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A review by brassaf
The Unifying Force by James Luceno
5.0
Six and a half years ago, in a galaxy far, far, away (ok not so far, my house is after all on planet Earth), I started reading the New Jedi Order 19-book series. I finished the 19 books series (plus extra short stories from various Star Wars magazines and novel bonus sections, and also I count [b:Star Wars: Rogue Planet|758614|Star Wars Rogue Planet|Greg Bear|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320467624l/758614._SY75_.jpg|2510169] which turned out to be a surprise prequel to the series!) last night.
I gave the first installment 5 stars ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/608646642 ). I gave 8 other installments 5 stars. The rest were 3 or 4 stars. That's a lotta stars. Well it is Star Wars after all.
The point is, reading the closing chapters of this 19th and final installment gave me an emotional feeling I wasn't expecting. Yes I was expecting the close-out of the series and all its plots, and was not disappointed. Yes, the series ends with epic space battles, epic duels, thrilling chases by land and air, and surprises almost to the very end. But I wasn't expecting the emotions that welled up as I finished. There's a wonderful set of closing scenes, circling back to Vector Prime in one, and in another, a meet-up of the surviving Jedi, newly introduced in this series and others from previous novels or short stories.
This could have been the end of the entire Expanded Universe. It gives closure, not so much final closure, but enough to satisfy the "what happens next?" feeling. Of course I know there's another 11 years of stories in the Expanded Universe that come after (or before) this until the year 2014 when Disney ended the EU with its purchase of Star Wars. But had I read this book when it came out in 2003, I might have been tempted to say, "Ok, this is good enough. I can stop here and rest easy. 135 Star Wars books is a good stopping point!" I may try and enjoy this feeling of "finally finished" for a while before picking up another Star Wars book, of which there are a plenty on my TBR shelf, literally and digitally!
For those who may have run out of steam, I think the way Luceno wraps up the "New Jedi Order" plot is worth you trying again, picking up where you left off. Or, just read novel summaries on Wookieepedia to catch you up to The Unifying Force and then read this last novel. Of course you'll be missing out on some 5 star books if you skip ahead but to each their own!
At first I was scared to even start this series, since I wasn't collecting them when they came out but only finding them later at my favorite local independent bookstore (Read It Again books - read-it-again.com of course!). Even after I finally got them all, I was hesitant to start, since I knew I was in for a long slog. But I'm glad I started, and glad I finished. A great deal has happened to me and my family in the last 6.5 years. Many things I suppose remained constant even as many things changed in my life. It is bittersweet to say good-bye to this companion of mine, this 19+ book adventure that has kept me company through many difficult days and crazy real-life events. Such is life--we go through it, carrying our friends, family, and books along the way with us.
Rating: 5 out of 5 wroshyr tree-embedded lightsabers!
I gave the first installment 5 stars ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/608646642 ). I gave 8 other installments 5 stars. The rest were 3 or 4 stars. That's a lotta stars. Well it is Star Wars after all.
The point is, reading the closing chapters of this 19th and final installment gave me an emotional feeling I wasn't expecting. Yes I was expecting the close-out of the series and all its plots, and was not disappointed. Yes, the series ends with epic space battles, epic duels, thrilling chases by land and air, and surprises almost to the very end. But I wasn't expecting the emotions that welled up as I finished. There's a wonderful set of closing scenes, circling back to Vector Prime in one, and in another, a meet-up of the surviving Jedi, newly introduced in this series and others from previous novels or short stories.
This could have been the end of the entire Expanded Universe. It gives closure, not so much final closure, but enough to satisfy the "what happens next?" feeling. Of course I know there's another 11 years of stories in the Expanded Universe that come after (or before) this until the year 2014 when Disney ended the EU with its purchase of Star Wars. But had I read this book when it came out in 2003, I might have been tempted to say, "Ok, this is good enough. I can stop here and rest easy. 135 Star Wars books is a good stopping point!" I may try and enjoy this feeling of "finally finished" for a while before picking up another Star Wars book, of which there are a plenty on my TBR shelf, literally and digitally!
For those who may have run out of steam, I think the way Luceno wraps up the "New Jedi Order" plot is worth you trying again, picking up where you left off. Or, just read novel summaries on Wookieepedia to catch you up to The Unifying Force and then read this last novel. Of course you'll be missing out on some 5 star books if you skip ahead but to each their own!
At first I was scared to even start this series, since I wasn't collecting them when they came out but only finding them later at my favorite local independent bookstore (Read It Again books - read-it-again.com of course!). Even after I finally got them all, I was hesitant to start, since I knew I was in for a long slog. But I'm glad I started, and glad I finished. A great deal has happened to me and my family in the last 6.5 years. Many things I suppose remained constant even as many things changed in my life. It is bittersweet to say good-bye to this companion of mine, this 19+ book adventure that has kept me company through many difficult days and crazy real-life events. Such is life--we go through it, carrying our friends, family, and books along the way with us.
Rating: 5 out of 5 wroshyr tree-embedded lightsabers!