Scan barcode
flexluthor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
mseys's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
clayton_sanborn's review against another edition
3.0
The tight schedule necessary to produce this amount of writing in such a short time left some of the subplots a bit underdeveloped imo
howattp's review against another edition
3.0
This book redeemed a portion of this duology for me, as it was a more cohesive, directed story, while Onslaught felt like so many pieces thrown haphazardly about on a table that there wasn't anything holding it together.
Ruin really cut to the heart of the conflict, cementing the near inability of a peaceful resolution, at least for awhile.
My primary objection is the utter lack of Han Solo. James Luceno's duology will cover some of this ground, but it doesn't make up for Stackpole's insertion of an emasculated, absent Han.
Ruin really cut to the heart of the conflict, cementing the near inability of a peaceful resolution, at least for awhile.
My primary objection is the utter lack of Han Solo. James Luceno's duology will cover some of this ground, but it doesn't make up for Stackpole's insertion of an emasculated, absent Han.
factolvictor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lustrs's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
samtherat17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
jadsia's review against another edition
3.0
NOT a fan of Stackpole's writing but it furthered the series so I'll accept it.
blancwene's review against another edition
3.0
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 Dark Tide duology, Dark Tide: Ruin by Michael A. Stackpole.
SOME HISTORY:
John Harris is a British artist who has illustrated many sci-fi covers (from Orson Scott Card to John Scalzi to Ann Leckie), but he’s only done three Star Wars covers: Michael A. Stackpole’s Dark Tide duology, and [b:Death Star|786729|Death Star (Star Wars)|Michael Reaves|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320503718l/786729._SY75_.jpg|772725] by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Harris’s artwork is beautiful, with watercolor-esque colors and a fascinating sense of scale and scope--and I greatly prefer them to the digital art found on most of the NJO covers. (You should check out Harris’s artbook from 2014: [b:The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon|18404458|The Art of John Harris Beyond the Horizon|John Harris|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396838915l/18404458._SX50_.jpg|26038366]!) Dark Tide: Ruin made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of June 25, 2000.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered the horror of Elegos’s fate and the Battle of Ithor, but little of the preceding plotline.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Leia takes a backseat in this story, initially petitioning Admiral Pellaeon for help against the Yuuzhan Vong but then disappearing from the narrative. Which is a long drawn-out way of saying no, no memorable outfits. ⋋_⋌
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
While the New Republic military allies themselves with their former foes and Luke Skywalker struggles with division in the Jedi Order, Jacen Solo, Ganner Rhysode, and Corran Horn set off on a reconnaissance mission to the Yuuzhan Vong-occupied planet of Garqi. They uncover a secret that could be used to undermine the enemy—if only they can stay alive long enough to use it.
THE CHARACTERS:
Luke continues to deal with disunity in the Jedi Order by not really addressing it. Mara still struggles with her illness, and repeats her desire for children. They head off on a rather pointless plotline to stop Daeshara’cor, a Twi’leki Jedi, from digging up old Imperial superweapons—I say pointless, because there’s nothing left in the Maw Installation, they can’t find any record that a second Eye of Palpatine was produced, and Qwi Xux reiterates that she’s never making weapons again. (The Bantam era is dead, long live the Del Rey era. You’ll notice, though, that no one mentioned Centerpoint Station...)
I like Anakin’s plot, though. He’s trying to be a good Jedi, yet he blames himself for Chewbacca and later Daeshara’cor’s death. He wants to listen to his uncle, but he also doesn’t want to be coddled and treated like a child. I liked his declaration in Chapter 25, that he gives up self-assuredness—he’s on a journey that will continue even more in [b:Edge of Victory I: Conquest|320363|Edge of Victory I Conquest (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #7; Edge of Victory, #1)|Greg Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330832849l/320363._SY75_.jpg|1776613]. He may not be overtly questioning Jedi philosophy like Jacen, but he still needs resolution—and a hug.
Jacen, meanwhile, felt like he’s flailing a bit in this book. I liked that we got cursory nods to his connection with his twin, but perhaps because of the canceled second book, Stackpole didn’t delve much into their reunion afterwards. Jacen struggles to live in the present instead of constantly looking ahead, but he’s shaken when his uncle allows Corran to take the blame for the Battle of Ithor. His view of the Force owes little to the Jedi Order’s political reality, and is more focused on its esoteric philosophical qualities.
