 "Great novel on the Unknown Regions but I'd like to see more worlds and species of the UR!" | 2009-01-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1114KPEZZON6X |
This was the best novel of the Force Herectic trilogy and one of the best of NJO. Why? Well,the Unknown Regions up close and personal with Luke Skywalker,Mara Jade and Jacen Solo venturing into the UR searching for Zonama Sekot. As well as awesome space battle as well as the return of the Ssi-Ruuk and the second battle of Bakura as well as an awesome scene in the book where Jagged Fel flies his starfighter over the surface of one of Bakura's two moons. It was awesome to see the Chiss homeworld of Csilla and it's icy landscape and it's three moons.
But my only complaint was I don't think we saw enough of the UR. But we later saw more of the UR in Troy Denning's DarkNest trilogy. But I'd like the see the other star systems of Chiss Space including the 27 star systems that are ruled by the Chiss as well as the Empire of the Hand back in action. As well as have Ben Skywalker visit Zonama Sekot since near the end of The Unifying Force Luke said to Mara that he was destined to be there. Perhaps Tim Zahn could come back and do a Luke/Mara/Ben adventure hardcover novel set before Legacy of the Force and set after Dark Nest and have Ben visit ZS and fly a Sekotan starfighter in a space battle and/or have Luke,Mara and Ben find the Empire of the Hand or the Hand of Judgement.
Great novel nonetheless and I do hope Sean Williams and Shane Dix come back and do more SW novels set in the UR either before or after ANH or perhaps after the upcoming Fate of the Jedi series.
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 "What Was the Point?" | 2008-11-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3J2TQASBY4ROE |
Honestly, this was probably the most pointless book within the New Jedi Order so far. It's great that the authors wanted to bring back some characters from books past (Truce at Bakura) and give the readers an idea of what has happened to those characters and planets since the Yuuzhan Vong War started, but the events in Force Remnant II: Refugee are ultimately irrelevant to the overall NJO story. As with many reviews, this one does contain spoilers.
My biggest complaint with the book is the lack of the Yuuzhan Vong in general. The Yuuzhan Vong have been the main (and, for the most part, only) antagonists of the New Jedi Order series. Without them playing the role of primary antagonist, Refugee just doesn't seem to fit in with the other books in the NJO. If it was separate from the series, my opinion of the book might have been a bit more positive. But, as it stands, Refugee just wasn't a good NJO book...it lacked one of the main constants of the series so far: The Yuuzhan Vong.
Refugee didn't really contribute to the New Jedi Order as a whole. I would even go as far as to say it didn't need to be made into an entire book. Don't get me wrong, the plot was interesting and I was certainly glad to see something familiar from the Star Wars past. However, it wasn't consistent with or relative to what has been covered so far. I highly doubt the events in this book will greatly impact the NJO or the Star Wars timeline. There almost wasn't enough plot material to even make a book and there were definitely parts that seemed to drag a bit without contributing anything to the story. This could have easily been summed up in a few chapters at the end of Remnant or split up between Remnant and Reunion. It was unnecessary to make an entire book out of Refugee.
As with Remnant, there are three storylines being followed. The Skywalker group is still searching for Zonoma Sekot. The Solo group is still trying to reestablish communication to various regions of the galaxy. And Nom Anor is still playing the role of Prophet in a Jeedai heresy uprising on Yuuzhan'tar, hoping to topple Shimrra's rule. None of the story lines progress significantly.
Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba, Tekli, and the Widowmaker's crew manage to stumble into Chiss space and continue to search for Zonoma Sekot there. The Chiss seemed a bit...off...in my opinion. I'm not really sure what it was about them, but they seemed different from how they have appeared in earlier books (notably Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology). Props to Williams and Dix for wanting to include the Chiss, but they didn't seem to play that significant a role. It almost struck me as the authors thinking "Who can we bring into this next" rather than thinking about the overall plot and story. There was nothing unique about the Chiss here...any race could have been substituted and the same outcome would have been achieved. I did, however, enjoy seeing Soontir Fel and the rest of Jag's family (Syal and Wyn) in action and doing their thing...even if it didn't do much for the overall story. In reality, all that was accomplished in the Skywalker team story line was the discovery of where Zonoma Sekot was most likely located. This, while significant enough an event to warrant being mentioned, did not need roughly one third of a book to be achieved. While this is the plot line that is most highlighted on the back of Refugee, it reads more like a subplot or side story of the book.
