Jacen Solo stands upon the fulcrum of history. The fate of billions rests in his hands, and one misstep could spell doom for the galaxy. Will he stand firm?

Spoiler-Free Review

I really enjoyed this novel. The writing was blessedly clear and unobtrusive, unlike some others in this series. Tyers did an excellent job with all the main characters, making even Jacen's bothersome waffling seem believable. This novel is very much about Jacen and his struggle to find a balance between aggression and defense in his use of the Force -- his epiphany in that regard is very satisfying to read. The novel is also about the Solos as they strive to remain a family despite the incredible stresses they face. Mara and Luke are here, too, and behaving like the lovers and Jedi they are. It's been a while since I've liked the way Luke was written; here, I think Tyers got it right. She also managed to portray the complex relationships among the characters in an interesting and realistic way. I encourage Del Rey to tap Tyers for another Star Wars novel if possible. Other things I liked: 1) the updated map of the galaxy showing the route of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, 2) the cast of characters, 3) the "foreword" giving us a summary of what has happened in the NJO so far, 4) the ending; without giving too much away, there's a "cliffhanger" at the end that gave me chills and made me very eager for the next book. Overall, I'll give this one an A; it's worth getting the hardcover if you can afford it. For those of you who absolutely must skip this one until the paperback comes out, however, you should still be able to follow the plotline in the next book with no trouble.

Plot Summary (heavy spoilers)

Don't read this if you haven't yet read the book. Leia has gone to Duro, a planet that has agreed to take the galaxy's refugees in exchange for their help making the planet habitable again. Leia is guiding a committee of SELCORE scientists, one of whom, Cree'Ar, she has never actually seen, in their efforts to fix Duro's damaged ecosystem. To avoid hassles from Coruscant, Leia has not told the New Republic officials there exactly where she is. Unbeknownst to her, Han is also on Duro. Having volunteered to lead a group of refugees, including his friend Droma's people, the Ryn, and the Hutt, Randa, he is ensconced in one of the domed settlements on the planet's surface. Jacen is with him, taking a sabbatical from the Jedi while he tries to figure out what he should do with his Force abilities. He has a series of visions where he sees himself standing at the balance point between light and dark, with one misstep spelling doom for the galaxy. Jacen decides not to use the Force at all. Jaina is critically injured during a space battle, and after spending some time in bacta she comes to Duro to be with her dad while she recovers her sight. Han, Jacen, and Jaina are all worried because they cannot track down Leia. Pesky moth-like critters damage their dome, and they have to evacuate to another dome called Gateway -- where they run into Leia. Han and Leia reconcile, but Jaina is harboring a lot of resentment at her mother for never being there for her. Meanwhile, Mara and Anakin find and capture a Yuuzhan Vong infiltrator on Coruscant, and Mara discovers she is pregnant. When Luke hears of some diverted shipments on Duro and a Jedi apprentice disappearing there, he decides to investigate, and our heroes find each other. Jacen goes to one of the Duro's orbital cities to give the Duro authorities evidence of diverted shipments, but they are in on the deception and imprison him. Randa the Hutt tries to betray Jacen to the Vong, but he wisely chickens out and gives the communications villip to Leia instead. Jaina tells Mara of the suspicious behavior of the scientist Cree'Ar, and the two of them go to meet him. He turns out to be the Yuuzhan Vong provocateur, Nom Anor, and he causes a cave to collapse on them, trapping them while he gets away. Further investigations by the Jedi show that the Duros have cooperated with the Peace Brigade and sold out the refugees to the Vong in exchange for the safety of nine of their ten orbital cities during the invasion, and that someone high up in the government with connections to SELCORE is a traitor. Senator Viqi Shesh is their prime suspect. Mara alerts the New Republic military using non-official channels just before the Vong attack. Jaina frees Jacen, and they escape on a stolen shuttle to meet up with their folks in Gateway dome on the planet below. Han goes with Droma and the refugees into hiding in the mining pits. Leia sets out to get a mining laser and use it on the Vong, but finds it is damaged. Leia is captured, along with Randa the Hutt. Randa tries to help her and is killed. Jacen and Jaina come running to her rescue. Jacen gets there first and find her being tortured to death by the Vong Warmaster, Tsavong Lah. Jacen again sees a vision of himself at the balance point, and decides to commit himself totally to the Force. He generates a whirlwind that knocks the Warmaster out the window and takes out the other Vong. Then he and Jaina race through the sabotaged tunnels to get to the Falcon. Han and Droma tunnel their way to a cargo hauler and get the refugees off planet. Han escapes with Leia and the twins on the Falcon. Mara in the Jade's Shadow and Luke and Anakin in X-wings join the NR in battling the Vong fleet as the bad guys destroy not only the domed settlement on the planet but also all the Duro orbital cities. Only one city manages to escape. The injured Warmaster takes Leia's captured lightsaber and broadcasts a speech to the New Republic, promising the Vong will take no more planets if the people will turn over the Jedi to him, especially Jacen Solo.