Ganner finally fights the Yuuzhan Vong, and has his confidence in his abilities completely shaken. I found him pretty insufferable in the first book, but I also found his change of heart here a little too fast and sudden. He defects from Team Kyp to Team Luke in the span of a few chapters.
In typical Corran fashion, I felt like I flipped from appreciating his maturity and mellowness in book 1 to becoming absolutely frustrated with him in book 2. Yes, they needed to allow time for the Ithorian herdships to escape safely, but a personal duel against Shedao Shai with huge stakes in the balance would not be the approach I would advocate! The only person who expresses discomfort with this plan is Borsk Fey’lya, and he’s so self-serving that we’re not meant to take his accusations seriously. But surely most people would have pointed out the issues with this plan, instead of cheering him on? If Corran wins, he gets Ithor; the implication being that if he loses, the New Republic would just hand the planet over to the Vong. This is completely bonkers! The ending felt right for his character, though: that he had taken things too far, come too close to the Dark Side, and needed to step back from the Jedi Order for some time.
We get a little more insight into Jaina’s character, but she’s still underdeveloped compared to her brothers. She realizes that the New Republic doesn’t owe her any special treatment because of her family’s service, and while she mourns the death of her wingmate, Anni Capstan, she also realizes how little she had tried to learn about her. Jaina has so much potential, I keep waiting for her to spring to life—but alas, this is not her book either.
Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu return to active duty, but they’re decidedly minor characters here. (I did appreciate Wedge pointing out how little data they still have on the Yuuzhan Vong’s culture and mindset.) We’re introduced to Jagged Fel, the son of Baron Fel and Syal Antilles/Wynssa Starflare, and he’s interesting, if a bit of an irritatingly know-it-all presence. He definitely needs to loosen up! (His introduction hasn’t aged well, though…)
Side tangent: I find it very sad that Luke and Mara met Baron Fel on Nirauan, knew he was still alive, and apparently never alerted Wedge to the fact? Maybe he knew (I certainly hope so), but this book was the first time he met his nephew, and he’s been worried about his sister and her family for YEARS. He had retired from the New Republic military command, so surely he could have known about their existence.
In the last book, I wanted someone from the New Republic to parley with the Yuuzhan Vong and try to negotiate with them, and Elegos A’Kla takes that role upon himself. Things do not go well for Elegos, and the book makes it clear that the Vong do not want a dialogue with the inhabitants of the GFFA and will not back down. Our villains 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] were from the intendent caste (their equivalent of politicians), and the bad guys in the Dark Tide duology are the warrior caste. Commander Shedao Shai views the NR as “infidels” and their dependence on technology as disgusting weakness. We get references to gods, but no deep dive into their religion—I believe that the Agents of Chaos duology will feature the priests more closely.
Side tangent: Shedao Shai is a nightmare boss, he physically assaults Deign Lian, so I am not surprised that the latter was two-timing him with the Warmaster Tsavong Lah (who won’t fully appear until Kathy Tyers’s [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].
ISSUES:
Two favorite bits, filled with horror and dread: the return of Elegos’s shuttle, and the destruction of Ithor. I knew things were not going to end well for poor Elegos, but the unease and wrongness that Wedge and Corran feel as they head inside is tangible even to the reader. The Yuuzhan Vong destroyed Sernpidal, and our heroes destroyed Helska IV 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]—but the wanton killing of all life on Ithor is a game-changing event, like Chewbacca’s death, and it drives home how serious the stakes have become.
Juicy insider publishing info! I’ll link to an interview Stackpole did with the YouTube channel State of Star Wars in September 2020, but basically we now have a more detailed explanation of why Dark Tide: Siege was canceled: Del Rey wanted loads of revisions to [b:Dark Tide I: Onslaught|320343|Dark Tide I Onslaught|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320523304l/320343._SY75_.jpg|952200], Stackpole didn’t agree with those changes, he wanted out, and so he wrapped up the story arcs intended for Siege and Ruin into just one book.
Bearing that in mind, I can see the seam in this book very clearly: the mission to Garqi would have been the main plot behind Siege, and Ruin would have been dominated by the Battle of Ithor. As it stands now, the transition from Garqi to Ithor is surprisingly abrupt. Our Jedi team realize that the pollen from the bafforr trees negatively affect the Vong, they burn the Xenobotanical Gardens and get ready to leave Garqi, and then bam, they’re putting together a mission to defend Ithor.