While Luke and friends are searching for the Rogue Planet, the Solo group (Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, Threepio, Tahiri, Twin Sun Squadron, and the Pride of Selonia's crew) have reached Bakura, following through on a tip from the Ryn network. This seemed to be the main story of Refugee (even though it received the smallest coverage in the back-of-the-book synopsis). The story here is decent enough: the Ssi Ruuk want to reclaim Bakura as part of their empire and plan to do so through deception via the lowly P'w'eck. The idea itself isn't that bad and using some "invading bad guys" from a previous book (Truce at Bakura) is something to be considered. However, as I stated earlier, the use of the Ssi Ruuk as the main antagonists make Refugee incoherent with the rest of the New Jedi Order books. If this was a novel on its own, maybe as a follow up to Truce at Bakura, it wouldn't seem so out of place and would probably even make a really good book. The whole point of the Solo story line seems to be setting up and continuing the Tahiri conflict. Again, not a bad idea...if Refugee took place several books ago, when Tahiri was still somewhat a main character. Nonetheless, I'm interested to see what Williams and Dix end up doing with Tahiri. The outcome of the Ssi Ruuk re-invasion was a bit predictable and ended pretty much as I expected it to. The Solo plot is probably the most covered story line within the book but, ultimately (and like the Skywalker plot), it doesn't achieve enough to warrant having as many pages written about it as it did.
The Nom Anor plot line almost wasn't even worth mentioning, it got so little attention and accomplished very little, which is a bit sad, in my opinion. If nothing else, Williams and Dix do write the Yuuzhan Vong (characters and culture) well and do a fine job of pulling the reader into the Yuuzhan Vong culture. So it was disappointing that the Yuuzhan Vong were mentioned as infrequently as they were. Again, as with the other two story lines in Refugee, not a lot happened with this plot. In fact, I think the only thing that was achieved was Nom Anor gaining a new asset in the form of Ngaaluh.
Ultimately, Refugee reads a lot like what it is: the second book in a trilogy. Nothing really significant is accomplished, nothing is tied up, and the plot doesn't progress enough to leave the reader feeling truly satisfied at the end. Like Force Heretic I: Remnant, this book seems to be more of a teaser trailer to Force Heretic III: Reunion than it does a novel that could stand up on its own and as part of the Force Heretic Trilogy and the NJO. There isn't anything particularly wrong with how Williams and Dix write (except the lack of chapters...finding a good stopping point can be really hard), but the plot just doesn't cut it for a NJO book. Perhaps Reunion will be better.
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| "Was this really necessary?" | 2007-10-27 |
| - Reviewed By justinsgaines |
Apparently authors Sean Williams and Shane Dix though that by book 16 of the massive New Jedi Order series, what we really needed was a book that had next to nothing to do with the Yuuzhan Vong threat that was the focus of the previous 15 books. Instead they offer up Refugee, the irrelevant and not particularly necessary middle chapter in their Force Heretic series within a series.
Refugee, which for all intents and purposes is Truce at Bakura Part II, has two major plotlines and two minor subplots. The main plots are the Skywalkers' attempt to locate the living planet Zonama Sekot, which could provide the means for finally defeating the Yuuzhan Vong invaders, and the Solos' attempts to restore communications and diplomatic relations with planets on the far reaches of the galaxy, in this case Bakura.
The minor, yet infinitely more interesting subplots focus on the young Jedi Tahiri's attempts to come to grips with what the Yuuzhan Vong shapers did to her back on Yavin 4 as well as disgraced Executor Nom Anor's attempt to return to the power and status he once knew, even if it means working against his former master Supreme Overlord Shimmra.
The Bakura story was fun enough I suppose, but it had no business being part of the New Jedi Order series. The Yuuzhan Vong don't make any appearance at all until the Epilogue, and even that seems implausible. If Williams and Dix really wanted to tell this story, they should have pitched it as a stand-alone novel outside of this major series. As it stands, the major events of this book could have been condensed to about 100 pages and split between Force Heretic I: Remnant (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 15) and Force Heretic III: Reunion (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 17), making the Force Heretic series a more effective "duology". Still, if you're following the New Jedi Order series (and since you're reading a review of book 16 I assume you are), you pretty much have to read this book. Just don't expect the overall story to progress much in this one.
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 "book 16" | 2006-10-22 |
| - Reviewed By sebasto20002002 |
| this book couldve been half as long had all the nonsense been cut out.theres a lot of politics and ceremonies and the like.i think the author was going for drama,but it came out more like over-detailed and uneventful.there are just certain things people have come to expect from anything star wars.like a light saber battle,a super weopon,the sith,ise of the main characteres in meaningful and interesting events.this book lacks all these qualities.you will,however,have to trudge through it if you are reading the series.now i will give you the low down.the good guys,for some reason,are looking for a living planet instead of fighting the vong.anakan solo is still dead.which still makes me mad.landos super cool droids arent around and niether is the coolest sith since darth vadar in lord nyax.heck,even han solo ,luke skywalker and thier families dont see much action.luke spends the book in a library.oh thats so cool.[ugh].all the real cool stuff happens in like the last 70 pages.there is a assassination attempt on someone important.so the other jedis,not in danger,gave to twart the attempt.i feel so sorry for poor old tahiri.shes not only hopeless about the future but severely depressed and now gas an alternate persona.my heart really goes out to her.nom-anor is hiding beneath coruscant trying to get the shamed ones to revolt.the good guys do find a planet full of droids powered by souls.a terrorist assassanation attempt gets an ok air battle towards the end.jacen solo spends most of his time in the library also.ho-hum.but danni expresses her true feelings for him.lastly,theres the living planet.it is said to ne inhabited by insects.theres dense oxygen.every 3 years a fire god burns up its surface.a prophetess from there is said to have created the force.the planet can jump through hyperspace also.thats all they find out in over 400 pages.they never did find the planet either. |
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| "Three-sided storyline that I found rather enjoyable" | 2005-12-27 |
| - Reviewed By ludahai |
I read the other reviews and I wonder if I read the same book that they did. I genuinely enjoyed the complexity of the book. Perhaps for the Star Wars fan who enjoys duels and battles, this book isn't for you. However, I enjoyed the political complexities present in the book on all three sides of the storyline.
