Customer Reviews

Jedi Trial (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

In some way Jedi Trial isn't as bad as The Cestus Deception, in some ways a bit worse, but it's inconceivable to me why it's the worst books they're releasing in hardcover these days, leaving the far superior entries, like Hard Contact and Dark Rendezvous, to paperback.

This book is basically a sustained battle scene, and as far as that goes it's okay -- and it's very clear that these writers know their tactics and strategy when it comes to large military engagements -- but, with a few notable exceptions ("the Avenger"), the action doesn't achieve much intensity, nor does it show us anything particularly interesting or innovative. While the sheer scale -- 1,000,000 battle droids vs 70,000 biologicals -- is pretty impressive, the battles in both Shatterpoint and Hard Contact were more engaging, with more kinetic action and more interesting, thoughtful engagements. So while there is a lot of action, none of it's particularly interesting, and it comes at the expense of character.

The characters for the most part are interchangeable and without character -- take any snippet of dialogue, and for the most part it could easily be attributed to any of the characters in the novel. Characters are just introduced and then imperiled before we have any idea who they are, let alone any reason to care for them, and they never seem to develop throughout the book; the chock romance is particularly clumsily handled -- "Everyone I know just died!" "Hey! Me too! Ah, well, let's be buddies!" "Great!" "Cool, now you're an honorary fighter jock!" "I love you!" pretty much sums up the character development in this book. The clones also acted a little off, compared to how they've been portrayed in other sources. Though it was cool to finally see Anakin gain some sense of the big picture, of command, so that we can actually believe that he will grow into such a fearsome military man as Vader is reputed to be.

Also, I kept thinking I was reading a YA novel. The prose was clumsy and boring, with simple sentences and often awkward paragraph structure -- and more typos than are usually found in Star Wars novels. And the authors had an exceedingly annoying habit of showing us a thing, and then, just in case we were too stupid to pick it up, spelling it out for us explicitly. We're not stupid, fellas. We can pick up what's going on, and don't need you to tell us two or four times.

And the Jedi were wasted. We have our Troubled Young Jedi and another Jedi who's got his own problems -- and they don't get to do anything. For the most part, they don't do anything much with the Force, they don't act particularly competent, they don't act particularly serene or Jedi-like, and apart from one scene, there isn't even any cool lightsaber action.

All of what should have been the most interesting scenes in this book are glossed over with throwaway lines, which is also very frustrating.

This isn't a completely awful book, but it's short and sophomoric enough that it would have been much better off as a paperback supplement novel than an "event" hardcover. And it's truly a shame than one of the much finer Star Wars novels out there will probably be often overlooked because it's a video game tie-in and overshadowed by this clunky, underwhelming hardcover with yet another busy Anderson cover.

Star Wars: Jedi Trial is the story of Anakin Skywalker and Nejaa Halcyon and their fight to free a crucial communications hub from the Separatists. Along the way, there are many many battle descriptions that are well done. The military background of the author's is obvious. Although I'm not sure that the Jedi would have studied Napoleon and used his tactics in such a big battle, but hey I'm a military historian, so I should recognize that stuff. The side stories involving individual stories are interesting however, they seem to overwhelm the main characters. What gets this book 3 stars is the weak characterization of Anakin Skywalker in the beginning of the book. He is portrayed not as a character who has already fallen to the dark side once, but as a more happy, but impatient Padawan. It's not till the end that the characterization becomes slightly accurate and the dark side of Skywalker comes out kinda of. Nejaa Halcyon is underused and that was truly dissappointing. Overall, Jedi Trial is not a very good Star Wars book.

Once again, I found myself hesitant to read Jedi Trial after looking at one bad review after another. Although I didn't find the novel awful like some people did, it did have more weaknesses than strengths, making it a lackluster addition to the Expanded Universe of Star Wars. But first, the basic plot.

The Galactic Communications Center located on the planet of Praesitlyn has been invaded and overrun by the Separatists. The Center is the hub of the Republic's communications and the destruction or disabling of it would be disastrous. The Jedi Council sends Master Nejaa Halcyon and Padawan Anakin Skywalker, along with a battalion of clone troopers, to Praesitlyn to recover and preserve the integrity of the Center. Aiding the Republic Army are Praesitlyn's military (or what's left of them) and a "renegade" group called the Sons and Daughters of Freedom.