It felt like there was a dropped thread with the reason they attacked the Vong on Garqi in the first place; after realizing that the Vong are experimenting on their human slaves, Corran’s team try to capture a few subjects in case they can reverse the changes, but we don’t hear anything further. Ithor dominates the latter half of the story (and rightfully so).
I also felt like Ruin wasn’t as tightly constructed as Onslaught, perhaps due to all these internal changes. We had several missions in the first half (Leia talking to Admiral Pellaeon; Luke, Mara, and Anakin chasing after Daeshara’cor; Corran, Ganner, and Jacen being dispatched to Garqi), but those characters were eclipsed by Corran in the latter half of the book. And while I enjoyed reading about Corran in Onslaught, he once again began to irritate me in Ruin, particularly in how he dealt with Shedao Shai.
I wish Stackpole had examined the ethical complications in the New Republic allying with the Imperial Remnant (surely some of the older officers involved in the fight against the Empire might have struggled to accept them as allies? And they might not be the Empire as ruled by Palpatine, but they’re still...the Empire.) I also would have liked a little more nuance in the depiction of the New Republic political leadership, instead of “they’re wrong and the military is right.” Borsk Fey’lya comes across as a ranting incompetent, and I wish the NR leadership was more reasonable--and the military worked with them more comfortably--rather than Admiral Kre’fey using the threat of a military coup as a spur for political action.
Finally, while I thought there were multiple great conversations in Onslaught (particularly between Mara and Anakin), Ruin was chock-full of...awkward dialogue, plus a return to Stackpole’s overuse of epithets (“the young Jedi” or “the green-eyed man”). Luke and Mara’s interactions make me cringe, and I actually love them as a couple! The voices of other characters also felt off to me. I guess it came down to this: if you read Stackpole’s dialogue out loud, there are parts that absolutely do not sound natural, and it bothered me in this book.
IN CONCLUSION:
I really liked parts of Dark Tide: Ruin, but it felt more scattered than the first book. I suspect that a lot of the connective tissue between scenes was excised when Stackpole cut his plot down from two books to one. Time moves very quickly here, and I wish we could have lingered longer with some of the characters.
Next up: the first book in the Agents of Chaos duology, [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] by James Luceno.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/uTHl8ozuhuM
State of Star Wars - Michael A. Stackpole Interview (timestamp starts at discussion about Dark Tide: Siege): https://youtu.be/iI7H8jC_qBk?t=2033
“A Galaxy in Ruin: An Interview with Michael A. Stackpole”: https://web.archive.org/web/20050204233424/http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20000606/index.html
This week’s focus: the second book in the Dark Tide duology, Dark Tide: Ruin by Michael A. Stackpole.
SOME HISTORY:
John Harris is a British artist who has illustrated many sci-fi covers (from Orson Scott Card to John Scalzi to Ann Leckie), but he’s only done three Star Wars covers: Michael A. Stackpole’s Dark Tide duology, and [b:Death Star|786729|Death Star (Star Wars)|Michael Reaves|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320503718l/786729._SY75_.jpg|772725] by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Harris’s artwork is beautiful, with watercolor-esque colors and a fascinating sense of scale and scope--and I greatly prefer them to the digital art found on most of the NJO covers. (You should check out Harris’s artbook from 2014: [b:The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon|18404458|The Art of John Harris Beyond the Horizon|John Harris|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396838915l/18404458._SX50_.jpg|26038366]!) Dark Tide: Ruin made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of June 25, 2000.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered the horror of Elegos’s fate and the Battle of Ithor, but little of the preceding plotline.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Leia takes a backseat in this story, initially petitioning Admiral Pellaeon for help against the Yuuzhan Vong but then disappearing from the narrative. Which is a long drawn-out way of saying no, no memorable outfits. ⋋_⋌
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
While the New Republic military allies themselves with their former foes and Luke Skywalker struggles with division in the Jedi Order, Jacen Solo, Ganner Rhysode, and Corran Horn set off on a reconnaissance mission to the Yuuzhan Vong-occupied planet of Garqi. They uncover a secret that could be used to undermine the enemy—if only they can stay alive long enough to use it.
