Customer Reviews

Star Wars Njo the Unifying Force (Star Wars New Jedi Order)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It is very hard to review this book on it's own as it is the wrap up to the ambitious New Jedi Order Series. I'll try to comment on both of them in their appropriate place.

There are some problems with this book, I felt it was too long for one and the first 300 pages dragged. I'm reviewing it now and I got it in hardcover when first released. However the ending picks the pace up and manages to keep the reader enthralled.

There are obviously no real surprises here. The ending has been telegraphed fairly well over the last 4 novels or maybe more. That being said although we know where the journey is taking us, Luceno, not one of my favorite authors, makes the journey a pleasant one. We get to see Luke absolutely kick butt, we see the annoying Solo children of the previous publisher's books come into their final fruition. Though I didn't like Jacen's temporary godhood it was the telegraphed culmination that he would be the new "balance of the Force".

The ending was particularly well done, bittersweet farewells of tired damaged warriors in a tired damaged galaxy with some very nice human moments.

What can we say about the NJO? I don't think it did all it set out to do, but it came pretty close. It was light years above the New Republic series of the previous publisher. The lows of the NJO came nowhere near the many many lows of the previous series. We saw main characters die, we saw characters change, we saw the philosophy of the Force through many viewpoints. We saw a high level of writing overall and some pretty good editing to contain the very large story arc. We got new stories in the Star Wars universe with an intriguing culture in the Vong. We got Nom Anor, the most despicable creature ever who went from being an absolutely loathed cardboard villain to someone the reader knew inside out. We saw many characters have very real crises of faith, hit rock bottom and come back in a fashion that didn't make it seem predictable or cliche.

Thus it is somewhat sad to see it end. It needed to end, don't get me wrong, it had gone on long enough and it was time. The Clone Wars novels are now the spiritual successors to the NJO, showing the greater depth and complexity of the shaded morality of the universe that we first saw here.

Warning: if you haven't read most of the Star Wars books in existence, many of the wonderful, unexpected moments in "The Unifying Force" will probably pass you by. It is extremely satisfying to see so many characters from, and references made to, older books in the Star Wars saga.

All of our favorites are back in character, and we get to see some new sides to certain characters, that just might change your opinions of them. To name names would be to spoil the surprises.

For those looking for a little philosophical thought, I'll just say that I'm still trying to completely figure things out. What I have figured out is that the notion of the Force at the end of this book is quite different than the one we see at the beginning of "The Phantom Menace". And, this evolution in thought makes sense.

What I loved best about this book was that the Jedi did not dominate it. While they still played a very important part, it was made obvious that everyone had an important role in saving the galaxy, even the enemy. In other words, the galaxy needs its Han Solos just as much as it needs its Luke Skywalkers.

Did Mr. Luceno tie up all the loose ends? Most of them, yes, and for one in particular, it was done in absolutely fitting fashion. But, he also raised a few interesting questions, for which no answers were given. I hope to see these addressed in future books.

In closing, I'd like to thank Mr. Luceno, and all the other NJO authors, for continuing the action and adventure in a galaxy far, far away. The journey wasn't always smooth, and a few good friends were lost along the way, but in the end, the magic was back, and I knew just exactly why I had become a Star Wars fan in the first place.

When I heard James Luceno would write the final chapter in the epic New Jedi Order series, I was a bit worried. Sure Luceno wrote the very good Prequal Era book: Cloak of Deception but he had also written two of the not so good entries into the New Jedi Order Series the Agents of Chaos books. I needn't have worried. Luceno's final entry into thet NJO series The Unifying Force is an excellent Star Wars book and a fitting conclusion to the New Jedi Order series. Almost all of our old Star Wars friends make some sort of impact in the story. While some of the twists and turns are more predictable, overall this book is a top-notch effort. The biggest criticism I have, is that perhaps this book might have been better expanded into 2. The conclusion at the end leaves something to be desired, but overall the book is extremely well written, although it downplays some of the more romantic elements in previous books and ignores some important information from Keyes Final Prophecy about Tahiri and Corran Horn. Overall I find very little to critisize as I write my final New Jedi Order review. From outrageously excellent books like Star by Star to the not so good like the Force Heretic series, its been one hell of a ride.