The only strength of this book is the telling of the battles. The authors have extensive military background and it shows. In fact, they show it too much and for someone like me that has no military experience, I found it to be a bit over my head. They really delve into the tactical and logistical aspects of going into battle. For example, at least a page is spent quantifying how much water a clone trooper consumes in a day and how much water is needed to support an entire army per day. Although interesting, I think a sentence or two could have amply covered that topic.

One glaring weakness is the misleading title of the book. Anakin is obviously one of the main characters of the book and this assignment is his "trial" to become a full-fledged Jedi Knight. What this book proved, however, was that he was a brilliant and effective military commander. You don't see his character develop at all in any other aspect. The Force and his oneness with it is only mentioned once during a sequence at the end of the story. So, what spectacular thing did he do to prove that he was worthy to become a Jedi Knight? Nothing that I saw.

Another weakness was the interchangability of the story. Star Wars stories have a certain flavor and charm to them that make them unique. This story could have been written in any time frame and in any location and the characters in the Star Wars movies could have been replaced by anyone else. Leave out the lightsabers and the Force, and you're left with a typical ho-hum military story. And, you never get a good idea of what any of the characters not in the movies really look like. Thank goodness for the movies or you wouldn't know what anyone looked like.

Last, but definitely not least, the love story between recon trooper Odie Subu and pilot Erk H'Arman was ridiculous. Now, I don't mind a love story going on in the middle of a war. I'm sure it happens and has happened in real life in real wars. However, the authors did a terrible job developing this side plot. Their romance happened very fast, too fast, to make it believable. And their "tender" moments took place at very unlikely times. I don't know about you, but if I was stuck in the middle of a desert with no water and no transportation and the nearest sign of life was 50 kilometers away and enemies were swarming all over the place, the LAST thing I would be thinking about is romance.

All in all, the authors really gloss over everything except the battles. This makes sense due to their background, but makes for a very weak addition to the Clone Wars novels and a disappointing transition into Anakin's knighthood. If you have a military background or like that kind of thing, you will enjoy this novel. However, if you are a die hard fan of Star Wars, like I am, you will be disappointed by the lack of character development and lack of Star Wars flavor that you will find in novels like Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, and Shatterpoint. I still think it's worth reading, but if you choose to skip this one, you won't miss out on much.

May the Force be with you!

While no Star Wars novel should be held to the same standard of excellence of literary fiction, they are, for the most part, well-crafted bits of esoteric entertainment. Jedi Trial, however, is awful, really awful. It is less a novel and more of a series of sentences. The sentences do describe a rudimentary plot, but with probably little more detail or excitement than the synopsis handed to the writers by the series editor. This is how Sherman and Crag describe a training session between Anakin and a Jedi named Halcyon. "'I did my stretching on the way here,' Anakin said as he put his cloak away and drew his lightsabre. Halcyon sparred better than he had the first day, but so did Anakin. In the end, the Jedi Master bowed to the Padawan." That's it. Not a single action occurs. Later, we are told that "each improved, and each surprised the other with new moves and tricks." Care to tell us what those moves and tricks might be, Mr. Sherman? The book is padded like a freshman term paper--thirty lines per page instead of the standard 32, blank pages between the numerous chapter breaks--to fill the binding with something that looks like a novel. What's worse, it does not feel like Star Wars. Sure, the names of the characters are the same, but they do not in any way act like their film counter-parts; and the story, a boring military compaign, is simply boring. Avoid this. Read Sean Stewart's immensely entertaining Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. There is a craftsman putting some heart and fun into his work. Here, we see two hack writers collecting a pay check.

This book is poorly written and extremely boring. Even if you're trying to read all of the Clone Wars novels, do yourself a favor and skip this one. It's not worth the money, and it's not worth your wasted time.

If you're looking for good Clone Wars novels, try these: "Yoda: Dark Rendevous", "Republic Commando: Hard Contact", and "The Cestus Deception". I have yet to read "Labyrinth of Evil" (prequel to episode III) but I expect it to be good.