THE CHARACTERS:
Luke continues to deal with disunity in the Jedi Order by not really addressing it. Mara still struggles with her illness, and repeats her desire for children. They head off on a rather pointless plotline to stop Daeshara’cor, a Twi’leki Jedi, from digging up old Imperial superweapons—I say pointless, because there’s nothing left in the Maw Installation, they can’t find any record that a second Eye of Palpatine was produced, and Qwi Xux reiterates that she’s never making weapons again. (The Bantam era is dead, long live the Del Rey era. You’ll notice, though, that no one mentioned Centerpoint Station...)
I like Anakin’s plot, though. He’s trying to be a good Jedi, yet he blames himself for Chewbacca and later Daeshara’cor’s death. He wants to listen to his uncle, but he also doesn’t want to be coddled and treated like a child. I liked his declaration in Chapter 25, that he gives up self-assuredness—he’s on a journey that will continue even more in [b:Edge of Victory I: Conquest|320363|Edge of Victory I Conquest (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #7; Edge of Victory, #1)|Greg Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330832849l/320363._SY75_.jpg|1776613]. He may not be overtly questioning Jedi philosophy like Jacen, but he still needs resolution—and a hug.
Jacen, meanwhile, felt like he’s flailing a bit in this book. I liked that we got cursory nods to his connection with his twin, but perhaps because of the canceled second book, Stackpole didn’t delve much into their reunion afterwards. Jacen struggles to live in the present instead of constantly looking ahead, but he’s shaken when his uncle allows Corran to take the blame for the Battle of Ithor. His view of the Force owes little to the Jedi Order’s political reality, and is more focused on its esoteric philosophical qualities.
Ganner finally fights the Yuuzhan Vong, and has his confidence in his abilities completely shaken. I found him pretty insufferable in the first book, but I also found his change of heart here a little too fast and sudden. He defects from Team Kyp to Team Luke in the span of a few chapters.
In typical Corran fashion, I felt like I flipped from appreciating his maturity and mellowness in book 1 to becoming absolutely frustrated with him in book 2. Yes, they needed to allow time for the Ithorian herdships to escape safely, but a personal duel against Shedao Shai with huge stakes in the balance would not be the approach I would advocate! The only person who expresses discomfort with this plan is Borsk Fey’lya, and he’s so self-serving that we’re not meant to take his accusations seriously. But surely most people would have pointed out the issues with this plan, instead of cheering him on? If Corran wins, he gets Ithor; the implication being that if he loses, the New Republic would just hand the planet over to the Vong. This is completely bonkers! The ending felt right for his character, though: that he had taken things too far, come too close to the Dark Side, and needed to step back from the Jedi Order for some time.
We get a little more insight into Jaina’s character, but she’s still underdeveloped compared to her brothers. She realizes that the New Republic doesn’t owe her any special treatment because of her family’s service, and while she mourns the death of her wingmate, Anni Capstan, she also realizes how little she had tried to learn about her. Jaina has so much potential, I keep waiting for her to spring to life—but alas, this is not her book either.
Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu return to active duty, but they’re decidedly minor characters here. (I did appreciate Wedge pointing out how little data they still have on the Yuuzhan Vong’s culture and mindset.) We’re introduced to Jagged Fel, the son of Baron Fel and Syal Antilles/Wynssa Starflare, and he’s interesting, if a bit of an irritatingly know-it-all presence. He definitely needs to loosen up! (His introduction hasn’t aged well, though…)
Side tangent: I find it very sad that Luke and Mara met Baron Fel on Nirauan, knew he was still alive, and apparently never alerted Wedge to the fact? Maybe he knew (I certainly hope so), but this book was the first time he met his nephew, and he’s been worried about his sister and her family for YEARS. He had retired from the New Republic military command, so surely he could have known about their existence.
In the last book, I wanted someone from the New Republic to parley with the Yuuzhan Vong and try to negotiate with them, and Elegos A’Kla takes that role upon himself. Things do not go well for Elegos, and the book makes it clear that the Vong do not want a dialogue with the inhabitants of the GFFA and will not back down. Our villains 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] were from the intendent caste (their equivalent of politicians), and the bad guys in the Dark Tide duology are the warrior caste. Commander Shedao Shai views the NR as “infidels” and their dependence on technology as disgusting weakness. We get references to gods, but no deep dive into their religion—I believe that the Agents of Chaos duology will feature the priests more closely.
