alex_t's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
silverdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
yak_attak's review against another edition
3.0
Review/Thoughts on Twitter
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/1270780452383739904?s=20
(Spoilers)
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/1270780452383739904?s=20
(Spoilers)
verkisto's review against another edition
3.0
When you read a series this long, you expect to end a book with questions left unanswered, threads still untied, but when you're reading a trilogy within a series, shouldn't it feel more self-contained? I get that this is a lot like reading a graphic novel series, where the larger story takes precedence over whatever storyarc you're in, but shouldn't the arcs themselves feel like individual stories? This whole trilogy is about searching for a lost planet (and watching a character find themself again), and it's 1193 pages long!
The fact that this is a trilogy seems completely arbitrary, as does the title of the trilogy and the books themselves. For that matter, EVERY book title in this series has been uninspired, forgettable, and about as evocative as listening to the hum of a washing machine. As much as I like the way this series is going, I'm glad there are only two books left in this dang thing.
The fact that this is a trilogy seems completely arbitrary, as does the title of the trilogy and the books themselves. For that matter, EVERY book title in this series has been uninspired, forgettable, and about as evocative as listening to the hum of a washing machine. As much as I like the way this series is going, I'm glad there are only two books left in this dang thing.
gardinersbay's review against another edition
3.0
It ended well enough. Actually looking forward to this series ending.
blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
The against all odds theme runs thin after fifteen books of it
jessicaelisa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
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 third book in the Force Heretic trilogy, Force Heretic: Reunion by Sean Williams and Shane Dix.
SOME HISTORY:
Jon Foster began his career illustrating covers and interior art for TSR and Wizards of the Coast, but then branched out to comic book covers. His paintings are oils on canvas, later scanned into a computer to add digital effects, and feature dark and moody colors. His artwork of Aayla Secura from the Star Wars: Republic comic inspired George Lucas to include her in Attack of the Clones, but he also illustrated the covers for the Force Heretic trilogy--while I’m not overly fond of how he depicted the Skywalkers and Solos, I do like how he’s caught them all in the middle of action. Force Heretic: Reunion made it to number thirteen on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 20, 2003.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I accurately guessed a bit of the Zonama Sekot plotline before I started Reunion, but I definitely did not read this third volume of the trilogy since I had no memory of Han & Leia or Nom Anor’s plots.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for the Jedi aboard the Jade Shadow. But while they work to persuade the living planet to aid the Galactic Alliance, the Yuuzhan Vong launch a full-scale attack on a major communications base. Reinforcements are too far away, so it’s up to Han & Leia and their new ally Grand Admiral Pellaeon to fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds…
THE CHARACTERS:
As with [b:Force Heretic I: Remnant|55546|Force Heretic I Remnant (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #15)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403181057l/55546._SY75_.jpg|54132] and [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451], Reunion follows three main subplots: Nom Anor continuing to play the role of the Prophet of the Jeedai heresy while also having his revenge on rival members of the intendant caste; Han and Jaina Solo trying to meet with the Ryn Network on Onadax, while Tahiri Veila lingers in an unconscious battle against her other personality Riina Kwaad; and the Jedi team (Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Jacen Solo, Danni Quee, Saba Sebatyne, and Tekli plus the Imperials they’ve picked up along the way) finally heading for Zonama Sekot’s probable location.
So first, Luke and company. They initially have trouble navigating through the Unknown Regions (it’s “unknown” so not as charted as the rest of the galaxy), and Zonama Sekot’s system is difficult to penetrate--there’s almost a protective bubble surrounding it, like the hyperspace disturbance at the edge of the galaxy. It takes the effort of everything on board the Jade Shadow to break through, only for them to discover that Zonama Sekot is under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong. They’re allowed to land, but they find the Ferroaroans unwilling to listen to them. If you’ve read [b:Star Wars: Rogue Planet|758614|Star Wars Rogue Planet|Greg Bear|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320467624l/758614._SY75_.jpg|2510169], you might recognize Jabitha the Magister: she’s the little girl that befriended Anakin all those years ago. As Magister, she speaks directly for the planet, so they’ll have to convince both Jabitha and Sekot that it’s worth leaving sanctuary to join the fight against the Vong.
I expected there would be revelations about Zonama Sekot’s past and origins, but not here. I suppose that will come in the last two books? Most of the story is focused on a scheme by some rogue Ferroaroans who kidnap Danni Quee. Jacen and Saba run off after her, so our Jedi team ends up split into two groups. Turns out it was all a test for the Jedi to prove themselves to Zonama Sekot, and Sekot appears to Jacen in Vergere’s form and to Luke in Anakin’s form to question them further.
