Star Wars: The New Jedi Order - Force Heretic III Reunion

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order #17

by Sean Williams, Shane Dix

The Jedi move one step closer

to saving the embattled galaxy-only to confront

a formidable wall

of resistance..

The harrowing search for

Zonama Sekot if finally

over for Luke Skywalker,

Jacen Solo, and others aboard the Jade Shado. But joy

turns to alarm when the living planet

sends a defiant message: it refuses to follow them back

to a galaxy full of war, exploitation, and misery.

While Luke works feverishly to persuade the elusive

planet to reconsider, the Yuuzhan Vong launch a full-

scale attack aimed at the heart of the new alliance. Sent

to defend a major communicating base, Han and Leia

find themselves hopelessly outnumbered.

Reinforcements are just too far away to help before

everything is destroyed. So the courageous pair must

now fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds.

Whether they actually survive is another matter..

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, War, Novels

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.

Reviews

[Steve Holm · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was alright. Good ending to the trilogy. A bit off the best of the series but also far from the worst. Good character development for a few characters and the main plot moved a bit.

Don't really have much to say, excited to see how the final 2 books of the series shape up.
Weak 4

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This "story" took three books to tell?!

Luke and gang find Zonoma Sekot and try to convince it to join the cause. Leia and Han and gang get a warning that the communication stations with the Unknown regions are under attack. Tahiri still fights against her inner battle.

NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel.

*YAWN*

Uh, sorry, you woke me up. I just finished listening to "Reunion" on audiobook, and, boy, was I bored. The last two books (specfically "Refugee") made me varying degrees of p!ssed off, which at least made the listening entertaining. This book...pah, it barely registered.

After two books of poking around the galaxy, Luke finds Zonoma Sekot. Apparently, all Mara had to do was use her super Force Navigator ability to find the damn planet. Nice to know. And why couldn't she do this back in "Remnant", thus saving us a lot of wasted time? Then our characters prowl around on Zonoma Sekot, meet up with grumpy Ferreoans (sp?), and generally have to beg, plead, and cajole Sekot into joining the cause against the Yuuzhan Vong. There is something about the magistrar being kidnapped, along with worthless Danni Quee, and of course, Jacen reverts back to his pre-Vergere "I don't know what to do with my life, I'm a pacifist, don't fight, all aggression is equal" crap. Kid, you've had plenty of time to "figure it out". You "figured it out" in "Traitor". Quit changing your frakkin' mind! But really, the resolution of this trilogy spanning story is boring, and really is nothing more "We found Zonoma Sekot, what do we do with it?"

Back to Han, Leia, and all them. They do their trivial mission, Tahiri gets locked in her mind and must bind her two selves. This part is great, well done, very good, and definitely the highlight and only reason to drudge through all three books (though I would NOT recommend it, even for that reason). Dragging Jaina into Tahiri's mind only to get stuck there and comatose? Not so much. Let her be a pilot, quit making her a damsel in distress. Then, oh, nos! The Yuuzhan Vong are attacking the ONLY COMMUNICATION STATION to the Unknown Region where Luke and Mara are, and GOD FORBID we lose contact with them ever, so we'd better travel across the galaxy and to hell with the people who are DYING, Luke and Mara are more important! But don't worry, it's just another relatively boring, Bantam era mission (though I must admit, the aliens were pretty cool) where Han and Leia save the day with a wriggle of her nose and quick moves with the Falcon (with the help of Paelleon, who decided to hop on by for tea??? What is with this?). *YAWN*

Droma returns with his Invincible All-Knowing Ryn Network, because isn't that so cool? No, I didn't find him cool in "Hero's Trial", I didn't find the Ryn Network "cool" in "Remnant", and having BOTH in this book make me have heartburn. Please, Droma, go back into your corner of the galaxy and just die.