Firstly, I must give full credit to James Luceno for doing, in 500 pages, what few authors could do. That is, conclude a series that by almost any measure, was nowhere near completion at the finale of the previous book. He didn't even sacrifice the pacing of the novel itself to do so. This is evidenced by the fact that almost nothing happens in the first fifty pages of this book. In 50 pages at least Jane Eyre had concluded that she hated her step-brother. I was bored senseless by the seeming lack of purpose for this lengthy introduction, but I quickly realized that's exactly what it was - an introduction. Though Luceno does spend an extraneous amount of time on the background info of the series in that introduction, from the point of view of the book as an independent unit, it also serves a number of useful plot and character services. This time also pales in comparison to the myriad of occurences that are described in the other 450+ pages. Luceno's storytelling, if nothing else, is brilliant. The plot moves quickly, effortlessly, without any glaring character-innacurracies or sudden impromptu plot movements.

The novel did falter for me near the end, when the action sequences (despite taking centre-stage) faltered and the dialogue and descriptions became weak or at times too overly-contrived. All things considering though, the writing was excellent for a book that must've been rushed through all stages of production.

Now though, comes my analysis of the series as a whole, and the plot that LucasArts and the mosaic of writers they employed created.

Quite simply: It was good. Not great, not amazing, but not horrible or ruinous of the Star Wars Universe. One major question I have to ask is... How does George Lucas expect to make a sequel containing the main three characters of the first three movies, in this radically altered Universe? He can't really make a sequel of anything immediately following the destruction of the Empire, as that is catalogued in the Extended Universe (EU) already, and I don't see how anything but three movies devoted to the Yuuzhan Vong could really explain Coruscant's changes, or the extreme character development of someone like Jacen Solo - not to mention all the other new characters the series relies on as well. While I trust Lucas' view of the series as a whole, I don't trust his moviemaking skills after the prequels, and whether he could create a post Yuuzhan-Vong galaxy as emersive as he did the original one, is something I'm not decided on.

The Yuuzhan Vong themselves, however, were an excellent motivator for the whole "Extragalactic Invaders" idea, coming across as ruthless, defiant and bloodthirsty as any other patron of the Sci-Fi idea, but with the philosophical backings to make it work. As disfigured as their beliefs are, they do have some merit, and eventually (in The Unifying Force) there was even a hint at the reason for these beliefs. If there was one constant I loved seeing throughout the New Jedi Order, it was the consistency of the Yuuzhan Vong's sadistic nature.

Unfortunately, that's just about the only thing that was consistent. While the Star Wars EU has always relied on a plethora of authors to structure and shape the main plot, it has, until this point, kept it mostly in the hands of obvious professionals, well honed and purposeful in their contributions. In the NJO, that idea was thrown out the window. 11 different authors, each with different takes on characters, settings, and each with different strengths and weaknesses to their writing styles, lent a rather shaky groundwork for the entire series. Some, such as Luceno and Greg Keyes, were obviously heading the project from the beginning, while others (Elaine Cunningham comes to mind) dropped in, put in their two cents, and left. Of course, for every abysmal Williams & Dix novel, there was a Traitor by Matthew Stover, or a Star by Star by Troy Denning. Novels intricately placed in the scheme of things kept the series running, no matter what. In reality though, one could read Vector Prime, Agents of Chaos 1, Balance Point, Edge of Victory 1, Star by Star, Traitor, Destiny's Way, any one of the three Force Heretic novels and The Unifying Force to get the absolute best of the series. That's 9 novels, a mere half of the entire series.

That being said, while the series itself wasn't entirely brillaint, (due to shifting authors and a roving importance placed on first the galaxy as a whole and then single star systems and characters and then back again) the plot was absolutely brilliant, and well pulled off.

From the first of Jacen's visions in the Allston novels (fulfilled nearly ten books later in Traitor) to his second in Balance Point (concluded only in The Unifying Force), to Anakin's seemingly pointless over-adventure on Yavin 4 (which came to shape a large part of the Yuuzhan Vong story), to Alpha Red (created in Destiny's Way but conceived as well in the Allston novels) to all sorts of movements, occurences and fine details that gave the NJO shape and purpose unlike any science fiction series written in this manner. Indeed if George Lucas was to make a film trio out of the Yuuzhan Vong encounter, the three books he would be forced to recreate would undoubtedly be Vector Prime, Star by Star, and The Unifying Force, though without the backstory of the other novels, it would be near impossible. Even in that limited frame though, is a story striving for greatness and finding it all too often.

The war is coming to an end, but who will win? Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker are stuck on the living planet Zonama Sekot, a planet that could be the salvation for both the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong. But Supreme Overlord Shirma would rather see every planet in the galaxy burn to ashes then to surrender, that's why he has hatch a five thousand plus ship fleet to Mon Calamari, temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance, to crush the native inhabits of the galaxy in massive stroke. But the Alliance commanders and the Jedi have a few tricks up their sleeves, but so do the Yuuzhan Vong.

