I still remember my reaction the first time I saw "The Empire Strikes Back" in the cinema; I was stunned. The power of Irvin Kershner and George Lucas' incredible film was not due just to the great visuals and the powerful images Kersh conjured up (how good the directing on this film really was only sank in after the rather disappointing "Return Of The Jedi"), but to its story. The tables had indeed been turned. The Empire had indeed struck back--big-time. There was nothing left of the happy mood of Yavin's victory celebration. Throughout the movie, our heroes in the Rebellion were dealt one devastating blow after the other, both of a military and of a personal nature. And as the curtain closed, it dawned on me that Lucas hadn't titled Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back" just to grab attention. It really was a descriptive title. And so is "Ruin."

It's hard to review Ruin on its own because both parts of "Dark Tide" belong closely together. So please forgive me if I refer you back to Onslaught every now and then. I will attempt to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Some minor spoilers are unavoidable, but they are really mild ones.

A spoiler-free synopsis of this book reads like this: the Vong continue their drive into the New Republic, our heroes continue dealing with the threat while the government continues to sit on their thumbs, and Kyp continues his drive to slowly rip Luke's newly built Jedi Order apart. Boy, are our heroes ever in trouble!

(A big spoiler for "Vector Prime" follows.) If Vector Prime wasn't enough to make people realize that the happy-go-lucky times of the Bantam canon are indeed over, the "Dark Tide" leaves no doubt about it. Life in the galaxy far, far away has become dangerous again. Make no mistake: Chewbacca's death in VP wasn't just an attention-getter. It was the shape of things to come. Death has returned to Star Wars, and for the first time since "The Empire Strikes Back," our heroes truly taste the bitter ashes of defeat again. If I'm not mistaken, they're going to taste a lot more of it in the 19 or so novels yet to come on the NJO series. And if you ask me, this is a darn good thing. It restores suspense and tension to a franchise that had become rather boring under Bantam's rule, where you could always depend on everyone making it through their adventures not only alive, but also unharmed and unchanged. In contrast, the trials some of the heroes of the "Dark Tide" are undergoing will leave scars. Even those characters who come out of it more or less unscathed will come away with experiences that will force changes on them.

So what really happens in this book? Well, I can't tell you without at least some spoilers, but once again these are minor ones that I think won't distract from enjoying the book. The Vong are still gaining ground in their invasion corridor. The New Republic military and the Jedi try to deal with the threat while being hampered by a blasé Senate that still doesn't believe in the danger. In fact, the Senate, which nowadays seems to be comprised exclusively of nonhumans, shows more and more of an anti-human bias that is threatening to become the exact mirror image of the Empire's anti-alien bias. Stackpole even uses this to make a stab at "political correctness" issues when alien politicians who have been ignored by a military leader claim they were snubbed because of their species, not because they are mere politicians. Leia tries to negotiate an alliance with the Imperial Remnant to repel the Vong with a unified force (by the way, this means we get to see Admiral Pellaeon again). Luke sends his Jedi on diverse missions, but has to draw quite a number of them together to defend a planet in the Vong's assault line that has suddenly become vital to the war effort. Without giving away too much, a major weakness of the Yuuzhan Vong has been discovered, and the Republic needs said world in order to exploit it. At the same time, Senator Elegos A'Kla, a survivor of the Empire's destructive ways, journeys into Vong territory on a mission to talk peace and learn about their motivations (Surak, anyone?). This book shows us some of the conflict from the Vong point of view, and we get glimpses of their culture, their beliefs -- the works. Oh, and some old friends from the Thrawn era are back too.

Fine. Now that you know the basic plot, let's get to the writing. To sum up my impressions in one sentence, Mike Stackpole has managed to dethrone both Timothy Zahn and Aaron Allston with this book. While Zahn has always been considered the best of the SW authors so far, and Allston gained a huge following with his Star Wars-cum-comedy cult novel Starfighters of Adumar, Stackpole steals the scepter with a story of harsh struggles and bitter defeat. Sure, there is humor in this book, and our heroes do score victories -- but overall, it is a bleak scenario, and the power of the Vong is driven home to the reader in a way that makes it physically painful to realize we'll have to wait years until the Vong situation is fully resolved. As you can expect from Stackpole, whose best-known novels are military SF (both the X-Wing series and his BattleTech novels), the fighting is superb. It's all there -- starfighter dogfights, capital ship battles with nasty tactical twists, firefights, and Jedi swordplay. Throughout the book, His descriptions are so spot-on that you not only visualize the action, you actually feel the excitement, the adrenaline coursing through your veins, and you wince in sympathy as one of our heroes is hurt. Sadly, what this book lacks is one of those minutely exacting descriptions that are among the quintessential pleasures of Mike's writing style (for example, in his novel Assumption Of Risk, he managed to write a two-page description of a bullet's flight from the moment the trigger is pulled until it shatters the brain of the target). But he makes up for this with his other talents: unpredictable plot twists, intensely visual combat descriptions, and on-spot characterization.

