 "Finally, Everyone Gets Somewhere" | 2008-11-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3J2TQASBY4ROE |
Finally, the Force Heretic trilogy reaches the point, the characters actually get somewhere, and we can move on to more plot impacting, final novels of the New Jedi Order. As with many reviews, this one does contain spoilers.
Like the previous two books, Force Heretic: Reunion, follows three story lines: Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba, Tekli, Captain Yage, and the crew of the Widowmaker searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that is supposed to play a key part in the war; Leia, Han, Jaina, Jag, Tahiri, Twin Suns Squadron, Captain Mayn, and the crew of the Pride of Selonia continuing their quest to reestablish communications in various regions or the galaxy; and Nom Anor taking up the role of Prophet in a Jeedai heresy uprising on Yuuzhan'tar.
The Skywalker story line, the whole point of the trilogy, finally reaches its destination. After pushing through several hundred pages of filler and off-topic events tied only together by leads to the Rogue Planet, the reader gets to the event they've been waiting for; the finding of Zonama Sekot.
I have few complaints with the handling of Zonama Sekot itself, aside from how long it took to get there. Seriously, did we really need three books to get to one planet? Other than that, I think Williams and Dix did a fine job with portraying Zonama and Sekot (the planet and the mind respectively). I especially enjoyed the scene where Sekot compared (for Jacen's benefit) speaking with the beings that inhabited Zonama to a person conversing with a dust mite that crawls across their skin. I'm not sure why I enjoyed that line so much, but I did.
However, we still don't really know what role Zonama Sekot will play in the Yuuzhan Vong War, which makes me wonder why this trilogy was even written. I mean, why write three unnecessarily long books about finding a planet and then not give any indication of the planet's use? We were told in Destiny's Way that Zonama Sekot would play a key role in helping the newly created Galactic Alliance win the war. As a reader and devoted Star Wars fan, I expected to find out why this one planet is so crucial in the book following Destiny's Way. Instead, I read through a long trilogy only to discover that the planet has agreed to help the Galactic Alliance...but its reason for importance is still unknown. So, while I was pleased with Luke and friends finally finding the planet and convincing it to return to the galaxy with them, I was a bit disappointed to not know more about Zonama Sekot's importance three books after the idea was introduced. Still, the Skywalker team accomplished their goal well enough to satisfy me as a reader and allow me to move on from that particular plot line on a good note.
The Solo story line also reached its ultimate goal. As an earlier reviewer pointed out, Cal Omas states at the end of the novel what most of us thought at the beginning of the Force Heretic trilogy: Han and Leia are too important to be sent on a menial task like reestablishing communications when there are many other, more essential things they could be doing to aide the Galactic Alliance in winning the war.
As has been stated before (both by me and by others), the whole point of including the Solo plot seemed to be setting up and executing the conflict with Tahiri. I think Williams and Dix really shone here, with their resolution of Tahiri's inner conflict. I was leery of bringing Tahiri back into the spotlight at first, seeing it as a way to just drag the NJO out longer. But, I think that what Williams and Dix have done will play a significant role in the outcome of the war (not to say that I want a minor character to win this long, galaxy wide conflict...that would be a bit of a let down). The joining of Tahiri and Riina was the strongest part of the Force Heretic trilogy, the coming together of two previously conflicting cultures into one personality. I am eager to see where future authors take this.
As for the Nom Anor story...I can't help but wonder why it was even included. Yes, it set up the Jeedai heresy that I'm sure will play a role in ending the war. And yes, it gave Nom Anor a few character-building moments. But, other than that, what did it really accomplish? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the snippets of Yuuzhan Vong culture and I feel that portraying the Yuuzhan Vong is one of the authors' strong points. However, it just doesn't seem that this particular plot line went anywhere. We now know for sure that the Yuuzhan Vong political structure is corrupt and unsound...but we knew that before. We also know that Nom Anor is up to something...when isn't he? All in all, this story went no where and accomplished very little aside from setting up the heresy conflict that I'm sure will come into play later. So, as much as it pains me to say this about a Yuuzhan Vong story, what was the point of this?
I have few complaints about the authors' writing style itself. The lack of chapters can get really bothersome and makes finding a stopping point extremely difficult. Also, the authors have a rather annoying tendency to jump from one story line to another just when the previous story line was getting interesting. There is also a great reliance on coincidence (for example, Luke and friends just happen to arrive at Zonama Sekot as it is being attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong). Otherwise, they obviously know the Star Wars universe and have done their research (and it's nice to see references to past books). Their writing style, while not the best, is hardly painful to read and is easy enough to understand.