Were you (like me) expecting some resolution on the Jacen/Danni romance front? Well, you won’t get any! After running away from his feelings in book 2, Jacen doesn’t do anything in book 3 other than rescue Danni from kidnappers--and Danni spends most of the story unconscious, dragged around on a stretcher. (Jaina met Jag Fel again in [b:Dark Journey|266782|Dark Journey (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #10)|Elaine Cunningham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347318991l/266782._SY75_.jpg|522983] and one book later she’d changed her relationship status, but Jacen is a dawdler.)
Jumping back to the Han and Leia mission, the books opens with them on Onadax, waiting to be contacted by the Ryn Network...except Han is accused of cheating at sabacc and thrown out of the designated bar. Jaina reports back that she’s found nothing, so they head back to their ship empty-handed. Except not quite, because Droma shows up and asks for a ride. We last saw Droma at the end of [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]; after [b:Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse|157984|Agents of Chaos II Jedi Eclipse|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320522545l/157984._SY75_.jpg|152469], he was reunited with his sister, but he didn’t head off on his own until after the debacle of Duro. He tells Han that he was also trying to contact the Ryn Network, and can they just drop him off at the Senex/Juvex Sector since they’re headed for Esfandia?
After denying any plans to stop at Esfandia, the Solos find out that the Alliance’s Outer Rim Communication Center on Generis has fallen to the Vong, and the base on Esfandia is next. So of course that becomes their next stop. They arrive to find Grand Admiral Pellaeon there as well, having chased the Vong all the way from Generis to Esfandia, so they join forces and fight together. Esfandia is a really weird world--there’s no sun, so the native species have evolved in a strange way, and there’s a Star Trek-like wrinkle where Han and Leia realize that they accidentally killed some of the natives without even realizing it. Han and Leia find the base; there’s a traitor on the base, and they instantly suspect some poor Noghri because he doesn’t smell right. There’s a trap set for the Vong on the surface--there’s lots of fighting on speeder bikes--the Noghri nobly sacrifices himself and the traitor was someone else entirely, so everything is saved in the end.
During the space battle, Pellaeon requests help from the Alliance, and tells Jagged Fel to “surprise him.” Channeling Jaina’s impulsive, reckless nature, Jag uses a dead Yuuzhan Vong ship as a battering ram to smash a (dovin basil protected) hole into two of the Vong ships. He comes out a little toasty, but he certainly surprises Pellaeon.
Meanwhile, for most of the space battle Jaina has been watching over Tahiri, who has not woken up since the end of Refugee. She decides to lend her strength to Tahiri by forming a Jedi mind meld, and once inside she can see that Tahiri is facing off against Riina. But Tahiri and Riina soon discover that one can’t hurt the other without hurting herself, and the only way they can survive is by the two personalities joining together. I was a little surprised this happened about halfway through the book--I was expecting it to take longer--and I’m not sure how I feel about how it went down. Obviously it wouldn’t have been healthy if Tahiri had two separate sides of herself, but it’s hard for me to spot the old Tahiri or Riina in this new Tahiri--she seems completely different from either.
I liked seeing Droma again, although it did emphasize the fact that he’s not really needed now that Han and Leia have reconciled. When Han’s traveling alone, he needs a companion and a copilot, but now that Leia’s here, Droma becomes like a third wheel at times.
And finally, we have Nom Anor. Now that Nom Anor has a double agent in Shimrra’s court, he starts accusing a bunch of executors and political people as heretics. But this wouldn’t be a Nom Anor plotline without him being betrayed, so he’s almost killed in a coup orchestrated by the Shamed One Shoon-mi. Nom Anor theorizes that someone else was pulling the strings behind Shoon-mi’s attempt, but we never find out who. Nom Anor also loses his deception priestess when she’s outed by Shimrra and thrown into the pit. I guess Nom Anor has gone back a few steps in this book--he’s alive, but his double agent is dead, and while he was starting to stir up physical unrest on Yuuzhan’tar, he’s not ready to commit to overthrowing Shimrra. Honestly, I’m not sure if he’d ever be ready; committing to take down Shimrra feels like a step too far for Nom Anor.
