Star Wars Njo Force Heretic Remnant 1 (Star Wars New Jedi Order) (v. 1) [Paperback]

Sean Williams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Star Wars New Jedi Order | Publication Date: February 6, 2003

As the bloodied and weary galaxy faces battle once more, the Jedi take on the formidable task of bringing the last of the Empire into the light...From the ashes of the New Republic, torn apart by the Yuuzhan Vong forces, the newly formed Galactic Alliance has risen, determined to bring peace to the entire galaxy. But first the Yuuzhan Vong must be contained once and for all. And so Luke Skywalker seeks a world long lost to legend: Zonama Sekot, a sentient planet believed to have repelled an invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong decades before. Deciphering the enigmatic secrets of Zonama Sekot just might turn the relentless tides of war...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sean Williams and Shane Dix are the bestselling and award-winning coauthors of the Evergence series. Their last novels were Echoes of Earth and its sequel Orphans of Earth. Individually, both have numerous short story credits, and Williams is a successful author in his own right. His novels include Metal Fatigue and The Resurrected Man. His fantasy series, The Books of the Change, concluded in December 2002.

Williams and Dix both live in Adelaide, South Australia, a city Salman Rushdie once described as the ideal setting for a horror story. Dix lives with his wife, Nydia, and has two children from a previous relationship. Williams lives with writer Kirsty Brooks and DJs in his spare time.

For more information, please visit www.seanwilliams.com.au. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

INTERSECTION

Three Months Later

"I say we fight on!"

The voice echoed through the vast, domed hall that was serving as a replacement for the Grand Convocation Chamber on Coruscant, where the Senate had previously met. With Coruscant currently in the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, Mon Calamari had been selected as a temporary capital and now played host to the representatives of the Galactic Alliance-a group much smaller than a full meeting of the Senate had once been, before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, but still several hundred strong.

They responded to the call to fight in the fashion preferred by their individual species. There were whistles, grunts, shrieks, and subsonic rumbles. Some waved appendages; others stamped their feet. And others still, Leia Organa Solo among them, remained silent. She stood completely motionless, gently extending herself into the Force to feel it crackle and flare from the conflicting emotions of those gathered around her.

The speaker, a sour-faced Sullustan by the name of Niuk Niuv, paced the floor with an energy that belied his size. Clearly agitated by the sudden commotion, he lifted one hand to his ear to indicate his discomfort, while the other attempted to motion the crowd to silence. Even with his audio dampeners in place, the level of noise around the hall still hurt his sensitive ears.

"We have them on the back foot," he said, his large black eyes roaming the assembly. "They are overextended and ill prepared to defend themselves. They didn't expect to have to defend themselves so late in the game-which is precisely why we must drive home this advantage! To ignore the opportunity we have been given would be like putting our collective head back on the chopping block!"

"And who took it off the block in the first place?" The call came from the far side of the chamber. Leia immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Thuv Shinev of the Tion Hegemony.

Niuk Niuv's face contorted into a fleshy snarl. "That is irrelevant," he said irritably.

"Really?" Shinev bellowed. "I wouldn't have thought so. Too long have some among us treated the Jedi with contempt and suspicion. If we do have the chance now, finally, to force the Yuuzhan Vong back, then we should at least acknowledge their opinions on the subject!"

"If you think it necessary, then by all means thank them," the Sullustan retaliated. "I'm not saying they don't deserve that. But to do anything less than strike back at the Yuuzhan Vong would be madness, no matter what the Jedi say! We must prove to the Vong that we cannot be subjugated and will not tolerate their oppression! They have done enough. It is time for us to show them who this galaxy really belongs to! We must strike back hard, and we must do it now."

A scattered cheer rose up among the Senators. It was loud, but not as deafening as Leia had feared it might be. After so many crushing defeats, most of the representatives remained uncertain that the Yuuzhan Vong could be rolled back as easily as Niuk Niuv stated. But the willingness to try was undeniable.

As Leia's gaze swept the crowd, she caught the tall, long-faced figure of Kenth Hamner on the far side of the chamber. From the scowl on the Jedi Master's face, Leia felt sure he was about to speak out against Niuk Niuv. But it was another who voiced their concerns.

