World Famous Comics: Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9)
Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9)
By: Troy Denning Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 640 Publication Date: October 01, 2002 Release Date: October 01, 2002
Product Description: The New York Times bestselling Star Wars series The New Jedi Order enthralls readers with its epic drama and thrilling adventure. Now readers will pierce the very heart of darkness. . . .
It is a solemn time for the New Republic, as the merciless Yuuzhan Vong continue their campaign of destruction. The brutal enemy has unleashed a savage creature capable of finding—and killing—Jedi Knights. And now Leia Organa Solo faces a terrible ultimatum. If the location of the secret Jedi base is not revealed within one week, the Yuuzhan Vong will blast millions of refugee ships into oblivion.
As the battered but still unbroken Jedi scramble to deal with the newest onslaught, Leia’s son Anakin lays out a daring plan. He will lead a Jedi strike force into the heart of enemy territory in order to sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong’s deadliest weapons. There, with his brother and sister at his side, he will come face-to-face with his destiny—as the New Republic, still fighting the good fight, will come face-to-face with theirs. . . .
600 hundred pages should have been 350 This book almost made me stop reading the njo. The story isn't terrible, but this is as drawn out as the scarlett letter. Except Troy Denning for some reason feels its necessary to shove as many big, obscure words in his novel as possible. Turning what should be a 350-400 page book in 600+ pages. Plus he changes all the characters personalities to fit what he wants in his story. Basically says, the hell with the earlier books, I'm doing what I want.
One of the things that bothered me most was how he wrote Jacen. Jacen is one of my favorite characters and I like him because he is a deep, introspective character. Denning turns him into a weak, sniveling little peon. He hails Anakin through the whole novel and is very condescending to Jacen.
All in all this novel was enough to make me destraught, but not quite enough to make me stop reading the series, although I know many who have quit the series solely because of the book
This Book is Great!! Star wars has always been a fun series to read but this book really makes it really great. Star by star is a great sci fi story that will keep you busy for days. Their about 600 pages and the story is so interesting you won't be able to take your eyes off it. read it today!1
AppleJuice
Good Read, but Severely suffers from Bad Plot Choices Before reading this overview, I would like to state that at the very moment the hero of this story died, I was ready to shoot a hole through the book, then the author, the person who wrote this part of the series and then George Lucas for allowing it. And since it was pretty much bantha poodoo there at the end, I am currently rewriting an alternate series (mostly fan-fic) to recover the lost ground. I hope that if I send it in, it will sate the palate of the fans who suffered from this flawed novel. I apologize to the authors, but this literary choice makes no sense from no angle and there are about three hundred or so reviews to support that argument on amazon alone. If you have in mind a book that will build off of Mr. Keye's work, this is not it. The start did somewhat, but it fell off the cliff and died. I am mourning Star Wars as it stands now.
When I first read the "Star Wars Young Jedi Knights" series, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of details and amazing writing. Despite this, the books turned out to be decent pieces of what one might perceive to be "supersized fan fiction". But they were true to the old characters and enhanced the new ones.
Now, after I finished the last novel of the series, I decided to continue reading the new one "Star Wars: The New Jedi Order". The books are, if anything, more detailed and inclusive of character detail. Each few books may have a new author, but the books maintain a strong consistency nonetheless.
Ok, enough introduction, this book is well into the series, first of all, so, don't think of reading this if you haven't read the first nine novels, beginning with "Vector Prime". That said, this novel continues with the hard and long struggle of the New Republic against the determined and brutal aliens, the Yuuzhan Vong. Despite many previous efforts to eliminate their foes, the Jedi have now lost many comrades and suffered from various political slander and attempts of the traitorous "Peace Brigade" to trade the Jedi for the lives of others.
In the midst of this chaos, and the wavering support from the Senate leader, Borsk, Anakin Solo devises a plan to kill the new weapon being used by the Vong: creatures that can smell and eliminate Jedi along with their sense of the force. Anakin leads a strike force on the planet hosting the Mother of these deadly creatures with Jaina, Jacen, Tenel Ka, his best friend, Tahiri, other young Jedi and the Jedi Knight, Ganner. With his plan to kill their mother, and a risky setup of the "kidnapping" of the Jedi knights by the Yuuzhan Vong in order to infiltrate, Anakin may have swallowed more than he can chew.
