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flexluthor's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
gapagrin's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't much cared for Jacen in this series. His character in the NJO has been quite a departure from the Young Jedi Knights series, where he was always cracking jokes. The first we see of him in Vector Prime, he's picking a fight with Anakin over what the nature of the Force is, and debating the role of the Jedi with his uncle. I kept waiting for him to get his shit together and was hoping that this book, since it focuses more on him, would finally see him do that.
Jaina is injured in combat, triggering a Force vision that shows Jacen the titular balance point that all of his Force waffling is meant to help him find or the galaxy will go to hell more than it has already. So, naturally, he decides to stop using the Force altogether. Until his family is actually in danger, that is, and he temporarily shrugs off his whiny philosophising long enough to become a bad ass, earning himself the eternal hatred of the Yuuzhan Vong warmaster, who is now calling for his head. Damn. After several books of Jacen's waffling, I would have expected that out of Anakin or Jaina instead, but it works. The Solo family pacifist is the one with the entire Yuuzhan Vong army clamoring for his death. Jacen needed to figure out where he stood and what his role was. He may not have completely answered that question, but hopefully he'll be less whiny and indecisive about it.
Since she's been injured, Jaina hasn't got a lot of fighting that she does in this book, but I liked that she was able to call out Jacen on his no-Force stance. She needs his help to heal and he's withholding that from her. He's endangering others by choosing not to act. I also liked that she points out both her parents have basically been absentee parents for most of her and her brothers' lives. Leia, who at least didn't do to any of her kids what Han did to Anakin in the first few books of this series, was still absent for much of the time, thanks to the huge responsibilities she'd taken on. Sure, she was saving the galaxy, but it still sucked. At least Han and Leia are back together again so they can try to start healing their family as well.
Hopefully this book will tip the balance in favour of our heroes, finally. We've seen so many Yuuzhan Vong gains - despite some successes on the part of the protagonists, it still feels hopeless. Any gains they make are negated by the Yuuzhan Vong having gained even more and also their own allies turning on them. The 'Peace Brigade' is all for turning in all of the Jedi to the Yuuzhan Von, especially Jacen, in the delusional hope that it would stop the war. Internal fighting is threatening to tear apart the New Republic while the Jedi themselves are divided by differing beliefs and approaches. The future of the galaxy certainly looks bleak.
Jaina is injured in combat, triggering a Force vision that shows Jacen the titular balance point that all of his Force waffling is meant to help him find or the galaxy will go to hell more than it has already. So, naturally, he decides to stop using the Force altogether. Until his family is actually in danger, that is, and he temporarily shrugs off his whiny philosophising long enough to become a bad ass, earning himself the eternal hatred of the Yuuzhan Vong warmaster, who is now calling for his head. Damn. After several books of Jacen's waffling, I would have expected that out of Anakin or Jaina instead, but it works. The Solo family pacifist is the one with the entire Yuuzhan Vong army clamoring for his death. Jacen needed to figure out where he stood and what his role was. He may not have completely answered that question, but hopefully he'll be less whiny and indecisive about it.
Since she's been injured, Jaina hasn't got a lot of fighting that she does in this book, but I liked that she was able to call out Jacen on his no-Force stance. She needs his help to heal and he's withholding that from her. He's endangering others by choosing not to act. I also liked that she points out both her parents have basically been absentee parents for most of her and her brothers' lives. Leia, who at least didn't do to any of her kids what Han did to Anakin in the first few books of this series, was still absent for much of the time, thanks to the huge responsibilities she'd taken on. Sure, she was saving the galaxy, but it still sucked. At least Han and Leia are back together again so they can try to start healing their family as well.
Hopefully this book will tip the balance in favour of our heroes, finally. We've seen so many Yuuzhan Vong gains - despite some successes on the part of the protagonists, it still feels hopeless. Any gains they make are negated by the Yuuzhan Vong having gained even more and also their own allies turning on them. The 'Peace Brigade' is all for turning in all of the Jedi to the Yuuzhan Von, especially Jacen, in the delusional hope that it would stop the war. Internal fighting is threatening to tear apart the New Republic while the Jedi themselves are divided by differing beliefs and approaches. The future of the galaxy certainly looks bleak.
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
3.0
"If one pivotal person fell to the dark side...then this time, everything they knew might slide into stifling darkness"
Balance Point takes us about 10 months after Vector Prime. Han is on Duro, acting as an emissary of sorts for the Ryn. His son, Jacen, is with him, attempting to figure out his place in the Force. Jaina is injured and is sent to be with Han and Jacen; Leia eventually makes her way to Duro and reunites with Han. Mara makes a stunning discovery and slowly, a new plot of the Yuuzhan Vong unravels before their very eyes.
NOTE: Based off audiobook (hence some of the future misspellings) and novel.