"What if you're right?" Leia identified Releqy A'Kla, daughter of Camaasi Senator Elegos A'Kla, who had been ritually murdered by the Yuuzhan Vong's Commander Shedao Shai in the early days of the war. Since she had already served in his stead during his absence, her people had voted her into her father's position for the duration of the crisis. "What if we can beat them?"

"Then we win!" Niuk Niuv's big, round eyes were bright with anticipated glory.

"But at what cost?" A'Kla's fine, golden down shivered with intense emotion. "The Yuuzhan Vong fight to the death, Senator. Admiral Ackbar used this very fact against them at Ebaq Nine. I don't think you truly realize what this means."

"I realize," the Sullustan said. "And I realize that it is not our responsibility. If the positions were reversed, they would undoubtedly do the same to us."

"I'm sorry, but my people cannot support such extermination under any circumstances," she said. She brought her long, three-fingered hands up to her chest. "We are pacifists, Senator. We do not wish such horrors on our consciences."

"And I respect your people's ethics," Niuk Niuv replied. Turning from her to address the entire chamber, he continued: "If there was an alternative, then I would consider it. But in the absence of any such alternative, I am not prepared to sit back with my neck out waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to bring an amphistaff down upon it!"

Another cheer rippled around the room.

"It's all very good for the pacifists to argue about compassion and restraint, but it is they who will benefit from the ultimate peace that we will bring about with our actions!" Niuv faced Releqy A'Kla once again. "What good is pacifism if you are dead, Senator?"

Releqy A'Kla sank back into her chair, blinking in dismay.

"We will crush the Yuuzhan Vong," Niuk Niuv concluded to the Galactic Alliance representatives gathered, punching a fist into the air. "And we will send their remains back where they came from!"

The cheer was louder this time. Leia's fellow Alderaanian, Chief of State Cal Omas, said nothing. It would have been pointless at this stage, with the majority now so evidently behind Niuk Niuv's sentiments.

Across from her, Leia saw Hamner's scowl deepen as he shook his head and slipped silently from the huge hall.

"Finally, we are vindicated."

In a room not far from the domed hall in which the Senators met, a gathering of Jedi Knights and Masters looked similarly reduced in numbers but was no less passionate. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker had called the meet- ing to discuss strategies for the coming stages of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Waxarn Kel, the current speaker, paced in front of the gathering like a caged howlrunner. His face and hairless scalp were pink with fresh scars, indicating just how close he had come to being another victim of the Yuuzhan Vong anti-Jedi vendetta.

"Explain," Luke said. He sat on the stage at the front of the chamber, one knee raised to support the elbow of his right arm, and that hand supporting his chin. The unnatural coolness of the hand's artificial skin against his jaw helped keep his head clear.

Kel looked up at him with a frown. "Do I really need to?" he asked with a mix of irritation and surprise. Then, to the rest of the Jedi, he said, "We've been slandered, hunted, and butchered from one side of the galaxy to the other. We became the scapegoat for everything the New Republic brought upon itself because of its complacency and inability to act. We told them things they didn't want to hear, and what was our reward? We were damned for it, that's what. But now we have been vindicated. The trap on Ebaq Nine and the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong have shown that we are a force to be reckoned with. Vergere's sacrifice will not be in vain."

"I hadn't realized that our fight was with the survivors of the New Republic," said Kyp Durron, leaning in flight uniform against one of the chamber's fluted walls, arms folded across his chest. "I thought our battle was with the Yuuzhan Vong."

"It is." Kel regarded Kyp with some annoyance. "The Yuuzhan Vong are our enemy-not just of every peaceful citizen of the galaxy, but of the Jedi in particular. That's been the frustrating thing about this war. The New Republic has thwarted our every attempt to defend ourselves. If it wasn't the Peace Brigade actually trapping us and selling us over, it was idiots like Borsk Fey'lya holding us back. Well, now we're free to act, and we can show them just what we are capable of doing!"