Yes, characterization shines throughout the book. The Solo kids, who were nothing more than an annoyance in the Bantam novels, are really taking off as serious characters now, and their inner conflicts begin to evolve quite nicely. Anakin is still torn by his grief and guilt over Chewie's death, and in one scene we see him taking out his anguish on his father in a very cold fashion. Jacen is still unsure whether he wants to become a Jedi in the sense Luke wants him to or spend the rest of his life contemplating his navel and philosophizing about how to best use the Force. And Jaina is fitting in quite well in her new role as a fighter pilot for the New Republic, which makes me believe she might be completely leaving the Jedi Order soon. Han has a short cameo appearance, but it's clear he's being held back for the next duology of books, slotted to deal with him. I was a bit disappointed by Luke, who had gone from his former, whining Bantam self into full Jedi Master mode in Onslaught. He still is in JM mode, but occasionally his old habits break through again. He is a bit too pacifistic for my tastes at times, holds the Order back too much, and he especially holds himself back way too much in dealing with Kyp Durron and his cronies. I still think the main story arc driving the NJO will be a schism in the Jedi Order that is brought about by Kyp. Luke gives the impression he still is unable to face the mistake he made by welcoming "Sithin' Durron" back into the fold after Carrida instead of sending him to the New Republic's courts for punishment. Leia is back in full diplomat mode, though she acts without official sanctioning most of the time. And Admiral Kre'fey is back too; the first Bothan since Asyr left whom you don't want to shoot on sight. Talking about Bothans, of course Dork Failure--uh, I mean, Borsk Fey'lya--is back. Stackpole manages to make him a bit less loathsome for a time, though at the end he's still the Bothan we love to hate.

Of course, Mike Stackpole uses his own characters again extensively. A lot of the focus in this book is on Corran Horn. I know there are people who despise Corran because of the self-righteous attitude from his CorSec days. I always liked him, and in this book he clearly shows that he has matured since his time as a fighter jock. Corran takes it upon himself to stop a major Vong operation and save thousands of civilian lives -- but can he succeed? And at what cost? Another Stackpole character who resurfaced in Onslaught is Elegos A'Kla, the Camaasi. He takes another pivotal role in Ruin as he sets out on a solitary mission to study the Vong from inside and find out what really drives them. His time with the Vong leader, Shedao Shai, provides us with a lot of insight into the Vong culture. But will he live long enough to report his findings to the Republic?

Looking back at the novels which fall between KJA's "Jedi Academy" trilogy and Tim Zahn's "Hand Of Thrawn" books, you could easily get the impression that those authors' plot outlines mainly consisted of drawing straws to determine which one of the Solo kids was to be kidnapped this time. Added to this were Kevin Anderson's obsession with superweapons and a galaxy apparently overflowing with Rogue or Dark Jedi. Well, Mike Stackpole comes through again, and in Ruin presents what I have dubbed the "Bantam Superplot." The novel contains a subplot that nicely combines superweapons, Jedi gone Rogue, and a Solo progeny kidnapping to boot. Perhaps it's just me, but while reading this part of the book I couldn't shake the thought that Mike was consciously thumbing his nose at the Bantam canon.

But don't fear, because despite the grim overtones you can still read this book without going through a whole box of Kleenex. As I said, it's not all death and defeats. The trademark Star Wars humor is back, and more than one Vong gets a lightsaber shoved up the wazoo. The relationship between Luke and Mara finally looks like a real relationship too, with an attitude of caring and tenderness that had been missing from it before. And it looks like Jaina Solo is finding a love interest -- but we'll have to see what the authors of later novels make of it.