With a few errors in the beginning and many new enemies like the Peace Brigade and Vong disguised as allies, the team suffers from moral and sentimental pain. The further in they go, the more the Jedi begin to feel that the Vong are stronger than they expected and the fact that the Vong have found out a secret that may endanger the mission completely to the point of facing a more dangerous enemy than just acid spitting Jedi killers, tragedy is just beyond the horizon. And as the young Jedi knights soon discover, there may be more to heroism than the title and honor. Pain goes hand in hand with success.
An excellent read, this series just keeps getting more interesting (From the beginning, a foe that could not be sensed in the force was an ingenius idea). I highly reccomend this novel. It is a well woven tale of heroism, sacrifice, clever schemes and wisdom that is memorable and eloquent.
Word of warning: I don't want to spoil anything (sorry if I already have), but this book has a much grimmer tone than that of its predecessors and that of the "Young Jedi Knights series". Other than that, just read the book and you will not be disappointed in terms of the fast moving excitement.
Ok, not to drag on the review, but, (Beyond this point, I am spoiling the book, so, if you want to ruin it, read on) SPOILER BEYOND THIS POINT, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK.
... I must say that right after Anakin Solo's death, the book dropped dead. Period. Anakin was the focus and that focus was shot dead and never revived. Anakin could have easily been a spirit like Ben, since he was one with the force. Secondly, the fact that the story slowed down and became a repeat of "Anakin is dead, let's all be sad and mourn" through at least fifty pages. I was ready to shoot a hole through the book. I liked the whole beginning, it was superbly written, well characterized, developed well, paced precisely, and heading in a good direction. But, it had the wrong ending. Anakin's suposed "destiny" was death. That makes no sense. His death did almost nothing, and was ultimately anti-climatic and jarring. When I finished reading the line "By then, Anakin was gone". I felt like I had been slapped in the face. I reread the line, continued reading and ran scenarios through my head. Anakin's death made no sense. Starting with the question: Why if he was so strong in the force, did he not remain as a spirit, like Ben Kenobi? If he is to be an influence (He didn't quite make a dent before he died) he needs to be a guiding spirit.
Additionally, the fact that the majority of the readers, (let's face it) are teenagers ranging from Anakin's age to the early twenties. That in mind, what is more appealing? A protagonist of age 40 like Han or a protagonist around the age of Anakin? For the readers that usually read these books, the answer is the latter. Also, (Not to press the "romantic idea") but most teens can relate to a friend turned lover relationship, and those tend to be very easy to develope because the friends know each other, so there is very little to explain about why they like each other, it is the progress of that relationship that is appealing to readers. That in mind, Anakin and Tahiri are the ideal pair. Anakin is destined to be a hero and future "Luke" and Tahiri, his best friend, is well learned in the ways of the Yuuzhan Vong. They could have very well suceeded Luke and Mara. And Anakin is a good candidate for Ben's teacher as well. (More reasons listed below). For one, he is supposedly more powerful than Luke, and another reason is that Anakin is very close to Mara, therefore his bond to Ben is closer than most other Jedi. And his teacher was Mara.
I admit, I am not a fan of the censored "happy utopia" that appears in a lot of cartoons and children's books. I support books that stretch to make realistic choices- and that includes death of main characters. BUT only when it makes sense to do so. If this death had been at the end of the series in the last book, it may have been more logical, if the impact of Anakin's death had influenced the Jedi in a more uplifting way. Anakin's character is built to be that support. And Tahiri would have influenced the series too, but not without Anakin, without him, the character is dead weight. Tahiri is a strong female character, no mistake, but Anakin and Tahiri were a team. If Tahiri and Anakin had died, leaving a greater impact and a new opening for more hope, that would have worked.
