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A review by brassaf
Star Wars: Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore
5.0
Wow. Just, wow. Ok, going into the book, I knew a few things. Yes, this is the first of 20 or so books in the "New Jedi Order" series detailing the extra-galactic alien invasion--something made clear in the very beginning chapters of the book, so hardly a spoiler. Yes, I knew that as I'd unfortunately seen that about a decade ago not too long after the book was published. What I didn't know was how this book would work very well as a the introduction to an obviously prolonged story arc about the invasion of the galaxy, but also worked as a standalone novel. Not to say that all plots are resolved by the last page, but it definitely had that episode feeling. Some previous Star Wars books seemed arbitrarily divided into three books for the marketability of a trilogy. Some seemed bloated to fit that same format. Not so here. This book had a great beginning, middle and end and lots of action that we love out of Star Wars throughout: new exotic planets and aliens, extraordinary Jedi feats, character development of both old and new characters (especially the three teenage Solo children), and even some really cool sci-fi / tech things like the new XJ class of X-Wing (J for Jedi?).
This book also had the advantage of having been written after Episode I: The Phantom Menace, so it could refer to some things that should have been referred to all along by previous novels--except that George Lucas hadn't invented them yet (like the Jedi Council, which Luke is considering restarting). How he found out that there was a Jedi Council before, they don't really say, but presumably through Holocron use. I'm still waiting for an explanation of how R2 lost his leg jets, but that doesn't come out until Episode II so this book could hardly have known about it yet. :)
My earlier concerns of Jacen's character were alleviated. Whatever it was that got him into his funk and disillusionment, he seemed to resolve. Was this an artificially created conflict point to give us some reconciliation among siblings? Maybe, but it worked for me.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can hardly wait to dive into the next one!
Spoiler
Chewbacca died heroically, fulfilling his life debt to Han Solo,This book also had the advantage of having been written after Episode I: The Phantom Menace, so it could refer to some things that should have been referred to all along by previous novels--except that George Lucas hadn't invented them yet (like the Jedi Council, which Luke is considering restarting). How he found out that there was a Jedi Council before, they don't really say, but presumably through Holocron use. I'm still waiting for an explanation of how R2 lost his leg jets, but that doesn't come out until Episode II so this book could hardly have known about it yet. :)
My earlier concerns of Jacen's character were alleviated. Whatever it was that got him into his funk and disillusionment, he seemed to resolve. Was this an artificially created conflict point to give us some reconciliation among siblings? Maybe, but it worked for me.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can hardly wait to dive into the next one!