My one real criticism with this book is that part of it evokes an eerie sense of déja vu. It all reminds me too much of Michael's legendary "Blood of Kerensky" trilogy, which is set in the BattleTech universe. If you've never read "Blood of Kerensky," I suppose the following paragraph won't interest you at all, so feel free to skip to Toryn's review here :-)

(Mild spoilers for "Ruin" follow.) The whole setup of the NJO seems to have a lot in common with the setup of "Kerensky." There is a certain amount of known space (that famous galaxy far, far away and the Inner Sphere, respectively) that have been busy with internal warfare for as long as the respective franchise exists. Suddenly a threat from outside of known space (Yuuzhan Vong / Clans) appears, which at first seems quite unstoppable as it is technologically superior (I know the Vong don't really deal in "technology," but the way the coralskippers first appeared in a simulation run in Onslaught makes them comparable to the first appearances of Clan OmniMechs) and absolutely ruthless in its pursuits (Sernpidal and Ithor are examples for the Vong, Turtle Bay the prime example for the Clans). Said threat from outside is in both cases a civilization that focuses a lot on war and is governed by laws and mores so alien to ours (and thus those of known space) as to make them seem archaic, barbaric, and quite inscrutable (the Vong's philosophy of Pain and the Clans' eugenics program spring to mind). During this time of strife, power in known space is passed on to a new generation (in BattleTech, Victor Steiner-Davion comes into power, followed closely by Theodore Kurita, while in Star Wars, the focus is gradually, but noticeably shifting away from the aging heroes of the movies to the new generation of Jedi). The threat can only be countered by an alliance of former mortal enemies (New Republic / Empire and Successor States, respectively). Now I realize that these are all part of the basic concepts of the NJO series that Mike had input on but didn't make up on his own. Also, things like The Mysterious Threat From Outside are standard concepts in a lot of SF. Still, some similarities in the "Dark Tide" books were too much for me. I am thinking mainly of how Elegos goes to the Vong as an emissary, and it is his time there that provides us with our main inside view of the Vong. While Elegos went there out of his own volition, I couldn't shake the impression that the style of presentation was a whole lot like the time Phelan Kell spent as a Wolf bondsman. Admiral Kre'Fey bears a certain resemblance to Comstar's Precentor Martial in defying his superiors. Also, when Corran, who had always been a self-assured character who just knew that whatever he did was right, fell into self-doubt and remorse, he started reminding me of Kai Allard-Liao after Alyina (just as Corran goes into exile, so does Kai hide on Solaris VII). And Ganner's scar reminds me too much of Vlad and Phelan's time on Gunzburg. But the one thing that really made cringe was Admiral Kre'Fey's threat to take the New Republic military into the Unknown Regions, there to train them until the time had come to retake the fallen Republic from the Yuuzhan Vong. Now, is this a carbon copy of Alexander Kerensky's exodus with the SLDF or what?

Don't get me wrong. All this does not change the fact that "Dark Tide" is an excellent duology and Ruin is an excellent book. But if you've read the "Kerensky" trilogy, you might feel a little pang of disappointment every now and then that says "Dang, I read all this before, didn't I?" I felt it, but I still enjoyed the "Dark Tide" immensely. And now that Mike has severed his ties with FASA, we can only hope and pray he is called upon by Del Rey to write more novels in the NJO series.

Toryn's Take:
Adieu, Mike ... or is it Au Revoir?

Ruin is the second book of the Dark Tide duology. (You can see my review of part I here.) I didn't find this one as much of a page-turner as I did the first part, Onslaught. In fact, I put this one down about halfway through and didn't pick it up again for two days. Part of that comes from my expectation, due to some quotes I had seen from Mike about this book, that it would end tragically with everything going to Hoth in a handbasket. Well, I am glad to say that isn't the case. In fact, the good guys make a bit of headway. Although you couldn't exactly call it a happy ending, at least it was satisfying, in a grim sort of way. Another part of my lack of enthusiasm has to do with the writing itself -- some bad word choices, awkward sentences, a surprising lack of detail, and plot points that go nowhere. Knowing the usual high quality of Mike's work, I am assuming the editors are to blame. More about that in the Dark Side. Lastly, I must make a brief comment on the cover. What is it, and what does it have to do with this story? One can only assume from the story that this is supposed to be Sernpidal ... but why the clearly non-organic structure around it? Overall, I give this novel a B+. Worth buying, but don't pay full price.

I'll summarize the plot, then give you a few opinions on what worked for me in The Light Side and what didn't in The Dark Side. If you haven't read the book yet and you don't want it spoiled, stop here.

