Scan barcode
onetrooluff's review against another edition
3.0
This definitely had good and and bad parts. I liked Dathomir with the clan sisters and the Nightsisters being those who had fallen to the dark side. It was kind of weird reading this version when I'm used to the Clone Wars version of Dathomir and the Nightsisters, but I can see threads of it here in their fighting styles and their close clan ties.
The whole courtship plotline with Isolder and Han and Leia was just ridiculous. Han thinks he's going to win Leia over BY USING A COMMAND GUN ON HER? And cooking her fancy dinners? And giving her a planet? Fortunately he comes to his senses later but the whole idea that he even thinks for a second that material goods or fancy dinners are the way to Leia's heart is a load of bantha poodoo.
I didn't think the dialogue and characterizations of the main characters were all that great here. Luke is in full-on "I'm gonna tell everyone how to live their life" proselytizing mode, like he knows soooooooo much about the Force, even though we're not that far after Return of the Jedi and he hasn't been on walkabout very long. I think Teneniel and maybe Isolder got better characterization here since they weren't based off preexisting characters. Certain lines just yanked me straight out of the story..."I like the way your pants fit"? The clan sisters looked at Isolder "like he was a stripper"?Really?? And also is it normal procedure to use Star Trek terminology in the Star Wars universe? Like Dathomir being a Class M planet, or ships having nacelles..... maybe it IS normal - I haven't read a ton of EU stuff yet.
Overall I enjoyed the last half of the book more than the first half and I'm not sure this is one I can see myself rereading (like the Thrawn trilogy).
The whole courtship plotline with Isolder and Han and Leia was just ridiculous. Han thinks he's going to win Leia over BY USING A COMMAND GUN ON HER? And cooking her fancy dinners? And giving her a planet? Fortunately he comes to his senses later but the whole idea that he even thinks for a second that material goods or fancy dinners are the way to Leia's heart is a load of bantha poodoo.
I didn't think the dialogue and characterizations of the main characters were all that great here. Luke is in full-on "I'm gonna tell everyone how to live their life" proselytizing mode, like he knows soooooooo much about the Force, even though we're not that far after Return of the Jedi and he hasn't been on walkabout very long. I think Teneniel and maybe Isolder got better characterization here since they weren't based off preexisting characters. Certain lines just yanked me straight out of the story..."I like the way your pants fit"? The clan sisters looked at Isolder "like he was a stripper"?Really?? And also is it normal procedure to use Star Trek terminology in the Star Wars universe? Like Dathomir being a Class M planet, or ships having nacelles..... maybe it IS normal - I haven't read a ton of EU stuff yet.
Overall I enjoyed the last half of the book more than the first half and I'm not sure this is one I can see myself rereading (like the Thrawn trilogy).
agw622's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a fun read. There's a lot of POV flipping that's not always immediately apparent unfortunately. The charecters can get annoying at times, but you gotta love em. I do wish the handling of matriarchal societies was handled better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
fridajohannechilds's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
scenicreading's review against another edition
1.0
LAME! (also spoilers) I've been enjoying reading my way through Star Wars books, and I love Leia, so I was excited for this one. Unfortunately, Leia was such one-dimensional character in this book it made me sick. She is written so wishy-washily throughout the whole book. She doesn't love Han; she likes this other guy, she's going to go back to his planet with him, she doesn't know what she's going to do. We get very little insight into the thought processes going on in her head and it ultimately seems like there are no thoughts there. Her and Han have been together for three years at this point, wouldn't you think that she would have some strong feelings about maybe breaking it off and marrying this other guy?
Han is a jackass. Seeing that Leia might marry someone else his first thoughts "I need to become rich so she likes me again." Way to reduce the woman you love to a gold digger. Again, you've been with her for three years; you should maybe know her better than that and be less surprised when it doesn't work. Having failed at that he kidnaps her. Not just tricking her into going away somewhere private with him. He uses The Gun of Command, which disables her thought processes, eliminates her of her own free will, and forces her to follow his commands. Classy.
