Customer Reviews

Star Wars Njo Final Prophecy (Star Wars New Jedi Order)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The end of this horrible, genocidal Yuuzhan Vong/Galactic Alliance War is coming to a close. After months and years of the Yuuzhan Vong pushing and conquering the New Republic/Galactic Alliance inhabitants all across the galaxy (including capturing the capital homeworld, Coruscant, now known as Yuuzhan'tar), the Alliance finally struck back and began putting the Vong on the defensive. These two opposing forces have finally created the irresistible force meeting the immovable object syndrome. The tension builds and one of the sides will have to break.

The forces in play on both sides portend of a spectacular climax. An Alliance Expeditionary Force, led by Luke Skywalker, finally located the living planet Zonoma Sekot, seeming the last hope for ending the hostilities that have plagued the galaxy. On Yuuzhan'tar, dissention continues to permeate the ranks of the Yuuzhan Vong. A politically motivated move by disgraced executor, Nom Anor, to regain power has now gained a force stronger than anything he can control. Using a 'masquer' to conceal his identity and playing upon the reverence the Shamed Ones of the Vong have for the Jedi, Anor created a rebellious movement that has infected all levels of Yuuzhan Vong culture, including certain members of the inner circle of Supreme Overlord Shimmra. What's more, Shimmra's claim of an alleged mandate from the gods to continue to pursue this genocidal conflict is slowly coming under scrutiny. It's becoming obvious to some that Shimmra may actually be a fraud and much of what he preaches, and much of what is central to Yuuzhan Vong culture, may prove to be earth-shatteringly false. So lays the groundwork for the events that take place in the penultimate story of the New Jedi Order series, "The Final Prophecy".

Though there is a space battle around the famed Bilbringi Shipyards that involves favorites like Wedge Antilles, Garm Bel Iblis, and Jaina Solo, the primary focus of "The Final Prophecy" deals with an unlikely truce between higher members of the Yuuzhan Vong and select Alliance members (the oft-absent Corran Horn and the enigmatic Tahiri). These Yuuzhan Vong, specifically master shaper and heretic, Nen Yim, wish to seek the truth about the existence of the living planet, the honor of the Jedi, and possible treachery committed by Shimmra. With assistance from High Priest Harrar (a powerful Yuuzhan Vong whose dissident nature is still clandestine), Nen Yim makes contact with the Prophet Yu'Shaa, the leader of the Shamed Ones movement, with the intent of making a secret plea to Galactic Alliance to seek out Zonoma Sekot. Unbeknownst to anyone, Yu'Shaa is really Nom Anor, and Anor plans to use this truce as a means to further his own political agenda. The results of this unlikely and unholy alliance are among the most compelling twists so far in the New Jedi Order series.

There are a few things to be said. For starters, it is nice to see Corran Horn back in the fold. He has essentially been MIA since the "Edge of Victory" duology and he was sorely missed. It helps that he was not forced back into the series with an unnatural storyline. He is paired with Tahiri to 'capture' Nen Yim and proceed on to Zonoma Sekot. In Corran's last significant appearance in the NJO, Tahiri was a major factor and there was much that happened between them. Putting them back together and referencing their past was a very smart move. Tahiri has become an even more intriguing character now that she is becoming more at one with the combination of her human and Yuuzhan Vong personalities. She continues to the wild card that keeps events intriguing.

What is most fascinating about "The Final Prophecy" is seeing the divide that is taking place among the Yuuzhan Vong. Nom Anor's antics are nothing new, so his actions throughout are no surprise. However, the fact that Vong as high up as a Master Shaper (Nen Yim) and a High Priest (Harrar) doubt Shimmra and begin to develop a respect for the Jedi foreshadows greater dissention among the Yuuzhan Vong. It's become clear that the end result will not be the eradication of Yuuzhan Vong from the galaxy, so it becomes necessary to adjust to the concept of the Vong and the galaxy residents co-inhabiting peacefully. Zonoma Sekot holds the secrets of how this might actually happen, but it's the interactions between Tahiri and Corran with Harrar and Nen Yim that make it seem as though this is a possible destiny.

"The Final Prophecy" is a quick read at 300 pages. The end seems near, yet it seems still very much in doubt. It leaves the reader hungry for the final novel "The Unifying Force" and gives a fascinating look at what the future could possibly hold for the galaxy.