ISSUES:
Final thoughts on the structure: I still don’t like it. It helped that I had a self-imposed deadline, because there were a few parts where I did not feel motivated to pick the book back up. I think I would have preferred that Williams and Dix fully committed to a no-chapter structure rather than creating something with four monster chapters. I also felt like pivotal events got really dragged out in Reunion: Sekot in Vergere’s form is about to tell Jacen something very important, but then we cut to Luke and Mara talking to Sekot in Anakin’s form and we cut away to something else before they learn something important. Don’t do that!
There were also some weird little continuity errors, where I wasn’t sure if an editor messed up or if Williams and Dix had gotten confused with the timeline. When Droma is relating his travels after he left Han, he made a big deal about when he reunited with his sister at Fondor. But Droma and Han didn’t part company until the end of [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], one book later! And after the Battle of Esfandia (when Admiral Pellaeon is mopping things up after the Vong commander blows himself up), we read that the Widowmaker is there. But the Widowmaker isn’t there--it accompanied the Jade Shadow to Zonama Sekot! I would have expected an editor to catch those discrepancies before the book was published, but I guess not.
There were also some weird grammar or syntax issues in the ebook I read, where sentences seemed to be constructed in an awkward order. Maybe just an ebook problem? (Unfortunately, I am not rereading the book in paper form to check.)
My biggest issue with Reunion and its trilogy mates falls into a "your mileage may vary" category… For me, the ideas behind the trilogy are interesting yet don't fully connect. Han and Leia investigating old mysteries from the Bantam era sounds like fun, but why are they doing it now at the tail end of the series? (I suppose the in-universe answer would be that the Yuuzhan Vong are focused elsewhere right now and previously they wouldn't have been able to travel around that much.) But when you map out their adventures on the galaxy map, they are alllll over the place--Mon Calamari to Galantos to Bakura to Onadax to Esfandia is quite the galaxy-wide trek, and I'm not sure I buy that they covered such a distance in this timeframe?
Also I have spent too much time poring over the galaxy map, so 1) one of the Republic’s two Outer Rim Communications Centers is on Generis, but that looks right in the middle of the Vong initial invasion path; 2) I think the Solos’ path would make more sense to me if they hadn’t stopped at Onadax in the Minos Cluster (it’s too out of the way!).
Likewise, Luke and company aid the Imperial Remnant, visit Csilla and the Fels, and finally find Zonama Sekot, yet so much of their story felt like padding for length. Especially in Reunion, where they find Zonama Sekot early on but then spend a lot of time explaining themselves and listening to others’ explanations. I think there was something very interesting buried under all those explanations but it comes at the end when I don’t think there’s enough room for it to sink in.
(Luke would be willing to use Zonama Sekot as a weapon against the Vong, whereas Jacen would not; it’s Sekot’s decision in the end, but I don’t think Luke made the right choice!)
Additionally, I think that most of the revelations were meant to hit the reader harder than they actually did. Han finds out that Droma is the leader of the Ryn Network, but not personally; instead, Droma tells Tahiri offscreen, who then relays it to Han. And that felt like such a copout! Droma was going to confess earlier in the book, why couldn't he talk to Han at the end? Likewise, Luke and Jacen find out that Anakin and Obi-Wan also visited Zonama Sekot, but it’s rather lackluster. This was one of the moments I was anticipating--Luke learning more about his father’s past--but it fell a bit flat for me.
IN CONCLUSION:
I’m glad that I finally read the Force Heretic trilogy, because there were elements that I enjoyed here. But my final verdict is “too long, could have been edited down into one or two books.” (I’m getting déjà vu from the Bantam era books!) In the end, I’m not sure that the first and second installments of Han and Leia’s mission were important to the story, and the “searching through the library on Csilla” scenes from book 2 definitely could have been condensed. I liked where we ended up by the end of Reunion, but it was a slow journey to get there--and I can see why so many people (myself twenty years ago included) gave up along the way.
Next up: the penultimate book in the New Jedi Order series, [b:The Final Prophecy|320356|The Final Prophecy (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #18)|Greg Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331429509l/320356._SY75_.jpg|1737246] by Greg Keyes.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/Hd0nqGO0CzQ
“Dark Canvas: The Art of Jon Foster”: https://web.archive.org/web/20050205132915/http://www.starwars.com/eu/explore/profile/f20010830/index.html
February 4, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/interview/williamsdix.asp
December 23, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/interview/williamsdix2.asp
This week’s focus: the third book in the Force Heretic trilogy, Force Heretic: Reunion by Sean Williams and Shane Dix.