Kathy Tyers is not unfamiliar to the world of Star Wars. She wrote [b:The Truce at Bakura|302618|The Truce at Bakura (Star Wars)|Kathy Tyers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299479498s/302618.jpg|591520], a novel taking place right after "Return of the Jedi". Now, that book I had mixed feelings about. It had some decent characterizations, an interesting story, but felt a bit ho-hum, and the aliens were definitely weird.
So how is Tyers return to Star Wars? About the same as the last book.
Tyers has done a great job summarizing the last book for those who don't want to put up with that frenetic mess and tying up some loose ends. It's hard, in a series, to balance writing to old and new readers, but I think Tyers did a great job. She included a nice little summary of the events of Agents of Chaos II that was a good reminder for old readers (such as me, even though I had just listened to AoCII) and good for new readers with all the high points (sparing them the preceeding book's numerous low points). Tyers wraps up threads introduced in earlier books as well, thus keeping the series' continuity. Han and Leia get back together (excellent quote from Han to Leia: "You probably won't forget some things, but I was hoping you would forgive them), and, honestly, I don't have a clue why Luceno didn't bother to tie that loose end up (it wouldn't have taken that much time, and plus, it's wrapped up here really quickly). She also picks up the "Jacen doesn't have a clue what to do with his life" thread with a very interesting vision/dream sequence and brings closure to that in a fairly bad @ss way that involves facing off with the Yuuzhan Vong (no spoilers from me, no siree!).
The characters under Tyers' pen are also well done. Han and Leia are good (Leia is really well-done); I also found myself more interested in Jaina (I loved it when she expresses her disgust at her absentee parents, though I could've shot Mara's deprecating "But your mom is doing so much good" bull-poodoo--how about you sympathize with your niece when she's opening her heart to you instead of preaching, Macho-Girl?) and Jacen, particularly Jacen with his interesting quest. Luke, however, didn't really strike me as anything extraordinary, Anakin made really almost no major impact (though he had a particularly squicky scene...more in a bit) while Mara was a mixed bag. I liked seeing her go undercover again, but I almost wonder if the whole "Anakin sees Mara in a hot, Kuati outfit and goes ga-ga" was a bit much. MILF much? Also, I loved the exchange between Jacen and Ronga the Hutt over Kyp: "He killed millions" "Oh, that was when he was young". LOL
Even the story is pretty decent. The Yuuzhan Vong are rising in prominence, they are making a more solid stance against the Jedi, which is promising to polarize the galaxy, and they actually get to succeed (this is a big deal, as they are supposed to be conquering our Galaxy Far, Far Away). One of my complaints, if you've read my reviews for the earlier novels of this series, has been how the Yuuzhan Vong are "winning" but all the books seem to show the New Republic "winning". So if the Yuuzhan Vong are supposedly winning, how is it each book ends with the Good GuysTM succeeding in their crazy capers? The war should technically be over...right?
So much praise, so why such a low score? With all the good that is here, there is just so much blah, so much mediocre. Sure, there are good plot threads, but we have more unknown Jedi dying for the sake of dying (I hate characters that die before they are introduced or introduced well--one of the complaints I had about the Bantam novels, in fact). Characters that were prominent earlier (Danni Quee, for one) are completely absent. Annoying characters (Droma...) return. Some of the action/story gets bogged down, possibly because of the audiobook format (such as why Mara is going undercover as a Kuati). We have our major characters, such as Luke and Leia, being biased against species because, as always, ALL Rodians are "aggressive and single-minded" and ALL Hutts would sell their mothers' for a decicred. Ronga's actions, which go somewhat against Hutt "norm" were one of a few attempts to defy this "logic". And then, don't forget the animosity towards Jedi who are actually trying to fight back this threat and not just lying down and letting the Yuuzhan Vong take over every planet in their path.
As an entry in the New Jedi Order, "Balance Point" is a solid, if somewhat flawed, entry. It doesn't overly rely on previous NJO novels, so if you skip (as I highly suggest) the Agents of Chaos books, you won't be missing anything. It keeps the story moving. And we definitely start to see why the Yuuzhan Vong may be winning this war. Just don't expect brilliance on par with Stover, Zahn, and Stackpole, and you should be great.
Balance Point takes us about 10 months after Vector Prime. Han is on Duro, acting as an emissary of sorts for the Ryn. His son, Jacen, is with him, attempting to figure out his place in the Force. Jaina is injured and is sent to be with Han and Jacen; Leia eventually makes her way to Duro and reunites with Han. Mara makes a stunning discovery and slowly, a new plot of the Yuuzhan Vong unravels before their very eyes.
NOTE: Based off audiobook (hence some of the future misspellings) and novel.
