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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a great setup for what I suspect will be an amazing finale! I will definitely be jumping right into the next book immediately. I have questions that need answering. One more book to go!
The series finally managed to hit another home run by focusing on a single narrative rather than a handful of stories that hardly tie together in any way. Though not as thought provoking as the last 5-star entry in the series (Traitor), The Final Prophesy still manages some excellent plot and character moments.
Tahiri is a character that has been built up since very early in the series and it's exciting to see her finally truly get the spotlight. More, the Yuzhan Vong characters that are highlighted are complex, realistic, and even relatable. I have an idea of how the series is going to finally wrap up in the last book, and I think it's a very fitting end. A lot has happened in this saga. A lot felt very unnecessary, but it's been more about the approach. Individual stories took too long and were disjointed. This book avoids those pitfalls with a straightforward and enthralling central storyline. There was a secondary storyline, but it was kept to a minimum and the characters and the means with which it was told were stellar and made it stand above many other central stories.
I'm excited to be done. Now the end of this drawn out series is only about 500 pages away...
Tahiri is a character that has been built up since very early in the series and it's exciting to see her finally truly get the spotlight. More, the Yuzhan Vong characters that are highlighted are complex, realistic, and even relatable. I have an idea of how the series is going to finally wrap up in the last book, and I think it's a very fitting end. A lot has happened in this saga. A lot felt very unnecessary, but it's been more about the approach. Individual stories took too long and were disjointed. This book avoids those pitfalls with a straightforward and enthralling central storyline. There was a secondary storyline, but it was kept to a minimum and the characters and the means with which it was told were stellar and made it stand above many other central stories.
I'm excited to be done. Now the end of this drawn out series is only about 500 pages away...
Well done, Mr. Keyes! This penultimate installment of the New Jedi Order series was fast-paced, brought back a few fan favorite characters and dogfight action, and helped set up the finale of the storyline.
Personally, I love Tahiri’s character. I have been quite depressed at her arc during NJO given all the crap that has happened to her and the people she loves. Given I’ve followed her from her pre-teen days as a friend and Jedi Academy classmate of Anakin Solo in the Junior Jedi Knights, and given I believe she’s the only character left alive from that kids’ series, I’m quite protective of her. I’m bristling to find out her fate in The Unifying Force.
And I’m definitely going to check out Keyes’ Briar King series now that I’ve had a taste of his writing with this, the third of his Star Wars novels.
Personally, I love Tahiri’s character. I have been quite depressed at her arc during NJO given all the crap that has happened to her and the people she loves. Given I’ve followed her from her pre-teen days as a friend and Jedi Academy classmate of Anakin Solo in the Junior Jedi Knights, and given I believe she’s the only character left alive from that kids’ series, I’m quite protective of her. I’m bristling to find out her fate in The Unifying Force.
And I’m definitely going to check out Keyes’ Briar King series now that I’ve had a taste of his writing with this, the third of his Star Wars novels.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just what I needed after the slog that was force heretic. Really enjoyed this one
3.5 rounded up. I still don't love the starting material, but given that we're so far in and this is the framework we have to work it - it's descent.
I thought this book would be excellent as it is by Greg Keyes, and anything can seem a masterpiece after the Force Heretic trilogy, but I was still surprised at how good this is.
Keyes continues to write phenomenally, writing exceptionally interesting dialogue and brilliant action, focusing a lot more on ground combat than fighter combat which I prefer, but with a still good story for the fighter squadrons and Jaina.
Although I don’t think it quite reaches the heights of the first Edge of Victory novel, it proves how good a writer Greg Keyes is for Star Wars and is just a brilliant novel all round.
Shimrra has been slowly built up in the last few novels, and I’m really hoping we get a fight of some sorts between him and the Jedi. I’m becoming more and more suspicious that he is aware of the Force and uses it in some kind, and that we might quite possibly get a larger reveal around the Vong’s absence in the Force.
I love the hints we are getting about Shimrra’s rise to power, that he got there through rather nefarious methods even for a Yuuzhan Vong, and he is just a really interesting character I hope we find more out about in the final book.
Nen Yim has always been an intriguing character, especially when written by Keyes, but she really shines here. It pains me to think we still don’t truly know what she found out about the Yuuzhan Vong, the ‘truth’ that she discovered, but I hope we find out soon! Her death was absolutely brutal, and continued to make Nom Anor extremely despicable (why I love him so much) and the reveal that HER memories were used to make Tahiri shaped was shocking. At least she lives on in some way through Tahiri.
