Rating: 
Summary: The new enemy for the New Republic
Review: Since Heir to the Empire was first released, I have read nearly every Star Wars book that has been published based on George Lucas' universe. The New Jedi Order Series, though written by various authors, has left me screaming for what happens next whenever I finish the latest. A complement to the series is Rogue Planet, which actually comes in after Phantom Menace (Episode I), but eludes to the existence of the Yuuzhan Vong, the new enemy that approximately 50 years later will begin to decimate the galaxy we all have come to know in the Star Wars craze. I highly recommend the entire series to anyone who wants a fast-moving story and an utterly terrifying look at a new, seemingly undefeatable, foe.
Rating:
Summary: James Lucenso does it again!
Review: Any Star Wars fan who has read any of his books, not to mention the ones in the X-Wing Series, knew that this book would not disappoint. And it did not. We finally get to delve into the mind on Han Solo, who has had a rough time since the loss of his partner Chewbacca. Han must quickly put his life back in order, because the Yuuzhan Vong are not going to stop for his loss. So without help, he goes back to his smuggling days. He soon finds out that an old friend is working for a group called the Peace Brigade, a group affiliated with the Yuuzhan Vong. What will Han do? The only thing he can: honor Chewbacca's death.
Rating: 
Summary: Best NJO book - 4.5 stars
Review: In a series that I, a devoted Star Wars fan haven't liked much so far, Hero's Trial was a welcome addition. From the beginning, Luceno captures the spirit of the characters very well, and keeps the intrigue up without having to include mindless action. I love his portrayal of Han; I think that his is the best representation of Han that has ever been done, with the possible exception of A.C. Crispin's work in her Han Solo Trilogy. The introduction of Roa is interesting, although his recitation of classic Star Wars lines is cheesy, repetitive, and downright stupid. Other than that, however, this is an excellent book in what, so far, has been a lackluster series.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of a turn in the series.
Review: A bit of a turn in the series. This book brings Han Solo back into the fold (after a 2 book absence) and essentially focuses on him and a Yuuzong Vong infiltration agent. Not a bad story, but I missed the events surrounding Jedi. There was practically no use of the force in this book. As these books develop, I am quite happy to see that this is really just one long series. Each book, new author or not, takes off exactly where the last one left off. Since this galactic war is on a huge scale, this could run for at least 10 or more books. We'll see what happens.
Rating:
Summary: Great book-worth four 1/2 stars
Review: While I was glad to at last see Han coming out of his grief and fighting again, at the same time I felt that other aspects of the story were somewhat neglected. However, writing and plot wise, I'd say this is probably one of the best installments to come along yet. I was also pleased to finally see a book that focused almost exclusively on the adult characters. The kids are great, but I'd hate to see them replace Luke, Leia, Mara and Han and the like too soon. Anyway, in this book the Vong decide that the fastest way to defeat the New Republic would be to destroy their greatest asset; the Jedi. They dispatch the Priestess Elan, equiped with a killing biological weapon living inside her, along with her 'familier' Vergere (Rogue Planet anyone?) to go and feign deffection to the New Republic in order to get close enough to the Jedi to destroy them. Elan claims to have information about a disease her people infected one of the Jedi with (Mara of course). Anyway, Mara continues to fight the disease the Vong infected her with, but she's losing at best, and is now practically on her deathbed. Meanwhile Han's grief over Chewie has turned into a lust for revenge, and he heads out with an old smuggler pal of his to hunt down Reck Desh, a leader of a bizarre group of people called the Peace Brigade, allied with the Vong, who believe the only way to stop the Vong is to give them what they want. Anyway, this book is quite a bit more intracite then some of the others. Though it focuses mainly on Han, there are many other subplots revolving around each other. It's pretty intense at times, so I can't say I'd recommend it to kids, though teenagers and adults will enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow Beginning, very slow :(
Review: It was a slow beginning, reading this book. The first couple chapters, nothing important seemed to happen and hello, where was the action? There simply wasn't anything, until you start to read the beginning of the climax, which wasn't too bad. But the beginning was too slow for me. It reminded me of reading Vector Prime regarding the Vong's invasion - nothing but detail, detail and more detail without action.
Rating:
Summary: Its getting better
Review: I didn't like the direction 'Vector Prime' started in, but the 'Dark Tide' duology helped remedy that to an extent. It is done once more here, and we finally get back to good ol' Han. It's a nice touch after the very depressing 'Ruin' to see one of the big heroes in action.One flaw I've had with the previous books is how they skipped around every which way with their plotlines. The Civil War-era stories often had centralized plots that focused on a certain situation, not the whole galactic face. 'Hero's Trial' is more of a focused work, by far the most in the series. Han's quest is an interesting one, and the galactic situation is well done, too. And the Republic actually wins a battle! Throghout the seires they had tried to hard to mkae it seem dark that all the battles were incredibly bloody for both sides. For once the Republic kicks some Yuuzhan Vong butt. I also like the connections with the largely ignored 'Black Fleet Crisis' books. Kudos to Luceno for finally tieing in elemnts from there and thus helping to validify the whole series. The Vong defector and the Vergere elements are interesting and produce a tie-in with 'Rogue Planet' as well. Overall its a good book, and highly reccomended for Han Solo fans.
Rating:
Summary: A must read book
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was full of emotion and character development. Luceno did his homework and give Han Solo his life back. I felt that the character Droma give the story some badly needed humor.
Rating:
Summary: Well...
Review: James Luceno did his homework, and he sure kept the New Jedi Order going. I just wanted to stop by and comment that I enjoyed the book and refused to set it aside to read another until I was done.
Rating:
Summary: 4-1/2 stars, and a rather relieved reader...
Review: This is a well written book. There's been a lot of griping that Luceno left out many major characters entirely or gave them cursory roles, but I think that was absolutely necessary for what he was trying to accomplish. This book is FAR and away more character driven than anything Stackpole is capable of writing. Luceno made the characters of Han and Leia in particular far more believable than many of the other SW have lately. Far more real. Human. It was a nice break from a rather stale mold, but there is nothing about their characters you won't recognize. They are just much more alive than they have been in awhile. In fairness, this is not much of an action book, and I expect that is why a number of people have been giving it low marks. Oh well. If DelRey can keep authors with as much talent as Bear, Salvatore, and Luceno on the project, the books will be worth reading. I'm not interested in knowing exactly how an X-wing is flown, really. I'm far more interested in the characters themselves. This is their story, afterall. Heh. This has kind of turned into a Stackpole gripe. I'm just tired of hearing him touted as one of the "best Star Wars authors" in the same sentence as people like Zahn who paid as much attention to militaristic detail without sacrificing good character weaving. Luceno isn't the best there is, but he's good to be sure.
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