SOME HISTORY:
Jon Foster began his career illustrating covers and interior art for TSR and Wizards of the Coast, but then branched out to comic book covers. His paintings are oils on canvas, later scanned into a computer to add digital effects, and feature dark and moody colors. His artwork of Aayla Secura from the Star Wars: Republic comic inspired George Lucas to include her in Attack of the Clones, but he also illustrated the covers for the Force Heretic trilogy--while I’m not overly fond of how he depicted the Skywalkers and Solos, I do like how he’s caught them all in the middle of action. Force Heretic: Reunion made it to number thirteen on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 20, 2003.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I accurately guessed a bit of the Zonama Sekot plotline before I started Reunion, but I definitely did not read this third volume of the trilogy since I had no memory of Han & Leia or Nom Anor’s plots.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for the Jedi aboard the Jade Shadow. But while they work to persuade the living planet to aid the Galactic Alliance, the Yuuzhan Vong launch a full-scale attack on a major communications base. Reinforcements are too far away, so it’s up to Han & Leia and their new ally Grand Admiral Pellaeon to fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds…
THE CHARACTERS:
As with [b:Force Heretic I: Remnant|55546|Force Heretic I Remnant (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #15)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403181057l/55546._SY75_.jpg|54132] and [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451], Reunion follows three main subplots: Nom Anor continuing to play the role of the Prophet of the Jeedai heresy while also having his revenge on rival members of the intendant caste; Han and Jaina Solo trying to meet with the Ryn Network on Onadax, while Tahiri Veila lingers in an unconscious battle against her other personality Riina Kwaad; and the Jedi team (Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Jacen Solo, Danni Quee, Saba Sebatyne, and Tekli plus the Imperials they’ve picked up along the way) finally heading for Zonama Sekot’s probable location.
So first, Luke and company. They initially have trouble navigating through the Unknown Regions (it’s “unknown” so not as charted as the rest of the galaxy), and Zonama Sekot’s system is difficult to penetrate--there’s almost a protective bubble surrounding it, like the hyperspace disturbance at the edge of the galaxy. It takes the effort of everything on board the Jade Shadow to break through, only for them to discover that Zonama Sekot is under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong. They’re allowed to land, but they find the Ferroaroans unwilling to listen to them. If you’ve read [b:Star Wars: Rogue Planet|758614|Star Wars Rogue Planet|Greg Bear|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320467624l/758614._SY75_.jpg|2510169], you might recognize Jabitha the Magister: she’s the little girl that befriended Anakin all those years ago. As Magister, she speaks directly for the planet, so they’ll have to convince both Jabitha and Sekot that it’s worth leaving sanctuary to join the fight against the Vong.
I expected there would be revelations about Zonama Sekot’s past and origins, but not here. I suppose that will come in the last two books? Most of the story is focused on a scheme by some rogue Ferroaroans who kidnap Danni Quee. Jacen and Saba run off after her, so our Jedi team ends up split into two groups. Turns out it was all a test for the Jedi to prove themselves to Zonama Sekot, and Sekot appears to Jacen in Vergere’s form and to Luke in Anakin’s form to question them further.
Were you (like me) expecting some resolution on the Jacen/Danni romance front? Well, you won’t get any! After running away from his feelings in book 2, Jacen doesn’t do anything in book 3 other than rescue Danni from kidnappers--and Danni spends most of the story unconscious, dragged around on a stretcher. (Jaina met Jag Fel again in [b:Dark Journey|266782|Dark Journey (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #10)|Elaine Cunningham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347318991l/266782._SY75_.jpg|522983] and one book later she’d changed her relationship status, but Jacen is a dawdler.)
Jumping back to the Han and Leia mission, the books opens with them on Onadax, waiting to be contacted by the Ryn Network...except Han is accused of cheating at sabacc and thrown out of the designated bar. Jaina reports back that she’s found nothing, so they head back to their ship empty-handed. Except not quite, because Droma shows up and asks for a ride. We last saw Droma at the end of [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]; after [b:Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse|157984|Agents of Chaos II Jedi Eclipse|James Luceno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320522545l/157984._SY75_.jpg|152469], he was reunited with his sister, but he didn’t head off on his own until after the debacle of Duro. He tells Han that he was also trying to contact the Ryn Network, and can they just drop him off at the Senex/Juvex Sector since they’re headed for Esfandia?
