Spoiler-Free Review

As you may recall, I really liked part I of the Edge of Victory duology, Conquest. because of the unobtrusive writing, the spot-on characterization, and the focus on one character. Rebirth is a worthy follow-up. I enjoyed it as much as its predecessor, though some of the reasons have changed.

Greg Keyes's writing continues to delight. To borrow a metaphor (I believe it's from Arthur C. Clarke), writing is a window through which the reader sees events. An elaborate style is like stained glass -- beautiful, but it obscures the story. Bad writing is like warped or dirty glass -- at best, an annoyance; at worst, completely opaque. Keyes's writing, in contrast, never draws attention to itself. It is a clear pane through which a grateful reader can watch events unfold without distraction.

The story follows the Jedi as they are hunted throughout the galaxy. This time, instead of focusing on one Jedi, Keyes gives us several threads: Luke and Mara must flee Coruscant just as Mara's disease puts their unborn child in mortal peril; Anakin, Tahiri, and Corran run away from a murder charge only to find themselves in even worse danger; Jaina reluctantly helps Kyp get official help in attacking a Vong shipyard; Han, Leia, and Jacen battle their way past Vong blockades to find supplies and safe passage for the Jedi;; and a desperate Adept Shaper named Nen Yim embraces heresy to save her worldship from dying. Yet despite switching frequently among the many subplots, the story flowed well. This is a quick read, and it's over too soon. Twenty pages in, I found myself thinking, "This is good." Forty pages in I thought, "I am really liking this" And it kept getting better. Soon I ran out of superlatives. The ending wraps up the threads in a satisfactory way, although each victory is almost insignificant compared to the overarching threat of the Vong. In the end, Our Heroes are at their lowest ebb, but there is one bright note of hope to sustain them in their fight.

Rebirth is one of the best NJO books to date. I can only hope Del Rey allows Keyes another foray into the Star Wars galaxy sometime soon. Overall, I'll give this one an A+. As much of a page-turner as Conquest, and a great read.

Plot Summary (heavy spoilers)

Don't read this if you haven't yet read the book. I'm going to cover the various subplots separately although they are interwoven throughout the book. I'm trying to be brief here, so there's a lot left out, but you can get the general idea from this.

• Luke & Mara find out the synthetic "tears" that are keeping Mara's disease at bay are killing her baby, so she stops taking them and the disease flares up worse than before. They have to flee Coruscant when Borsk Fey'lya issues an arrest order for Luke, so they go to the Errant Venture where Cilghal tries to help Mara and the baby without success. She appears to be dying, her only goal to hang on long enough to bring the baby to term.
• On the Errant Venture, Anakin and Tahiri join Corran on a routine supply run that turns from bad to worse as they end up fleeing the Peace Brigade and a trumped-up murder charge on Eriadu only to pop out in the middle of the Vong war fleet at Yag'Dhul. They are forced to abandon their ship and go extravehicular. They cut their way into a Vong scout ship, defeat the warriors, and enlist one of the Shamed Ones to help them trick their way onto a space station where they alert the Given to the planned Vong attack and sabotage. But one of the Given is really Nom Anor in a masker, and Anakin ends up dueling a Vong warrior. The Given vent the station to space, and while holed up in a tiny locker together sharing air, Anakin and Tahiri also share their first kiss. They manage to escape back to the Errant Venture, where Anakin feels a wave of terrible pain from Mara.
• On the Millennium Falcon, Han, Leia, and Jacen are trying to find supplies and new travel routes for refugees and Jedi when they are interdicted by a Vong ship. They repel boarders and break free, then flee to a temporary safe house at the Maw Installation (the restoration of which is being overseen by Lando). On their next run they stumble across a Peace Brigade freighter being escorted by Vong. They hijack the ship and find Vong weapons. Han decides to turn privateer, and Jacen is upset because that's too aggressive. They argue, but Jacen decides reluctantly to stay. They end up with Talon Karrde and Shada tracking rumors of a slaving operation to Tatooine. There, Han and Jacen are ambushed, first on the ground by one of Han's old pals, then in space by Warmaster Tsavong Lah himself, who wants Jacen. Han gives him a bellyful of explosives instead. As they escape, Jacen feels a wave of terrible pain from Aunt Mara.
• As he escapes from Coruscant, Luke sends Jaina to fetch Kyp Durron for a chat. But when Jaina finds him, Kyp shows her footage of what looks like an awesome sun-eating Vong superweapon being grown at Sernpidal. Kyp talks her into taking him and his recording to Wedge and Admiral Krey'fey, who swallow their misgivings about Kyp and authorize an unofficial military strike at Sernpidal. Amidst heavy losses, they succeed in destroying the giant ship. Then Jaina realizes it wasn't a weapon after all, only a new worldship -- a civilian target. Kyp is unrepentant, and Jaina leaves feeling used and betrayed. Oh yeah, during the battle, she feels a wave of terrible pain from Aunt Mara.
• Just as it looks like Mara will die, Luke finds a way to join with her through the Force to defeat the disease. Their son is born and they name him Ben because Luke thinks maybe his old mentor was there somehow helping him. It turns out the wave of pain everybody felt was just the normal pain of childbirth.
• Shaper Adept Nen Yim is trying desperately to keep her aging worldship alive using heretical methods learned from her dead master, Mezan Kwaad (whom we met in Conquest). A Master Shaper shows up to help and catches her in the act, but instead of death she gets an audience with Supreme Overlord Shimrra, who grants her access to all the Shaper knowledge and charges her with the heretical task of creating new protocols in secret as a way to win against the infidels.
• Kam and Tionne explore the Deep Core looking for a route to a safe haven for the Jedi and return with good news.