So, my other objections are similar to those of other reviewers in the sense that the reasons to kill Anakin Solo were not legitimate. I, as a writer myself, know that when a character is crucial and is built up that way and the death can undo that build up and developement, shows a poor choice on the writer's part. Although (above) I stated that there was a consistency, and there was, but as soon as this novel ended, I felt that break. Anakin's character was developed well up to this point, however, he was not done developing. In my opinion, a heroe's death so early, and right smack dab in the middle of the series is a bad idea. Besides the reason I already stated. The second, is that (I am about to spoil further, so, if you have not read past "Star by Star, I suggest you stop reading right now) in "Dark Journey", I noticed that Jaina doesn't need Anakin's death as a conflict to send her into confusion, that anger could have come from Jacen's kidnapping alone. And with the fall of Corucant, there is plenty of conflict for Leia, Han and the others too. I normally do not support the "heroe's death" gamble, in some cases, it is a good thing to have, but not when it upsets and destroys the balance of a story, especially when the story is in the "middle" of a series. That death may have worked better with a non- main character like Ganner. And that still could have affected the whole story in the way needed to make whatever spark the rest of the story needed. I am not a big fan of romance novels either, but, the fact that Anakin and Tahiri share such a big bond and Anakin is reputed to be "The next Luke Skywalker" between those two, another hope could be sparked and continued. Without it, the other books are trapped into a corner where there has to be "filler like" story. Because Anakin is gone, Tahiri hasn't got much of a role anymore and because Jacen is gone, Jaina has to go off on her own journey of darkness, which so far is hard to read because most of the conflict is "Jaina is sad because she lost Anakin and Jacen". Although, (Sorry, more spoiling) it is apparent that no one really thinks Jacen is dead, (and he's not), so that doesn't make for much of a conflict, and Anakin's death just seems like a sidestep, off beat. The whole first half of "Dark Journey" is about everyone getting over Anakin's death (And not about the Yuuzhan Vong), in the long run, another main character (any one besides Jaina, Jacen, Anakin) could have died, because (Not because the sad part is a bad thing, it makes for a semi-good conflict) Anakin was a character still being built up to inherit the will of the Jedi, then he just died, and to me, his death didn't even seem to be that crucial. Jacen could have easily fought his way out of the cave and the fact that Anakin completely ignored the last promise he made to Tahiri, made very little sense. And if Anakin was one with the force, he would have died the way Obi Wan did (and disappear, then reappear as a spirit), and Anakin was built up to be that strong (especially with the way he died), so that was a blunder too.
I also read into the (Even more spoiler for the end of the series) the end notes and interviews from "The Unifying Force" and I read the answer to the question about Anakin dying and yes for the most part I could see that he could not be the one who went over to the dark side in the series following "The Dark Nest" saga. I agree, completely. Anakin is a character who struggled with identity and I think that if he became the second Darth Vader it wouldn't make sense. Anakin tries to not be that way. I would like this series even less if they had done that. But I don't agree with the statement that NJO was the series where Jacen was the hero. No, nope, no way. The hero was Anakin. The series starts with the Yuuzhan Vong attack and quickly leads into Anakin going on an adventure with Mara and Luke a few times. Then Chewie dies. Han blames Anakin, so again, it's Anakin's struggle. Next, Jacen refuses to use the force, and argues with Anakin. This can be a two way hero thing, but it's Anakin who has the strongest will and struggle through this. Then comes Anakin's new adventures with Tahiri. These two books are all about the two of them. Hands down. Then Anakin "leads" the Mykyr mission. But his leadership skills were only emerging, he was an emerging hero, but still the protagonist of the series. And a likable main character too.
My other question is "Why the younger Jedi?" Yes, I get that most of the older ones are from the original Star Wars, but, if it's a new order, there has to be more new Jedi and most of the new Jedi have been eliminated from the picture. It's not very new if Luke, Leia and Mara end up being the only Jedi left. (Although I know that's not going to happen since I saw the new series starting with "Betrayal"). I agree that Star Wars has died with the final ten or twenty percent of the ending of this novel. It's, no offense intended, very grim and almost "emo". Star Wars is not meant to be like that. With the death of Chewbacca, the series swayed, but recovered, then the new hero, the new Luke of Star Wars was killed and the series died. Dropped dead.
