Rating: 
Summary: Read Zahn's trilogy instead!
Review: I am a very die hard star wars fan and will read every book - that's just how I am. :) But, I did not finish this triology yet. I read the first book more than a few years ago at least, and I really hated it. I just did not get the 'star wars feeling' and the characterizations seemed off... I didn't like how it seemed Luke was leaving/abdoning the jedi academy. There were just little things here and there that felt wrong, and since its been so long since I read it, I can't remember exact events. However, it was refreshing to see an enemy besides the Empire... I didn't read the last two books, but I'll work on it. I already bought them. I should have read the first book before i did... not a smart buy on my part. They've been sitting on my shelf collecting dust for years...My goal this summer is to read every SW book I have that I haven't gotten to yet. Those two will be last.
Rating: 
Summary: A Flavor All it's Own
Review: The Black Fleet Crisis books are hard to review. The 'Luke' plotline is decent, although it fails to give rise to any strong, particular interest. Then you get the 'Lando' storyline, which is dull, incohesive, and overall a bit too similar to Arthur C. Clark. At the same time, you get the 'Leia' storyline, which is a very well-done tale of political crisis that mirror many ethnic problems of the day. The Republic is obviously presented as building itself up and still vulnerable. Politics are brought to the forefront here, effecting every deed and action. This is definetely one of the most 'adult' SW books with political and military plotting and events that seem far superior to the vast majority of those in a SW novel. Kube-MacDowell has just added another dimension onto the SW universe that unfortunately had been picked up by almost no one, which is rather a letdown in its own right. Indeed, the Black Fleet Crisis books are largely ignored and James Luceno seems to be the only author that's really involved its characters into his own storylines.Two of the three distinct plotlines aren't worth your time, but the actual Black Fleet Crisis story parallels in eerie and revealing detail modern crisses such as 'ethnic cleansing', racial tension, and involvement in the affairs of toher nations and lands. The Yevetha are an interesting race that have been unfortunately called sterotypical and untineresting by the same people who called the similar-but-even-more-outlandish Yuuzahn Vong fanstastic. The series needs its due, if for no other reason than the fact that the main plotline is one of the most intelligent and adult in any SW book. Read the 'Lea' storyline and skip the 'Luke' and 'Lando' ones. You'll walk away satisfied then.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining, but not great Trilogy
Review: How do you rate the first book? Well, since this is a trilogy, and I've read enough of them to know better, I expected the majority of the first book to be spent laying the groundwork for the next two. That is exactly what we got. It isn't until the 100th page or so, that anything that could be considered action occurs (Other than the opening sequence, which takes place on N'Zoth, a few months after the Battle of Endor). This is not say, however, that the events leading up to it aren't interesting. They are, but only if you are interested in political manipulation, and I happen to be. The story moves along quite well, only bogging down in extreme technical jargon for very short periods. The Yevetha are a fascinating species. Their culture, or lack of one, is based entirely on submission of the weak to the strong. The males of lower station are expected to offer their lives to the upper class, on the spot. Nil Spaar is very well defined, and is quite interesting. The sub-plots concerning Luke and Lando are difficult at first, but are more interesting as the stories develop. As for the complaints that Lando's story has nothing to with the major line, so what? Why does everything have to tie in completely? I did find Leia's apparent weaknesses of not wanting to insult a bit tedious at times. She seems to be more of the politician, and less of the fiery rebel here. Then again, this does take place 12 years after Endor. Luke's behavior is odd at times also. I wonder if it has more to do with the influence of his companion, rather than the author not knowing the universe. The introduction of the White Current is a bit of stretch. It is probably more a variation of the the use of the Force than anything else. I've read reviews of people who hated the trilogy, and, quite frankly, I can see their points. These books are not for people who crave mindless action, and are not interested in sinking in to the story. The most accurate analogy is the Tom Clancy one. If you're a fan of Clancy, or a fan of Star Wars for the story and intrigue, you will enjoy this series. If you're a fan of Star Wars for the action and nifty special effects, you will not like this trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Before the Storm Black Fleet Crisis
Review: This is a great book that shows the ability of the author. This is a perfect opportunity to see the many sides of the Star Wars characters. The problems lead to more and Leia is too easily tricked and shows her stubbornness very well. The New Republic is grow and is receiving more and more request for membership. Luke heads off on his own to find his center and become more connected with the force. He heads to his father's hidden castle without telling any one. Using the force, he rebuilds it in a matter of minutes. Leia is having trouble in the Senate when a new member seems to defy all the ethical codes that are up held by the delegates. Meanwhile she is speaking with the leader of the Yevetha. Luke comes to tell Leia that he is going to go look for their mother again. This seems to get her really upset and mad. When it is discovered that there are 44 Imperial ships that can not be accounted for the Fifth Fleet is sent to the cluster where the Yevetha make their home. The Yevetha take off with out warning and kill the guard and destroy a few ships. They then place the blame on Leia. It seems that the problems will never end.
Rating:
Summary: Non-cannon Star Wars and mischaracterizations ruin this book
Review: While looking at the story outside of what would be considered Star Wars cannon, it is not that bad. However, any serious Star Wars fan will be so distracted by the utter lack of knowledge McDowell displays in regards to the Star Wars universe. Examples: Coruscant is portrayed as a Garden planet? Lucas Arts clearly indicated that Coruscant was one big city, long, long ago in it's X-Wing series. This book was written recently enough to have gotten this right. This is one minor example of lack of continuity in this book. The other aspect of this book that killed it for me was how the main cast was mischaracterized. I thought Leia's portrayal was especially bad. A very strong female character was completely weakened. To close, I was so disappointed with this book I am seriously considering not reading the rest of the trilogy. What really surprises me is that Lucas Film let this book be written with all of the cannon errors.