I think the best one word description for this penultimate novel of the NJO would be "decisive". A LOT of things happen here, to a LOT of different people. In that respect the book is a must-read: skipping it may well cause you to lose track of the overall story arc. In the end, I wasn't sure if this was a boon or a bane though.

I felt that the preceding trilogy, "Force Heretic" took too long to accomplish very little and could have easily been condensed into a single novel. The opposite holds true here. The "Final Prophecy" attempts to resolve a few too many issues in very limited space. Which is not to say that it does so badly - merely not as well as it could. It's just that Keys spoiled us with the excellent duology ("Conquest") that he wrote earlier in the series. For example Vua Rapuung was probably in the top 3-4 characters created for the NJO. (He also wrote a pretty good eBook that was published on the Star Wars site - can't remember the name right now).

For the most part, Tahiri carries the story. And, unlike the simplistic, cartoony characterizations found in Force Heretic, this Tahiri makes a lot of sense. Keys has taken the time to elaborate and flesh out a rational, complex and likable young heroine. She is also supported by a very strong supporting cast, which includes... just about everyone: a number of favourite characters from the pre-NJO novels as well as all the essential Vong personalities. What I also liked about the casting was that the classic SW heroes (Luke, Leia etc) are not completely dominating the action.

There are two main storylines:

Tahiri and Corran Horn form a reluctant and mangled partnership with an extremely suprising group of Vong protagonists in a quest for information. (no spoilers!) What makes this so interesting is the diverging interests of each member of the group. What each party is likely to do with the information once they find it is anyone's guess. What's more, Keys is very careful to not give away what the truth really is, even though he keeps dishing out the tantalizing hints.

Mind you, this is the part of the novel that I found somewhat disappointing. There was so much that could have happened among these characters and didn't. What's more, a bunch of them are seemingly discarded at the end of the book, probably to clear the stage for the final novel (coming out next month), so we will never know.

The secondary storyline serves mostly as filler, but it does add quite a bit of excitement and action to the book, including a couple of well written battles, a bunch more old favourites (Antilles, Pellaeon), interesting tactics, new technologies and generally speaking advancing the story arc nicely. It also suffers from the same sort of impatience, delivering broad strokes rather than detailed pictures and killing off characters with alarming casualty. For example, Pash Cracken makes a cameo, as a general no less, apparently gets killed in battle and a day later Wedge Antilles is musing about it over a drink, practically unaffected.

So, at the end of the day, I would recommend this as a pretty good book that could probably have been better simply by being longer.

After the prior three atrocities in the NJO series, I was so gratified to read this next contribution to the series by Greg Keyes. Unlike those previous three books, this one is neither plodding nor asinine, but is in fact a great read that moves very fast. Despite being of decent length, I had finished in less than two hours. After starting I simply could not put it down!

Getting away from the lack of focus in the recent books, Keyes keeps the reader on a much smaller cast of characters. The Zonama Sekot storyline involving Luke and company plays basically no part. This book deals primarily with Tahiri, though Nom Anor and Corran Horn play significant roles. Han and Leia make some necessary rescues as per their standard, while the Happenings on the former Coruscant only appear early on and are not switched back to (which is good since that would distract the reader from the real story here).

Tahiri and Corran undertake a covert raid to extract some Vong from their new capital. Their goal is to locate Zonama Sekot and prove its existence. Supreme Overlord Shimrra has eliminated evidence of the planet, perhaps out of fear. The reader is given some clues to the origin of that fear. It really is the point of this book, and the justification for the other recent works, or so it would seem.

The Ryn network that such a big deal was made about does play a minor part, and serves to get Han and Leia involved in this story, thought they are really an extraneous story arc. There is some good space combat at a classic location from the Thrawn series. Some of the losses there play a part in the next book, though that is for a later review. There is some of the typical combat innovation in that battle, on both sides of the fight, making it somewhat gripping, though the end can be anticipated.

Overall, while there were no real surprises, there were some very nice suggestions and ticklers, which increase the desire to read the succeeding and final volume in this series. I highly recommend this book for any reader of the NJO series. The good thing is that if you stopped because of the previous three books, Keyes does an excellent job of summing everything up (which was better than reading those three books) and moving the story along. This book really took away the bad taste of the last books, and I bought it only for completion. I was very surprised and the result was a truly rewarding read.

