Star Wars, The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime; R. A. Salvatore (3.5)
There are so many ‘Star Wars’ books that it’s hard to know
where a fan should start. This book/series is considered to be at the top of
most lists. It begins ~20 years after ‘Return of the Jedi’. Han and Leia are
married and have 3 kids, Luke is also married – to another Jedi – and is the
Jedi mentor to his niece and nephews. While bringing in many of the classic
characters, Salvatore also introduces a couple of important new ones and even
better, brings in new antagonists with unique technologies. Unlike the most
recent movie, this book has some very new concepts that seem to be worthy of the
‘Star Wars’ canon. Foreboding is enhanced, as the reader is privy to the
intentions and power of the new enemy though our heroes are not. Given how much
attention was made to the set-up of seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the
first half of the book, I was disappointed in how quickly the large plot
wrapped up, but overall I think Disney lost an opportunity in not using this as
the basis for their last movie.
I would probably give this book an even higher rating (4). This book would have been infinitely better than the 7th Star Wars movie and the only explanation I can think up for why it wasn't used...either there were legal/monetary issues with obtaining the rights, or more likely J. J. Abrams' ego. Clearly when you have just destroyed the head of the "dark side" in Return of the Jedi it makes more sense to bring in a new and more plausible antagonist like this novel did than "recreate" another Darth Vader from Han and Leia's son!? This book was so good it just reminds me of my disappointment with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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