After denying any plans to stop at Esfandia, the Solos find out that the Alliance’s Outer Rim Communication Center on Generis has fallen to the Vong, and the base on Esfandia is next. So of course that becomes their next stop. They arrive to find Grand Admiral Pellaeon there as well, having chased the Vong all the way from Generis to Esfandia, so they join forces and fight together. Esfandia is a really weird world--there’s no sun, so the native species have evolved in a strange way, and there’s a Star Trek-like wrinkle where Han and Leia realize that they accidentally killed some of the natives without even realizing it. Han and Leia find the base; there’s a traitor on the base, and they instantly suspect some poor Noghri because he doesn’t smell right. There’s a trap set for the Vong on the surface--there’s lots of fighting on speeder bikes--the Noghri nobly sacrifices himself and the traitor was someone else entirely, so everything is saved in the end.
During the space battle, Pellaeon requests help from the Alliance, and tells Jagged Fel to “surprise him.” Channeling Jaina’s impulsive, reckless nature, Jag uses a dead Yuuzhan Vong ship as a battering ram to smash a (dovin basil protected) hole into two of the Vong ships. He comes out a little toasty, but he certainly surprises Pellaeon.
Meanwhile, for most of the space battle Jaina has been watching over Tahiri, who has not woken up since the end of Refugee. She decides to lend her strength to Tahiri by forming a Jedi mind meld, and once inside she can see that Tahiri is facing off against Riina. But Tahiri and Riina soon discover that one can’t hurt the other without hurting herself, and the only way they can survive is by the two personalities joining together. I was a little surprised this happened about halfway through the book--I was expecting it to take longer--and I’m not sure how I feel about how it went down. Obviously it wouldn’t have been healthy if Tahiri had two separate sides of herself, but it’s hard for me to spot the old Tahiri or Riina in this new Tahiri--she seems completely different from either.
I liked seeing Droma again, although it did emphasize the fact that he’s not really needed now that Han and Leia have reconciled. When Han’s traveling alone, he needs a companion and a copilot, but now that Leia’s here, Droma becomes like a third wheel at times.
And finally, we have Nom Anor. Now that Nom Anor has a double agent in Shimrra’s court, he starts accusing a bunch of executors and political people as heretics. But this wouldn’t be a Nom Anor plotline without him being betrayed, so he’s almost killed in a coup orchestrated by the Shamed One Shoon-mi. Nom Anor theorizes that someone else was pulling the strings behind Shoon-mi’s attempt, but we never find out who. Nom Anor also loses his deception priestess when she’s outed by Shimrra and thrown into the pit. I guess Nom Anor has gone back a few steps in this book--he’s alive, but his double agent is dead, and while he was starting to stir up physical unrest on Yuuzhan’tar, he’s not ready to commit to overthrowing Shimrra. Honestly, I’m not sure if he’d ever be ready; committing to take down Shimrra feels like a step too far for Nom Anor.
ISSUES:
Final thoughts on the structure: I still don’t like it. It helped that I had a self-imposed deadline, because there were a few parts where I did not feel motivated to pick the book back up. I think I would have preferred that Williams and Dix fully committed to a no-chapter structure rather than creating something with four monster chapters. I also felt like pivotal events got really dragged out in Reunion: Sekot in Vergere’s form is about to tell Jacen something very important, but then we cut to Luke and Mara talking to Sekot in Anakin’s form and we cut away to something else before they learn something important. Don’t do that!
There were also some weird little continuity errors, where I wasn’t sure if an editor messed up or if Williams and Dix had gotten confused with the timeline. When Droma is relating his travels after he left Han, he made a big deal about when he reunited with his sister at Fondor. But Droma and Han didn’t part company until the end of [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], one book later! And after the Battle of Esfandia (when Admiral Pellaeon is mopping things up after the Vong commander blows himself up), we read that the Widowmaker is there. But the Widowmaker isn’t there--it accompanied the Jade Shadow to Zonama Sekot! I would have expected an editor to catch those discrepancies before the book was published, but I guess not.
There were also some weird grammar or syntax issues in the ebook I read, where sentences seemed to be constructed in an awkward order. Maybe just an ebook problem? (Unfortunately, I am not rereading the book in paper form to check.)
My biggest issue with Reunion and its trilogy mates falls into a "your mileage may vary" category… For me, the ideas behind the trilogy are interesting yet don't fully connect. Han and Leia investigating old mysteries from the Bantam era sounds like fun, but why are they doing it now at the tail end of the series? (I suppose the in-universe answer would be that the Yuuzhan Vong are focused elsewhere right now and previously they wouldn't have been able to travel around that much.) But when you map out their adventures on the galaxy map, they are alllll over the place--Mon Calamari to Galantos to Bakura to Onadax to Esfandia is quite the galaxy-wide trek, and I'm not sure I buy that they covered such a distance in this timeframe?