- Chris, a moderate Star Wars fan

NOTE: Updated to include a more recent reading.
Separatist Admiral Pors Tonith has attacked Praesitlyn, home of the communications hub of the Republic. Palpatine sends Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Padawan, and Nejaa Halcyon, a shamed Jedi Master (he lost a ship to Zozrider Slayke, who coincidentally, happens to be defending Praesitlyn), to regain control of Praesitlyn and restore communications to the Outer Rim worlds.
NOTE: Based on novel and audiobook.

When I first reviewed this book several years ago, I said it was the worst Star Wars book. Of course, that was when I liked The Crystal Star. So, I decided to go back and "reread" to see if it is as bad as I feared.
It is.
I had probably listened to barely a minute of the audiobook, when I made my first note, which was "Wow, the writing style is worse than Jude Watson, who purposefully writes for children". From there it went downhill.
For its credit, Jedi Trial does a few things okay. There are some continuity nods, most notably using the communications center on Praesitlyn, which was first established in Heir to the Empire, Armand Isard, and Nejaa Halcyon. Also, it's obvious that the authors are well aware of how the military functions.
If you can't already tell, I am really grasping at straws, trying desperately to find any sort of "good aspects" to this book.
This book is positively dreadful, a pain to read. I found I could only listen to a few minutes at a time; it was as if the book was giving me real, physical damage.
What's wrong with Jedi Trial? Well, here goes nothing!
1. Characters. From established movie characters like Anakin and Obi-Wan to Expanded Universe ones like Nejaa and Asajj to original characters like Odie and Reija, the characters are dreadful. They are one cliché built on top of another, barely characterized beyond one or two words.
a. Anakin feels blank and under-developed. If it weren't for the fact his name is "Anakin", I would never have known that this is the man who becomes Darth Vader. He becomes instantly attached to Reija, the blatant "Shmi" insert that the authors don't even bother to dress up, so that he can become enraged when she is harmed. Anakin has never seemed like the kind of person to become so quickly and indiscriminately attached to people.
b. Nejaa Halcyon, Corellian Jedi with a wife and child of his own, could have been "Anyone Jedi" for all his character development. He spends one moment even thinking about his family; most of his other scenes are him planning, yelling, or doing a bad job commanding.
c. Asajj Ventress, big and splashy on the cover, plays a cameo role, in which she does nothing but growl at Pors Tonith for no reason (yes, let's just growl and yell at your admiral just because). Oddly enough, Count Dooku appears more in this book than Asajj. So why is she on the cover? Did someone mix up this cover with the one for The Cestus Deception?
d. Pors Tonith is a classic Cackling Villain. Most of his scenes center around him chuckling about how smart he is, how clever his plans are, and how he drinks dianoga tea that stains his teeth. It's a bad sign when one of the highlight characteristics of your villains is the color his teeth have been stained. It's also bad when the authors can't stop mentioning the color of the stain of his teeth every two seconds.
e. Reija Momen was painted as this wonderful, perfect "everyone's mother" (so called by an alien, of all beings) that came off so clichéd and over done, you couldn't have made it more obvious if you had painted it on the cover of the book. If I had to heard one more time how "motherly" Reija was, I would have attacked my iPod.
f. Odie Subu not only has a horrible name (Garfield!) but she is the most boring, bland, uninspiring, stupid woman ever. She supposedly is the best recon pilot, but she doesn't do anything that intelligent and instead does what any good traditional woman should and let her man, Erk, make all the decisions.
g. Erk Harmond is a horribly clichéd fighter pilot. It's like reading X-Wing and taking drugs at the same time. Take Han Solo, Dash Rendar, and Corran Horn, remove away any characteristics that aren't related to piloting, exaggerate all the over-confident, arrogant mannerisms, have him laugh at the most inopportune times and you have Erk. Whenever he entered a scene, I wanted to drive a drill through my head.
h. What is with everyone worshipping Zozrider Slayke? The guy drove me bonkers, and if I had to listen to another of his "motivational speeches", I will strangle myself.
2. "Show, don't tell". The authors must have skipped this lesson in Writing Fiction 101, because the novel is literally littered with "telling scenes" and very few "showing scenes". When Nejaa is first mentioned, Anakin talks about how Nejaa is great. Well, that's nice, but can't we see how Nejaa is such a good Master and swordsbeing? When Reija enters, we are told she's a good administrator and that she's kind, but we never see her being kind to her employees. Ditto for her being "everyone's mother". And one of the highlights of the book, one of the biggest reasons I had to read this book, to read how Nejaa and Anakin, both married men, relate to each other, is so hastily, sloppily, and pathetically done, it's embarrassing. Anyone, literally anyone, could have written a better scene where Nejaa and Anakin reveal their marital status and make it more stirring and impactful. The scene literally goes "Nejaa told Anakin about his wife and son...Anakin told Nejaa about Padme". AGH! If Stackpole or Allston were at the reigns, this easily could have been a chapter, instead of the paragraph!!