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't wait for the last part of the New Jedi Order. I have been reading all the Star Wars books since the original Timothy Zahn trilogy. I have never been dissappointed by one of the books. Not one. I read reviews on how people think that the book is boring to them, and it's missing this, or it's missing that, and blah blah blah blah blah. Well, I'm sorry but I feel those people are looking way too much into the bigger picture. These books are meant to entertain, and open our eyes to one thing: fun. Each book getts written with the approval of the Jedi Master himself, Lucas, and everything that is written is an extension of how he envisioned his universe to be. It was nice to see such a fresh storyline played out the last couple of years, and this book got me so pumped up for the conclusion it's ridiculous. I bought it yesterday, and I read it yesterday. I really enjoy reading storys that don't focus on the main Star Wars heroes, such as this one did. In this one, Tahiri finds out much about her Yuuzhan Vong "past." How that was written shocked me, and wowed me at the same time. It was really cool. Nom Anor proves once again just how evil and manipulative her really is. He would deinitately be no match for Vader, had he been able to be sensed through The Force, but that character could give Lex Luthor a run for his money that's for sure. Wedge Antilles was one of my favorite characters of the original trilogy, well at least a character that we all knew to have a brief roll in all three films. He proves once again that he is the best Military Stategist that the Gallactic Alliance has to office. I'm sorry to say this, but I think he surpasses Admiral Akbar on that front. Kill me now people if you must, but come on, search your feelings you know it to be true. Ok sorry, had to do that. I didn't want to say too much of this book, because if I did, I would have given away everything. But I will say this, did the Yuuzhan Vong come from a Galaxy evern farther away, or did they come from somewhere a lot closer than we have been thought to believe. That's it, I'm done. Hope you all enjoyed this series as much as I did. And again, I can't wait for the conclusion on November 4th.

When I heard that Greg Keyes would be returning to write the second to last book in the New Jedi Order series, I was thrilled. First his two original NJO books rate among the best in the series, and his grasp of the characters was incredibly complete. Second, we finally get to have almost an entire book dedicated to Tahiri, just as Dark Journey was dedicated to Jaina and TRaitor was dedicated to Jacen, The Final Prophecy is dedicated mostly to Tahiri although large chunks of the book deal with other heroes, including Corran Horn, back in action after he was ignored in previous books and Wedge Antilles who returns to prominance after a long lay off. The storyline involving the Shamed Ones and Nom Anor continues and the sentient planet Zonoma Sekot plays a crucial role in the story. After the disppointing Force Heretic Trilogy, Keyes returns with a action packed story that does not get lost in itself. His grasp of the characters remains firm, while he treads new ground with them. Tahiri continues to evolve after the events of Force Heretic III. FH3 portrayed a reunited Tahiri as a consummate warrior above doubts, and in many ways that was the wrong way to go. Keyes shows just how difficult it is for the new Tahiri to function, while at the same time pairing her with Corran Horn and Nem Yim, two of the most influential people in the previous Keyes books brings back an air of familiarity to the character. Nom Anor stays true to form, but the evolution of the Vong priest Harrar was a welcome addition. As great as The Final Prophecy is, there are some downsides. The story sometimes focuses too much on the Vong to the detriment of the military action taking place with Antilles and the continuing evoltion of Tahiri. Another character, Danni Quee, who deserves the award for most useless in this series is not even mentioned neither is her relationship? with Jacen. Rather, it almost seems that Jacen and Tahiri are meant to be together, although I might be reading too much into a brief encounter the two characters have. As the NJO roars to its conclucion, Keyes makes a steller and well above average contribution to the series. Of all the authors who have written for the NJO so far, his books have been among the most dynamic and most interesting. This is the 17th review I have written for the NJO series, and while this books is not one of the top 5, it certainly rests in the top 10.

After the mediocre Force Heretic trilogy, the New Jedi Order story arc was in serious need of a novel to turn things around. Greg Keyes was up to the task with 'The Final Prophecy.' Keyes' novel shifts the focus of the story away from the most familiar characters in the Star Wars universe and places it in the hands of some lesser knowns. The result makes for an excellent read.

