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siobhan15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
xonrad's review against another edition
2.0
Having finally made the effort to read up on the now "deleted" expanded lore, this book is kind of indicative of what the general vibe of a lot of pre-Disney Star Wars stories possess.
Despite being in Salvatore's hands, there's a pulp'y quality to this story, like the others, which is far from being grand/profound reading, but is not outright horrible either. It skirts that weird limbo between franchise fascination and budding adventure-prose potential.
This one does not capture the grandiose potential of the Thrawn trilogy, but the more I consume, the more I realise that is indicative of how powerful Thrawn was as a post film character creation.
Generally the impact of pulp fiction like this is going to rely more on how invested you are in the actual franchise/mythos than the actual quality of writing.
Had I read this when I was in my teens it may have earned an extra star, but no more.
Far from either a great Star Wars novel OR an example of Salvatore at his best.
Despite being in Salvatore's hands, there's a pulp'y quality to this story, like the others, which is far from being grand/profound reading, but is not outright horrible either. It skirts that weird limbo between franchise fascination and budding adventure-prose potential.
This one does not capture the grandiose potential of the Thrawn trilogy, but the more I consume, the more I realise that is indicative of how powerful Thrawn was as a post film character creation.
Generally the impact of pulp fiction like this is going to rely more on how invested you are in the actual franchise/mythos than the actual quality of writing.
Had I read this when I was in my teens it may have earned an extra star, but no more.
Far from either a great Star Wars novel OR an example of Salvatore at his best.
ldawg4545's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.5
hidekisohma's review against another edition
3.0
So I have read quite a few Star Wars books. I've read the Thrawn trilogy, the Darth Bane trilogy, heck, i've even read the Boba Fett resurrection trilogy. So after reading a bunch of these I looked up which book is mandatory old EU reading and this one came up in nearly every list.
Why? Two reasons. 1. Because it's the first book of a lengthy series, but also for one very important reason. This book is INFAMOUS across the internet as the book where Chewbacca dies. So, knowing that, I felt I had to read how it happened. And honestly, this book....wasn't that great.
The biggest issue this book faces is that the first 100 pages is very, very boring. It focuses on this alien guy spending chapter after chapter trying to sabotage this science outpost so that the Republic won't see their extra galactic army coming. And it focuses on him and the scientists talking. It's about as interesting as it sounds. Also for the first 100 pages there's also a lot of political talk. Hooray for space politics!
Once you get past this and the group realizes that there are indeed evil aliens, things start to pick up. But only just. The scene this book is known for takes place about 2/3 of the way through the book. Han is doing a regular run to a planet with Chewie and his son Anakin when they discover that the evil alien people are using a gravity thing to pull the moon onto the planet. They evacuate a bunch of people, but Chewbacca sacrifices himself to save Anakin (Solo. Not Darth Vader) Then they drop a moon on Chewbacca.
Yes. That is how Chewbacca dies. They drop. A moon. on him. I don't know if I should laugh or what, but I was like "Wow... that uh...that's a bit overkill I think."
The book in itself seems to have ADD as it jumps between a bunch of different characters' stories. At one time you have
-Anakin
- Bad guys
- Research Scientist/minor jedi
- Kyp (another jedi)
- Mara/Luke
- Han/Leia
- Jacen/Jaina (Han and leia's twins)
You tend to get whiplash from all the different stories going on at once. Danni (the scientist) is made out to be this important character and I actually had to look her up on Wookiepedia to learn that she actually is important later apparently. (shrug) i...i don't really care about her so...yeah.
Mara (Luke's wife) also has this disease. Why or how? I don't know. She just kind of does. And she's dying from it, but since she's a jedi she can fight it off while they try to find a cure. That's kind of just.. in the sidelines though.
It seems like they spend so much time setting crap up in this book that when they have to resolve it, it's done in a flash. They spend 100 pages building up this evil sabotage guy, Mara kills him in 2 pages. They spend another 50 pages dealing with this giant evil tentacle monster that telepathically controls the bad guys? Killed in 4 pages with no up close conversations. I get this was meant to be a setup book, but DAMN this book took me longer than it should have. If I could have given it a 2.5 I would have but it wasn't BAD enough to be a 2 so i'll give it a 3. The next book in the series is by a different author so hopefully in the next section things move a little faster. Either way, once you get past the first 100 pages it's not BAD, that first 1/3 is just a HUGE schlog to get through though. If you can get past that, it's a decent enough read. The bad guys are interesting enough that i'll eventually read the 2nd one. I hope there's more stuff that happens though.