Given what actually happens in these books, I still am puzzled that THIS was the story that had to take place over a trilogy. Why? Why couldn't we have one book where Zonoma Sekot is found and the Imperials brought into the Galactic Alliance? It would have been easy, and the other two books could have been written by someone that can write, like Greg Keyes, Matthew Stover, or almost anyone other than Shane Dix and Sean Williams (who, for some odd reason, is STILL writing Star Wars fanfic--I MEAN!!). If you absolutely have to know what happens, skip "Remnant" and "Refugee" and read only this book. Otherwise, do not bother at all.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm curious to see how the story develops from here...

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third and final book in the Force Heretic trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, “Reunion”, is the best of the three, but the trilogy overall has been unimpressive. The novels are plagued with uneven pacing, wordiness, and mediocre characterization, all of which might have been avoided if the books had been edited and consolidated into two books rather than spread out into three.

In “Reunion”, Luke Skywalker and his team have found the legendary planet of Zonoma Sekot, but the inhabitants of the planet are not happy to see them. These inhabitants, the Ferroans, worship Sekot as a god-like power. Jacen discovers that his grandfather, Annakin Skywalker, along with Obi Wan Kenobi once visited the planet over fifty years ago. Their actions unintentionally may have had repercussions that could affect the chances of the current group of visiting Jedis.

Meanwhile, back on the Millenium Falcon, Han and Leia are investigating a planet in the Unknown Regions to find out why communications have failed in that sector of the galaxy. Esfandia is a planet home to a communications base that may have been taken over or destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong. The base is integral to insuring a flow of information between planets in the Outer Rim. Unfortunately, an indigenous intelligent species on Esfandia are making it difficult for the team.

The Imperial Remnant, led by Admiral Pellaeon, continues to hold their ground as cover for the Millenium Falcon’s mission, but the Yuuzhan Vong forces are putting up quite a fight. Pellaeon isn’t backing down, but he knows that his forces can’t last much longer without much-needed reinforcements.

Tahiri, still in a coma, is waging a battle in her subconscious between herself and her Yuuzhan Vong alter-ego, Riina. (See Greg Keyes’s “Edge of Victory I: Conquest”) Together, both personalities realize that neither one can survive without the other, and their only hope is merging their personalities into one new entity, Tahiri-Riina.

Back on Yuuzhan’tar (formerly Coruscant), Nom Anor is still disguised as the Prophet, spreading the gospel of the Jeedai. His identity, however, may soon be discovered by the Warlord Shimrra.

“Reunion” is the seventeenth book in the New Jedi Order series.

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, two eBook novellas, three short stories, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.

This week’s focus: the third book in the Force Heretic trilogy, Force Heretic: Reunion by Sean Williams and Shane Dix.

SOME HISTORY:

Jon Foster began his career illustrating covers and interior art for TSR and Wizards of the Coast, but then branched out to comic book covers. His paintings are oils on canvas, later scanned into a computer to add digital effects, and feature dark and moody colors. His artwork of Aayla Secura from the Star Wars: Republic comic inspired George Lucas to include her in Attack of the Clones, but he also illustrated the covers for the Force Heretic trilogy--while I’m not overly fond of how he depicted the Skywalkers and Solos, I do like how he’s caught them all in the middle of action. Force Heretic: Reunion made it to number thirteen on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 20, 2003.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I accurately guessed a bit of the Zonama Sekot plotline before I started Reunion, but I definitely did not read this third volume of the trilogy since I had no memory of Han & Leia or Nom Anor’s plots.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for the Jedi aboard the Jade Shadow. But while they work to persuade the living planet to aid the Galactic Alliance, the Yuuzhan Vong launch a full-scale attack on a major communications base. Reinforcements are too far away, so it’s up to Han & Leia and their new ally Grand Admiral Pellaeon to fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds…

THE CHARACTERS:

As with Force Heretic I: Remnant and Force Heretic II: Refugee, Reunion follows three main subplots: Nom Anor continuing to play the role of the Prophet of the Jeedai heresy while also having his revenge on rival members of the intendant caste; Han and Jaina Solo trying to meet with the Ryn Network on Onadax, while Tahiri Veila lingers in an unconscious battle against her other personality Riina Kwaad; and the Jedi team (Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Jacen Solo, Danni Quee, Saba Sebatyne, and Tekli plus the Imperials they’ve picked up along the way) finally heading for Zonama Sekot’s probable location.