In one, Luke continues on his mission to find Zonama Sekot and hope that it can make the difference in turning the war around. Contrary to one review, the conflict at the end is a huge benefit in their effort to get access to Chiss space, but I will not spoil how. Also, I believe that there is a very good reason that we don't have the map, that is because the Chiss are very secretive and even though Luke, Jacen and the others are looking at records, I am doubtful the Chiss are actually letting them look at star charts showing exact locations. Remember, many were VERY skeptical of their arrival and mission. Not providing us the map makes it more realistic for us in following the story.
The second side is the continuing mission led by Leia and Han to bring the distant regions of the galazy back into the fold. They are taken to Bakaura on the edge of the far reaches of the galaxy, bordering on Ssi-Ruuk space and the Unknown Regions. The political turnabouts in this theater are complex and telling. I agree with one reviewer that the whole ruse was completely predictable, but the subtle mechanisms are intreging as is the climax to the incident.
The third theater is on the planet formally known as Courscant, now the headquarters of the Yuuzhan Vong in the galaxy. Nom Anor is trying to lead a cult based on the Jeedi to being about his revenge on the leadership of the Vong. This is the least interesting of the three, but has some long term potential. Anor is trying to take advantage of the fact that the Shamed Ones have been put down for so long and that they have a desire for something more. This is, of course, a theme seen throughout the world at different stages of history. However, this isn't as well developed as the other two theaters of the book, but hopefully will be in book three.
If you are only into battles and lightsabre fights, this book isn't for you. However, if you are into a more in depth look at various facets of the ongoing galactic war along with the political intrige implicit in it, enjoy! |
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| "2.5/5, An improvement, but not enough..." | 2004-08-09 |
| - Reviewed By aidanhailes |
To say the first "Force Heretic" novel was a monumental dissapointment that made me want to rip my eyes out, would be a minor understatement. Which made it all the more surprising to find that I actually enjoyed this second book in the Williams-Dix composition for the New Jedi Order series.
In all honesty, it appears as though one of the writers (I can't tell which) wrote the first book, and the other one wrote this one, so different did I find the styles. Gone were the plaguing problems of incoherent sentences and paragraphs, stuttering storylines and lack of involvement in the characters. As well, I found most of the intrigue laced in this book to actually work. Previously, I staunchly believed mystery and Star Wars don't mix - they didn't in Episode II, on film, they definitely won't on paper - but at least in the case of Bakura, with so much back-stabbing and betrayal going on at once (even the Yuuzhan Vong get in on it) I was genuinely pulled into the book. The whole plot on Csilla seemed like an afterthought however, and the conflict that occured there seemed a little too mainpulative and coincidental. It would've been much easier for Jacen, Luke and Co. to learn Zenoma Sekot's location without an overly done powergrab. Just my opinion. The plot with Nom Anor as Yu'shaa, the Prophet, also worked well, and helped advance the Yuuzhan Vong side of things with surprising clarity.
Of course, the book still wasn't that great.
The lack of chapters will bug me forever, I'm sorry, it probably sounds petty, but it just doesn't work for me. Call it a stylistic choice if you want, I hate it. The characters were absolutely stupid on occassion (even if I feel Dix and Williams did an ok job of molding them this time), a good case of which is with Jaina. She has ample opportunity several times to free herself from Harris (the Vice-President) and his cronie's grasp, yet waits until possibly the worst time to do so, after two backup character's unneccessarily die. I mean, she only has to fight two guys, and at one point one of them is knocked out of the equation and Jaina isn't even bound by cuffs (as she is when she eventually does break free) and yet she still doesn't act, instead choosing to allow another person to die. Horrible plot-manipulation, flat out. Time and time again, I saw character's make hideously foolish choices that no Star Wars hero or heroine would truly make, just to make the plot advance. It came off as downright lazy to me. That being said, I still enjoyed the plot - go figure.
All in all, this novel was a definite improvement on the previous Williams-Dix endeavor, but still failed in far too many aspects to be worthy of joining the likes of Traitor, Star by Star, or any of Aaron Allston's or Michael Stackpole's novels. 2.5/5 stars. |
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