Side tangent: Shedao Shai is a nightmare boss, he physically assaults Deign Lian, so I am not surprised that the latter was two-timing him with the Warmaster Tsavong Lah (who won’t fully appear until Kathy Tyers’s [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].
ISSUES:
Two favorite bits, filled with horror and dread: the return of Elegos’s shuttle, and the destruction of Ithor. I knew things were not going to end well for poor Elegos, but the unease and wrongness that Wedge and Corran feel as they head inside is tangible even to the reader. The Yuuzhan Vong destroyed Sernpidal, and our heroes destroyed Helska IV 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]—but the wanton killing of all life on Ithor is a game-changing event, like Chewbacca’s death, and it drives home how serious the stakes have become.
Juicy insider publishing info! I’ll link to an interview Stackpole did with the YouTube channel State of Star Wars in September 2020, but basically we now have a more detailed explanation of why Dark Tide: Siege was canceled: Del Rey wanted loads of revisions to [b:Dark Tide I: Onslaught|320343|Dark Tide I Onslaught|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320523304l/320343._SY75_.jpg|952200], Stackpole didn’t agree with those changes, he wanted out, and so he wrapped up the story arcs intended for Siege and Ruin into just one book.
Bearing that in mind, I can see the seam in this book very clearly: the mission to Garqi would have been the main plot behind Siege, and Ruin would have been dominated by the Battle of Ithor. As it stands now, the transition from Garqi to Ithor is surprisingly abrupt. Our Jedi team realize that the pollen from the bafforr trees negatively affect the Vong, they burn the Xenobotanical Gardens and get ready to leave Garqi, and then bam, they’re putting together a mission to defend Ithor.
It felt like there was a dropped thread with the reason they attacked the Vong on Garqi in the first place; after realizing that the Vong are experimenting on their human slaves, Corran’s team try to capture a few subjects in case they can reverse the changes, but we don’t hear anything further. Ithor dominates the latter half of the story (and rightfully so).
I also felt like Ruin wasn’t as tightly constructed as Onslaught, perhaps due to all these internal changes. We had several missions in the first half (Leia talking to Admiral Pellaeon; Luke, Mara, and Anakin chasing after Daeshara’cor; Corran, Ganner, and Jacen being dispatched to Garqi), but those characters were eclipsed by Corran in the latter half of the book. And while I enjoyed reading about Corran in Onslaught, he once again began to irritate me in Ruin, particularly in how he dealt with Shedao Shai.
I wish Stackpole had examined the ethical complications in the New Republic allying with the Imperial Remnant (surely some of the older officers involved in the fight against the Empire might have struggled to accept them as allies? And they might not be the Empire as ruled by Palpatine, but they’re still...the Empire.) I also would have liked a little more nuance in the depiction of the New Republic political leadership, instead of “they’re wrong and the military is right.” Borsk Fey’lya comes across as a ranting incompetent, and I wish the NR leadership was more reasonable--and the military worked with them more comfortably--rather than Admiral Kre’fey using the threat of a military coup as a spur for political action.
Finally, while I thought there were multiple great conversations in Onslaught (particularly between Mara and Anakin), Ruin was chock-full of...awkward dialogue, plus a return to Stackpole’s overuse of epithets (“the young Jedi” or “the green-eyed man”). Luke and Mara’s interactions make me cringe, and I actually love them as a couple! The voices of other characters also felt off to me. I guess it came down to this: if you read Stackpole’s dialogue out loud, there are parts that absolutely do not sound natural, and it bothered me in this book.
IN CONCLUSION:
I really liked parts of Dark Tide: Ruin, but it felt more scattered than the first book. I suspect that a lot of the connective tissue between scenes was excised when Stackpole cut his plot down from two books to one. Time moves very quickly here, and I wish we could have lingered longer with some of the characters.
Next up: the first book in the Agents of Chaos duology, [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] by James Luceno.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/uTHl8ozuhuM
State of Star Wars - Michael A. Stackpole Interview (timestamp starts at discussion about Dark Tide: Siege): https://youtu.be/iI7H8jC_qBk?t=2033
“A Galaxy in Ruin: An Interview with Michael A. Stackpole”: https://web.archive.org/web/20050204233424/http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20000606/index.html