The Light Side (spoilers)

• I was very happy to see Corran in action, if only briefly. He had some great lines, too: "Anakin, I was flying when you were nothing more than a fight brewing between Han and Leia."
• I like how Tahiri's experience at being turned into a Vong is coming in handy, both as translator and as kick-butt warrior. It will be interesting to see how she resolves being a Jedi with her new, darker instincts ... and how Anakin deals with falling in love with somebody so seemingly close to the dark side at times.
• Jacen is still annoying, but at least we get to see Han tell him off a few times. "Jacen, in case you didn't notice, there's a war on. Now, I know you've gotten all mystical on me lately, and I'm trying to be understanding, but if you expect the rest of us to go along with your philosophy of the day, think again."
• Speaking of Han, he has gone a long way toward getting over Chewie and repairing his relationships with his family, especially Leia. The emotional journey of the characters in this series has been a real treat.
• I really liked Anakin and Corran squaring off about the use of the Force and anger: "Captain Horn, I've thought about the dark side for most of my life. My mother named me after the man who became Darth Vader. The Emperor touched me through her womb. Every night I had nightmares that ended with me in my grandfather's armor. With all due respect, I think I've probably thought a lot more about the dark side than anyone I know."
• The name of Luke and Mara's baby -- cool. Poor little kid's got a lot to live up to -- but at least his name isn't Anakin!
• Han's giving the Millennium Falcon the pseudonym The Princess of Blood. Priceless.
• The bad guys. They weren't all that prominent in this story, but they were used to great effect. They are not merely stock villains, but beings with very plausible motivations who have enough power and skill to keep things hopping for book after book. The internal conflicts among the various facets of Vong society make them even more interesting -- especially the total heresy of the guy at the top. Wow.
• Jaina's slapping Kyp Durron. Somebody needed to.

The Dark Side (spoilers)

• In the beginning, Warmaster Tsavong Lah is told that Vergere (the undercover Jedi Padawan turned Vong slave ... maybe) has returned and offered to help against the Jedi. She is mentioned only once more in passing. I am getting impatient trying to figure out what her game is. Why mention her at all in such a crowded story, if nothing more is going to be revealed about her?
• Kyp coming on to Jaina. He's what, twenty years her senior? Ick.
• Sloppy production. My book had pages trimmed so close they were missing the last letter of each line or the page number at the bottom. Surely Del Rey is selling enough of these that they can afford margins of greater than one millimeter?

Coming Next

For the New Jedi Order, the hardcover edition of Troy Denning's Star by Star is due out in October. You can see a list of the entire New Jedi Order in order here at the official Star Wars site.

(Toryn Farr knew everything about Star Wars back in 1977 thanks to Starlog Magazine. She's been trying to keep her know-it-all reputation ever since. During the precious few hours her kiddo is in school, Toryn attempts to run an internet design business and write fantasy fiction.)

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