"I presume you have something in mind." Kyp's expression was neutral, but Luke sensed a cautious interest lurking behind it-like that of someone poking at a bug's nest with a stick to see what might emerge.

"Of course," Kel said. "We strike, and we strike hard."

"The Yuuzhan Vong?"

"Of course the Yuuzhan Vong!" Kel's eyes flashed anger. "We must act to ensure that public opinion doesn't turn against us once again."

"How might it do that, Waxarn?" Luke asked.

Kel glanced back up at Luke. The Master could feel the scarred young Jedi Knight consciously bringing his emotions into line.

"I fear it could happen all to easily, Master," he said, bowing slightly. "Unless we act decisively to reaffirm our usefulness and goodwill, to prove beyond the slightest doubt that the war can only be won with our assistance, then we risk looking weak. Or worse, looking as if our loyalty to the Galactic Alliance is weak."

Luke smiled sagely. "Surely our loyalty is to peace."

"First and foremost, yes, Master," Kel put in quickly. "But you have to be strong to protect peace from those who would destroy it. Sometimes it is necessary to fight in order to bring an end to fighting. Isn't that the way of the Jedi?"

Is it? Luke asked himself as he pondered the words of the young man before him. Luke himself had acted more than once on the philosophy espoused by Waxarn Kel and those like him. The cry had been taken up several times throughout the war with the Yuuzhan Vong by those tempted to take the seemingly easy route through the dark side rather than brave the ambiguities of the Force.

Luke didn't think Kel had fallen to the dark side, though. There was none of the anger and hatred in... --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Random House (February 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099410362
• ISBN-13: 978-0099410362
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,050,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Two heads are NOT better than one, April 9, 2003

By 

Mark Miller (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Remnant: Force Heretic I (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the first of the NJO series that I just couldn't finish. I kept putting the book down. The authors couldn't keep my attention. I guess I'll have to force myself to re-read it, if I'm going to endure their next books. Maybe this would have been better if only one author had worked on it, rather than the tag team of Williams and Dix.

I noticed there were some parts that I really enjoyed, like the story about the slave transport in the prologue, and the Imperial Remnant. There were other parts, like the story about Nom Anor and the Shamed that weren't very interesting, nor were they plausible. I just wish they were able to write the rest of the book with as much passion as they put into the prologue. Maybe this reflects the strength or weakness of the authors? Perhaps they each wrote different parts of the book, rather than collaborating on the entire novel?

I bought the book based on the teaser about Luke and Mara searching for Zonama Sekot. I wish I had opened to the last page to read that, even at the end of the book, Luke has not found the "force" planet. You get to read the next one or two or ten books to find out what happens.

Argh! I've followed the NJO series from the beginning. I don't mind waiting, but this is a new low. If you're going to tease us like this, at least let him find the planet, even if it takes another book to flesh out the story. I realize that maybe this isn't the author's fault. Perhaps I should get mad at the editor or publisher. Still, after 400 pages you expect that some part of the teaser will be resolved!!

I can understand stretching out the Vong story for 10 or 15 books, although my patience is starting to wear thin. However, trying to write 2-3 books about the subplot of Luke and the force planet, or Nom Anor and the Shamed Ones just won't work. There just isn't enough there to keep you entertained.

If the original trilogy had been done like this, "Star Wars: A New Hope" would have been written as a series of 10 books... the back cover would have a teaser about the destruction of the Death Star, and the last page would end with "Luke Skywalker turned off his targetting computer and trusted in the Force. Would he be able to destroy the Death Star? Whatever it took, he was going to do it. THE END"

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You can skip the first half..., February 14, 2003

By 

G. Swift "97jedi" (Southwestern Missouri) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Remnant: Force Heretic I (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order) (Mass Market Paperback)

While I love the Star Wars series of novels, this latest is really lacking in comparison with the earlier releases. (To be honest, in my opinion, none have matched the level set by Stackpole in the beginning of the NJO.) For most of the book, the characters are wooden, as the authors relate large amounts of the previous installments to explain the current emotional states of the characters and the political status of the galaxy. Almost nothing new happens in the first half, and if you've read the earlier books, it reads like a re-run.

