Star Wars: The Crystal Star (AU Star Wars) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Vonda McIntyre (Author)

Book Description

Series: AU Star Wars | Publication Date: November 1, 1994

First Timothy Zahn reopened the door to George Lucas's dazzling universe with his New York Times-bestselling Star Wars trilogy.  Then Kathy Tyers's The Truce at Bakura took readers back to the fateful days following the events in Return of the Jedi.  And with The Courtship of Princess Leia Dave Wolverton chronicled Han Solo's turbulent campaign for the princess's hand.  Now, award-winning author Vonda N. McIntyre continues the tradition as the ultimate space adventure unfolds in The Crystal Star.

Princess Leia is dealt a crushing blow when her three children--Anakin and the twins Jaina and Jacen--are kidnapped.  Leia's advisers counsel her to wait for a ransom note, but waiting is the hardest thing for a mother to do when her children are in danger--and worse than waiting is her discovery that she cannot sense her children through the Force.

Ultimately, the princess has no choice.  She, Chewbacca, and Artoo-Detoo track the kidnappers, following their trail to a disabled refugee ship where the answers provided by Rillao, a mysterious fugitive, only provoke more questions. The refugees' children are also missing--and Rillao thinks she knows who has them: a powerful Imperial officer named Hethrir who has his own twisted plans to restore the Empire to its former glory.

Meanwhile, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are on a separate mission to the planet Crseih to investigate a report of a lost group of Jedi.  Crseih is at the mercy
of strange quantum effects caused by the death of a nearby star that is slowly freezing into a uniquely perfect crystal.  This crystal star causes a disruption in the Force, blunting Luke's power and cutting the Millennium Falcon off from Leia and their home base.  What Han and Luke find on the planet is even stranger than a crystallizing sun: a charismatic alien named Waru who has attracted a following of fanatic devotees through his miraculous healing powers.  Is Waru a being of benevolence? Or do his healing arts conceal a darker purpose? As Leia, Chewbacca, and Rillao follow Hethri trail of treachery across space, Luke and Han draw closer to the truth behind Waru' sinister cult.  Ultimately they will face an explosive showdown that could determine not only their own fates and the fate of the New Republic but whether the universe itself will survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While this is easily the best of a bestselling series (the five earlier books all made the New York Times bestseller list), its flaws are still obvious. The problem rises from the Star Wars film tradition in which banter was stronger than logic, an arrangement that suffers in print. Leia, former princess, now Chief of State of the New Republic, attempts to rescue her children, who have been kidnapped by Lord Hethrir, leader of the evil organization, the Empire Reborn. Coincidence piles upon improbability at warp speed as scenes shift from Leia to the children to Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, who have left on vacation with See-Threepio. At Crseih Station, located in a system with a double star, one of which is a black hole, the threesome encounter a mysterious being called Waru and the even more enigmatic Xaverri. McIntyre (Transition) draws her characters with skill, especially Han and Leia's daughter Jaina, but she weaves a plot full of holes, suggesting that the world she writes of may be alien to her in more ways than one.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The abduction of her children sends Princess Leia across the galaxy in pursuit of the kidnappers, unaware that her search will coincide with Han and Luke's attempts to uncover a rumored enclave of Jedi Knights on the fringes of former imperial territory. This latest addition to the popular Star Wars series adds a new dimension to the lives of its heroes as the children of Leia and Han Solo, who refuse to remain passive victims, embark on an adventure of their own. The author of Dreamsnake (Dell, 1986) and the "Starfarers" series captures the feel of the Star Wars universe in this fast-paced sf adventure. McIntyre's talent and the popularity of the subject make this essential for libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553471945
• ISBN-13: 978-0553471946
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (179 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,763,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Worst Star Wars book written to date, May 16, 2003

By 

J. K. Moser "JKM" (Flemington, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crystal Star (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Chrystal Star entralles the reader with a pretty cool cover, but that is about all it does. This book is absolutely terrible. Having read every other Star Wars book ever written, I can speak with some authority on the subject. The characterizations are weak and the behavior of the main characters erratic. Leia hates Chewie because he failed to save her children, even though he took a terrible wound attempting to help them? Doesn't make much sense. The Waru villain is simply [weak], it's a vampire blob, and Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, that Jedi who has fought pretty much every evil in the universe and won is tempted by the blob. Tempted to do what? and why? are two questions that the author never answers. The Empire Reborn angle is almost laughable in its ineptitude. The whole cutting off from the force idea is [weak], and speaking of erratic plotting, if Skywalker is so affected that he and the good Jedi almost die from the slow cutting off of the Force then why aren't the bad guys similarly affected? Yeah, Hethrir can't kill someone when he wants and he can't turn on his lightsaber but other than that he and his minions remain basically unaffected. Speaking of lightsabers, what's up with lightsabers that can only be turned on with the force? It's an impractical and ludicrous idea. The Han Solo/Luke Skywalker relationship is terribly handled, Luke and Han are more like uneasy allies than best friends. Han Solo is done decently well, but overall this story should never have been published. I have never read anything else of McIntyre's, she might be a very good writer, but her talent does not show here. If you wish to read about the Star Wars universe, read Tim Zahn or Michael Stackpole not The Crystal Star.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Crystal Star Shattered, April 18, 2003