The plot is pretty complex, with lots of separate stories coming together, but I'll give it my best shot. Taking up where we left at the end of Dark Tide I: Onslaught, The Yuuzhan Vong now control a wedge of New Republic space, Kyp Durron is trying to force Luke's hand in declaring war on the Vong, but Luke decides the Jedi are going to play nursemaid to refugees instead. Borsk Fey'lya wants the military to excrete a miracle and rejects any help by the Jedi. Leia goes to Admiral Pellaeon and appeals to the Imperial Remnant for help against the Vong. Corran Horn is back on active duty in the military and is called upon to lead an infiltration team to the planet Garqi where the Vong are enslaving the local populace and using parasitical organisms to turn them into zombie-like footsoldiers. Jacen and Ganner, along with a half-dozen Noghri, accompany him. While there, they discover that the organic armor of the Vong warriors is highly allergic to pollen released by a grove of Ithorian bafforr trees. Elegos A'kla, a peace-loving Camaasi, volunteers to go to the Vong as an ambassador to try to foster understanding and a truce. The Vong leader Shedao Shai accepts Elegos and starts teaching him about the Vong use of pain as a spiritual cleanser, then introduces him to a device/critter called the "Embrace of Pain." Wedge starts wondering what the bad guys' true purpose was in destroying Sernpidal, and sends some X-Wings to check it out. They find out that the Vong are using the broken planet to grow more starships and other organic technology. Shedao Shai, whose lieutenant is working to discredit him and take his job, orders a feint on Agamar and an attack on Ithor. Corran goes to Ithor with some clippings from the bafforr trees, hoping the Ithorians can replicate the pollen that will knock out the Vong. Realizing Ithor will most likely be the next target, the Jedi and military start evacuating the colony ships over Ithor and setting up traps for the Vong. Admiral Pellaeon brings Imperial Remnant forces to help, including an Interdictor cruiser, and is given command of the joint forces, which is fine with the New Republic's Admiral Kre'fey. Of course the New Republic politicians are up in arms, but they can't force the military to follow their orders since they ceded control a while back. The Vong arrive. Shedao Shai, who wants to kill Corran Horn personally, leads his people into the Jedi trap. Meanwhile the capital ships are pounding each other, but Kre'fey figures out a way to overcome the Vong dovin basal defense and starts making headway.  In order to buy time (and maybe get a little un-Jedi-like revenge), Corran challenges Shedao Shai to a duel -- if Shai wins, he gets the bones of his kinsman back; if Corran wins, Shedao will leave Ithor alone. Shai agrees to wait seven days until the duel. Luke reluctantly allows Corran to go through with the duel, even agreeing to be his second, but he is worried Corran is flirting with the Dark Side. Corran wins, barely, but to do so he taps into a strange aspect of the Force, neither Light nor Dark, apparently(?). The Vong run away, but not before the treacherous Vong lieutenant, Deign, orders a fast-acting bacterium sprayed into Ithor's atmosphere, killing everything and turning the forests into black goo. After all the political spin from this disaster plays out, Corran ends up being known as the "man who destroyed Ithor," and asks Luke to repudiate him to save the Jedi's reputation. Luke reluctantly agrees.

So, at the end of the day we have Ithor destroyed, the Jedi in disgrace, Corran banished to Corellia as a pariah, the ruthless Deign in charge of the Vong, and a scared Imperial Remnant calling their forces home in a panic. But at least we now have a new strategy to deal with the Vong dovin basals and a pollen that can disable their living armor. Now that the Vong have to use "dead" armor, will they see they are no better than the New Republic who use "dead" machines? It's up to the new writers in the NJO series to carry on the story.

• I like having the "Dramatis Personae" outlined at the beginning of the book just as in Mike's X-Wing novels. This was a welcome addition in Onslaught. Only three females in there, though. I'd like to see the Vong females in action, and maybe another female Jedi or two.
• I complained last time about not getting into the Yuuzhan Vong's heads very much. Stackpole remedied that by starting the first chapter in the point of view of a Vong commander, Commander Shedao Domain Shai, and showing us his relationship with his traitorous underling, Deign Lian. The scenes with him were riveting. I found him much more complex and intelligent than the doomed Nom Anor and the other Vong we saw in previous books. His thoughts on the "soothing sting of pain" and his musings about humans as "ciphers" were fascinating. Stackpole does a great job of making the Vong's thought processes seem alien.
• I liked the Vong nicknames for some of the Jedi: Corran is "Silverblade" and Ganner is "Yellowblade."
• The Solo kids. Stackpole has managed to make them all interesting. Anakin, especially, is really coming into his own. The scene where they meet up with their father was truly chilling as a haggard Han tries to get them to drink with him so he won't have to drink alone -- talk about role reversals!
• The sequence where Corran and company are inserted onto Garqi is just amazing. Their plan is unusual and daring, and the scene was written with Stackpole's usual wealth of description that made me feel I was there, burning through the atmosphere with them.
• The whole idea of finding and using a biological counterattack to defeat the Vong is brilliant. I get the feeling the "moral" lines between the New Republic and the Vong are going to end up blurred as the former start using biological weapons and the latter keep using their "dead" armor -- not to mention slaughtering whole planets full of living creatures!
• Baron Fel's son, Jagged Fel, shows up with his father's legendary ego, attitude, and flying ability and takes Borsk Fey'lya down a notch in public. I can see why Jaina's falling for him!
• Speaking of romance, we finally get a few tender moments between Luke and Mara. It's way past time. Thanks, Mike!
• I got chills during the scene where Ganner is explaining to Jacen why he is keeping the scar. Ganner's evolution from arrogant jerk to mature, thoughtful Jedi has been wonderful to witness, as is Jacen's growing understanding of the burden of leadership his uncle bears.
• Proof that Luke really is a Jedi Master: Mara asks him at one point, "Picking up strays?" I grinned as I recalled Obi-Wan chiding Qui-Gon about the same thing in Episode I.