Do I wish I hadn't read this trilogy? No. However, it took three books to accomplish four simple things: an alliance with the Imperial Remnant, the finding of Zonama Sekot, the set up of the Jeedai heresy, and the joining of Tahiri and Riina. Some serious editing should have taken place. The trilogy could have easily been cut down to one or maybe two (at most) books without losing any of the plot. I recommend that any Star Wars and NJO fan at least read Reunion (as it contains the most significant information). I am eager to move on from this now and see how some of the more established authors of the Star Wars universe end the New Jedi Order.
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| "Can we get back to the REAL NJO story now?" | 2007-10-29 |
| - Reviewed By justinsgaines |
And so the utterly unnecessary Force Heretic trilogy comes to a close. Reunion, which also serves as the 17th installment in the massive New Jedi Order series, brings this little detour from the larger Yuuzhan Vong conflict to a close. Writers Shane Dix and Sean Williams accomplish in three books what should have taken a single volume - namely the unification of the two personalities in Tahiri's head, and the decision by the living planet Zonama Sekot to join the struggle against the Yuuzhan Vong invaders.
I hate to badmouth the authors, but this series just didn't seem necessary to the larger New Jedi Order saga. Yes, the Zonama Sekot storyline was important, but after three books we still haven't been told just what it is that the planet is bringing to the equation. The Tahiri reconciliation was a long overdue development, but to be fair we are talking about a supporting character here. She's not exactly Jaina Solo. And speaking of the Solos, I found it amusing that the authors would have the Galactic Alliance Chief of State realize at the end of Reunion what most readers should have known from the beginning - restoring communications with backwater planets is not the job for a former Chief of State (Leia), a former General (Han), a Jedi/fighter squadron commander (Jaina), and a hotshot pilot (Jag Fel). Talk about overkill!
We're nearing the end of the New Jedi Order series, and this little "series within a series" just felt like they were dragging it out. As I mentioned earlier, the major developments of the Force Heretic trilogy could easily have been condensed into a single, and far less frustrating, single volume.
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 "Force Heretic III: Reunion" | 2007-01-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A7SID2T8S7H4C |
| Fast moving action oriented fun read. As usual for Sean great job of character development and creative story development |
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| "Force Heretic III: Reunion (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 17) by" | 2007-01-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A286M3YFGSR4HO |
| Good Book |
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| "a slow spot in the series." | 2006-12-08 |
| - Reviewed By sebasto20002002 |
| yes,its true.the 3rd book from a 19 book series crawling along like a wounded deer.leia spends her time doing a whole lot of nothing.lord nyax still isnt around.han battles it out with the vong over esfandia.the jedis search endlessly to find a fabled living planet.jaina gets pretty banged up.a really cool part is when she attempts to perform psycho-surgery on tahiri,whose 2 personalities are battling for dominance.the vong began killing thier own for failing.assassians are after the jedis.i almost thought vergere was back.thank cerronious she was srill dead.she was ultra-obnoxious.the living planet has uncharted force powers.nom anor becomes a cult leader in a religious fashion and the higher ups find out.about the cult,they dont know its nom yet.anyhow hes getting the shamed vongs to think the jedi are good.tahiri swears a life debt to jaina solo.thats about all i can say.this book would be half as long if they took out all the politics and drama.i was disappointed by it as the book is one of the final 3 and it just drags.the parts with tahiri are cool.she really starts to blossom in this one.no light saber duels,only 1 battle and a ,lot of hoopla! |
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 "Enjoyable, but gets a little bogged down in places" | 2006-01-17 |
| - Reviewed By ludahai |
This book is a continuation of the three book Force Heretic series and the seventeenth book of the NJO series. This was a 300-page story made into a 390-page book. You could take at least ninety pages out and loose little in the story. However, I enjoyed the continuation of the three main threads in this part of the story. One is the discovery by Luke's party of Zanoma Sekot and the surprises the find there, including dissention by the locals, known as Ferroans. The second is Leia's mission to reconnect the galaxy, and finds the Yuuzhan Vong and Imperials at the same place, a vital communications nexus with the Unknown Regions. Third is Nom Anor's latest reincarnation in the story, this as the "prophet" of the cult of the Jeedi.
I most enjoyed the struggle faced by Tahiri with the personality imposed on her while she was held captive by the Yuuzhan Vong some time before. It had been surpressed, but she has been dealing with it in this book. I am not sure I am satisfied with the result, but even as I read the next book in the series, it is still an evolving issue in the storyline.
Of course, there is success along the way, but there are surprising discoveries made both by Luke and Leia. The open question is: how will these discoveries made both by the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong affect the fate of both in the galaxy.
Despite the way the book drags on in places, if you are a fan of the Star Wars universe, you should read this. Not reading this will put you behind the eight ball on following the next book in the epic saga, "The Final Prophesy." |
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