So first, Luke and company. They initially have trouble navigating through the Unknown Regions (it’s “unknown” so not as charted as the rest of the galaxy), and Zonama Sekot’s system is difficult to penetrate--there’s almost a protective bubble surrounding it, like the hyperspace disturbance at the edge of the galaxy. It takes the effort of everything on board the Jade Shadow to break through, only for them to discover that Zonama Sekot is under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong. They’re allowed to land, but they find the Ferroaroans unwilling to listen to them. If you’ve read Star Wars: Rogue Planet, you might recognize Jabitha the Magister: she’s the little girl that befriended Anakin all those years ago. As Magister, she speaks directly for the planet, so they’ll have to convince both Jabitha and Sekot that it’s worth leaving sanctuary to join the fight against the Vong.

I expected there would be revelations about Zonama Sekot’s past and origins, but not here. I suppose that will come in the last two books? Most of the story is focused on a scheme by some rogue Ferroaroans who kidnap Danni Quee. Jacen and Saba run off after her, so our Jedi team ends up split into two groups. Turns out it was all a test for the Jedi to prove themselves to Zonama Sekot, and Sekot appears to Jacen in Vergere’s form and to Luke in Anakin’s form to question them further.

Were you (like me) expecting some resolution on the Jacen/Danni romance front? Well, you won’t get any! After running away from his feelings in book 2, Jacen doesn’t do anything in book 3 other than rescue Danni from kidnappers--and Danni spends most of the story unconscious, dragged around on a stretcher. (Jaina met Jag Fel again in Dark Journey and one book later she’d changed her relationship status, but Jacen is a dawdler.)

Jumping back to the Han and Leia mission, the books opens with them on Onadax, waiting to be contacted by the Ryn Network...except Han is accused of cheating at sabacc and thrown out of the designated bar. Jaina reports back that she’s found nothing, so they head back to their ship empty-handed. Except not quite, because Droma shows up and asks for a ride. We last saw Droma at the end of Balance Point; after Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse, he was reunited with his sister, but he didn’t head off on his own until after the debacle of Duro. He tells Han that he was also trying to contact the Ryn Network, and can they just drop him off at the Senex/Juvex Sector since they’re headed for Esfandia?

After denying any plans to stop at Esfandia, the Solos find out that the Alliance’s Outer Rim Communication Center on Generis has fallen to the Vong, and the base on Esfandia is next. So of course that becomes their next stop. They arrive to find Grand Admiral Pellaeon there as well, having chased the Vong all the way from Generis to Esfandia, so they join forces and fight together. Esfandia is a really weird world--there’s no sun, so the native species have evolved in a strange way, and there’s a Star Trek-like wrinkle where Han and Leia realize that they accidentally killed some of the natives without even realizing it. Han and Leia find the base; there’s a traitor on the base, and they instantly suspect some poor Noghri because he doesn’t smell right. There’s a trap set for the Vong on the surface--there’s lots of fighting on speeder bikes--the Noghri nobly sacrifices himself and the traitor was someone else entirely, so everything is saved in the end.

During the space battle, Pellaeon requests help from the Alliance, and tells Jagged Fel to “surprise him.” Channeling Jaina’s impulsive, reckless nature, Jag uses a dead Yuuzhan Vong ship as a battering ram to smash a (dovin basil protected) hole into two of the Vong ships. He comes out a little toasty, but he certainly surprises Pellaeon.

