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caestus's review
3.0
The Crystal Star has a reputation for being one of the worst of the Star Wars novels, but I actually didn’t quite agree when I read it. Vonda McIntyre, a longtime Star Trek author, is quite creative and comes up with some neat setting elements like the worldship and the ghostlings, and I felt Waru was actually quite interesting. McIntyre writes Han and C-3P0 well, as well as an unusually adventurous Leia. But what I felt was best was actually Jaina. Jaina’s maybe a little more mature than she should be but still written as a child rather than a tiny adult like some writers write kids, she still has adventures and you can already see her love of gadgets. It also establishes Jaina and Jacen’s friend Lusa, who would return in Young Jedi Knights
On the other hand, I do recognize why it wasn’t well regarded. While McIntyre’s Han and Leia are pretty good, her Luke is just all wrong, He’s rude and ineffective and panicky; it’s supposed to be justified in that he’s losing his connection to the force but he was fully cut off from the Force in Heir to the Empire and he was still an experienced resistance fighter. Without getting in to too many spoilers, while evil enough the villains never feel like a serious threat. They make a good foe for Jaina, but Jaina is five. The villains never seem like a match for Leia or Han; Luke is in danger during the finale but only because he’s totally out of character. Furthermore, McIntyre’s version of the Star Wars galaxy feels notably different than most; I didn’t mind but I could see where some fans would. The book also doesn’t add much to the existing Star Wars universe.
In the end, while I recognized its flaws, I did enjoy the Crystal Star. Still, I’d only recommend it for fans of the Expanded Universe; if you are jumping into the EU, start with Heir to the Empire or Rogue Squadron.
On the other hand, I do recognize why it wasn’t well regarded. While McIntyre’s Han and Leia are pretty good, her Luke is just all wrong, He’s rude and ineffective and panicky; it’s supposed to be justified in that he’s losing his connection to the force but he was fully cut off from the Force in Heir to the Empire and he was still an experienced resistance fighter. Without getting in to too many spoilers, while evil enough the villains never feel like a serious threat. They make a good foe for Jaina, but Jaina is five. The villains never seem like a match for Leia or Han; Luke is in danger during the finale but only because he’s totally out of character. Furthermore, McIntyre’s version of the Star Wars galaxy feels notably different than most; I didn’t mind but I could see where some fans would. The book also doesn’t add much to the existing Star Wars universe.
In the end, while I recognized its flaws, I did enjoy the Crystal Star. Still, I’d only recommend it for fans of the Expanded Universe; if you are jumping into the EU, start with Heir to the Empire or Rogue Squadron.
david_agranoff's review
1.0
I have enjoyed this author's Star Trek novels, So I had high hopes that all the low opinions I heard on this novel were wrong. Nope it's terrible. The plot makes little sense, some scenes take 20 pages that could have been done in five. Snoozer. Awful.
colinmcev's review
3.0
I wonder what I would have thought of this book had my expectations going in been different. At it was, my expectations were quite low, because I had always heard The Crystal Star was one of the absolute worst Star Wars books ever written, and many of its reviews here on Goodreads seemed to reflect that. Further, since I've been reading the old Star Wars Legends books in chronological order, I had recently read several that I strongly disliked, which left me a bit cynical approaching this one. As it turns out, to my surprise... I thought it was fine. Certainly not one of the better books from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and certainly not without its share of flaws, but I don't think it deserve the horrible reputation that it seems to have.
It seems a lot of the hatred surrounding this book stems from its mysterious antagonist, the trans-dimensional and near-omniscient Waru, which is essentially a blob-shaped mass of membrane and guts covered with golden plates. So yeah, I can understand why that might be a little off-putting to some readers. Waru wouldn't make the short list of my favorite Star Wars villains, that's for sure, but as we learn more about him (it?), where it came from, and what its motivations are, I have to say that I didn't mind him, and in fact I respect author Vonda N. McIntyre for trying something so unlike traditional Star Wars universe conventions. I feel that fans sometimes get a bit apprehensive when writers try to bring non SW-like sci-fi elements into this fictional universe they are already so familiar with, and I can understand that, but I'm personally game for when authors try new things and bring different kind of of toys into this sandbox.
As I said, however, the book has its flaws. Some of McIntyre's writing felt a bit weak at moments, and one thing I particularly disliked was her handling of Luke Skywalker. Yes, I understand that he was under the influence of certain supernatural forces around him, which was making him behave more oddly and aggressively than usual. But even before all that started, Luke seemed weak, whiny, and slow on the uptake. It felt more like he was still that naive farmboy from the first film, crying about buying power converters, rather than the wiser and stronger Jedi Master he's evolved into by now.
But despite these issues, I found plenty to enjoy about The Crystal Star as well. It was interesting to see such a significant portion of the book told from the perspective of Jaina Solo, with the narrative written as if from the perspective of a five-year-old but still advancing the plot efficiently. There are a few effective scenes, such as one particularly tragic moment (which I won't spoil) that makes Han Solo realize the gravity of the enemy he is facing. And I enjoyed the settings that were introduced in this book, from Crseih Station (a former asteroid prison/research center-turned-trading spot for galactic outlaws) to Munto Codru (a backwater world with cool four-armed aliens that regularly perform, as part of their culture, "coup abductions" of children by political rivals). One of my favorite things about these novels is the way they continuously build upon this amazing Star Wars universe, and McIntyre offers plenty here that does just that.
So yes, there are certainly better Star Wars books out there, but I personally didn't find The Crystal Star to be nearly as bad as its reputation proclaims it to be, and I enjoyed it more than a few others from this story era that I had read recently (like I, Jedi and Planet of Twilight), so I think it's still worth a read for Star Wars fans.