From the first to the last page, The Unifying Force will keep you reading for an uncountable amount of time. James Luceno, who wrote Agents of Chaos, (NJO books 4 and 5) comes back to write the conclusion of the New Jedi Order, a series of books that have broken the rules of fantasy and science fiction. It has kept it's readers glued to the page for five years, even though this series has 19 books (not including two ebooks), it doesn't seem to be enough to tell the tale of one of literature's most brutal wars. One closes the book of the New Jedi Order feeling as if he or she had just survived a massive cataclysmic disaster, but knows that they will be able to tough out any future conflict.

This is not the end of the Expanded Universe, after the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi find that they must redefined what the Forces is, lines between the Light and Dark have become permanently blurred. The Mandilorians, lead by none other then Boba Fett(he's only in the book for about five pages, then fly's off, so stop drooling), scored major brownie point with the Alliance by liberating several systems single handedly. But what do these small, but incredible strong warriors have in store for the rest of galaxy?

I read started this book the day after I went to see the Matrix Revolutions. Where that movie completely failed to tie up any loose ends and become a fitting conclusion, this book is the epitome of what the final chapter in an epic saga should be. It is intense, it is fast paced, and it comes packed with all of the philosephy that readers of Star Wars books that have to do with the nature of the Force should be hoping for.

I really think that this is the best book in the whole series, something that many conclusions fail to be. Back to my Matrix example: where that movie ties up absolutely no loose ends, this book comes up with a satisfying ending, while not going the tired route of having everything returned to normal after the war is over.

The good: Leia, Han, and Luke's charaters are written exactly as they were played in the movies, and Jacen is becoming easily the coolest character in the EU. The battle scenes are absolutely stunning, which I was surprised by because I dont remember the action standing out in the two other NJO books that James Luceno wrote. The plot is brilliant, and most if not all loose ends are tied up. You finally find out why the Yuuzhan Yong are outside the Force! And my least favorite character FINALLY bit the dust.

The not-so-good: pretty small complaints here, but there were some typos (i remember Jaina being referred to as Jaina Skywalker, when her last name is Solo). But aside from that my only problem was that some of the space battles got a bit too confusing for me.

But overall I am COMPLETELY satisfied by this book, and the series. Kudos to James Luceno, and all of the other authors and minds behind the NJO series!

What a daunting task for an author to receive. To write a conclusion novel that will tie up the last 18 books of a highly read series.

After finishing the series, I can say that this book succeeded in what it had to do and left a positive impression for the NJO series.

During the first 200 pages is where the book struggles, as Luceno goes into too much detail about incidents that happened in prior books in the series. It felt that he was making it so this book was accessible without having read the first 18 books. He is also a stickler for details, and can spend three paragraphs describing a simple situation.

Still, the novel takes a fast upswing once all hell breaks lose in the plot. Becoming a quick read once the main conflict is reached, it all leads to a satisfying conclusion. Instead of other Star Wars books where it is a happy 'Disney' ending, the series ends with a sense of real world dilemmas. Growing up, realizing the past is gone, dealing with change, death, saying goodbye to friends, and remembrance. The series ends in the only way it could to truly satisfy the amount of material built up to it.

So as a whole, the NJO was a success. It managed to create an epic and vast situation in an already established universe. While there were some major stumbles in the series (Dark Journey, the Force Heretic trilogy), it worked as a whole.

When you finish the series, you look back and do realize that a lot has happened over the five years. Luceno did what he had to do, and the NJO series succeeded because of it.

The Unifying Force by James Luceno was a mastery of a book. That is not to say it up there with the best books ever, but to a fan of the universe created by George Lucas it is one of the best ever. It deserves a ranking up there with Zahn's original trilogy.

I have read all of the books in New Jedi Order as they came out along with all of the Star Wars books. The Unifying Force deserves a spot among the best in the New Jedi Order. My personal opinion is the top two are Star by Star and Unifying Force. I almost didn't jump on this one right away because the past few NJO novels have been OK and not stellar. I was glad I did.

The book was fantastic. It had something for everyone. The war and massive space battles, and through statistics thrown in you get a sense of how massive this war is. The use of all the leaders throughout ALL of the previous Star Wars books, from Wedge Antilles to Ackbar, through Kre'fey to Sovv, including Bel Iblis and so many more. Your favorite was in this book. Unifying Force brought back all the favorite characters from other books. Some of my favorites, Shada, Talon, Crev Bombassa, Lando, and Tendra were all involved. The politics were there in limited form, same with love stories. Even though the Jedi and their affiliates really did get the focus in this story, Luceno made it not seem too focused on them and some other books have done.