Kathy Tyers is not unfamiliar to the world of Star Wars. She wrote [b:The Truce at Bakura|302618|The Truce at Bakura (Star Wars)|Kathy Tyers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299479498s/302618.jpg|591520], a novel taking place right after "Return of the Jedi". Now, that book I had mixed feelings about. It had some decent characterizations, an interesting story, but felt a bit ho-hum, and the aliens were definitely weird.
So how is Tyers return to Star Wars? About the same as the last book.
Tyers has done a great job summarizing the last book for those who don't want to put up with that frenetic mess and tying up some loose ends. It's hard, in a series, to balance writing to old and new readers, but I think Tyers did a great job. She included a nice little summary of the events of Agents of Chaos II that was a good reminder for old readers (such as me, even though I had just listened to AoCII) and good for new readers with all the high points (sparing them the preceeding book's numerous low points). Tyers wraps up threads introduced in earlier books as well, thus keeping the series' continuity. Han and Leia get back together (excellent quote from Han to Leia: "You probably won't forget some things, but I was hoping you would forgive them), and, honestly, I don't have a clue why Luceno didn't bother to tie that loose end up (it wouldn't have taken that much time, and plus, it's wrapped up here really quickly). She also picks up the "Jacen doesn't have a clue what to do with his life" thread with a very interesting vision/dream sequence and brings closure to that in a fairly bad @ss way that involves facing off with the Yuuzhan Vong (no spoilers from me, no siree!).
The characters under Tyers' pen are also well done. Han and Leia are good (Leia is really well-done); I also found myself more interested in Jaina (I loved it when she expresses her disgust at her absentee parents, though I could've shot Mara's deprecating "But your mom is doing so much good" bull-poodoo--how about you sympathize with your niece when she's opening her heart to you instead of preaching, Macho-Girl?) and Jacen, particularly Jacen with his interesting quest. Luke, however, didn't really strike me as anything extraordinary, Anakin made really almost no major impact (though he had a particularly squicky scene...more in a bit) while Mara was a mixed bag. I liked seeing her go undercover again, but I almost wonder if the whole "Anakin sees Mara in a hot, Kuati outfit and goes ga-ga" was a bit much. MILF much? Also, I loved the exchange between Jacen and Ronga the Hutt over Kyp: "He killed millions" "Oh, that was when he was young". LOL
Even the story is pretty decent. The Yuuzhan Vong are rising in prominence, they are making a more solid stance against the Jedi, which is promising to polarize the galaxy, and they actually get to succeed (this is a big deal, as they are supposed to be conquering our Galaxy Far, Far Away). One of my complaints, if you've read my reviews for the earlier novels of this series, has been how the Yuuzhan Vong are "winning" but all the books seem to show the New Republic "winning". So if the Yuuzhan Vong are supposedly winning, how is it each book ends with the Good GuysTM succeeding in their crazy capers? The war should technically be over...right?
So much praise, so why such a low score? With all the good that is here, there is just so much blah, so much mediocre. Sure, there are good plot threads, but we have more unknown Jedi dying for the sake of dying (I hate characters that die before they are introduced or introduced well--one of the complaints I had about the Bantam novels, in fact). Characters that were prominent earlier (Danni Quee, for one) are completely absent. Annoying characters (Droma...) return. Some of the action/story gets bogged down, possibly because of the audiobook format (such as why Mara is going undercover as a Kuati). We have our major characters, such as Luke and Leia, being biased against species because, as always, ALL Rodians are "aggressive and single-minded" and ALL Hutts would sell their mothers' for a decicred. Ronga's actions, which go somewhat against Hutt "norm" were one of a few attempts to defy this "logic". And then, don't forget the animosity towards Jedi who are actually trying to fight back this threat and not just lying down and letting the Yuuzhan Vong take over every planet in their path.
As an entry in the New Jedi Order, "Balance Point" is a solid, if somewhat flawed, entry. It doesn't overly rely on previous NJO novels, so if you skip (as I highly suggest) the Agents of Chaos books, you won't be missing anything. It keeps the story moving. And we definitely start to see why the Yuuzhan Vong may be winning this war. Just don't expect brilliance on par with Stover, Zahn, and Stackpole, and you should be great.
bhuge21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
blondeboyandres's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
adamkor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
5.0
kolar's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tarmstrong112's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
This has been the strongest book in The New Jedi Order series for me so far. I really enjoyed the moments that weren't action, the philosophical moments for Jacen and the relationship building between Luke and Mara Jade. It was maybe too long which I think has plagued this series as a whole so far, but it has reinvigorated my interest and I look forward to the next book in the series.
This has been the strongest book in The New Jedi Order series for me so far. I really enjoyed the moments that weren't action, the philosophical moments for Jacen and the relationship building between Luke and Mara Jade. It was maybe too long which I think has plagued this series as a whole so far, but it has reinvigorated my interest and I look forward to the next book in the series.
lustrs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0