The Light Side (spoilers)

• Great cover art. I liked the "aged" Han and Leia, Jacen (I think) in Jedi garb standing at the crux of some great conflagration, the rest of the Jedi children on the back cover -- including the baby, if you look closely!
• The extras. As I said earlier, I liked the cast of characters, the summary of what's happened so far in the NJO, and especially the map. Inside the front is the old galactic map, updated a bit. Inside the back is another map highlighting the Vong's path of destruction. Cool!
• Duro. It was refreshing to spend most of the novel in one setting, instead of running all over the galaxy. I also liked having all the main characters interacting and working together.
• Randa's death. For once we see a Hutt get strangled for doing something heroic.
• Jacen's decision. It was the right one. Finally.
• Jedi in action. Mara and Anakin taking on a Vong infiltrator, Luke and Anakin sparring to distract a crowd, Jacen conjuring up a whirlwind, Anakin taking out dozens of coralskippers in an X-wing -- it's good to see them using their abilities, if only on a small scale. Anakin, especially, is maturing into a wise warrior in the best tradition of the Jedi.
• Han. He gets his share of the action, and he seems to have gotten past the worst of his grief over Chewie. He's stopped sulking and gone back to being the adrenaline junkie and scoundrel we all love.
• New Vong technology. Boy, these guys never stop innovating, do they? It makes for a great series; we never know what they're going to do next.
• True Love. Leia and Han back together and giving each other sly smiles. Mara reflecting on Luke's sensual hands. Good stuff. Now all we need is to get Jacen back with Danni, Jaina with Jagged ...
• Humor. There wasn't much of it, but it rang true. I especially liked the way the siblings and spouses needle each other; it helped make the characters seem more real.
• Suspense. Ever since Chewie's death in Vector Prime, the stakes seem higher. I keep wondering who's next, so that each time a character is in peril I feel a delicious sort of anxiety.

The Dark Side (spoilers)

Most of my criticisms are really minor.

• I sometimes got confused whether the characters were in an orbital city or in a domed settlement on the planet. For instance, at first I thought Leia's meeting with the scientists was in the orbital habitat. Same for the decontamination scene. This could be a function of my speed reading, but I think it's because Tyers has a tendency to plunge straight into the action without setting the scene until pages later.
• Again with the coincidences. The "missing apprentice" subplot was clearly a device to get Luke, Mara and Anakin to Duro. The characters don't even think about her again once the real story gets going. I suppose Tyers had to come up with some way to get them all in one place; this isn't as bad as some other novels we've seen, though.
• I thought Jaina's resentment of her mother came out of the blue. Not that it isn't justified; I just don't remember a hint of it in previous novels.
• Leia's Noghri bodyguard, Basbakhan, was seemingly killed "off camera." Now there's a battle I would have liked to see.
• From one perspective, not a lot happens in this novel. Sure, Jacen makes his big decision, and Duro falls, and the Vong put a deathmark on the Jedi, and the Solos get cozy again, and Mara's pregnant. But all these events really point to a payoff in later stories. Like The Phantom Menace, this story seems to be simply a preliminary part of a larger tale.
• Although the map has been updated to reflect new planets, etc., I wonder what happened to Gyndine on the inside front cover?

General Comments

These aren't really criticisms, just things I'd like to point out.

• Bald Leia. I can't picture it.
• I still miss Corran and Rogue Squadron and the Imperials. And where are the Chiss?
• Fun quote: "He had the Force and seven proton torpedoes."
• What did you think? Come to the Echo Station message boards and tell us your ideas.

Coming Next

There was a trilogy called Knightfall by Michael Jan Friedman planned for the New Jedi Order. The first book, Jedi Storm, was actually completed, but for some reason the series was cancelled. Now we will have to wait until April for the next book, J. Gregory Keyes' Conquest, the first of two Edge of Victory paperbacks in the NJO series. In addition, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, a hardcover prequel-era novel by Michael Reaves is due out in February, and James Luceno's Cloak of Deception, a prequel-era hardcover novel featuring Valorum, Palpatine, and apparently Qui-Gon Jinn, is due out in June.

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