3. Vagueness. Time and again, a scene is written as if it is a summary. When Anakin and Nejaa spar, their session is described in the barest of terms and lasts maybe three paragraphs. I have no clue what half the characters look like, besides vague descriptions such as "short, brown hair" (as for Odie) or "everyone's mother (for Reija, and no, I'm never going to let that go). About the only time the authors aren't vague are when they are going into excruciating, mind-numbing detail about the tactics that will be used to fight the war (but, Force Forbid, never for the actual battle).
4. Bad writing. Hold it, that should be "God-awful bad writing". Seriously, I've not listened to and read such bad writing in forever. As my first comment shows, it reads like a child's book...but this is sold in the adult's section! From questionable sentences like "Lan Moore was perspiring faintly" (he was close to fainting?) to "Someone cursed foully" (isn't all cursing technically foul?) to the grammatically incorrect list including "highly trained, highly motivated and equipped with armored vehicles", the pages are rife with writing that wouldn't pass in a fourth grade English class. I honestly don't know how the authors could have submitted this work. I would have been embarrassed. I was embarrassed as I listened to this.
5. Bad Dialogue. Characters talk all the same, without any distinction between Outer Rim and Inner Rim, Jedi and soldier, alien and human, male and female. They also tend to spout off clichéd sayings such as "Surrender is not an option", "It has been a pleasure to fight along side you", and "Attack, attack, attack" (which, apparently everyone including peaceful Alderaanians say).
6. Romance. Hang me up by the ears right now! I've railed against many an author who has written a bad romantic pairing, but none has come to the sheer awfulness that Jedi Trial has. Odie and Erk are barely one-dimensional characters. Throwing them together in a rough environment, inserting dopey dialogue, and having them "bond" ("Be my wingmate!" "Sure!") over the course of a few days does not a romance make. Callista and Luke's romance is better than this. Anakin and Padme's romance in Attack of the Clones is better than this. Edward and Bella's romance is better than this. I thank the Maker that whoever edited the audiobook excluded Anakin officiating their wedding. I've already abused myself enough over this book; I think hearing that would have taken me to the funny farm.
7. Laughing. I am so glad that people in this book can laugh at the drop of a hat. Odie and Erk meet and two minutes later, they are laughing with each other. Anakin and Nejaa spar...and then share a laugh. Erk is in the middle of a combat zone...and laughs. Slayke makes a joke about not having a plan and then everyone of his team bursts into gales of laughter. Does any of this sound, oh, I don't know, awkward to you? I don't know about you, but I just don't think people would be laughing and joking as much as they do in this book.
8. Too much focus on battle plans. Yes, this is a Clone Wars novel. Yes, I expect a big, huge Clone Wars. No, I don't want to read the intricate, detailed plan of such an attack. I don't want to read about how much food they must supply, I don't want to read about where they are going to move this artillery and I certainly don't want to know what sort of retreat they have in plan. I want to read about the actual battle, the clones on the battlefield, the Jedi leading the way, spaceships flying and maneuvering.
9. Too little Star Wars. Minus character names and some technology, this book could have been set in Earth's future (or "Any Planet's" future). Artillery, military rankings, and the gushing over how much an officer is loved by his men for getting his hands dirty (I lay odds that both of these guys are enlisted and have dream visions of what an officer is) feels out of place in the galaxy far, far away. Meanwhile, I still don't know how a Star Wars ship could be boarded without one of the bridge officers noting the drop in the shields. Other ignorance of Star Wars technology makes the book frustrating.
When I first read this book, I hated it with a vengeance, like I've never despised a Star Wars novel before and since. And when I reread it, I found my opinion hadn't changed. This book is absolutely the worst novel in Star Wars Expanded Universe, worse than The Crystal Star, the entire Jedi Academy Trilogy, and the Black Fleet Crisis combined. While I am a bit perturbed at how the new Clone Wars TV series has changed continuity of this era, I will gladly accept it if it means that it totally retcons and throws this piece of bantha excrement from Star Wars EU. I have one thing to say: Avoid at all costs, unless you take enjoyment out of picking on novels MS3TK style.

