Welcome back to the Waru Express, dear readers, after a bit of a break. We’re diving right into the New Jedi Order which requires an entire shelf all on its own. 19 books? Let’s go! Before we dive into the book reviews, I figured I’d let you all in on a secret: I don’t hate the NJO. In fact, I like a fair bit of it. There are certainly some books and occurrences that I strongly dislike and I think it could’ve been shorter but I enjoy the vast majority of it. Spoiler Alert: I love the Stackpole, Allston, and Stover books but does that surprise any of you? My point is that I’m not a hater when it comes to these books but neither do I blindly love them so while my thoughts are on these books are likely to be a fair bit more positive than most of the blogosphere, you’re still going to get a decent dose of snark. Starting with this post.
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the first lengthy review post as I discuss the books from Vector Prime to Jedi Eclipse.
Vector Prime
Ah yes. The infamous “Chewbacca is Dead!” book. I feel nothing but pity for R.A. Salvatore having to be the one to pull the trigger on this given how the fandom can be at times. Let’s get the giant wookiee in the corner out of the way. Yeah, Chewbacca dying sucks. Reading through the book knowing what was coming made all the scenes with Chewie that much more painful. He’s a big part of our group of heroes and it is sad that he dies. HOWEVER. His death certainly does signify to the readers that this oncoming threat isn’t going to be easily defeated and that no one will escape unscathed. Also? If you’re going to go out, this is certainly one of the more badass ways to do it. Chewbacca rejects your notion of death by blasterfire and goes down shaking his fist at a freaking moon.
I’d really like to know what the heck happened to Jacen Solo between the end of Crisis of Crystal Reef and the start of this book. It feels like I’m reading about two completely different characters and I’m not even counting the lack of bad jokes because that’s something a person could reasonably grow out of.
Overall, I actually think the book functions quite well in its role. It sets up the Vong invasion, lets us get to see our favorite characters again, and tells us that this isn’t going to be an easy ride. I also find it to be an enjoyable book on its own. It’s nice getting to see the Solo kids have some fun before the galaxy goes to hell even if it’s only for the first half of the book.
The final line of the book sums it up the best: “But to Han Solo, the galaxy suddenly seemed a more dangerous place by far.”
Over on Reddit today, former Expanded Universe author R.A. Salvatore is conducting an Ask Me Anything. One intrepid redditor asked the author his thoughts on fan fiction in light of the hardline stance other authors have taken against it (*cough*GRRM*cough*). His response?