Speaking of Tahiri, she always shines when written by Greg Keyes, but she was brilliant here in her new form, and I have to admit, I have grown to love Corran throughout this series even though I wasn’t sure of him at first, and now I really like that Corran has become Tahiri’s master. They are a brilliant pair and were really good here.
Nom Anor’s story was truly just fantastic here, I cannot wait for him to get what’s coming to him! The subterfuge, the constant lies, the obsession with self-preservation, the gripping, extremely tense fight scenes where he JUST manages to slip away, it all just continuously adds to the hatred the reader is meant to feel towards him and I love it. He ran away from Anakin many books ago, and he’s still running now. An absolute coward and I love it.
Overall, this book is just so fucking good. It’s great to have another stunning novel after the Force Heretic trilogy which wasn’t too bad, just overly long and boring.
Keyes’ writing style is something I have praised before and I praise it again here. It’s a shame he doesn’t write anymore Star Wars after this because I could praise his characterisation of characters like Tahiri and Corran forever and the way he structures a book perfectly to be extremely gripping and action-packed just makes his books so easy to read quickly. It is hard to stop.
I didn’t mind my favourite characters mostly being absent, as the way everyone else was written here was so good, but I did like that Luke, Mara, Jacen, and Saba arrived towards the end and helped fight a bunch of Yuuzhan Vong. Zonama Sekot continues to be an interesting planet and I am still baffled as to the true importance of it!
I loved this novel through and through and I am so excited to finally finish the series with ‘The Unifying Force’. I just pray it lives up to the extremely high expectations I am trying to keep under control!
8.5/10
Keyes continues to write phenomenally, writing exceptionally interesting dialogue and brilliant action, focusing a lot more on ground combat than fighter combat which I prefer, but with a still good story for the fighter squadrons and Jaina.
Although I don’t think it quite reaches the heights of the first Edge of Victory novel, it proves how good a writer Greg Keyes is for Star Wars and is just a brilliant novel all round.
Shimrra has been slowly built up in the last few novels, and I’m really hoping we get a fight of some sorts between him and the Jedi. I’m becoming more and more suspicious that he is aware of the Force and uses it in some kind, and that we might quite possibly get a larger reveal around the Vong’s absence in the Force.
I love the hints we are getting about Shimrra’s rise to power, that he got there through rather nefarious methods even for a Yuuzhan Vong, and he is just a really interesting character I hope we find more out about in the final book.
Nen Yim has always been an intriguing character, especially when written by Keyes, but she really shines here. It pains me to think we still don’t truly know what she found out about the Yuuzhan Vong, the ‘truth’ that she discovered, but I hope we find out soon! Her death was absolutely brutal, and continued to make Nom Anor extremely despicable (why I love him so much) and the reveal that HER memories were used to make Tahiri shaped was shocking. At least she lives on in some way through Tahiri.
Speaking of Tahiri, she always shines when written by Greg Keyes, but she was brilliant here in her new form, and I have to admit, I have grown to love Corran throughout this series even though I wasn’t sure of him at first, and now I really like that Corran has become Tahiri’s master. They are a brilliant pair and were really good here.
Nom Anor’s story was truly just fantastic here, I cannot wait for him to get what’s coming to him! The subterfuge, the constant lies, the obsession with self-preservation, the gripping, extremely tense fight scenes where he JUST manages to slip away, it all just continuously adds to the hatred the reader is meant to feel towards him and I love it. He ran away from Anakin many books ago, and he’s still running now. An absolute coward and I love it.
Overall, this book is just so fucking good. It’s great to have another stunning novel after the Force Heretic trilogy which wasn’t too bad, just overly long and boring.
Keyes’ writing style is something I have praised before and I praise it again here. It’s a shame he doesn’t write anymore Star Wars after this because I could praise his characterisation of characters like Tahiri and Corran forever and the way he structures a book perfectly to be extremely gripping and action-packed just makes his books so easy to read quickly. It is hard to stop.
I didn’t mind my favourite characters mostly being absent, as the way everyone else was written here was so good, but I did like that Luke, Mara, Jacen, and Saba arrived towards the end and helped fight a bunch of Yuuzhan Vong. Zonama Sekot continues to be an interesting planet and I am still baffled as to the true importance of it!
I loved this novel through and through and I am so excited to finally finish the series with ‘The Unifying Force’. I just pray it lives up to the extremely high expectations I am trying to keep under control!
8.5/10
fast-paced