Rating:
Summary: palmer
Review: This book was probably the most exciting out of all the SW novels I have read. I thought that the entire trilogy was the best actually until about 2/3 of the way through the third book. The trilogy sets up so many new things and possible changes, but then in the end nothing happens. All these drastic new people, places, and ideas, but nothing changes in the end. I was so pumped to find out how this series ended and then just wanted to burn the book after it did.
Rating: 
Summary: 1/3 a good book
Review: This book is three storys in one. Only one of the three is good. 1. The main story about the black fleet and the crisis surrounding it gets 5 stars from me. A race that views all others as vermin slaughters it neighbors and the New Republic must act. Leia gets a grip on the situation only after the enemy threaten a loved one. I love the politics in this part of the story, especially in the era of clinton. I bought audio tapes for the trilogy before reading it. Someday, I'll edit the 6 tapes, and probably end up with 3 without missing anything important about the story. 2. The story about Luke wandering around the galary as everything is going to ... is rediculous on many levels. I give it 2 stars because it at least ends up tieing in at the end in a way you can't believe. But then I bought the idea of a magician tricking an empirial fleet in the Han Solo trilogy, so why not steal the idea and use it here. 3. The story about the "ghost ship" is very boring and has little to do with anything except to help make the black Fleet Crisis a trilogy, instead of a duology. I give this 1 star instead of 0 stars, because we get to know Lobot, and i love Lando. So 8/15 rounds up to 3 stars. You can skip this one as well as Children of the Jedi and Crystal Star. If you don't like seeing Luke with an 80 IQ I would say that you should skip this series and the new Vector Prime also, but a Star Wars fan can't, if you want to read the rest of the NJO books.
Rating:
Summary: I rank this right with Zahn's trilogy
Review: I was genuinely surprised to read of the relatively poor reception this book got from many Star Wars readers here. I read all three books in Kube-McDowell's trilogy, and I would rank his story-telling right beside Timothy Zahn's books. The general plot does lack some of the subtlety of more modern Science-fiction, since the main story line (of the three)is centered primarily on the meeting of powerful, technologically advanced but xenophobic race hell-bent on carving out their little empire in one part of the galaxy. The weakest of the three story lines is the one of Lando's search for the ghost ship; Luke's story of his search for his mother is poignant- even if rendered irrelevant with the release of The Phantom Menace last year- was still at moments touching when he dwells upon the use of his Jedi powers. There is also some truth in some of the criticism leveled that the three storylines in reality bear little relation to each other- it's almost like reading three, functionally independent stories in the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy. In addition, it is arguable that Leia's characterisation is weak (in my opinion, not so- it demonstrated only that Leia was torn between priorities at one juncture), and Han Solo is given substantially short treatment in the series, even though Chewbacca gets quite a bit of attention. But what saved the series for me- and enough for me to rate it to 5 stars still- is ultimately Kube-McDowell's highly imaginative writing. The space battle scenes are simply the most outstanding I've read anywhere in sci-fiction, and reminiscent of massive battlewagons fights. It's simply nice to see a substantive series of books not centered around the latest Imperial Warlord attempting to re-establish control, or yet another kidnapping of a Jedi child. There is also an enormous amount of little humourous touches too that I have simply not read of in other Star Wars books; these include the Mon Calamari wedding pot, Leia's bodyguards, Chewbacca's family, and most of all, the retrofitting of the Millinieum Falcon, which had me laughing in stiches! Ultimately, the weak points in this series are generally real enough; but for myself, the excellent writing won me over, and the lack of a coherent relationship between the three disparate story lines didn't bother me as much as it has for other readers. Perhaps a litmus test- the first two chapters or so in the first book pretty much establishes Kube-McDowell's style. If it engages you, there's a very good chance that you will enjoy it as much as I did. :)
Rating:
Summary: Slow start, but well written
Review: I do not think that this book ( or the trilogy as a whole ) was as bad as most everyone seems to think. I think that this book was very well written but I had a hard time with the character development. I just think that if you have read many of the previous Star Wars novels, our heros just seem a little different than what we are used to. The most notable examples being Luke and Leia. They both appear to have wigged out, Luke being a pious weinie and Leia being almost naieve. This is luckily smoothed out in the second and third installments of the trilogy and you get more of an insight into their short comings. The bad guys are great, by the way, I found them totally Naziesque.
Rating:
Summary: Not that bad, not that good
Review: Before the Storm was not that bad of a book, but it lacks the realism of other books in the Star Wars universe First of all, what the heck are E-wings and K-wings. This is a fine example of some of the aspects of this book that made it confusing to read. The author created most of the problems in this book by not doing enough research. He has really no idea what Coruscant looks like, and steered dangerously close to the touchy subject of Luke's long-lost mother. It would have been better if he had just stayed away from it. Another problem is character development. Leia's characterization was superb, but others (such as Luke) seemed out of place. It seemed to me that the only reason many of the main characters did things was to get them out of the main plot. Contrary to other readers, Lando's plot with the vagabond held my interest. The whole problem with the Yevetha was also suspenseful, as was anything to do with the fifth fleet. I think the main problem with this book is that the author tried to introduce too many new ideas and characters (E-wings, K-wings, Yevetha, Luke's mother, Akanah, etc...). When you try this, things just turn out wrong. This book wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the best I've ever read, either.
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