The Swarm War (Star Wars: Dark Nest, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Troy Denning (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the explosive conclusion to the Dark Nest trilogy, Luke Skywalker summons the heroes of the New Jedi Order from near and far, as the Star Wars galaxy teeters on the edge of eternal war. Yet even the combined powers of the formidable Jedi may not be enough to vanquish the deadly perils confronting them.

The Chiss-Killik border war is threatening to engulf the entire galaxy and raising the awful specter of Killiks sweeping across space to absorb all living creatures into a single hive mind. The only hope for peace lies with the Jedi–and only if they can not only end the bloodshed between two fierce enemies but also combat the insidious evil spread by the elusive Dark Nest and its unseen queen.

Leia’s newly acquired Jedi skills will be put to the ultimate test in the coming life-and-death battle. As for Luke, he will have to prove, in a lightning display of Force strength and swordplay, that he is– beyond a shadow of a doubt–the greatest Jedi Master in the galaxy.

About the Author
Troy Denning is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost, Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Star by Star, and Star Wars: Dark Nest Trilogy, as well as Pages of Pain, Beyond the High Road, The Summoning, and many other novels. A former game designer and editor, he lives in southern Wisconsin with his wife, Andria.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345463056
• ISBN-13: 978-0345463050
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,804 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Star Wars: Dark Nest Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 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

By	Jason C. Garza "wordsmith116" (Moline, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Jedi Order in disorder, February 25, 2006

By	Christopher Perkins (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed the trilogy but the final chapter was my least favorite. The shake ups in the Jedi order are a great way to begin but Jaina'd been a hot character through out the first two books and just kind of faded into the back ground in the finale. Old favorites seem to come to the rescue and big things seem to be in store for Jacen but I just didn't feel the climax of this novel as much as I did the previous two. Overall an enjoyable read though. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Denning and this was no different. I do recommend the trilogy to anyone that is a fan of the NJO books.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's no "Tatooine Ghost", December 10, 2006

By	Aditya Joshi "@p@th31st" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I may be a bit biased in this, but plotwise this entire series was about the same caliber as the notorious "Starship Troopers". Bug-stories are often like that and this one was no different. Further, the trio of Dark Jedi from the Myrkr mission during the Vong War were better kept dead as they had nothing interesting to offer to the SW EU. After a whole trilogy, I realized that they still don't =P. By the end of the first book, I had lost all sympathy for the main characters (the Kilik sympathetic band of Jedi) and cannot for the life of me figure out their motivations in light of their established personalities upto this point in the EU. In other words, Denning has written about well-established characters such as Jaina and Tahiri and even Jag Fel (who gets an insultingly short mention) as if they were fresh new characters that he can mold any way he wants to. I did NOT appreciate the meaningless and unnecessary loss of continuity in the characters because of this. Luckily, Aaron Allston rectifies this gross oversight in the first of the Legacy of the Force series where the characters "come back to normal" =P. Pity. I really like "Tatooine Ghost". Perhaps, Denning's next book will be more to his standards than this entire trilogy was :(