Hypocrisy: Han and Leia end up on a planet where women rule society and kidnap men to become husbands. This is portrayed as completely barbaric. Again, Han literally just did the same thing, and it's way less accepted in his society.
There is a host of other characters who do about faces at the end of the book and end up behaving in a completely different manner than their personalities up to that point would indicate that they should, but they certainly don't matter as much. This book was about the relationship between Han and Leia, but it totally failed to do either of them justice as characters.
Han is a jackass. Seeing that Leia might marry someone else his first thoughts "I need to become rich so she likes me again." Way to reduce the woman you love to a gold digger. Again, you've been with her for three years; you should maybe know her better than that and be less surprised when it doesn't work. Having failed at that he kidnaps her. Not just tricking her into going away somewhere private with him. He uses The Gun of Command, which disables her thought processes, eliminates her of her own free will, and forces her to follow his commands. Classy.
Hypocrisy: Han and Leia end up on a planet where women rule society and kidnap men to become husbands. This is portrayed as completely barbaric. Again, Han literally just did the same thing, and it's way less accepted in his society.
There is a host of other characters who do about faces at the end of the book and end up behaving in a completely different manner than their personalities up to that point would indicate that they should, but they certainly don't matter as much. This book was about the relationship between Han and Leia, but it totally failed to do either of them justice as characters.
mastersal's review against another edition
3.0
A reread after many years - not sure that was a good idea to be honest. Ah well... 3.5 stars overall
I remembered a number of plot points of this book and even specific scenes - which I guess is a testament to the book. However, I had forgotten the tone of the relationship here, which has not aged well. This is ostensibly a romance triangle between Han, Leia and a new male character. When I was young, I enjoyed reading about the adventure and found Han charming. On the reread I was surprised at how annoying I found the central premise. The cracks in Han and Leia relationship really came across from nowhere and needed a little bit more set up than allowed in the book. As a result, Han and Leia both come across as annoying - and Isolder is a bit of a non-entity. Shrug !
The romance is actually pretty shallow and the author rushes it to get to the action near the last third. Which was fine as a Star Wars adventure - in fact, the book picks up when it is a straight adventure where our characters are saving the galaxy from the evil empire. Luke did get a bit of an OTT power-up which made the adventure a bit convenient but I still had fun with his Jedi-sections.
I enjoyed the book overall and I am giving it an extra 1/2 star for the sheer nostalgia of the book - so 3.5 stars. I am knocking down the rating from 4 stars as this did not hold up on the reread. Not the best EU book but I liked it overall. I am also glad I got the new legends paperback. The extra half star for that too.
I remembered a number of plot points of this book and even specific scenes - which I guess is a testament to the book. However, I had forgotten the tone of the relationship here, which has not aged well. This is ostensibly a romance triangle between Han, Leia and a new male character. When I was young, I enjoyed reading about the adventure and found Han charming. On the reread I was surprised at how annoying I found the central premise. The cracks in Han and Leia relationship really came across from nowhere and needed a little bit more set up than allowed in the book. As a result, Han and Leia both come across as annoying - and Isolder is a bit of a non-entity. Shrug !
The romance is actually pretty shallow and the author rushes it to get to the action near the last third. Which was fine as a Star Wars adventure - in fact, the book picks up when it is a straight adventure where our characters are saving the galaxy from the evil empire. Luke did get a bit of an OTT power-up which made the adventure a bit convenient but I still had fun with his Jedi-sections.
I enjoyed the book overall and I am giving it an extra 1/2 star for the sheer nostalgia of the book - so 3.5 stars. I am knocking down the rating from 4 stars as this did not hold up on the reread. Not the best EU book but I liked it overall. I am also glad I got the new legends paperback. The extra half star for that too.
theliterarymess's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
wheelerdavid44's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a good Star Wars story, better than I thought it would be. The title does not do it justice.