OLD:
Before the Storm was bad. The Cestus Deception was not outstanding. I found Triple Zero lacking (especially compared to the exceptional Hard Contact). The Jedi Quest series took almost the entire series to make the journey worthwhile. But all these books pale in comparison to what I would call the worst Star Wars book (I have read almost all of them except for the newest ones).
First off, Nejaa Halcyon was the biggest reason I started reading this book. I read of him in I, Jedi and longed to know more. I should have made up my own story since the authors don't really do much with him. He could have been any Jedi; there was nothing that made him exceptional.
Next, the authors have a weird view of what people want. They seem to think that we, the audience, would love to read pages of insignificant, brainless, unimportant characters with terrible names, strategy, and the like and not detail important things like Anakin and Nejaa's marriages (the whole interchange, which could have lasted half a chapter with Michael Stackpole as the author, takes up half a page), lightsaber battles, and real character development.
Other pet peeves:
1. I was unimpressed with the juvenile writing style. Is this book written for adults or teens?
2. I could care less for the whole mercenary angle (they are joking and laughing before a big battle?!) and the Rodian mercenary (both of whom did not stay consistent throughout the story). They felt like blank characters with not much depth. In fact, that description could go for most of the characters in the book, which leads me too...
3. Odi and Erk, Erk and Odi, them getting married...gag me! Please! I don't believe I've ever read two more poorly written characters, even in children's books! Seriously, these two characters need to be placed on a firing range and banished from the Star Wars world immediately. Odi is supposed to be a recon officer, but acts so wimpy and feminine, how in the world did she ever sign up for the military?! And Erk is the most stereotypical fighter pilot, I wanted to hit my head repeatedly into a wall to eradicate the terrible "characterization" from my mind. Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I read "And now by the powers vested in me...". Oh, lord, what were these authors thinking?! I thought I was going to die with humiliation! How could anyone end a Star Wars novel in such a hokey marriage?! This is completely outrageous! Seriously, all the space wasted on these two lifeless characters should have been given to Anakin and Nejaa, and perhaps, maybe, just maybe, this book would have been worthwhile.
4. Asajj Ventress on the cover and not in the book (to my knowledge). If you are going to have a bad guy (or girl), especially one like Asajj, use her! She has the potential to be very scary!
5. Super motherly woman who is about to die. Number one, how does a woman who has no children even act motherly? I mean, yes, there are single women who can conjure up memories of Mom, but on the whole, it is the mothers that remind you of yours. Number two, how does everyone think of her as a mom? I mean, seriously, she was described as being "everyone's mom". I could understand a few, but really, my mom is different than yours. There is no Paradigm of Motherhood out there (at least not to my knowledge). So this, "she was like everyone's mother" concept is a load of bunk. Number three, do you think the authors made it obvious enough they were drawing parallels between her and Shmi? I mean, you could have put up a billboard, and it still wouldn't have been as obvious as it is in this book! Talk about hitting me repetitively over the head with a 2 X 4!!
6. Ponith, the scary banker with purple teeth from all that tea he drinks. And we are supposed to fear him why??? The tea stains on his teeth? His wicked scheming by the teapot? How he sips his tea? Really, guys, you should have gone with your first instinct and used Asajj.
7. The authors never bothered to attempt to convince me of the importance of the mission. If this station was so important to interstellar communications, how did this happen in the first place? Why wasn't there a larger force in place?
Just so I don't sound too negative, the end picked up a bit. The action was a bit better. Also, some inclusion of clone troopers and their humanity (but nothing compared to Hard Contact).
7.99 is about 7.98 too much for this book. Buy used or borrow. In fact, don't bother. Just skip. Watch the Clone Wars, Vol. 1 shorts for Anakin's real trial. And spend the 7.99 on Hard Contact for a much better Clone Wars novel.