Also I have spent too much time poring over the galaxy map, so 1) one of the Republic’s two Outer Rim Communications Centers is on Generis, but that looks right in the middle of the Vong initial invasion path; 2) I think the Solos’ path would make more sense to me if they hadn’t stopped at Onadax in the Minos Cluster (it’s too out of the way!).
Likewise, Luke and company aid the Imperial Remnant, visit Csilla and the Fels, and finally find Zonama Sekot, yet so much of their story felt like padding for length. Especially in Reunion, where they find Zonama Sekot early on but then spend a lot of time explaining themselves and listening to others’ explanations. I think there was something very interesting buried under all those explanations but it comes at the end when I don’t think there’s enough room for it to sink in.
(Luke would be willing to use Zonama Sekot as a weapon against the Vong, whereas Jacen would not; it’s Sekot’s decision in the end, but I don’t think Luke made the right choice!)
Additionally, I think that most of the revelations were meant to hit the reader harder than they actually did. Han finds out that Droma is the leader of the Ryn Network, but not personally; instead, Droma tells Tahiri offscreen, who then relays it to Han. And that felt like such a copout! Droma was going to confess earlier in the book, why couldn't he talk to Han at the end? Likewise, Luke and Jacen find out that Anakin and Obi-Wan also visited Zonama Sekot, but it’s rather lackluster. This was one of the moments I was anticipating--Luke learning more about his father’s past--but it fell a bit flat for me.
IN CONCLUSION:
I’m glad that I finally read the Force Heretic trilogy, because there were elements that I enjoyed here. But my final verdict is “too long, could have been edited down into one or two books.” (I’m getting déjà vu from the Bantam era books!) In the end, I’m not sure that the first and second installments of Han and Leia’s mission were important to the story, and the “searching through the library on Csilla” scenes from book 2 definitely could have been condensed. I liked where we ended up by the end of Reunion, but it was a slow journey to get there--and I can see why so many people (myself twenty years ago included) gave up along the way.
Next up: the penultimate book in the New Jedi Order series, [b:The Final Prophecy|320356|The Final Prophecy (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #18)|Greg Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331429509l/320356._SY75_.jpg|1737246] by Greg Keyes.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/Hd0nqGO0CzQ
“Dark Canvas: The Art of Jon Foster”: https://web.archive.org/web/20050205132915/http://www.starwars.com/eu/explore/profile/f20010830/index.html
February 4, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/interview/williamsdix.asp
December 23, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/interview/williamsdix2.asp
caedo06's review against another edition
4.0
This "trilogy" could definitely be a bit of a slog at times. That may partly be because there were no chapters, so it felt as of it jidt kept going on forever with few real breaks. I also can't help but think some of the story arcs could have been trimmed down a bit.
That said, still overall enjoyable. I was glad the search for Zonoma Sekot actually took this long--not something that I wouls have wanted rushed in one book. Thairi's deacent into insanity, and eventual recovery was also handled well. It was good to finally see her step into her own character rather than be solely defined by Anakin.
Unfortunately, the Nom Anor parts were hit and miss. At times it didn't feel like the authors here nailes down his character--his internal thoughts/feelings sometimes seemed to really diverge from previous books and I wasn't convinced it was intentional.
The Han/Leia/Jaina stuff was fine and enjoyable, but nothing much to speak of. I feel like they could have been put aside for a book or two (as has happened with all the characters at one point or another throughout the series) and it may have helped tighten up the story.
But just two more books to go!
That said, still overall enjoyable. I was glad the search for Zonoma Sekot actually took this long--not something that I wouls have wanted rushed in one book. Thairi's deacent into insanity, and eventual recovery was also handled well. It was good to finally see her step into her own character rather than be solely defined by Anakin.
Unfortunately, the Nom Anor parts were hit and miss. At times it didn't feel like the authors here nailes down his character--his internal thoughts/feelings sometimes seemed to really diverge from previous books and I wasn't convinced it was intentional.
The Han/Leia/Jaina stuff was fine and enjoyable, but nothing much to speak of. I feel like they could have been put aside for a book or two (as has happened with all the characters at one point or another throughout the series) and it may have helped tighten up the story.
But just two more books to go!
zacharysell's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best star wars book by a long shot but it was a satisfying end to the trilogy. I am glad to be done with the author's writing style. I am also eager to finish out the series with only 2 books remaining.