Well, I'm just about done ranting. (My apologies to Ms. Cunningham, I enjoyed her book), but I feel that such an ending of "Star by Star" contained, her book did not have much to work with. The fall of Corucant would and Jacen's kidnapping would have been enough to send Jaina into turmoil, mostly because Jaina is extremely close to Jacen and anything that causes that bond to waver would send her into darkness and Ms. Cunningham adds an intriguing twist to Jaina's and Zekk's relationship, a good choice. That rift WAS built up well in "Star by Star" and was built up on just fine. But Mr. Denning's book seemed to drop its power right after Anakin died because the entire story up to that point (With "Edge of Victory I and II") was about Anakin and Mara, then about Anakin and Tahiri, and before that, Anakin and Jacen's conflicting views could have been expanded, it wasn't ever solved since Anakin just died. And there seemed to be a new relationship forming between Anakin and the new baby, Ben. I personally am fond of "circle plots", when Ben got older, if Anakin was the new "Luke" he would teach Ben, a reversal of the old teacher and student. I think Anakin's death was an unnessary conflict, the story was floating well without it. I think that if Jacen had gone missing, with Anakin alive (Jaina could blame Anakin for Jacen's risk) and there could be a rift there. Or Anakin could blame Jacen's morals as the reason for his death and a rift could form there. With the rift between Anakin and Jacen never sealed, plenty of conflicts could have come up without Anakin dying. In this case (My apologies to Mr. Denning) I would have to say that Anakin's death did nothing for the story's advancement, if anything, it set it backwards. With the mission's almost failure, Anakin could try to reunite the remaining Jedi on his own to repay his comrades and there could be distrust there (Another possible conflict). I could say that having Anakin die (Without creating a new opening for more space to let the story progress) and having other conflicts just dropped for the sake of a forced conflict, is not a good literary choice. Furthermore, the way Anakin died is not very believable to be a proper sacrifice. He died in the midst of a major attack, and was enveloped in the force, the force, which, if he was really as strong as he was built up to be, should have saved him and made him able to blast the Yuuzhan Vong aside, and Jacen and Jaina could have easily helped him out and still accomplished their mission. To boot, both Jacen and Jaina seem to have forgotten that they promised to protect Anakin entirely. They could have gone back and rescued him or lent him force powers. And by the amount that he had accumulated, he could have healed his wounds or regained his strength (the lack thereof had been the cause of his death) and bought enough strength to see his siblings out safely, then battled his way out. Denning's "dying hero" idea, though somewhat relevant to Anakin's previous developement, makes less sense than Anakin getting the powers and making his way out, giving a new hope. The "lost cause" idea is well established enough without a need to pile on the morbidity. This is an idea, some writers like to call "hitting over the head" with an idea, something that gets old fast, and pisses readers off. A lot of alternate situations, (That make more sense) could have happened. The other books following this sound like a drone of doom, and it's not very interesting to read, and this event helped to fuel that glitch. In addition, it is more unbelievable that Tahiri didn't even try to follow Anakin (If she's really as stubborn as Denning builds her up to be) she would not have let Anakin go alone, or at least, she would have turned around and tried to help him out as soon as she felt him hurt. Anakin, starting with the moments where he saved Mara, up to the point where he saved Tahiri, was the main character and focus. His personality was developed and that's why the ending was such a let down, he was supposed to be the new hope. I'm not sure if switching off authors like this was such a good idea, flaws in developement can occur very easily. And cheap anti-climatic endings can emerge when the writer doesn't know what to do. AKA filler. Anakin's death fills in the story conflict gaps that have gaping holes in the sequels to this novel. Though other characters have good conflicts, this idea is a filler. That is what is disappointing, it doesn't feel genuine, it feels off color in relation to the rest of the book and series. (All fans of the Anime series "Naruto" know what I'm talking about). I'm sorry to say this, but if I were Denning's editor, I would not have let this slide, and sent it right back to the drawing board. This series could use a few serious rewrites- if any fans are up to the task, I'd be interested in reading them. Like I said- This is like a super sized fan fiction piece.
Well, if you've read this far, you've had the story almost completely ruined, sorry. But, if you want to read the book and decide for yourself, it is still an enjoyable read, depressing and well written, but the ending choices (As I said before) does not merit the praise that the start of the book should get. To me, it felt as though Denning almost reached the peak of good writing, but fell off. I am hopeful that the rest of the series picks up the slack.