The story features Tahiri and Corran Horn. Tahiri is still integrating her two personalities: her old self, the Jedi student, and a Yuuzhan Vong personality engrafted into her by the shapers of the invading Yuuzhan Vong race. Tahiri has become one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting, characters of the NJO. She is not a cliched Jedi character. Many revelations into her character are made over the course of the novel.

Corran Horn is familiar to most readers of Star Wars novels. He has played a part in many of the best novels to date. He agrees to lead a mission to Coruscant to retrieve the shaper Nem Yin and the Prophet of the Shamed Ones of the Yuuzhan Vong, and to take them to the planet of prophecy--Zenoma Sekot. Tahiri joins him primarily because she made a promise to a dying shamed one that she would find the planet, and because her Vong abilities and knowledge would be of particular use on the mission.

The relationship between Tahiri and Corran Horn is classic Star Wars. There is a sense of mistrust at the beginning of the novel, but the two characters settle into a mentor/student relationship nicely. Keyes' ability to write a novel that feels like Star Wars without relying heavily on the classic characters of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, or Princess Leia speaks well of his abilities.

The interaction between the Jedi is one of the great strengths of the novel. Another strength is the action sequecnes. Keyes does a superb job with both the hand-to-hand, or light saber to amphistaff, combat as well as the detailing the fight between General Antilles' fleet and that of the Vong in space.

The only weakness of the novel is that once again, a NJO series novel relies heavily on Zenoma Sekot, the sentient planet. Sekot still seems like it should be in the Star Trek universe, not in the Star Wars universe. Fortunately, clues laid in previous novels about the origins and mystery of Sekot start to unfold in this novel in a way that makes the series and the tie in to 'Rogue Planet,' a prequel era novel, make sense. Still, I would rather have seen the authors of the NJO work out a solution to the Vong in a different way.

I highly recommend this novel. Star Wars fans will enjoy it. Those that prefer reading about the classic characters would be better off reading a different novel. I'd still recommend reading the NJO from the beginning, which is R.A. Salvatore's 'Vector Prime,' and I'd recommend reading 'Rogue Planet' in order to understand the prequel era tie-in. However, this novel could be read without leaving a new reader too confused.

I have not even finished this book yet, but at only a third of the way through I found myself much more interested and involved in a NJO book than I have been for a long time. I liked Keyes' prior additions to the NJO, including Conquest, and he provides badly needed skill to make this book better than the abysmal outings of the Force Heretic trilogy. I will save my final opinion until I am finished, but so far the dialogue and writing is realitic and well-paced, locations are described with good detail and are easily visualized, and emotions are not just talked about but are described very well. It is good to see Wedge Antilles featured, and Keyes writes the Yuuzhan Vong very well. The space battles are easy to follow and are not overly technical, unlike the baffling and repetitive writing of Williams and Dix. I hope this book will finish strong and provide a good lead-in to the final ending. So far it has given me what I was looking for. I don't need the best novel every written, just an engaging story with well-written dialogue and action. At this point I can say this book provides that very well, or at least is much better than the other recent books in this series.

As a long time reader of the New Jedi Order and indeed, of Star Wars in general, i was a little disappointed by the focus of Greg Keyes' novel, the Final Prophecy. The book focuses mainly on the young adult, Tahiri Veila, and her struggle to come to grips with the soul shattering change in her soul and personality.

Tahiri is an important character, and will indeed play an important role in the final book, the Unifying Force. But I've usually been frustrated with the books that focus on individuals. The Agent's of Chaos series focused on Han Solo and his coming to grips with the loss of Chewbacca. Balance Point focused on Leia and exemplified the terror of the Yuuzhan Vong. The Edge of Victory series (also written by Greg Keyes) focused almost exclusively on Anakin Solo and only served to make the young jedi look fantastic. Elaine Cunningham's Dark Journey focused on Jaina Solo and her deep depression and struggle to stay away from the dark side. Finally, Traitor focused on Jacen, who, until that book never really got all too much attention.
Tahiri is an interesting character in the Star Wars universe.

While it is said that the Vong do not exist in the Force, Tahiri is a Jedi/Vong mix. She sets the groundwork for where the series will probably end (I havent read the Unifying Force yet, as she is two opposites combined...

