delliomellidom's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
yak_attak's review
2.0
Review on Twitter
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/1219673284754669569?s=20
(Spoilers)
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/1219673284754669569?s=20
(Spoilers)
colinmcev's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed Hero’s Trial, the first half of this two-parter within the larger New Jedi Order storyline, but unlike that one I felt Jedi Eclipse was a little too busy and unfocused. The first book had a clearly defined, compelling main storyline: Han Solo going on an adventure as he worked through his grief over the loss of Chewbacca. By contrast, in this book, there are many different subplots going on, which in and of itself is not unlike most Star Wars novels, but none of them really stood out as a single driving storyline for the book. Instead, it felt like a hodgepodge of various plots that didn’t do much for me. In fact, since the first book largely ties up all its own loose ends, this feels less like a two-part series than two standalone books with a few shared elements between them.
There are some things to admire about Jedi Eclipse. For one thing, it ends with quite a bang (very literally). I also enjoyed seeing how the Hutts were worked into the Yuuzhan Vong storyline, and I much respect how Luceno (one of the better Star Wars writers, in my opinion) integrated so many elements from past Star Wars Expanded Universe stories into this book, from the Centerpoint trilogy on Corellia, to the Hapes Consortium from The Courtship of Princess Leia, to even elements of the Han Solo Adventures trilogy of the 70s and 80s. Luceno is obviously very knowledgeable and respectful of the established fictional canon and integrates it intelligently and respectfully, which is better than how authors like Michael Stackpole try to shoehorn their own characters into every story at the expense of that canon (i.e., I, Jedi). But still, I didn’t find Jedi Eclipse to be one of Lucano’s stronger efforts.
There are some things to admire about Jedi Eclipse. For one thing, it ends with quite a bang (very literally). I also enjoyed seeing how the Hutts were worked into the Yuuzhan Vong storyline, and I much respect how Luceno (one of the better Star Wars writers, in my opinion) integrated so many elements from past Star Wars Expanded Universe stories into this book, from the Centerpoint trilogy on Corellia, to the Hapes Consortium from The Courtship of Princess Leia, to even elements of the Han Solo Adventures trilogy of the 70s and 80s. Luceno is obviously very knowledgeable and respectful of the established fictional canon and integrates it intelligently and respectfully, which is better than how authors like Michael Stackpole try to shoehorn their own characters into every story at the expense of that canon (i.e., I, Jedi). But still, I didn’t find Jedi Eclipse to be one of Lucano’s stronger efforts.
blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to write a review of the full yuuzhan vong series at some point. but man. this is everything I hate about fan fiction.
lustrs's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
jadsia's review against another edition
2.0
The only reason I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 is because I like Star Wars books. I do not like this author, I don't like the pacing of his books and I don't like his apparent need to write with a thesaurus next to him. It's OK not to use long, obscure words in an effort to make yourself sound smarter. I shouldn't have to keep a dictionary next to me to figure out what you're saying. I'm considered a bright person but when you use words like "cantilevered", "sangfroid", "stroboscopic" or "ombudsman", it gets exhausting.
blancwene's review against another edition
2.0
For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, two eBook novellas, three short stories, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.
This week’s focus: the second book in the Agents of Chaos duology, Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse by James Luceno.
SOME HISTORY:
James Luceno had experience overseeing and co-writing a multibook saga in the Robotech universe, so it makes sense that Del Rey and Lucasfilm would hire him as a consultant during the planning of The New Jedi Order series. He expanded a map of the Star Wars galaxy with author Dan Wallace, wrote a "series bible" to coordinate all of the story arcs, and was eventually contracted to write Agents of Chaos: first as a single novel, and later as a duology. Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse made it to number ten on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of October 22, 2000, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered Leia going to the Hapes Consortium and Jacen & Anakin heading off to Centerpoint Station, but I remembered nothing of Han’s plotline.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Do the Hapan duelling uniforms count? Han had some notable outfits when he rescued Droma on Ruan, but otherwise not much from Leia herself.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
A string of victories by the Yuuzhan Vong has left the New Republic stretched to the breaking point. While Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo pursue separate paths, one of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Knights undertakes a reckless undercover mission in the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong. And allying themselves with the Hutts, the Vong leave a purposeful trail of information for New Republic agents: the possible location of their next target.