When I picked up Jedi Trial, I was hoping to find the story of Anakin's struggle through the trials to become a Jedi Knight. I was hoping to find a story about Obi-Wan helping Anakin through the trials. I was at least hoping to find a story about the key to having Jedi in battle and lightsaber duels between Anakin and Asaj Ventress (since they are both prominently on the cover).
Instead I found a book that was a cross between sci-fi and a class on military warfare taught by the professor with no personality(imagine a cross between George Lucas and Tom Clancy, but not near as cool or entertaining or emotional). Instead I found a ridiculous love story with a horrible ending (do you really marry the guy who left you on the battlefield to die?). Instead I find barely a page of Ventress, no Obi-Wan after the first few pages, and no lightsaber duels!
The characters are two-dimensional at best and give you no reason to invest any interest in them. Jedi Master Halcyon could have been an intriguing character. His secret life and cause for disgrace could have been developed into a more conflicted person, a Jedi struggling with his duties vs. his emotions. His history with Slayke could have provided the tension desperately needed in this book. Instead he becomes a weird mix of Sgt. York and Mr. Rogers of space (let's live together in harmony while we fulfill our duties). The love couple(Odie & Erk) are just generic characters used to teach us the horrors of the battlefield.
The only two interesting characters become reduced to lessons. Grudo becomes a lesson in friendly fire. Slayke becomes a lesson in making nice with your superior officers. Even the tension between Slayke's army and the clones is washed away be the miracle of warfare.
In a nutshell, this is a great title married to a bad book. I would recommend reading this only if you have to read every book in the Clone War series. Otherwise, skip it. It adds nothing of value to the story of Anakin, the Clone Wars or the Star Wars universe.

Yep, that's right. That is just one line of incredibly terrible writing from this book. I have read almost every Star Wars novel out there (with exception to Dark Redesvous & Labyrinth of Evil) and this is probably the worst one that I have read. The problem is that this book is marketed as an adult novel but is written worse than some young adult novels that I've read!

First of all, let's go over the dialog. The were plenty of scenes in this book where the authors had put in lines like "and they chuckled in response". This would have been no problem had the jokes been somewhat funny or were consistant with the characters and the situations that they were in. The problem is that the jokes were terrible and many of these lines are in reference to soldiers laughing. I don't know about you but if I'm in the middle of a battle and I've been trained as a soldier I don't think that I'm going to be doing a whole lot of laughing or joke telling.

Another dialog problem I had was that many times the authors would set up a scene where they'd have two characters talking and right in the middle of the conversation they'd write things like "Then Anakin told him about Padme". What?!?! This goes directly against the "show, don't tell" rule of writing. Instead of showing us the rest of the conversation these authors decided to take shortcuts! Now, again, this would not be a problem if the authors only did it once or twice in the novel. Unfortunatly they do it about once every chapter (there's over 30 chapters)! How lazy can you get?

Also, the love angle between Odie & Erk was way over the top and very unrealistic. These are two soldiers who meet on the battle field and spout off dopey dialog throughout the book. I was hopeing that Anakin would slice their heads off but instead he conducts their wedding at the end of the novel! It was just so out there that I really couldn't hate any more than I do right now. I really hope we never hear from those two dopes ever again (as well as these authors for that matter...).

Also, Asajj Ventress is on the cover of the book but appears hardly at all through the book. She's on only about 8 pages in this entire book. Also, Dooku was hardly used in this book and it would have been great to see more of him in here.

The last thing bad thing about this book is the repetitive nature of some of the scenes. Oh yes, let's go on for about two pages about how much water troops need to drink per day! Hey, here's half a page dedicated to Nejaa yelling for someone to get the latch on Anakin's cockpit open! Okay people, we get it already!