There are two separate missions that are followed, plus the exploits of the persistent Nom Anor. The first of these (arbitrarily chosen) has Luke, Mara, Jacen, and some others trying to find a lead on the location of Zonama Sekot (the world from Rogue Planet). To do this, they journey to the Imperial Remnant to ask for information. Of course, they get embroiled in combat, as the Empire finally decides to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. That is really the only development in this entire novel, and the only part that kept me interested.

The second mission has Han, Leia, Jaina, Tahiri, and Jag, plus some not-so-noteworthies, investigating the breaks in communication to old members of the New Republic. In this, we see an end to the Yevetha (from a pre-NJO terrible set of books) and some really boring scenes of the small force wiping out a minor group of Yuuzhan Vong. We get a lot of focus on Tahiri, as Jag is suspicious of her, and she is apparently dealing with the resurfacing after-effects of the Yuuzhan Vong attempt to shape her MANY novels ago. There is an attempt to breed mystery and suspense, but it flops badly (again, Stackpole leads the way in such intrigue and action).

In the third thread, Nom Anor on Yuuzhantar (Coruscant) links up with a group of shamed ones and hides from the real members of their society. Again, there is little accomplished in this vein of the story, though it seems that perhaps Nom Anor is the Force Heretic of the title, and not NECESSARILY Tahiri Veila, though it could be both.

So, as I mentioned earlier, there is little to no development of any of the characters. There are no new characters introduced who are worth any mention. I did like the confrontation of Pellaeon with the Moff Council near the end, but other than that this novel is really below par for the series. Succeeding the good inroads made two novels ago, with Traitor, after a repetitious series of similar stories, we are given THIS. Also, the setup of this book has no chapter divisions, simply break lines where the story line switches. Not really unacceptable, but certainly noticeable. Also, it seems that during the writing, the authors would hook onto a juicy long word, and use it three or more times in a few pages, then never use it again. If you read it, you'll see what I mean. Overall very poor writing. And considering that this is among the longest of the series (400+), I had hoped for good things to happen, not to get a lot of fluff.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice cover art. Just don't read the book!, October 20, 2003

By 

Richard Harris (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remnant: Force Heretic I (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's far more interesting to read a book by a guy who knows how to capture your interest and create a great story (that makes you want to stay up reading it rather than get some much-needed sleep), than it is to read hundreds of minute detail-references to previous Star Wars novels to prove that the author has been following along with the franchise.

These guys know their Star Wars Expanded Universe extremely well, and it shows that they have done their research. The dialogue for Han Solo especially is often very good.

BUT... that's the extent of the positive aspects of this book - and the whole "Force Heretic" trilogy.

The problem is that these guys seem to be trying to stretch this story into as many pages - and books - as humanly possible!

The whole "Force Heretic" trilogy could have easily been one book. And it would have made for a far more engaging story!

What I hated most about it was that they repeat certain phrases all the time! Phrases like, "You have to admire their..." were used on nearly every single character in the book! How realistic is that? And there are at least two or three other phrases that are abused in the same way.

But the worst problem with this book is that I didn't care at all for the characters. I was so caught up in the bad writing that I didn't care at all about Tahiri's torment with her alter-ego, not did I care even slightly about Luke and the gang's mission to find Zonama Sekot. In fact, I found the whole "living planet" scenario to be more like a bad episode of Star Trek than a major story-line in a Star Wars novel. It just didn't seem very "George Lucas" to me. Sure, you have that kind of thing in Marvel comics, and in other Sci-Fi material, but Star Wars is supposed to be "Fantasy" not "Sci-Fi" in my opinion.

Anyways, suffice it to say that this entire trilogy by Sean Williams & Shane Dix is complete rubbish and brings the entire "New Jedi Order" series to an all-time low!

The only book from the series that I would compare with these (in terms of being able to skip it entirely without missing anything at all) would be "Dark Journey" about Jaina's near fall to the dark side.

If you haven't read the trilogy yet, do yourself a favor and skip it. There are plenty of reviews that summarize it well enough for you to get the jist without having to suffer through the poor writing style of these clowns.