THE CHARACTERS:
After [b:Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial|3329004|Agents of Chaos I Hero's Trial (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #4; Agents of Chaos, #1)|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327998096l/3329004._SY75_.jpg|311083] focused so heavily on Han’s grief and emotional turmoil, I expected Jedi Eclipse to do the same. But instead, Han is just one of many characters that Luceno choses to follow: Han & Droma are in search of Roa and Droma’s family; Leia has to leave her refugee work with SELCORE for a diplomatic mission to Hapes; Jacen & Anakin Solo are sent to try and get Centerpoint Station up and running; Wurth Skidder allows himself to be captured by the Yuuzhan Vong so he can learn more about them; Talon Karrde teams up with the Jedi to uncover where the Vong will attack next; Viqi Shesh of Kuat continues to scheme; the New Republic military attempts to lure the Vong into a trap; the Hutts play both sides; and the Vong use misdirection on everyone. That sounds like a lot of subplots to follow, and it was!
Han runs around a lot here, so while he’s physically very active, emotionally he doesn’t make much progress. He’s trying to track down both his old smuggler buddy and Droma’s family, which leads to the Millennium Falcon (now painted black so it’s incognito) going here and there and everywhere. They find part of Droma’s family, and the rest + Roa are rescued by Kyp Durron and Ganner Rhysode; however, Han’s still angry with Leia and has made no attempt to reconcile. Droma’s family being in two separate places (both on Ruan, and on the Yuuzhan Vong ship) felt both realistic--everything is in upheaval!--and another symptom of this book’s fragmented vibe.
Leia starts out the novel on Gyndine, evacuating as many people as she can before the planet falls. She’s then sent to Hapes, in hopes that she can convince them to send a fleet and help out the New Republic. Leia frequently interacts with Prince Isolder, her old flame from [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845], but their scenes are awkward. I also wondered where all the prominent Hapan women where, especially when Leia never interacted with Queen Mother Teneniel Djo at all. She talks to Ta’a Chume, Tenel Ka is there, but that’s it. Hapes is a matriarchy, yet the most significant scenes involve Isolder and another male Hapan noble dueling over Hapes’ response to the NR.
I also wish that Leia had spoken up about her vision--it was vague, and “the future is always in motion,” but she had such a bad feeling about sending the Hapan fleet! Why was she so passive here?
Anakin & Jacen head off to Centerpoint Station in the Corellian system, still arguing about the role of the Jedi in the galaxy. Jacen’s been all over the place with his philosophical questioning, and he absolutely infuriated me here. Anakin had no problem with using Centerpoint defensively (ie, turning on the interdiction field). When they realize that the Vong were attacking Fondor, Anakin later says that he could have fired Centerpoint and precisely hit his target. But he asks Jacen, Jacen says no, and then we get Thracken Sal-Solo (!!!) taking control and making an absolute mess of things. Yes, he destroys half the Vong fleet, but he also annihilates three-quarters of the Hapans in the process. JACEN NO!!
I find it hard to care about these new Jedi characters when they keep dying after only a few books! (Miko Reglia: we meet in [b:Vector Prime|192214|Vector Prime (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #1)|R.A. Salvatore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412181316l/192214._SX50_.jpg|2799032], and he dies; Daeshara’cor: we meet in [b:Dark Tide II: Ruin|320371|Dark Tide II Ruin|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320522538l/320371._SY75_.jpg|1134103], and she dies). At least we knew a little about Wurth Skidder before Jedi Eclipse: mainly, that he’s a hotshot and someone in agreement with Kyp Durron’s philosophy. But it still felt like the book expected me to care more about his fate than I actually did.
Talon Karrde appears in this book! I wish I liked his plotline better. He’s intuited from the Hutt shipping patterns that they might have insider information on the Vong strategy, and Kyp Durron & Ganner Rhysode (??) head off to help. They’re in the right place at the right time to rescue the captives off the Vong vessel, but Wurth Skidder still dies. (Which, I know he was dying, but surely they could have still removed him from the ship instead of leaving him to die alone!)
The Hutts have allied themselves with the Yuuzhan Vong. Well, sort of--they’re still trying to play both sides here, and leak information to the NR. Little do they know that the Vong have played them as well! The Yuuzhan Vong plot works pretty well here, and would have succeeded if it weren’t for Thracken (why did they let him out of jail??).
ISSUES:
Once again, there were a number of juicy thesaurus words strewn about the book. Mephitic? Nidor? Botryoidal? At least they’re all descriptors, so you can skip them and not miss out on too much.
The story as a whole felt uneven/scattered--many of the plot points are completely unconnected, but then they all meet up during the Battle of Fondor. I liked the battle, but the idea that so many characters just happened to be in the same place at the same time didn’t entirely fit with everything that came before.