With this series Star Wars has lost it's way This series and especially this book nearly put me into depression and it's not that the key character dies by itself, it's the core spirit of Star Wars and it's uplifting message has been extinguished. What happened George Lucas? What's up with you Troy Dennings? Yes, conflict and strife are necessary and readers easily believe that, but they are necessary for growth and the greater good not for the sake of suffering and random like the message seems to be. Where is hope, the belief in a grand redemptive, happy ending and result that is so core to Star Wars? You might be saying readers don't buy that as easy as hardship and despair, but you know what, a good author makes a reader believe the difficult to believe and makes the readers better people for it, not gives them more of what they already see, this is like Al-Quada like alien terrorists taking over Star Wars universe with the same lack of hope many people feel over Iraq and pushing just how hopeless everything is - and not temporarily, rather than any positive message. Even the conclusion to this series is depressive or a cynical "realistic" rather than uplifting. George and Troy when did you become so jaded? Make an alternate timeline ignoring this series otherwise this is the death of Star Wars.
Update: I will give this book one extra star because technically it was very well written, but technical skill is not what stories are purely about, the right emotional sensitivity is important.
Unrealized Jedi Potential For anyone who does not want any spoilers to this 9th installment of the NJO, please refrain from reading any further, dispite the late date of this review.
Firstly, in the overall scope of the development (and possible restoration) of the Jedi in all their knowledge and glory, the death of Anakin is totally counter to that aim. Whoever made that choice in the story development of the NJO is no student of the Jedi, nor any other mystical traditions from any galaxy!
It seems that after all this time, the hope (of the reader(s)) to get a real insight into the true and complete potential of the Force, to which the six Star Wars movies have hinted, has been snake oil. Anakin's death (anti-climactic as it was) removed the NJO's version of "A New Hope". Or, more accurately, "The Best Hope Ever".
A Straw Poll of students will likely say that Luke, in his now somewhat "passive" attitude to the depth of the situation should not logically yield a Jedi who represents a near-complete expression of the Force as Anakin was built-up to become. Further, no story in any novels has yet to explore the development of any light-side Jedi who has "become one with the Force" as Obi Wan in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Not to blame this particular installment of the NJO, but too many side-stories are incomplete in the NJO, and too much story-time has been wasted covering the "surface" of things and not their depth (except the development of Anakin's potential in the Force, and Leia's doubts about the quality of her motherhood). Now, who's going to activate Centerpoint without Anakin?
Secondly, I MUST commend R.A. Salvatore for his breakthough work on Vector Prime (book one of NJO). I found his descriptions of the flight through the asteroid belt to be mesmerizing! It was absolutely capivating, like a card trick by a Jedi Master. Even Troy Denning's use of the Jedi battle meld was great. With inventiveness like that, there is potential for the Jedi to do what Jedi should be able to do, namely which is Rapture at will! However, with the teachings lost through the ages, and the most fully realized Jedi now a middle-aged man who started training much too late, and never learned half of what he would have under better circumstances, the Jedi have been reduced to "Cliff Notes" of their former knowledge. This is sad. Not one novel has concentrated on this.
Students know what I am saying here. The novels subsequent to Star By Star will only serve more snake oil. Every generation (in the Star Wars saga) needs an ultimate hero, someone who represents the very best in us all, giving us courage to strive to be as they strive to be. For Star Wars episodes I, II and III, its Anakin, The Elder, who did actually complete his destiny as the prophecy told. For episodes IV, V and VI, its Luke, who technically was defeated by Palpatine, until saved by Anakin, The Elder. For the NJO, its Anakin, The Younger; except he had no prophecy and he died without doing much except take after Anakin, The Elder with machines and demonstrate a VERY strong presence in the Force. If Qui Gon suspected Anakin, The Elder to have a medi' count higher that Yoda, what does that make Anakin, The Younger?
For thoes who think I'm taking things to seriously, take the time to find out who much research George Lucas put into his study of so many real mystical traditions here on earth prior to completing the first Star Wars script. And that's not snake oil. Students know what I mean.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