It seems a lot of the hatred surrounding this book stems from its mysterious antagonist, the trans-dimensional and near-omniscient Waru, which is essentially a blob-shaped mass of membrane and guts covered with golden plates. So yeah, I can understand why that might be a little off-putting to some readers. Waru wouldn't make the short list of my favorite Star Wars villains, that's for sure, but as we learn more about him (it?), where it came from, and what its motivations are, I have to say that I didn't mind him, and in fact I respect author Vonda N. McIntyre for trying something so unlike traditional Star Wars universe conventions. I feel that fans sometimes get a bit apprehensive when writers try to bring non SW-like sci-fi elements into this fictional universe they are already so familiar with, and I can understand that, but I'm personally game for when authors try new things and bring different kind of of toys into this sandbox.
As I said, however, the book has its flaws. Some of McIntyre's writing felt a bit weak at moments, and one thing I particularly disliked was her handling of Luke Skywalker. Yes, I understand that he was under the influence of certain supernatural forces around him, which was making him behave more oddly and aggressively than usual. But even before all that started, Luke seemed weak, whiny, and slow on the uptake. It felt more like he was still that naive farmboy from the first film, crying about buying power converters, rather than the wiser and stronger Jedi Master he's evolved into by now.
But despite these issues, I found plenty to enjoy about The Crystal Star as well. It was interesting to see such a significant portion of the book told from the perspective of Jaina Solo, with the narrative written as if from the perspective of a five-year-old but still advancing the plot efficiently. There are a few effective scenes, such as one particularly tragic moment (which I won't spoil) that makes Han Solo realize the gravity of the enemy he is facing. And I enjoyed the settings that were introduced in this book, from Crseih Station (a former asteroid prison/research center-turned-trading spot for galactic outlaws) to Munto Codru (a backwater world with cool four-armed aliens that regularly perform, as part of their culture, "coup abductions" of children by political rivals). One of my favorite things about these novels is the way they continuously build upon this amazing Star Wars universe, and McIntyre offers plenty here that does just that.
So yes, there are certainly better Star Wars books out there, but I personally didn't find The Crystal Star to be nearly as bad as its reputation proclaims it to be, and I enjoyed it more than a few others from this story era that I had read recently (like I, Jedi and Planet of Twilight), so I think it's still worth a read for Star Wars fans.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review
4.0
This was a well-executed three-pronged story following Leia in her quest for her children, Han and Luke in their quest for Jedi and the children in their captivity. Early on, I found the character jumps a little annoying, but as I was well invested in all three story-lines I was always eager to find out what happens next with whomever the story jumped to.
It was also nice meeting Jaina and Jacen for the first time as independent characters and not just infant children.
The only let-down was the final showdown which did become a little pseudo sci-fi bonkers where it was a little unclear just what was going on.
A strong story that did things a little bit differently.
It was also nice meeting Jaina and Jacen for the first time as independent characters and not just infant children.
The only let-down was the final showdown which did become a little pseudo sci-fi bonkers where it was a little unclear just what was going on.
A strong story that did things a little bit differently.
jadejade's review
1.0
I have a fairly high tolerance of Star Wars: if I'm not bored and there are some fun scenes, I probably won't think too hard about how this story works in the cannon of the Star Wars universe. If Luke is a character in the story, I am almost guaranteed to love his scenes in particular, because he's my fav and I'm biased: he could be doing the washing and I'm THERE. Usually any critical thoughts about a Star Wars story happen post-book, probably after discussing it with another person to soundboard and challenge my initial thoughts and impressions.
So imagine my concern when during the reading of this book, I started having thoughts that this wasn't the best.
There are plenty of longer, more in depth reviews about why this might be the case (here's a funny one), so I will just list the chief things that bothered me:
* I did not enjoy following Luke at all (rah roh) - where's my sweet Jedi action??
* Although I found some of the threads set up to be interesting, I cannot think of even one scene that I can point to as a source of joy.
* I was thrown out of the story completely the moment they introduced a space centaur (and it gets sillier).
I would not recommend this book to a Star Wars fan. Although if you have no love or knowledge of Star Wars, perhaps this becomes a perfectly average book?
I'm sure the author is a good writer, but this just was not a good Star Wars book.
So imagine my concern when during the reading of this book, I started having thoughts that this wasn't the best.
There are plenty of longer, more in depth reviews about why this might be the case (here's a funny one), so I will just list the chief things that bothered me:
* I did not enjoy following Luke at all (rah roh) - where's my sweet Jedi action??
* Although I found some of the threads set up to be interesting, I cannot think of even one scene that I can point to as a source of joy.
* I was thrown out of the story completely the moment they introduced a space centaur (and it gets sillier).
I would not recommend this book to a Star Wars fan. Although if you have no love or knowledge of Star Wars, perhaps this becomes a perfectly average book?
I'm sure the author is a good writer, but this just was not a good Star Wars book.
ehsjaysaunders's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I mean, it's far from the best Star Wars book I've ever read, but it's...fine. honestly more enjoyable than the Hambly bookends of the Callista trilogy.
3.5/5 Maybe to cutesy for some readers? I dunno, I like the Solo children. And hey, we hadn't actually seen one of the many kidnapping attempts played out like this before. But yes, useless Luke gets old fast.
3.5/5 Maybe to cutesy for some readers? I dunno, I like the Solo children. And hey, we hadn't actually seen one of the many kidnapping attempts played out like this before. But yes, useless Luke gets old fast.
rhubarb1608's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.5