And while Hero’s Trial had a tight focus on Han, Leia, and the Yuuzhan Vong defector plot, there’s so many plot threads running through this story that I felt like some of the subplots (like Han!) were given short shrift. I wish that some of the viewpoint sections could have been pruned a little, so that other aspects of the story were fleshed out a bit more.
Like with the Peace Brigade in Hero’s Trial, I like the concept of the Hutts allying with the Yuuzhan Vong yet still trying to play both sides, but the actual execution leaves something to be desired. So much of the book boils down to “we have this information: can we trust it?” and everyone dithers endlessly about it.
I also wish we had a better sense of which worlds have fallen to the Yuuzhan Vong, and when. In Jedi Eclipse, we see the fall of Gyndine and Tynna, but other losses are implied or offscreen. I’ve been trying to follow along on my map of the galaxy, and I feel like I’m missing some battles or something because all of a sudden the Vong have advanced much closer to the Core.
galaxy map
IN CONCLUSION:
After [b:Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial|3329004|Agents of Chaos I Hero's Trial (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #4; Agents of Chaos, #1)|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327998096l/3329004._SY75_.jpg|311083], I was looking forward to another book focused on Han’s emotional journey. But Luceno opens up the story to a lot of other characters and viewpoints, and it felt scattered as a result.
Next up: the second hardcover release, [b:Balance Point|320346|Balance Point (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #6)|Kathy Tyers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330833461l/320346._SY75_.jpg|311099] by Kathy Tyers.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/JeHXXWS43cA
2001 interview with James Luceno: https://web.archive.org/web/20050205000829/http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20001023/index.html
This week’s focus: the second book in the Agents of Chaos duology, Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse by James Luceno.
SOME HISTORY:
James Luceno had experience overseeing and co-writing a multibook saga in the Robotech universe, so it makes sense that Del Rey and Lucasfilm would hire him as a consultant during the planning of The New Jedi Order series. He expanded a map of the Star Wars galaxy with author Dan Wallace, wrote a "series bible" to coordinate all of the story arcs, and was eventually contracted to write Agents of Chaos: first as a single novel, and later as a duology. Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse made it to number ten on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of October 22, 2000, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered Leia going to the Hapes Consortium and Jacen & Anakin heading off to Centerpoint Station, but I remembered nothing of Han’s plotline.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Do the Hapan duelling uniforms count? Han had some notable outfits when he rescued Droma on Ruan, but otherwise not much from Leia herself.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
A string of victories by the Yuuzhan Vong has left the New Republic stretched to the breaking point. While Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo pursue separate paths, one of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Knights undertakes a reckless undercover mission in the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong. And allying themselves with the Hutts, the Vong leave a purposeful trail of information for New Republic agents: the possible location of their next target.
THE CHARACTERS:
After [b:Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial|3329004|Agents of Chaos I Hero's Trial (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #4; Agents of Chaos, #1)|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327998096l/3329004._SY75_.jpg|311083] focused so heavily on Han’s grief and emotional turmoil, I expected Jedi Eclipse to do the same. But instead, Han is just one of many characters that Luceno choses to follow: Han & Droma are in search of Roa and Droma’s family; Leia has to leave her refugee work with SELCORE for a diplomatic mission to Hapes; Jacen & Anakin Solo are sent to try and get Centerpoint Station up and running; Wurth Skidder allows himself to be captured by the Yuuzhan Vong so he can learn more about them; Talon Karrde teams up with the Jedi to uncover where the Vong will attack next; Viqi Shesh of Kuat continues to scheme; the New Republic military attempts to lure the Vong into a trap; the Hutts play both sides; and the Vong use misdirection on everyone. That sounds like a lot of subplots to follow, and it was!
Han runs around a lot here, so while he’s physically very active, emotionally he doesn’t make much progress. He’s trying to track down both his old smuggler buddy and Droma’s family, which leads to the Millennium Falcon (now painted black so it’s incognito) going here and there and everywhere. They find part of Droma’s family, and the rest + Roa are rescued by Kyp Durron and Ganner Rhysode; however, Han’s still angry with Leia and has made no attempt to reconcile. Droma’s family being in two separate places (both on Ruan, and on the Yuuzhan Vong ship) felt both realistic--everything is in upheaval!--and another symptom of this book’s fragmented vibe.
