Rating: 
Summary: So much potential. So little delivered.
Review: Barbara Hambly has twice proven to be incapable of handling the reins of the Star Wars Universe. She is supposedly an accomplished science fiction. While that may be true in other stories, she lacks the understanding and ability to embrace the Star Wars novels and create compelling episodes in this ongoing series. Her first attempt was "Children of the Jedi", which was a long, ponderous, and slow book. If a novel like this is slow, it's a cardinal sin in writing. The reader gets bored and then frustrated with the book and is tempted to put it down permanently. The disappointing thing about "Children of the Jedi" was that the story, itself, had a great deal of potential and could have (should have) been a rousingly exciting novel. "Planet of Twilight" is Ms. Hambly's second attempt at a Star Wars novel. Sadly, it fails for all the same reasons that "Children of the Jedi" did. It is long, ponderous, and slow. Her prose is so wordy that she sometimes takes up to an entire page to describe items or scenes that should only take a sentence or two to describe. An editor could have helped her dramatically here. Her 'cutesy' terminology also causes the reader to do a double- take and wonder if they read what they just read. Some examples have her referring to a coffee-like beverage as 'coffeine' and a potato-like substance as 'topatoes'. It seems to indicate a lack of true imagination and it's slightly insulting to the reader who would much rather she used the original words or develop completely different words. "Planet of Twilight" is comparable to "Children of the Jedi" in the sense that it has an equally interesting plot that is completely muted by Hambly's writing style. In this story, there appears to be a Death Seed plague that is infecting the galaxy and causing massive loss of life. In an attempt to find out what has happened and establish diplomatic ties with the Chorios system, Princess Leia traveled to the planet of Nam Chorios, where most of the distress seems to originate. It seems the Death Seed plague is actually a species of insect-like creatures called 'drochs' that can suck the life energy out of people. Unfortunately for Leia, she gets trapped on the planet by its evil ruler, Seti Ashgad and he suspicious assistant Dzym. Because of the strong defensive system set up on the planet, she is also unable to be rescued for quite some time. Luke Skywalker, of course, tries to save his sister while also tying up the loose ends of the Calista romance. There are moments when this story seems like it could really take off and captivate the reader. Alas, Hambly continually confounds the reader with her writing. I can only hope that Hambly does not get another chance to write Star Wars novels. People read these stories because they are looking for an escape. They want an entertaining read that flows and isn't too much of a struggle to read. This isn't a novel for a school book report. If the writer's style makes the novel too much of a chore to read, the reader is just going to put it aside and not read it anymore. That is the true mark of the failure of a Star Wars novel and it is exactly what has happened with "Planet of Twilight".
Rating: 
Summary: where to take it?...
Review: I am in the process of reading all of the Star Wars novels. Of course, some are better (anything by Timothy Zahn, also Steve Perry) than others (Kevin J. Anderson). And I have not yet read them all. However, the only time reading this series of books that I enjoy so much felt like work, was "reading" Barbara Hambly's two books "Children of the Jedi" and "Planet of Twilight". I swear I would rather read the technical manual for the space shuttle, and I'm sure it would be easier to follow! I couldn't believe as I labored through "Children", that anybody could ruin a Star Wars story for me. But, she managed it. As I tried to get through her maze of endless descriptions of abosolutely nothing having to do with ANYTHING, in the second book. I had to use a strategy of glazing over the endless ranting like I was speed reading, just to move forward. This is painful reading at best. I honestly can't understand what this horrible "author" was thinking, when she decided to write about something that she clearly doesn't get at ALL!! Her two books are THE worst examples of the Star Wars series I have heard of. Read only if you HAVE to, and PLEASE DON'T buy it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: This is going to be cool!
Review: I like this book. I like it because of the great characters. I also like Cety Ashgad. I also like how the Death Cede plague infects millions of the republic. I also like the Jedi hut. How can a hut be trained as a Jedi? Some of the huts I've read about are not Jedi. Anyway! this book is cool, and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Let me just say this
Review: I think that this is, without doubr the worst Star Wars book ever written. There is no plot, no chacter development nothing. I read this book several years ago and can still remmeber clearly the absolute confusion I was in upon reading it. If you don't believe me take a look at the sample pages.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book of the "Callista Trilogy" New Interesting Concept!
Review: Planet of the Twilight is the third book in the so-called Callista Trilogy, and the second Star Wars book by author Barbara Hambly. It is the best of the Trilogy. Hambly's previous work Children of the Jedi was repetative, convoluted and boring. While her writing and plot still tend to be convoluted and Han Solo plays a very minor role (in the great scheme of things), Hambly brings a fresh idea to the Star Wars universe: that of an inter-galactic plague. The whole Droch/Black Seed plague idea was really inspired. In many ways this is the horror story of the Star Wars universe, very different from the previous five books which featured super-weapons like the sun-crusher, Death Star prototype, Eye of Palpatine and Darksaber. Disease is a different type of weapon and the only credible way for Chief of State Leia to be kidnapped with all her bodyguards etc around is to have them die of the plague. The story revolves around Luke and Leia with special emphasis on Leia. It was nice to see her in a credible fighting role, and to see her powers expand. Luke is still looking for Callista, but he seems to have gained back a measure of common sense and competence. Their were two other really great things in this book: 1) the relative absence of Callista, 2) the writing away of Admiral Daala. I never liked Callista, i thought she was a useless character and really had no business being in the Star Wars universe. Everything about her rubbed me the wrong way. As for Admiral Daala it was good to see the most inept Imperial commander ever be written out never to bother the reader again. She just fades away never to return (I hope). Having read pretty much every Star Wars book in existance from the X-Wing books, the 5 Zahn books, the Corellian Trilogy, the Black Fleet Trilogy, the Jedi Academy Trilogy, the Prequal era books, the New Jedi Order and pretty ,uch everything else, the Callsita Trilogy is one of the weakest written. PLanet of the Twilight is the best of that trilogy, but it is not one of the best Star Wars books. The plot ideas are interesting, but simply put, I think Hambly has a poor writing style and she simply does not write a very exceptional Star Wars tale. I do recommend PLanet of the Twilight to any Star Wars fan, but remember there are many, many better books out there.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book of the "Callista Trilogy" New Interesting Concept!