Why? Two reasons. 1. Because it's the first book of a lengthy series, but also for one very important reason. This book is INFAMOUS across the internet as the book where Chewbacca dies. So, knowing that, I felt I had to read how it happened. And honestly, this book....wasn't that great.
The biggest issue this book faces is that the first 100 pages is very, very boring. It focuses on this alien guy spending chapter after chapter trying to sabotage this science outpost so that the Republic won't see their extra galactic army coming. And it focuses on him and the scientists talking. It's about as interesting as it sounds. Also for the first 100 pages there's also a lot of political talk. Hooray for space politics!
Once you get past this and the group realizes that there are indeed evil aliens, things start to pick up. But only just. The scene this book is known for takes place about 2/3 of the way through the book. Han is doing a regular run to a planet with Chewie and his son Anakin when they discover that the evil alien people are using a gravity thing to pull the moon onto the planet. They evacuate a bunch of people, but Chewbacca sacrifices himself to save Anakin (Solo. Not Darth Vader) Then they drop a moon on Chewbacca.
Yes. That is how Chewbacca dies. They drop. A moon. on him. I don't know if I should laugh or what, but I was like "Wow... that uh...that's a bit overkill I think."
The book in itself seems to have ADD as it jumps between a bunch of different characters' stories. At one time you have
-Anakin
- Bad guys
- Research Scientist/minor jedi
- Kyp (another jedi)
- Mara/Luke
- Han/Leia
- Jacen/Jaina (Han and leia's twins)
You tend to get whiplash from all the different stories going on at once. Danni (the scientist) is made out to be this important character and I actually had to look her up on Wookiepedia to learn that she actually is important later apparently. (shrug) i...i don't really care about her so...yeah.
Mara (Luke's wife) also has this disease. Why or how? I don't know. She just kind of does. And she's dying from it, but since she's a jedi she can fight it off while they try to find a cure. That's kind of just.. in the sidelines though.
It seems like they spend so much time setting crap up in this book that when they have to resolve it, it's done in a flash. They spend 100 pages building up this evil sabotage guy, Mara kills him in 2 pages. They spend another 50 pages dealing with this giant evil tentacle monster that telepathically controls the bad guys? Killed in 4 pages with no up close conversations. I get this was meant to be a setup book, but DAMN this book took me longer than it should have. If I could have given it a 2.5 I would have but it wasn't BAD enough to be a 2 so i'll give it a 3. The next book in the series is by a different author so hopefully in the next section things move a little faster. Either way, once you get past the first 100 pages it's not BAD, that first 1/3 is just a HUGE schlog to get through though. If you can get past that, it's a decent enough read. The bad guys are interesting enough that i'll eventually read the 2nd one. I hope there's more stuff that happens though.
orso's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
saraubs's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
Glad to finally be reading the EU! I enjoyed this one, but it was a little clunky and the pacing flagged at times. Loved following the Solo Fam and can't wait to see more of them in future volumes.
Glad to finally be reading the EU! I enjoyed this one, but it was a little clunky and the pacing flagged at times. Loved following the Solo Fam and can't wait to see more of them in future volumes.
staples62's review against another edition
5.0
An epic start to one of my favorite series. The NJO is a great.
murderbot42's review against another edition
3.5
First reread in a while. Chewbacca's death really surprised me. For some reason I thought it happened much later in the series. Forgot it happened right away so people would know *no one is safe*. Which of course is not true. The OG trio would never be killed off in non-canon books, but that's besides the point. Anyway, so that definitely to me was the best part of the book. I also forgot how "focus on the kids now, the trio's time is over" these later books in the Legends SW universe were. Kinda annoying, since that's honestly why I *read* SW books is for my favorite character from screen to come to life in more adventures.
Also on this reread the YV come across as super BDSM-y. Like, I don't know what they were thinking, but they enjoy and get off on pain and humiliation?? C'mon, could it be any more "author's secret kink coming through in the text"???
I think I'm still gonna try and read a couple more to see if I really want to reread this series, or if I'm good leaving it in the past where I have very fond memories of it, lol.
Also on this reread the YV come across as super BDSM-y. Like, I don't know what they were thinking, but they enjoy and get off on pain and humiliation?? C'mon, could it be any more "author's secret kink coming through in the text"???
I think I'm still gonna try and read a couple more to see if I really want to reread this series, or if I'm good leaving it in the past where I have very fond memories of it, lol.
blondeboyandres's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0