Leia starts out the novel on Gyndine, evacuating as many people as she can before the planet falls. She’s then sent to Hapes, in hopes that she can convince them to send a fleet and help out the New Republic. Leia frequently interacts with Prince Isolder, her old flame from [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845], but their scenes are awkward. I also wondered where all the prominent Hapan women where, especially when Leia never interacted with Queen Mother Teneniel Djo at all. She talks to Ta’a Chume, Tenel Ka is there, but that’s it. Hapes is a matriarchy, yet the most significant scenes involve Isolder and another male Hapan noble dueling over Hapes’ response to the NR.
I also wish that Leia had spoken up about her vision--it was vague, and “the future is always in motion,” but she had such a bad feeling about sending the Hapan fleet! Why was she so passive here?
Anakin & Jacen head off to Centerpoint Station in the Corellian system, still arguing about the role of the Jedi in the galaxy. Jacen’s been all over the place with his philosophical questioning, and he absolutely infuriated me here. Anakin had no problem with using Centerpoint defensively (ie, turning on the interdiction field). When they realize that the Vong were attacking Fondor, Anakin later says that he could have fired Centerpoint and precisely hit his target. But he asks Jacen, Jacen says no, and then we get Thracken Sal-Solo (!!!) taking control and making an absolute mess of things. Yes, he destroys half the Vong fleet, but he also annihilates three-quarters of the Hapans in the process. JACEN NO!!
I find it hard to care about these new Jedi characters when they keep dying after only a few books! (Miko Reglia: we meet in [b:Vector Prime|192214|Vector Prime (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #1)|R.A. Salvatore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412181316l/192214._SX50_.jpg|2799032], and he dies; Daeshara’cor: we meet in [b:Dark Tide II: Ruin|320371|Dark Tide II Ruin|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320522538l/320371._SY75_.jpg|1134103], and she dies). At least we knew a little about Wurth Skidder before Jedi Eclipse: mainly, that he’s a hotshot and someone in agreement with Kyp Durron’s philosophy. But it still felt like the book expected me to care more about his fate than I actually did.
Talon Karrde appears in this book! I wish I liked his plotline better. He’s intuited from the Hutt shipping patterns that they might have insider information on the Vong strategy, and Kyp Durron & Ganner Rhysode (??) head off to help. They’re in the right place at the right time to rescue the captives off the Vong vessel, but Wurth Skidder still dies. (Which, I know he was dying, but surely they could have still removed him from the ship instead of leaving him to die alone!)
The Hutts have allied themselves with the Yuuzhan Vong. Well, sort of--they’re still trying to play both sides here, and leak information to the NR. Little do they know that the Vong have played them as well! The Yuuzhan Vong plot works pretty well here, and would have succeeded if it weren’t for Thracken (why did they let him out of jail??).
ISSUES:
Once again, there were a number of juicy thesaurus words strewn about the book. Mephitic? Nidor? Botryoidal? At least they’re all descriptors, so you can skip them and not miss out on too much.
The story as a whole felt uneven/scattered--many of the plot points are completely unconnected, but then they all meet up during the Battle of Fondor. I liked the battle, but the idea that so many characters just happened to be in the same place at the same time didn’t entirely fit with everything that came before.
And while Hero’s Trial had a tight focus on Han, Leia, and the Yuuzhan Vong defector plot, there’s so many plot threads running through this story that I felt like some of the subplots (like Han!) were given short shrift. I wish that some of the viewpoint sections could have been pruned a little, so that other aspects of the story were fleshed out a bit more.
Like with the Peace Brigade in Hero’s Trial, I like the concept of the Hutts allying with the Yuuzhan Vong yet still trying to play both sides, but the actual execution leaves something to be desired. So much of the book boils down to “we have this information: can we trust it?” and everyone dithers endlessly about it.
I also wish we had a better sense of which worlds have fallen to the Yuuzhan Vong, and when. In Jedi Eclipse, we see the fall of Gyndine and Tynna, but other losses are implied or offscreen. I’ve been trying to follow along on my map of the galaxy, and I feel like I’m missing some battles or something because all of a sudden the Vong have advanced much closer to the Core.
galaxy map
IN CONCLUSION:
After [b:Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial|3329004|Agents of Chaos I Hero's Trial (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #4; Agents of Chaos, #1)|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327998096l/3329004._SY75_.jpg|311083], I was looking forward to another book focused on Han’s emotional journey. But Luceno opens up the story to a lot of other characters and viewpoints, and it felt scattered as a result.
Next up: the second hardcover release, [b:Balance Point|320346|Balance Point (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #6)|Kathy Tyers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330833461l/320346._SY75_.jpg|311099] by Kathy Tyers.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/JeHXXWS43cA
2001 interview with James Luceno: https://web.archive.org/web/20050205000829/http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20001023/index.html