By 

Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Wars The Crystal Star (Hardcover)

One of the risks involved in buying any book in a continuing story where different authors combine their distinctive styles to weave a greater tapestry is that the results are often uneven. It is true of Star Trek, where some novelists (David Gerrold, J.M. Dillard) leave you wanting for more, while others (and Vonda N. McIntyre) either leave you indifferent or enraged that you actually paid good money to read that godawful book.

Star Wars, too, has its peaks and valleys as far as the Expanded Universe goes (although, judging from the mixed reviews to Episodes I and II, the movies are not, and have never been, critic-proof). Some SW authors (Timothy Zahn comes to mind) are wonderful, with an eye and especially an ear for the characters we love from the Classic Trilogy. Even when they mix the "canon" cast (Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, the droids....)with their own characters (Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, etc.), the really good writers carry us into the story and off to that galaxy far, far away.....

Sadly to say, The Crystal Star is not written by a great Star Wars author. Yes, I know that Vonda McIntyre is an award-winning SF writer and wrote three of the 10 Star Trek movies' novelizations (the ones for Star Treks II, III, and IV). She did an OK job with them, even though some of her personal additions to the storylines were often annoyingly distracting. Still, she seemed to get the characters' voices down pat, but then of course she was working from screenplay drafts so it really doesn't seem like a stretch to accomplish THAT.

But if McIntyre's talent was sufficient for Star Trek, it failed her in the SW galaxy. Of all the stories I have read so far (and I have not read any New Jedi Order books as of April 2003), this is one of the weakest and even dull ones I have read. I won't go much into detail about what I don't like about this novel; other customer reviews have pointed out the same flaws that bother me. What I can say is this: I had to make myself sit down and read this book all the way through, just to justify the money I spent on it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars far too many children, October 12, 2006

By 

Joe Sherry (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Crystal Star (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Crystal Star opens with a bang, of sorts. The children of Han and Leia have been kidnapped while Leia is out on a diplomatic mission. Leia feels that somehow the Dark Side of the Force must be involved, though the diplomats she is meeting with suggests that it is just the local custom of kidnapping for social status and that it is part of a local tradition. Leia feels otherwise and she is right. The children are kidnapped by the Lord Hethrir who takes the children and tells them their parents are dead. Somehow he is able to block their limited and young ability to use the Force. Meanwhile Han is on vacation with Luke. Luke is searching for missing Jedi and their travels take them close to a planet which is slowly dying and turning to crystal. This is messing with Luke's ability to sense with the Force and Vonda McIntyre gives the reader a very different spin on Luke Skywalker. Rather than the hero, we have a despondent and sluggish man who is not thinking rationally. It is a different spin on Skywalker and may be disappointing to many readers. Luke is less of a presence in this novel anyway as the focus is more on the kids in captivity and Leia's attempts to rescue them. Luke and Han are almost a side plot which eventually gets pulled into the main storyline as it all comes together in a mess of villainy.

My biggest problem with The Crystal Star is that it focused far too much attention on the Solo children. Sure, they will eventually become major players in the Star Wars Universe and sure, the readers needs to be introduced to the characters so they don't just show up one novel as fully formed characters who we have not had the chance to get to know, but I think Anakin is three years old, which would put Jacen and Jaina around five. Unless Anakin is only two. I'm not sure, but they are a bit too young to get such a large role. Roger MacBride Allen did a far better job with the children in the Corellian Trilogy which was only set a year or so after this novel. They're no Ender Wiggin, I'll say that much.

After the children my complaints have to do with the storytelling. There is nothing wrong with having Luke's mission go poorly, but everything felt rushed. Leia spent so much time wanting to find her children but not really following them until all of a sudden she knows exactly where they are and the kids and everyone end up in the same place with Han and Luke. Sorry, I guess that is a bit of a spoiler, but come on now. Really? The novel might have been better served by focusing soley on Leia and the children with perhaps a cameo at best of Han and Luke. Not the wasted chapters with no real story development, though we do get a bit of Han's past came to light.

Bottom Line: Even fans of the Star Wars novels should skip this one. It does nothing, or little to build on future stories (a minor character or two from this book may appear in future volumes as Jedi) and it does not resolve any ongoing storylines. The book is essentially self-contained and reading a basic summary would be just as enjoyable as reading this novel.

-Joe Sherry