Anakin Solo defies his uncle and goes to Yavin IV, determined to face 1000 Yuuzhan Vong alone if he must in order to save his best friend, Tahiri, from a fate worse than death. Along the way he discovers truths about the Vong and even the nature of the Force itself, giving the Jedi a glimmer of hope amid the darkness of dissension and betrayal.

Spoiler-Free Review

Wow! If you read my review last time, you know I liked Balance Point. Well, I *loved* Conquest. I literally devoured this book in less than three hours, and I was eager to read it a second time right away for this review. I haven't felt that way about a book since Cobra Trap by Peter O'Donnell.

Why do I like this book? First, because it's upbeat. The Jedi are finally starting to see a light at the end of the wormhole, as Anakin discovers some things about the Vong (yes, I left off the "Yuuzhan" deliberately; you'll know why once you read the book) that can be used against them. Second, because it focuses on one character, one storyline, giving it a depth some of the other novels cannot match. Third, because we get to find out a *lot* more about the Vong and their societal structure, and even discover a few chinks in their armor. Fourth, because Keyes manages to make all points of view seem reasonable, even Kyp Durron and, Force bless him, Jacen Solo. Anakin starts the book pretty much agreeing with Kyp, and ends up seeing things Jacen's way ... sort of. Any writer who can make Kyp, Jacen, Tahiri (from the sappy Junior Jedi Knights books) and a Yuuzhan Vong warrior seem not only reasonable but admirable deserves kudos.

For those of you who haven't read Balance Point (it's not yet out in paperback, unfortunately), I don't think you'll have any trouble following the events of this story -- especially if you read the plot summary in my Balance Point review. And you certainly don't need to have read the Junior Jedi Knights [shudder] to understand Anakin's relationship with his best friend from the Jedi Academy, Tahiri. Basically, this novel concentrates almost exclusively on Anakin's point of view as he defies Luke and rushes to Yavin IV to try to save the Jedi Academy from a Vong invasion. We see the other Jedi at the very beginning, but Luke is not involved in the action this time around. Han and Leia don't even rate a cameo appearance. Rogue Squadron was not so much as mentioned. Instead, we get Kam Solusar and Tionne, Talon Karrde and Shada D'ukal, and even a certain much-missed Rogue (but don't blink your eyes or you'll miss him). While I regretted not seeing all my favorite heroes in action, it was refreshing to spend time on a simple, linear story instead of flashing back and forth among five or six subplots. Anakin, with his complexities and his dark fears of becoming like his namesake, makes a good choice for the novel's focus. We get several interesting scenes from the Yuuzhan Vong point of view as well. Finally, despite this being the first book of a duology, the ending was quite satisfying, with no loose ends hanging (other than the larger threads of the story arc that won't get resolved for at least a year).  

Rumor has it this book was dashed off quickly to fill a gap left by the axing of the "Knightfall" trilogy. If so, I can't see that it suffers for the haste. At no point did I find myself pulled out of the story by inconsistent writing. Yes, the space battles were a bit skimpy, but not everybody is a Mike Stackpole. There might be a few too many coincidences (Qorl?), but if you turn down the dial on your nitpick-o-meter you should find this book a delightful read.

Overall, I'll give this one an A+.

Plot Summary (heavy spoilers)

Don't read this if you haven't yet read the book. At the end of Balance Point, the Vong basically put out a galaxy-wide bounty on the Jedi, especially Jacen. Months later, at the beginning of Conquest, the Jedi are close to splitting apart because of the pressure. Jedi are being hunted by the Peace Brigade and others who mistakenly think they can appease the Vong. Kyp advocates a "Jedi for Jedi" attitude, while Luke thinks that would spell disaster for the Jedi. In the midst of their arguing, Anakin realizes that the Vong are going to target the nearly defenseless students at the Jedi Academy, including his best friend Tahiri, but when Luke doesn't move fast enough for his liking, he defies orders and goes ahead by himself. He arrives to find the Peace Brigade already there, about to invade. Anakin and Master Ikrit create a diversion so Kam and Tionne can take the children into hiding, but Anakin's friend Tahiri, along with Jedi students Valin Horn and Sannah, decide to stay and help, bollixing up his plans. In an attempt to flee, Anakin commandeers a Peace Brigade ship, and Master Ikrit sacrifices himself to help them get away. Stupidly, Tahiri jumps out after him and gets captured by the Peace Brigade, who intend to turn her over to the Vong. (We find out it's an insult to call them Vong instead of Yuuzhan Vong so I plan to keep doing it.)

Talon Karrde arrives and enters into a standoff with the Peace Brigade. Meanwhile, Anakin and the kids have crash landed in the jungle. When the old TIE pilot Qorl (from the Young Jedi Knights stories) shows up, Anakin puts him in charge of repairing the ship and takes off by himself to rescue Tahiri. Meanwhile, Talon Karrde brings some vornskrs to the surface and sniffs out the Jedi. He manages to get all the kids and Tionne aboard a ship and safely away from the moon, but Kam Solusar stays in system with Karrde to help him find the four missing Jedi. On Coruscant, Luke goes to Borsk Fey'lya asking for assistance, but is not surprised when he is turned down. He sends Jaina and Jacen to find Booster Terrik and the Errant Venture, hoping the smuggler will be in time to help.

