Survivor's Quest (Star Wars)

Rating:
Summary: Another success for Tim Zahn
Review: As I stated in my subject header, "Survivor's Quest" is another success for Tim Zahn, giving him a total of six fantastic Star Wars books.

Th story concerns only two major Star Wars characters, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, now enjoying married life. After a diplomatic request from a mysterious race, the two set off to aid an expedition to recover the Outbound Flight project, which was a mission launched during the time of the Old Republic. The importance of this is that the ship would contain a plethora of records from that period, particularly records concerning the Old Jedi Order that Luke knows so little about.

I won't go into any more plot details, but suffice to say, it is a very intruiging and exciting story, with plenty of action, and it ties into the prequel series very well, with some nice touches (the Jedi starfighter, and the droideka) to relate it back to that era.

That being said, I was disappointed by some parts of the book.

While Luke and Mara are interesitng characters (always have been) many of the others are not. The other major character is a man called Jinzler, a man with a family connection to one of the Jedi who left with Outbound Flight. Jinzler came from nowhere (in terms of the overall series) and I didn't really find him all that interesting. I think that this story may have worked better if it involved one of the other major characters from Star Wars.

I was also disappointed not to read anything more about Jorus C'Boath, who was one of the principal antagonists in the original Zahn trilogy.

The outcome of the mission doesn't reveal anything startling to Luke about the old Jedi, but the door has been left open for him to learn about it later on. I suspect that, after EpIII comes out and all the major plot points are tied up, Zahn may write a follow story to this one, perhaps revealing a little more to Luke about the old Jedi. But that's all speculation.

In my opinion, this is one of the best Star Wars books to come out in recent years, much better than that awful, bloodthirsty NJO series.

I recommend this book to all Star Wars fans, whether casual or serious.

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER winner from the BEST Star Wars author working today
Review: For those of us who are either casual or even serious Star Wars readers, the name Timothy Zahn usually means one thing in particular: a REALLY GOOD BOOK. Zahn's original Trilogy still remains the absolute BEST Star Wars novels in print, and I am happy to say that for the die-hard Admiral Thrawn fans out there, we finally get to see a glimpse into where he came from. The Chiss, as they are called contact the New Republic -- specifically Luke Skywalker -- to offer a gesture of good will by informing them they have located the remains of the original Outbound Flight where the original Jedi Master C'Baoth disappeared some 50 years before on a quest to map out the Unknown Regions of Space. Thrawn intercepted this flight under orders from Emperor Palpatine and utterly decimated all within -- or so we were told.

From the very beginning, this story absolutely ROCKS. I would describe it as a finely tuned mystery that, like an onion, is peeled away slowly but surely as the chapters fly by at Lightspeed. Someone has intercepted the message meant for Luke and as they travel deep into Chiss space, they discover abruptly who it is who made that interception, and along the way Luke & his wife, Mara find more than they bargain for. Mysterious problems happen on the Chiss spaceship, seemingly to be nothing more than choreographed diversions for other more interesting crimes to take place. Along the way we meet another race of aliens who wish to pay tribute to the Jedi who fought to save them from enslavement by a mysterious unknown race of ruthless conquerers and very nearly slaughtered them all. When Outbound Flight is finally reached, Luke, Mara & the Chiss are rather surprised to find out that not only are the 6-Dreadnaughts in remarkable shape considering their crash-landing, but they also find the last thing they ever expected: survivors -- survivors who apparently wish to have nothing to do with Jedi. A chance to discover what really happened to Outbound Flight and what role the Chiss really had in their destruction is quite a mystery indeed -- a journey that is very much worth taking.

For those of you who ONLY enjoy Star Wars tales that include all of the major CORE characters (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, R2D2 & C3PO etc) you just may be slightly let down. For the rest of us who read ANYTHING written by Timothy Zahn, you will NOT be disappointed in the slightest. As this story unfolded I found myself absolutely wrapped in the mystery and I had a very difficult time putting it down to do mundane things like eat and sleep. I was also VERY thrilled to hear that Zahn is also planning an additional novel based upon the actual mission OF Outbound Flight scheduled for release sometime next year. Fans of Timothy Zahn Rejoice! This is just an additional adventure in that Galaxy Far, Far Away that truly lives up to the Grand Adventure that began with Episode IV back in 1977. Great Stuff!

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: Luke Skywalker has a wife, also a Jedi Knight, and other alien characters are thrown into this timeless and highly successful space opera series. Written by Timothy Zahn, who has written other books in this series, proves why he is a Hugo Award holder. Buy and add this book to: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.

Rating:
Summary: Star Wars + Tim Zahn = Masterpiece
Review: Okay, so this is not exactly a masterpiece, but it is a great read. It's got an interesting mystery and awesome action. I understand that many reviewers have mentioned the fact that there are a lot of loose ends, and I agree. But, I know that Zahn is also coming out with a book that takes place during Outbound Flight next year, so that is probably why he didn't get all that detailed about the Outbound Flight Project.
So, with that said I'd also like to thank Zahn for making this about Luke and Mara because their relationship was way too corny in the New Jedi Order series and Mara hardly even acted like Mara. Now Zahn, who already had to do this once, has corrected some errors in other SW books. Like making Luke and Mara an interesting couple that doesn't drip with cheesiness.