Meanwhile, for most of the space battle Jaina has been watching over Tahiri, who has not woken up since the end of Refugee. She decides to lend her strength to Tahiri by forming a Jedi mind meld, and once inside she can see that Tahiri is facing off against Riina. But Tahiri and Riina soon discover that one can’t hurt the other without hurting herself, and the only way they can survive is by the two personalities joining together. I was a little surprised this happened about halfway through the book--I was expecting it to take longer--and I’m not sure how I feel about how it went down. Obviously it wouldn’t have been healthy if Tahiri had two separate sides of herself, but it’s hard for me to spot the old Tahiri or Riina in this new Tahiri--she seems completely different from either.

I liked seeing Droma again, although it did emphasize the fact that he’s not really needed now that Han and Leia have reconciled. When Han’s traveling alone, he needs a companion and a copilot, but now that Leia’s here, Droma becomes like a third wheel at times.

And finally, we have Nom Anor. Now that Nom Anor has a double agent in Shimrra’s court, he starts accusing a bunch of executors and political people as heretics. But this wouldn’t be a Nom Anor plotline without him being betrayed, so he’s almost killed in a coup orchestrated by the Shamed One Shoon-mi. Nom Anor theorizes that someone else was pulling the strings behind Shoon-mi’s attempt, but we never find out who. Nom Anor also loses his deception priestess when she’s outed by Shimrra and thrown into the pit. I guess Nom Anor has gone back a few steps in this book--he’s alive, but his double agent is dead, and while he was starting to stir up physical unrest on Yuuzhan’tar, he’s not ready to commit to overthrowing Shimrra. Honestly, I’m not sure if he’d ever be ready; committing to take down Shimrra feels like a step too far for Nom Anor.

ISSUES:

Final thoughts on the structure: I still don’t like it. It helped that I had a self-imposed deadline, because there were a few parts where I did not feel motivated to pick the book back up. I think I would have preferred that Williams and Dix fully committed to a no-chapter structure rather than creating something with four monster chapters. I also felt like pivotal events got really dragged out in Reunion: Sekot in Vergere’s form is about to tell Jacen something very important, but then we cut to Luke and Mara talking to Sekot in Anakin’s form and we cut away to something else before they learn something important. Don’t do that!

There were also some weird little continuity errors, where I wasn’t sure if an editor messed up or if Williams and Dix had gotten confused with the timeline. When Droma is relating his travels after he left Han, he made a big deal about when he reunited with his sister at Fondor. But Droma and Han didn’t part company until the end of Balance Point, one book later! And after the Battle of Esfandia (when Admiral Pellaeon is mopping things up after the Vong commander blows himself up), we read that the Widowmaker is there. But the Widowmaker isn’t there--it accompanied the Jade Shadow to Zonama Sekot! I would have expected an editor to catch those discrepancies before the book was published, but I guess not.

There were also some weird grammar or syntax issues in the ebook I read, where sentences seemed to be constructed in an awkward order. Maybe just an ebook problem? (Unfortunately, I am not rereading the book in paper form to check.)

My biggest issue with Reunion and its trilogy mates falls into a "your mileage may vary" category… For me, the ideas behind the trilogy are interesting yet don't fully connect. Han and Leia investigating old mysteries from the Bantam era sounds like fun, but why are they doing it now at the tail end of the series? (I suppose the in-universe answer would be that the Yuuzhan Vong are focused elsewhere right now and previously they wouldn't have been able to travel around that much.) But when you map out their adventures on the galaxy map, they are alllll over the place--Mon Calamari to Galantos to Bakura to Onadax to Esfandia is quite the galaxy-wide trek, and I'm not sure I buy that they covered such a distance in this timeframe?

Also I have spent too much time poring over the galaxy map, so 1) one of the Republic’s two Outer Rim Communications Centers is on Generis, but that looks right in the middle of the Vong initial invasion path; 2) I think the Solos’ path would make more sense to me if they hadn’t stopped at Onadax in the Minos Cluster (it’s too out of the way!).

