The Crystal Star

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Summary: It was the coolest thing I've read in a long time!
Review: Vonda M. McIntyre outshined herself in this book! The suspense and mystery of this book keep you glued to the book until the last. It sucks you in and won't let you out until you've finshed it. The anguish Princess Leia goes through is wonderfully written on the page and the anxiety Luke Skywalker and Han Solo go through is magnificently done and the childish innocence of Jacen and Jaina is endearing. Well done, Vonda

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Summary: I loved it!!!!!
Review: This book is what STAR WARS is all about. It takes the well established characters in this universe and expands on their histories and lives. A must read for STAR WARS fans

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Summary: A unique Star Wars experience
Review: The Crystal Star was only the second Star Wars novel I read, but it was the one which got me hooked. To date, I have read all 22 mainstream novels as well as the excellent X-Wing series, and haven't found a more compelling book than The Crystal Star. When McIntyre begins the book on the planet Munto Codru, a place otherwise unknown to Star Wars fans, it instantly moves away from the traditional "book" characters of Mara Jade, Mon Mothma, and Admiral Ackbar and introduces a side of Star Wars that isn't old and familiar. It brings us to the heart of what the movies were to those who first saw them in theaters, and takes into a galaxy we can truly call "...far, far away.". The introduction of Han and Leia's children, Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin as main characters gave readers the oppotunity to wittness Star Wars from a child's point of view, something many fans have forgotten how to do. While some of the punishments Hethrir imposes on the children seem like slaps of the wrist to adults, to a young child, nothing is more terrible than to be seperated from those you love and forced into an alien way of life. The only problem with McIntyre's novel is that the pace of the final scene moves much faster than the rest of the book. As the reuinited family leaves, we are confused as to who is where and why. This minor fault is lost in the vast epic of this classic story. The biggest reason for a fan to read this book is that in this novel alone, does Luke regain some of the innocence from the original Star Wars movie. As he loses his Jedi abilities, Luke becomes more human, and thus we see the part of him that isn't just a Jedi Master, but a regular person with faults like everyone else. If a person were to read only 2 pieces of Star Wars, they should be Timothy Zahn's original saga, and Vonda McIntyre's The Crystal Star.

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Summary: Who are these characters?
Review: I felt throughout this book that it never grasped the true nature of Luke, Lei and Han. I felt like I was reading about someone else. I don't know, it didn't feel like a Star Wars book at all. I was dissapointed

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Summary: Ugh. What was Lucasfilm thinking?
Review: This is, quite simply, the worst of the new Star Wars books, without a doubt. It would take me several pages to describe all the outrages she commits against Star Wars, but I'm fairly sure someone else already did that. Her characters bear little or no resemblance to the ones which we know. Sometimes her "facts" about the Star Wars universe are so far off that one doubts if she's even watched the movies more than once. And, perhaps worst of all, about a third of the book is devoted to telling the story of the kidnapping of Leia & Han's twin children. This would be all right, except it's told from their perspective, in a sort of "little kiddie" prose that would be more fitted for a sixth-grade reading primer. This first appears in chapter three, and I tossed the book down in disgust before I was halfway through the chapter. It wasn't until several months later that I was desperate enough to finish it. (and that was hurriedly, like one might take a mouthful of cough medicin

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Summary: Could be better
Review: The first half of the book is pretty boring, but than it gets better. This is my first book of that series: Star Wars so it's hard for me to compare that book to the others of the same series. I heard though from other people, that the other books in that series are much better.

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Summary: I actually rated it 0 but there is none on the rating scale.
Review:

When I first got the Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre, I was very much looking forward to another good Star Wars Book about the characters that I have come to know and love. I was very disappointed.

McIntyre wrote a book about people who had the same names and same appearances, but did not have the same character. For example, the royal Princess Leia became a commoner with schizophrenic tendencies. The mighty Chewbacca, who is filled with raw rage at times of crisis and acts on those with either his bowcaster or his strong muscular physique, became a sick monkey who had to lay in bed the whole book. Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, a man of action who thinks before he leaps, who has the strength to resist the dark side of Darth Vader and the Emperor combined, became a mesmerized puppet of an alien monster. Our Corellian smuggler, Han Solo, a man who lives on the edge and has vices but offsets them with his conscience, became a gambling spineless wimp who gets bossed around by an Inn keeper.

Okay, I concede. Characters, especially the strong characters of the Star Wars books, are hard to replicate. However, villains are supposed to be evil and mean. The worst thing the Jedi children's kidnapper did was make them eat bad food and do homework. Yes I suppose he did make a pact to sell the children to the alien, but that was not highlighted enough to be an effective evil trait. As for the alien creature that ate the force, well, once again the Star Wars spirit was lost. George Lucas took the idea of the force from a tribal religion that people followed here on earth. It does not seem right to take the secret magic that Jedi Knights use and turn it into a cheap commodity for alien consumption.

McIntyre focused a great deal on what an alien looks like and the characteristics of being alien. How alien does a creature have to be before he/she/it becomes interesting? Well, the answer is not how alien it is but how much character he/she/it has. McIntyre became so involved into making aliens more alien she forgot to focus on the character. She even threw in a Centaur for good measure.

McIntyre wrote a book and then simply changed the names of the characters to match the Star Wars universe. It did not work. It was not interesting. It was not even close to the Star Wars spirit or tradition. The villains weren't villainous enough and the heroes weren't heroic enough.

McIntyre did use the split plot style of the Star Wars universe and in the end all of the characters and events are linked to the grand finale, but by the time I got there I was so glad that it was over, it was merely a finale and there was nothing grand about it. For me the grand finale was when I threw the book away and mailed the cover to Bantam Books with a nasty letter.

Rating:
Summary: A little too fantasy for Star Wars
Review: I really think that this book moved from the more Sci-Fi area of Star Wars into a fantasy genre. Not really what I expect from a Star Wars book. It doesn't compare to the better Star Wars books, like the Jedi Academy trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Better than others said.
Review: I would have given this book 3 1/2 stars but it was not possible. It wasn't the worst book in the series. I will agree that Jacen and Jaina have to be the most intelligent 5-year-olds ever, and the ending was subpar. Overall though I enjoyed reading this book. It is worth your time to read.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best, but very good nonetheless
Review: I read this book twice, once when I was a teen and then again a couple weeks ago. I loved how they portrayed the solo children, though Luke's characterization was quite bad. The plot was a little lacking, but still well written. The story went by slow due to the sections of inner-thought for the characters, but the plot itself went by very quickly.