The Vong arrive on Yavin IV and begin setting up shop. As Anakin gets nearer to their base where the main temple used to be, he encounters more and more patrols. Eventually one of them catches him after he fries his lightsaber killing a dovin basal. As the Vong are about to capture him, another Vong shows up, this one covered with sores and half-healed implants, and kills Anakin's captors. Anakin forms an uneasy alliance with his rescuer, named Vua Rapuung, who apparently is willing to go to any lengths -- even ally himself with an infidel -- in order to exact revenge on the female who rejected and ruined him: Mezhan Kwaad, a Master Shaper who is performing heretical mind-control experiments on Tahiri.

Anakin and Vua sneak into the Vong compound. Anakin is disguised as a slave, and ends up working the fields for days waiting for Vua to come for him. He lives among the other slaves and the Shamed Ones, Vong who are unable to take the scarring and implants that would give them status. While with them Anakin discovers a plant that creates gem-like life forms. He harvests one, and uses it to fix his lightsaber. During this time, Mezhan Kwaad and her apprentice are making progress in altering Tahiri and convincing her that she is not a Jedi but a Yuuzhan Vong who had been abducted as a child.

Vua and Anakin charge into the Shaper facility, plowing through guards looking for Tahiri. But Mezhan gets away and takes her to a transport. Anakin and Vua confront her there, forcing a confession from her -- Vua was not cursed by the gods; his infirmities were instead caused by Mezhan herself. Anakin manages to make a mental connection to Tahiri, shattering the Vong mind control, and together they defeat Mezhan and take her ship to escape only to crash land moments later. They use the Force to fend off Vong ships until Qorl shows up in their repaired Peace Brigade freighter to pick them up. Talon Karrde expends most of his forces helping them to escape, and it looks like all is lost when Booster Terrik arrives with Jaina, Jacen, and Corran to save the day.

The Light Side (spoilers)

• I thought Anakin's gradual awakening to a new understanding of himself and the Force as he spent time with Vua Rapuung was handled extremely well. The point where he realized, after he had burned the forest, that perhaps his methods were not so pure after all was a great moment.
• Anakin's epiphany in chapter twenty-seven, when he is repairing his lightsaber and he finally sees how to integrate the Yuuzhan Vong's biotech with the Force, gave me chills. He has become, much like his lightsaber, a hybrid Jedi. Now if only he can teach the other Jedi to see things the way he does.
• Hope for the future comes not only from Anakin's evolution, but from a heretical split among the Vong factions themselves. It seems not everybody is thrilled with fulfilling the gods' dictates as interpreted by Tsavong Lah and his ilk. I am glad we are getting to see more individual Yuuzhan Vong. They are more credible now that we know they do not all think alike.
• Anakin and Tahiri in the elevator shaft, doing a deadly dance with gravity and grenades. That was cool.
• Fun quotes:
  • Mara to Luke: "It's too bad I didn't take care of Kyp years ago."
  • Anakin: "Four proton torpedoes. These guys really don't like us, Fiver."
    "THE TRANSPORT SEEMS HOSTILE," Fiver acknowledged.
  • Anakin to Tahiri as he tries to get a Vong ship off the ground: "Okay, maybe I can't fly anything."
  • Vua Rapuung: "You saved my life. How disgusting. How unfortunate."
    Anakin: "No, don't gush on so. It was nothing, really."
  • Karrde: "Shada, when will you learn to trust my instincts? When have I ever gotten you killed?" 
  • Karrde: "The Yuuzhan Vong have been using us for target practice and to thin the stupid from their gene pool."
  • Eighty seconds later, stepping over the corpses, Anakin glanced sideways at Rapuung. "What was it you needed me for? he asked.

The Dark Side (spoilers)

• Talon Karrde as hero? Since when? In all the previous stories, Karrde made it clear that he was strictly independent. Now suddenly he's willing to lose most of his fleet and grin about it in the end? That stretches my credulity.
• The timeframe for this story seemed really long. For instance, Anakin posed as a slave for a week or more waiting for Vua to reappear. That was plenty of time for the whole galaxy to know what the Vong were doing. I find it hard to believe Luke and the Jedi could not scare up a few ships to help rescue the Jedi children. I mean, Booster Terrik with his legendary sources of information, and he didn't know his own grandson was in peril? What about the other parents? Surely *somebody* should have stepped forward to help in all that time.
• The book was definitely too short. What, is there a paper shortage? Give the authors some room, Del Rey!

General Comments

• So now we have been presented with the idea that there is a "higher truth" than the Force. And Anakin, somehow, is able to tap into this greater power to send the Yuuzhan Vong, not through the Force, but through ... something else? Interesting. What could it be?
• There's a scene at the very beginning where a Force-sensitive pilot named Uldir finds out he is on a bounty list from the Vong. He decides he has to warn Luke Skywalker. We never see or hear from this character again. I wonder if he will be in the next book?
• What did you think? Come to the Echo Station message boards and tell us your ideas.

Coming Next

Rogue Planet by Greg Bear will finally make its appearance in paperback in May. James Luceno's Cloak of Deception, a prequel-era hardcover novel featuring Valorum, Palpatine, and apparently Qui-Gon Jinn, is due out in June, as is the Jedi Apprentice Special Edition #1, Deceptions, by Jude Watson.

For the New Jedi Order, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth by Greg Keyes is coming in July, followed by the hardcover edition of Troy Denning's Star by Star in October. You can see a list of the entire New Jedi Order in order here at the official Star Wars site.

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