Rating: 
Summary: awesome story
Review: Princess Leia's children have been kidnapped. She trys to take things in to her own matters by following the kidnappers with companions of hers. She finds a refugee ship that has people searching for their missing children onboard as well. While all of this is going on Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo are investigating a report of a lost group of Jedi on the planet Crseih. The death of a nearby star has caused a disturbance in the force that is also separating Luke and Hans from Leia. I feel the booked moved a little slowly but it kept me interested in it the whole way through. If you are a Star Wars fan you will like it.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is hurtin and predictable
Review: The Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre has three major flaws: Slow Pace, Weak Characterization, and Overall Predictability. I think that if some research was done on the Star Wars Universe all these problems could have been avoided. Unfortunately, they were not.First, the characters were very weak. Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin had the most characterization flaws in the novel. The way the children thought, spoke, and acted was not typically how any natural child would act. Their thoughts and dialog seemed more mature than being five-years old and younger. When reading the dialog, I couldn't help but think of them as young teenagers in many places. Furthermore, some of the adults were not written well- especially Luke Skywalker. Luke, being a Jedi would not be compelled into rage, especially against a good friend. Rage leads toward the Dark Side, and by this point in Luke's life (being that he survived Empire, Jedi, Dark Empire, and the Jedi Academy series), Luke has already learned much about controlling his rage. I wish the author would have spent more time reading the Star Wars expanded universe to avoid this problem. The next problem was the novel's slow pace. Nothing really happens in the first three quarters of the book. During many parts in the novel, the action seems stagnant. The narrative seemed like the author wanted to take the novel somewhere, but it just couldn't seem to quite reach its destination. During the stagnant moments in the novel, the actions and storyline became quite unappealing. It isn't until the last quarter of the book that the pace quickens, but by that time I believe most readers will have lost interest. Finally, a predictable storyline hurts the book. To avoid giving any major plot details, I'll just say that during the climax of the novel, I was basically screaming at the book because I felt cheated. When the pace begins to quicken it is already evident about what will happen to the new and the old characters. The book was given two stars instead of one because of a single character - Han's old love interest Xaverri. She is the only well developed character in the novel. I liked her a lot. I certainly hope she reappears in future Star Wars novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Crystal Star Shattered
Review: One of the risks involved in buying any book in a continuing story where different authors combine their distinctive styles to weave a greater tapestry is that the results are often uneven. It is true of Star Trek, where some novelists (David Gerrold, J.M. Dillard) leave you wanting for more, while others (and Vonda N. McIntyre) either leave you indifferent or enraged that you actually paid good money to read that godawful book. Star Wars, too, has its peaks and valleys as far as the Expanded Universe goes (although, judging from the mixed reviews to Episodes I and II, the movies are not, and have never been, critic-proof). Some SW authors (Timothy Zahn comes to mind) are wonderful, with an eye and especially an ear for the characters we love from the Classic Trilogy. Even when they mix the "canon" cast (Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, the droids....)with their own characters (Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, etc.), the really good writers carry us into the story and off to that galaxy far, far away..... Sadly to say, The Crystal Star is not written by a great Star Wars author. Yes, I know that Vonda McIntyre is an award-winning SF writer and wrote three of the 10 Star Trek movies' novelizations (the ones for Star Treks II, III, and IV). She did an OK job with them, even though some of her personal additions to the storylines were often annoyingly distracting. Still, she seemed to get the characters' voices down pat, but then of course she was working from screenplay drafts so it really doesn't seem like a stretch to accomplish THAT. But if McIntyre's talent was sufficient for Star Trek, it failed her in the SW galaxy. Of all the stories I have read so far (and I have not read any New Jedi Order books as of April 2003), this is one of the weakest and even dull ones I have read. I won't go much into detail about what I don't like about this novel; other customer reviews have pointed out the same flaws that bother me. What I can say is this: I had to make myself sit down and read this book all the way through, just to justify the money I spent on it.
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