Tahiri is without doubt the main focus of the Final Prophecy. The Han/Leia/Wedge and Jaina story plays a minor role and the Skywalker/Jacen/Zonama Sekot story disappears until the very end. Indeed, Luke Skywalker is only in the book on the last 5 pages or so.

So what is the Final Prophecy about? Well, Yuuzhan Vong shaper, Nen Yim decides that she must reach Zonama Sekot, for it is the future of the Vong race, for good or for bad. With the pressure of Harrar, a priest, she seeks the aid of the Prophet Yu'Shaa (Nom Anor), who is the underground resistance leader of the Shamed Ones. The Prophet convinces the Jedi that they must come to Yuuzhan'tar and remove himself and Nen Yim and take them to Zonama Sekot. Tahiri and Corran Horn sign on and take Nen Yim, the Prophet and, suprisingly, Harrar, to Zonama Sekot.

At this point, Keyes makes the point that Tahiri is being exposed to every part of Yuuzhan Vong society, the Priesthood, the heretic shapers, and the shamed ones. Tahiri interacts with each one, building a strong relationship with Nen Yim (the one who helped Mezhan Kwaad shape Tahiri) when the two find out that they share the same childhood memories.

All in all, Greg Keyes wrote what he needed to write, a bridge. This book was meant to lead straight into the New Jedi Order finale, and that's what he did. Keyes picks up on the few storylines that need development and fine tuning, and develops and tunes them as needed, but this book is not an innovative book. As a book, the Final Prophecy gets a 3/5 but as bridge book, it gets a 5/5, so I give it, overall a 4/5. It's a definite must read, for any New Jedi Order follower, but I would not recommend it for someone unfamiliar with the story. Read the rest of the New Jedi Order series first, or you will be lost.

There are some significant problems with this work. However, Keyes writes this so well they do not detract from the enjoyment. He has deconstructed the NJO down to a bare bones Star Wars story focusing on just a few characters. Of all the Star Wars novels I have read, this one is possibly the closest to capturing the feel of the original movies. In fact it reminded me in spirt of The Empire Strikes Back, high praise indeed.

There are really two problems in this novel. The first is the Bilbringi space battle. It is totally extraneous to what the book is about and seems included only because a space battle is thought to be obligatory and to give some face time to the Solos. The other problem is that the uneasy truce of Corran Horn, Tahiri and Nim Yen, Nom Anor and the Vong priest is not uneasy enough. In fact after just a tiny bit of tension they all get along well excepting Nom Anor. After the billions of deaths, it is just a bit too much to expect them to work together this well, especially when they don't really have their backs to the wall.

That complaint aside, the quest of Corran and company and their own discovery of Zonoma Sekot races along and is quite enjoyable. This is the first book in a long time I've read straight through in an afternoon/evening. Keyes reveals intriguing hints of the end of the series, allows Nom Anor to once more throw a wrench into the works and leaves us a cliffhanger, bittersweet ending.

The Final Prophecy is the eighteenth book in a nineteen volume saga taking place more than two decades following the death of the second Death Star at Endor. This was a very good read. It continued the sequence of the Force Heretic trilogy that preceeded this, and although those were decent reads, this was superior in many ways. There was hardly a wasted word or page in this one. The storyline was interesting and there was little in this book that didn't contribute to the overall storyline.

Luke and his party are still on Zonama Sekot en route to the known galaxy. Meanwhile, Tahiri and Corran Horn meet up with three very different Yuuzhan Vong, each with their own wildly varying agendas. Together, they all find an uninhabited section of Zonama Sekot. Two of the three Yuuzhan Vong exhibit significant changes, but one remains unchanged, always scheming and plotting to get himself ahead of everyone else.

While all of this is going on on Zonama Sekot, Wedge Antilles is leading an assault along with Grand Admiral Pallaeon to retake Bilbringi. Only, something is definately not right when communications suddenly and inexplicably go dead. This kills the battle plan and Wedge and his entire fleet are fighting for their lives. Enter profiteers trying to steal an antiquated battle station formerly in orbit around Bilbringi. Jaina and Jag are in the middle of things, and Han and Leia come to the rescue...again.

The end of the novel leaves two massive problems for the Galactic Alliance to deal with. One deals with communications, while the other focuses on Zonama Sekot. I will leave it for you to read the book in order to find out what they are dealing with.