This is one of those 400-page books that you're hard-pressed to explain how it could possibly be as long as it is. There are basically three plots: the first is Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, and company, en route to the Unknown Regions, helping the Imperial Remnant (hence the title, I guess, though I've no idea why this trilogy is called "Force Heretic") fend of a Yuuzhan Vong attack. This is, for what it's worth, the most interesting of the plots. Which isn't worth very much. It's always nice to see Pellaeon, but otherwise little of interest goes on here.

But that said, the other two plots are even worse. Han and Leia are sent off on the Millennium Falcon to see how some far-flung parts of the galaxy are faring during the invasion, and the answer is utterly tedious. Local politics, blah blah blah, pointless bickering, blah blah blah. Like, it would be hard to imagine a duller plot to inject in the middle of your galaxy-spanning invasion series. Even the Tahiri subplot is utterly dull: I like the idea that her Jedi and Yuuzhan Vong sides have to be reconciled, but Williams and Dix handle it in the most uninteresting way imaginable.

Finally, Nom Anor is getting up to cult hijinks underground on Coruscant. Again, should be interesting; again, sure is dull. I love Nom Anor, but this meanders and goes nowhere.

All that said, this is probably the best of the "Force Heretic" books!

The New Jedi Order: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

Han and Leia embark on a mission to contact parts of the galaxy that have been cut of by the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Luke and Mara go in search of the living planet Zonama Sekot, and get caught up in a Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the Imperial Remnant.

A pretty generic book in the New Jedi Order sequence. A good amount of space battle action, but not much overall plot development for the series. ( )

Dear Mr Williams and Mr Dix: epithets are our friends; good friends which, when used correctly, can make writing easier. But don't use them constantly, or you'll wear them out. Poor epithets! "Anakin's mother", "the middle-aged stateswoman", "the former rebel leader." See how tiring that is to read? See how it's possible just to use "Leia" instead? Trust me, it makes things a lot less, well... leaden.

Oh, and not having a character's internal monologue read "as he had thought in his earlier analogy" makes things a lot less, well... inane. No one thinks like that. Trust me. ( )

Book 1

Qr1: 1-300 / 413
Qr2: 301-413 / 413
In this lively and descriptive novel, Everyone is back in their fight against the new enemy, the Yuuzhan Vong. The Jedi and associates are on a mission to find new races and planets to join the Free alliance and to look for a moving planet called Zomana Sekot, which may hold the key to victory against the Yuuzhan Vong. One of my favorite characters is Cpatain Arien Yage of the “Widowmaker”, a star destroyer of the Empire. She uses her ingenuity to come up with many battle plans against the Yuuzhan Vong, and shows her flelxibility by joining the Free alliance and coercing all the other captains to do the same. One thing I can relate to this book was the almost three to four simultaneous storylines, skipping around from place to place. This style emulates real life, where many things are happening at the same time. One thing which seems very boring in this book is the endless descriptions of some of the most random things in the story, such as the several plage description of an injured captain in a bacta tank in the medical room. Another thing which I did not like was how they stop at a suspenseful area in one storyline, and starts at another, leaving you on the cliff. I would recommend this book to almost any Science Fiction reader and Star Wars fan because they would be able to find familiar characters in a new setting.

book 2
Qr2: 1-192 / 397 total Qr2 pages 305

In these few hundred pages, The journey continues to seek out the lost moving planet, Zonama Sekot. The Jedi continue to find more allies as they gain access to the Chiss fleets legendary, but private, library to gain information on the wondering planet. One of my favorite characters is Tahiri Veila, a female Jedi Knight. After witnessing the death of her lover, Anakin Solo, the son of Han solo, and being captured and mentally tortured by the Yuuzhan Vong, she is tormented by images of her torture. She goes through periods in which she reverts back to her Yuuzhan Vong mentality. Princess Leia finds out about these relapses and as a test, calls her by the name which she was given by the Yuuzhan Vong. I am anxious to see what happens next. This book is strongly recommended to those who have read the book prior to this one in the series and any Star Wars, Sci-Fi fan. ( )