The best part of The Unifying Force, I believe, is the grandeur and absolute enormous size of it. It is huge in every sense. The Galactic Alliance is making a huge stand. While all the other books did a very good of bringing back a few old friendly faces, this book brings back EVERYONE. There is not a single important person not mentioned or that doesn't make an appearance. It is some much fun to see all your "old friends" in action playing important roles.

I have only a few minor complaints with this book. I didn't want to put them in, but I feel I have to include them to be fair. The battles seemed rushed sometimes. Han, Leia, and Luke specifically seem to get into impossible situations with captures and fights all over the place, and they always conveniently get out. It seems almost as if the author was told that he was in no way or form to kill anyone important, which makes sense but kind off kills the suspense. Also, at times there seemed to be too many characters running around inside the Coruscant system and you sometimes lose track of them. However, as I said before, I have very few complaints with this novel.

This book meant a lot to me personally. It was meant to have a feeling of closing. There is a very good chance this will be the last book to be set this side of the Galactic Civil War. The Unifying Force did this very well. I finished the book in a very happy mood, a very content one. The loose ends from all over the place were tied up. The New Jedi Order comes to a close with a great novel in The Unifying Force.

While this review comes under the novel 'The Unifying Force', I am writing it more as a review of the entire NJO series.

'The Unifying Force' is actually a well written novel, penned by one of my favourite authors, James Luceno. The novel ties together a lot of plot points very well, and provides a fitting ending to the series.

That being said, I disliked the NJO series as a whole. The books have shown a savage invasion of known 'Star Wars' space, by a ruthless and extremely violent enemy. Right from the start, the writers seemed to WANT to violate Star Wars lore, with the deaths of Chewbacca and Anakin Solo, the destruction of the planets Ithor and Coruscant (among others), and, finally, the destruction of the New Republic.

The writing of the NJO novels themselves seemed very basic and elementary, and the series was obviously written to accommodate younger readers around the 10-12 years of age literacy level. Such destruction and violence are often entertaining to younger people who do not understand the full implications of such acts, and have never really trusted in something enough to be saddened when it's ripped away.

For older Star Wars readers such as myself, such violations of the Star Wars story are distasteful. I read a great deal of the initial New Republic novels, from the Zahn trilogy to the Zahn duology, and everything in between. While those novels had their ups and downs, for the most part I found them very entertaining reading, and I read with fascination as the Empire crumbled and the New Republic, having struggled in it's infancy, grew to thrive. Events such as Han and Leia's marriage and subsequent children, Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic, the establishment of the Jedi Academy, the Black Fleet crisis and the peace treaty with the Empire were interesting and logical extensions of the story presented in George Lucas's initial 3 films (Episodes IV, V and VI).

The NJO series ripped down a lot of this work, with much of the known galaxy falling under the oppressive heel of an alien race that views pain as something akin to religion. These new aliens enslaved people by the use of parasitic seeds implanted inside of them, rendering the hosts susceptible to influence, but also causing the hosts ever increasing pain as the seeds grew within them, eventually driving the hosts into insanity before the seeds would hatch. This is merely an example of the 'new' aliens and what they inflicted on the galaxy.

The NJO series, in addition to crushing what past novels built up, also featured excessive and bloodthirsty violence. While violence and action have always been part of the Star Wars story, the NJO took it to a new, and distasteful, level. Reading about these acts (such as the before mentioned parasitic enslavement of people) isn't entertaining or interesting at all, and I actually felt sick to my stomach while reading parts of the NJO novels. It's no surprise that Timothy Zahn and Kevin J. Anderson, two of the most respected Star Wars authors, kept their distance from the entire NJO series.

I'm glad that 'The Unifying Force' has finally ended the NJO saga, although I suspect that the damage done to the Star Wars saga is irreparable. I'm immensely saddened to see what has happened to Star Wars, which used to be a story that I loved and eagerly awaited each new novel.

While 'The Unifying Force' is a good novel by NJO standards, and with all due respect to Mr Luceno, there can be no going back on what the NJO series has done to Star Wars. I merely see it as the end to a miserable saga, and I'm glad that it's over.

I personally believe that the Star Wars publishers should have ended the Star Wars publications with 'Vision of the Future', from that fantastic Timothy Zahn duology. I believe that showing a peace treaty between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant would have been a fitting end to the saga, but that is a matter of opinion.

I don't recommend 'The Unifying Force', and the entire NJO series for that matter, to anyone.

I absolutely loved this book. I could not put it down. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you that haven't read it but there are old characters coming back to the fold. The characterization of the heroes was handled perfectly by Mr. Luceno. It's great to see Luke back in action.

The real question is this: Where can the Star Wars universe go from here?