• I was disappointed that Luke didn't get to kick some more booty in this book, especially after his dual-saber-swirling action in Onslaught. The other Jedi got to have all the fun; all Luke got to do was chase after a wayward Knight who was looking to revive a superweapon (a subplot which died a stillbirth) and serving as "second" for somebody else's duel.
• Speaking of the superweapon subplot, now that I've seen Darth Bald's review I can't agree that the "Bantam Superplot" was anything other than a waste of word count. In the end it had zero impact on the outcome of the novel, and it had zero impact on the characters -- even the rogue Jedi who instigated the whole situation ended up being "redeemed by talking," something that seems to be Luke's main Jedi ability. However, I did like the idea of Qwi Xux working out her "penance" by helping to rebuild the Vortex Cathedral of Winds.
• This isn't so much a criticism as a comment: I am really tired of Kyp Durron. Enemies like Zsinj and Thrawn have at least some logical reason for their actions. With his impatient, aggressive attitude, Kyp should not even be allowed to call himself a Jedi or wield a lightsaber. And by doing nothing about it, Luke looks like a chump.
• Just a thought, but in Vector Prime didn't the Vong have critters that could follow a starfighter into hyperspace and eat through the hull? Or was it my imagination? Because they sure didn't take advantage of that "technology" here.
• This book was sloppily edited. I can't recall the last time I saw so many awkward sentences, typos, or bad diction in a published novel. Why use "egress" when you mean "exit" ( especially when one time you really mean "entrance")?   Why mention the "butt" of a lightsaber when there are other words that don't jar the reader out of the story? Why don't the editors know that you "stanch" blood flow, but you have a "staunch" ally? Several times a new chapter was started by telling us about an event that happened "off camera." For instance, Stackpole missed the opportunity to show us Jaina's grief at Jacen's "death." It would have taken the same amount of words to just show us the scene, and it would have added tremendously to our understanding of the character and her relationship to her twin brother. Stackpole's writing is usually way better than this. Which makes me wonder ...
• Was Stackpole's manuscript cut? I haven't heard anything official to make me think this, but the internal evidence suggests it may have been. This book lacks the flow and pacing of Stackpole's other efforts, and he is a darn good author with a real flair for that sort of thing. The characters aren't fleshed out nearly as well as in his other books (we don't even know the names of most of the Rogue Squadron pilots, for instance). Certain plot sequences seem rushed or missing altogether -- for instance, the Vong commander orders a feint at Agamar, then it's never mentioned again. Was this part written and then excised, leaving behind that one telltale statement like a single footprint after the tide recedes? And then there's this: the last page of the story is literally the last page of the book; they even printed Mike's (outdated) bio on the inside back cover, making me wonder if they forgot to order enough paper for the print job.  Mike admits he always comes in over the word limit (Here's a quote from his essay about BattleTech: 'I've never brought a book in at the word limit. I, Jedi was supposed to be 125,000 words, but I turned in a 166,000-word manuscript. When my editor told my agent he'd find stuff to cut, I shot him an email saying, "Use a smaller typeface."' ... 'Why do these books run long? Because the story demands it. There are characters and themes that need to be explored. A good book takes on a life of its own, it has energy that has to flow, and you have to let it do that. I'm lucky enough that I don't put in extraneous material. Why? Because I tie it all back in, making it very tight. I make the stuff relevant, so it's not there to be cut. That's my job, and I do it proudly. I even think I'm good at it.' ... 'Given a choice between doing no books and bad books, I'll do no books.') Could this be another reason Mike has decided not to write more Star Wars novels? If so, bravo to him, and a barrel full of nerf poodoo to the editors. On second thought, a barrel full of nerf poodoo to the editors anyway.

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