27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tying a few loose ends, dangling a few more, spoiling a bit, January 3, 2006
I was on the fence regarding the whole of the "Dark Nest" trilogy. While I share Han's attitudes towards bugs (terrestrial and otherwise), I kept an open mind throughout. If Denning's trilogy was as much a depature from the status quo as it seemed--well, I endured all nineteen of the NJO series, so what harm is there in a Killik-centric trilogy?
Seeing as how this was both an epilogue to events left unfinished in Denning's novels "Star by Star" and "Tatooine Ghost" (not to mention Luke learning the circumstances surrounding his mother and father during the rise of Darth Vader), the trilogy worked well enough.
As for "The Swarm War," Denning manages to bring the oft-mentioned Myrkr mission/disaster to an emotional close; indeed, that Raynar was able to call the survivors to his side shows that the boy will undoubtedly play a potentially significant role in the upcoming "Legacy of the Force" saga. Yet this hook, with the whole Joiner subplot, really wasn't as great as I was hoping. The conclusion, that final showdown between Luke and Lomi Plo (honestly, doubt as a weapon is a grand idea. But not in the hands of an incompetent Nightsister with insectile prostheses) was a disappointment, as was the confrontation between Jacen and Luke. While the Solo child may never receive his comeuppance, it was disheartening to see that Luke could be so dissuaded by his nephew. Indeed, it seems that Jacen has somehow managed to turn Luke's doubt into a tool towards Jacen's own ends; this is one of those little threads that left me wondering what was next. Mind you, I liked that not everything was resolved, and that's what will bring me to press on.
Now, as for the Jaina/Zekk Joiner/Love interest subplot...it needed to die in "Swarm War." It didn't appear to provide any substance to the overall saga save for hitting home for the Alliance what being a Joiner meant. It was that I found hardest to tolerate; despite the three years that had passed since the recapture of Coruscant, Jaina seems to have forgotten what the war cost her emotionally.
But, we do see more of the Jedi turmoil--I'm curious to see where the Grand Master honorific will lead, not to mention the ultimatum issued by Luke in regards to the establishment of the Order. And we've apparently a resolution between the Galactic Alliance vis-a-vis Chief Omas and the Jedi.
Perhaps most gratifying was the return of Admiral Pellaeon as Supreme Commander of Alliance forces and his devotion to the Jedi.
If there is a Jedi Civil War on the horizon, this book was a good setup. If there's nothing more than another alien threat or new Dark Jedi on the rise (we've all heard the rumors of Lady Lumiya (sic?) from the X-Wing comic series making a return), than this might very well be the last time we'll see our heroes at their fighting best.
Still, this book has what one expects from Denning: clear-cut prose, a fast pace, and on-spot characterization that makes one confident that the rich characters of the Star Wars universe are in the hands of a fine author who is, as we know, capable of delivering much more.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Downhill trend of trilogy continues and ends with a lemon, March 13, 2006
I've observed that "Amazon-ian" Star Wars fans seem to find helpful reviews for SW books that have two qualities: a positive rating/review, and a lot of content detail. Unfortunately, this has neither, but I will take my chances for the sake of completeness (which ironically should appeal to fans), b/c I reviewed the first two books in this series.
If you didn't start this series, and you have other SW books you are considering starting now instead, READ THOSE FIRST. If this trilogy had stayed as good as its opener, it would have been great. Unfortunately, it lost ground significantly with each subsequent title.
One of the best things about the first book was the in-depth treatment of the effect of the insectoid collective mind on the minds' of "joiners", illustrated through some of the not-quite-so-young-anymore "young Jedi knights". By the third novel, Denning has completely left this out.
While it is true that I've been annoyed before at the "extra" information authors include in sequels so that they could potentially be read as stand-alones, based on this experience, I have to say I find that preferable. Worse than leaving out the interesting work on the insect-collective-mind is the loss of material on the political and strategic state of affairs and some of how we got there. For many voracious readers, we will read several other books between any two SW books in a series, and the reminders are helpful.
The dialogue in this book is terrible, especially that of OT characters, who are treated with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And not only is the dialogue bad, but the plot is less exciting, the style is flat... in fact everything about this book says "I'm only writing this b/c I'm under contract."
Some SW fans seem to be satisfied if you just throw in a few well-loved characters, some action with lightsabers or their favorite space vehicles, and fill in the gaps. Personally, I want more. This was a disappointing end to a trilogy with a promising beginning.
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