However, there were a couple of good things about this novel. Nejaa Halcyon makes an appearance and takes Anakin with him to free some prisoners of war on the planet Praesitlyn. People who have read "I, Jedi" will remember Nejaa as being Corran Horn's father. This is a great little tie-in and it is well appreciated.

I would only recommend this book to those who feel the need to read every Expanded Universe book there is or those who love terrible dialog. Believe me, once you're done reading this you'll have mental scars for years to come. I'm not sure mine will ever heal!

"Jedi Trial" tells the story of The Praesitlyn Conquest. Praesitlyn is home to a key communications center for the Republic, and it is seemingly out of the way. Then, Count Dooku's Sepeartist Forces attack, lead by Pors Tonith, a banker of all things. Its not long before the Chancellor dispatches and army lead by Jedi Knight Neeja Halycon and Padawan Anakin Skywalker to take back the planet.

The Good:

1. This novel actually has a "Clone War" in it. There are thousands of them. In addition, they actually engage the droid armies of the Seperatists. The war has been missing from many of the Clone Wars novels, which have focused on other aspects of the war instead.

2. Pors Tonith. Not the greatest bad guy of all time, but Pors is at least unique. He brings his banking knowledge to the battlefield and is ruthless. He also has a strange addiction to a tea that stains his gums. The tea comes up a lot.

3. Grudo. This Rodian is a unique character that outshone most of the others in the novel.

The Bad:

1. The Premise. If this station is so important, it is unfathomable that the Republic would have left it as unprotected as they did. I kept waiting for a good answer to this question, and never got one. In addition, despite taking over the communications center that is suppose to be so vital, it appears there were no repercussions anywhere in the universe. This left me wondering: why bother?

2. Minutae of the Battle. The battle had some excellent use of tactics and disucssion of strategy. However, in a couple of places, all this falls to the way side due to some gimic that the Seperatists have employed.

The Ugly:

1. Odie and Erk. Odie is a recon trooper. Erk is a pilot. They are both awful, awful characters that develop a ridiculous romance. They are forced to work with each other after their headquarters is overrun and they encounter each other in the field. Next thing you know, they have a hard time keeping their hands off each other and the spew terrible dialogue.

2. Dialogue. This was mentioned in the previous point. In many places it is just awful. A good editor should have fixed this.

Overall:

I'd recommend reading it to Star Wars fans because the end is kind of important in the grand scheme of things for the Star Wars universe. However, everyone else can skip it. I was disappointed with it after having read what it was about.

This novel does have an interesting place in the Clone War series. 'Shatterpoint' was the 'Apocalypse Now' of the series, while 'The Cestus Deception' told the story of resistance cells. This is the big battle novel. While that was refreshing, this novel could have been so much better.

Overall Grade: 2.75 stars.

As the book where Anakin finally becomes a Jedi Knight, it should have been a powerful, intriguing adventure. It should have featured Anakin. Oh, he's in there all right, only he's utilized so little that he's practically a background character. See, the authors think we'll be far more intrigued by their own characters. We're not. Even Dooku & Ventress get short shrift, appearing only as holograms making empty threats. Instead there's a banker with purple teeth who thinks he's some kind of military genius. Whatever.

The plot? Praesitlyn has one of the Republic's main communication centers. The Separatists attack, the locals fight back, the Jedi are sent with Clones, the Separatists send a larger force.

It's never made clear exactly what it is Dooku/Sidious are up to here. But if your thing is reams of barely-understood military tactics, followed-up by barely-understood military engagements, followed-up by barely-understood discussions of why the military engagements didn't go as planned followed-up by... (you get the picture), then this is the book for you. If not, please send Lucasfilm a note asking, "Why?!".
This is a bad Adventure Journal story gone wrong and stretched far beyond its acceptable limit. The main characters are dull and uninspiring unknowns, taking place on a dull and uninspired planet, where people do dull and uninspiring things. Even the war that comes to it is boring. I fear some kid who's never read Star Wars will pick it up thinking it has something to do with Anakin and Jedi only to discover it's more mind-numbing than trigonometry and never read Star Wars again! If you must, wait for the paperback, otherwise skip it. There are SO many amazing, literate, and exciting Star Wars stories out there. This isn't one of them.
(For the full review see my site Timelineuniverse.net)