Review: Planet of the Twilight is the third book in the so-called Callista Trilogy, and the second Star Wars book by author Barbara Hambly. It is the best of the Trilogy. Hambly's previous work Children of the Jedi was repetative, convoluted and boring. While her writing and plot still tend to be convoluted and Han Solo plays a very minor role (in the great scheme of things), Hambly brings a fresh idea to the Star Wars universe: that of an inter-galactic plague. The whole Droch/Black Seed plague idea was really inspired. In many ways this is the horror story of the Star Wars universe, very different from the previous five books which featured super-weapons like the sun-crusher, Death Star prototype, Eye of Palpatine and Darksaber. Disease is a different type of weapon and the only credible way for Chief of State Leia to be kidnapped with all her bodyguards etc around is to have them die of the plague. The story revolves around Luke and Leia with special emphasis on Leia. It was nice to see her in a credible fighting role, and to see her powers expand. Luke is still looking for Callista, but he seems to have gained back a measure of common sense and competence. Their were two other really great things in this book: 1) the relative absence of Callista, 2) the writing away of Admiral Daala. I never liked Callista, i thought she was a useless character and really had no business being in the Star Wars universe. Everything about her rubbed me the wrong way. As for Admiral Daala it was good to see the most inept Imperial commander ever be written out never to bother the reader again. She just fades away never to return (I hope). Having read pretty much every Star Wars book in existance from the X-Wing books, the 5 Zahn books, the Corellian Trilogy, the Black Fleet Trilogy, the Jedi Academy Trilogy, the Prequal era books, the New Jedi Order and pretty ,uch everything else, the Callsita Trilogy is one of the weakest written. PLanet of the Twilight is the best of that trilogy, but it is not one of the best Star Wars books. The plot ideas are interesting, but simply put, I think Hambly has a poor writing style and she simply does not write a very exceptional Star Wars tale. I do recommend PLanet of the Twilight to any Star Wars fan, but remember there are many, many better books out there.
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to like this one...
Review: The idea of a book about Leia and her use of the force was interesting to me. I always thought she should get a lightsaber of her own. I read the reviews but I decided to read the book anyway. Being that I am not a huge Star Wars fan I thought that some of the people reviewing the book were a little harsh, and overly sensitive. Well, I fear many of them were right. I could not finish this book. And I tried three different times. The author made it difficult to read, and as one person wrote her descriptions are wordy. At times I thought the book was getting better, then it took a turn for the worse. I really wanted to like this one, but I just couldn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the First
Review: This book is the finale of the Callista trilogy. Although it still isn't up to the calliber of other books in the Star Wars saga, it still is better than Hambly's first effort, Children of the Jedi. I give you three reasons. 1) There is more action in this story and you actually get to see a lightsaber duel. 2) The villains in this story are actually pretty cool. 3) The characters are better affiliated with the story. All in all, a good sci-fi read, but still not up with Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston in terms of Star Wars novels.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the First
Review: This book is the finale of the Callista trilogy. Although it still isn't up to the calliber of other books in the Star Wars saga, it still is better than Hambly's first effort, Children of the Jedi. I give you three reasons. 1) There is more action in this story and you actually get to see a lightsaber duel. 2) The villains in this story are actually pretty cool. 3) The characters are better affiliated with the story. All in all, a good sci-fi read, but still not up with Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston in terms of Star Wars novels.
Rating:
Summary: Too indulgent
Review: This book was a disappointment. Children of the Jedi had its faults, true, but this book had them all magnified. Too many plot elements, a story that never went anywhere, an overemphasis on description to the detriment of character and plot . . . And I just felt, like many others,that Barbara Hambly did not bring the characters to life. Hambly seems to feel that the journey is more important than the destination, but I cannot agree. In the end, all the drochs, sentient crystals, Newcomer/Oldtimer conflicts, renegade pseudo-jedi, evil corporations, imperial plots, robot fleets, droid escapades, and searches for various missing loved ones added up to nothing. The story was wrapped up far too quickly, and ultimately had no impact or repercussions.
Three pet peeves to conclude this review:
1) The Daala/Liegeus element was unforgiveable
2) What meaning do words like "antediluvian" and "Rabelaisian" have in the StarWars universe?
3) What right does Callista have to expect to have it all? Isn't a new lease on life enough for her? Perhaps the Force is trying to tell her something?
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