCH THE OWNER. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF INTERESTING FORESHADOWS FOR ANAKIN AND AN APPEARANCE BY THE FUTURE GRAND MOFF TARKIN, BUT THESE ARE THE ONLY WORTHWHILE PORTIONS OF THE BOOK. QUITE FRANKLY, YOU SHOULD PURCHASE THIS BOOK ONLY IF YOU ARE A DIE HARD FAN OF HARD-CORE SCI-FI.
Rating:
Summary: A different though nice edition to Star Wars
Review: Bear's new Star War's novel, "Rogue Planet", was certainly enjoyed by me. I liked the caharachterizations of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi and the story line, although hard to follow at points, was somewhat interesting and creative. However, it was a different kind of Star Wars novel, and sometimes lacked the science fiction feel. Of course, there were moments that were full of ships and designs and everything, though it's still that loss of Star Wars feel. Over all, though, it was a good book. The dercriptions of Zonama Sekot and of ship designs as well as ships and charachters were intriquing, the dramatic parts were thrilling, and the story made you think.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but... why bother?
Review: It's clear that a team of polished professionals was behind the audiobook version of "Rogue Planet". After all, the story is nicely read aloud with drama and feeling by Michael Cumpsty; and there is intelligent and thoughtful placement of music and sound effects. But, the story... oh, the story. From what my friends tell me, Greg Bear is an imagininative and skilled storyteller, and there ARE some interesting concepts on display here. But the concepts, as well as the characterizations and drama, can only be enjoyed in infrequent glimmers during this audiobook, due to the severe abridgement. So I really can't tell you if this story is consistently good or not, as most of it was left on the cutting room floor, with the remainder ending up more than a bit confusing, good production values or not. Look at it this way. Unabridged, this novel would take about eight to ten cassettes (if not more) to produce as an audiobook. This audio is three cassettes. Do the math: listeners are getting about one third of the story that those reading the book are getting. If publishers want to keep costs down and release audiobooks of shorter length, why not commission stories that take three or four cassettes to fill, intead of cutting down much longer stories to fit the three or four cassette format? Is it because publishers want to release simultaneous hardback editions of their stories, and that a hundred page novella (perfect for a three or four tape unabridged audio adaptation) would be too short for such a hardback? Here's an easy solution: commission three "Star Wars" original novellas (about a hundred pages each) from different science fiction writers of note, and publish them in a nice hardback called "Tales of the Jedi Knights" or something along those lines. Then publish three SEPARATE audiobooks, with each three or four cassette audiobook adapting one of those stories in unabridged fashion. This seems like a workable solution to the problem of nearly incomprehensible abridged audiobooks. I welcome the views of other readers and/or listeners on this issue!
Rating:
Summary: Rogue Planet
Review: While normally I don't expect much from any genre book, Rogue Planet seemed to start out well enough for me to continue reading. Unfortunately, the writer is too hampered by th established characters to sustain interest in the story being told which is never resolved. The three page chapters also got on my nerves and it was difficult for me, perhaps my fault, to keep the story line in perspective. What worked for me were the characterizations of Anakin, Obi Wan, and Mace Windu (though he is only at the beginning of the story). Tarkin also works, but there is nothing revealing in this story from what we already know of him. All of the new characters fail to spark much of an interest with the possible exception of Raith Seinar who is a weapons designer with a role in the future of the Star Wars saga. It did struggle through the reading, but I can't say that it was the fault of the writer. The story wasn't compelling and when you know that nothing will happen to either Obi-Wan or Anakin, you have to hope for an interesting subplot which wasn't here.
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Summary: A step up for Anakin, no longer just a cute kid
Review: A good read for people who want to know more about the soon to be Darth Vader. Many weren't fond of episode's one cute young Skywalker. But cute nine year old can't be much else, so I think what Rougue Planet allowed was us to meet Anakin at the much more sensitive Age of 12. It's hard enough to reach the age of puberty, a time when your no longer a small child, but still aren't an adult, without the extra troubles of being a Jedi apprentice. The book seems keenly focused on Anakin's struggle with the dark side. The pit race in the begining allows us to understand much better Anakin's attachment to podracing. And the momment of his first kill, however accidental, seems the most important and consistant thing the book builds toward. Basically, The good thing aout Rogue Planet is Anakin matters, and you can see a path towards Darth Vader, unlike the christ child of Episode 1. Qui-Gon was most, if not all, of episode 1, despite the fact he dies and Palpatine, Anakin, and Obi-wan are the people who will matter in the full scope of Star wars movies. Though I would have liked my favorite episode 1 character Queen Amidala, to have participated, made an appearence, or at least be mentioned more. Well, there was the line where Anakin said he would want to marry someone like her. Great, he's 12, I'd expect the thoughts of his future wife to go further than that. Especially since he declared her an Angel at first site, and, I thought, had a crush on her in episode 1. We do get to meet a pre-Empire Tarkin, and for some reason the author decided to make implications about the begining plans for the Death Star, despite the fact it has little importance in this story. While it handles the Anakin personality in depth, Obi-Wan is made out to be the biggest bore in the galaxy. And I think it takes Anakin to deep into darkness too soon. However, he's 12 and it's belivable he will bounce back. If you want to know more about Anakin, a personality lost in episode 1, this book is perfect for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Weird, dull, and pointless. A chore to read.
Review: I made the mistake of buying this book because I was hoping for sort of a sequel to The Phantom Menace. What I got was a creepy and incredibly boring book with a dearth of action and a very weak plot that leads to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Aside from Obi-Wan and Anakin, there are no Phantom Menace characters in this book. Nothing about Queen Amidala, or Senator Palpatine, or even the odious Jar Jar Binks. Mace Windu and Yoda appear briefly at the beginning of the book, but are never mentioned again. Instead, Rogue Planet's cast is made up of a cornucopia of creatures so bizarre that the author's meticulously detailed descriptions of them will boggle your mind, and maybe even turn your stomach. Among them, a bunch of giant seeds that hang on people like parasites, communicate with their hosts telepathically, and eventually grow into living spaceships. Huh? If you want a great Star Wars story, try A.C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy. Rogue Planet is a waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Story after Episode 1
Review: This was a good story to read after Episode 1. However, I felt that the ending was rushed to a conclusion by the author as if he was on a time schedule to complete the book. Basically, the climax of the story was summed up too quickly for amount of character development that took place in the book. But, it is definetly a good book to catch up on Anakin's childhood and destiny prior to Episode II.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The book gets off to a slow start, then never really goes anywhere. It spends a lot of time on the character development of Obi-Wan and Anakin, some of which is interesting. Unfortunately, the book's portrayal of Obi-Wan is that of a rigid, unimaginative person -- not really consistent with his portrayal in any of the movies so far. The rest of the characters are basically shadows, with no real development of any of them. Greg Bear's other novels are much better written than this.
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