Likewise, Luke and company aid the Imperial Remnant, visit Csilla and the Fels, and finally find Zonama Sekot, yet so much of their story felt like padding for length. Especially in Reunion, where they find Zonama Sekot early on but then spend a lot of time explaining themselves and listening to others’ explanations. I think there was something very interesting buried under all those explanations but it comes at the end when I don’t think there’s enough room for it to sink in.

(Luke would be willing to use Zonama Sekot as a weapon against the Vong, whereas Jacen would not; it’s Sekot’s decision in the end, but I don’t think Luke made the right choice!)

Additionally, I think that most of the revelations were meant to hit the reader harder than they actually did. Han finds out that Droma is the leader of the Ryn Network, but not personally; instead, Droma tells Tahiri offscreen, who then relays it to Han. And that felt like such a copout! Droma was going to confess earlier in the book, why couldn't he talk to Han at the end? Likewise, Luke and Jacen find out that Anakin and Obi-Wan also visited Zonama Sekot, but it’s rather lackluster. This was one of the moments I was anticipating--Luke learning more about his father’s past--but it fell a bit flat for me.

IN CONCLUSION:

I’m glad that I finally read the Force Heretic trilogy, because there were elements that I enjoyed here. But my final verdict is “too long, could have been edited down into one or two books.” (I’m getting déjà vu from the Bantam era books!) In the end, I’m not sure that the first and second installments of Han and Leia’s mission were important to the story, and the “searching through the library on Csilla” scenes from book 2 definitely could have been condensed. I liked where we ended up by the end of Reunion, but it was a slow journey to get there--and I can see why so many people (myself twenty years ago included) gave up along the way.


Next up: the penultimate book in the New Jedi Order series, The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/Hd0nqGO0CzQ

“Dark Canvas: The Art of Jon Foster”: https://web.archive.org/web/200502051...

February 4, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/inter...

December 23, 2003 TheForce.Net interview with Sean Williams and Shane Dix: http://theforce.net/jedicouncil/inter...

[Caleb Likes Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was… good? Like, really good? After being rather let down by Remnant and Refugee, the fact that Reunion is genuinely great is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. (Ha!)

There’s a lot of good stuff here. Firstly, we finally get to see the planet Zonama Sekot, after much buildup, and it’s very exciting. I’d already read the semi-prequel to this trilogy, Rogue Planet, which is both referenced in this book and featured similarly interesting worldbuilding; as an aside, reading that book isn’t fully necessary, but I would recommend doing so prior to this book if you’re able. The way this planet is handled is very intriguing and plays with some really fun ideas, as it is a living, sentient planet. That’s just cool. The characters were all handled well here also, with pretty much every one being enjoyable to read. I especially enjoyed Luke, Pellaeon, and the Zonama locals. However, by far my favorite character and arc in this book (and trilogy) was Tahiri. Tahiri is a character I’ve enjoyed in NJO, but if this trilogy did anything fantastically well, despite its flaws, it was making me love Tahiri. Her arc in this book is super interesting and conceptually plays with some interesting ideas and themes. This book also had some of the most engaging dialogue and discussions I’ve read in the series so far, especially in the end but still throughout.

If there’s anything I feel disappointed by with this book, I would say it’s Nom Anor and the Yuuzhan Vong. They are typically a highlight of any given NJO book they prominently appear in, and I felt like that storyline here was less interesting than it had been in the past. It’s good, just a low point for the Vong story.

Overall this was a surprisingly enjoyable read, considering how unremarkable I found the two preceding books. Very enjoyable and satisfying end to the Force Heretic trilogy, and a great setup for the final two books of the series.

Rating: 8.5/10

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you read a series this long, you expect to end a book with questions left unanswered, threads still untied, but when you're reading a trilogy within a series, shouldn't it feel more self-contained? I get that this is a lot like reading a graphic novel series, where the larger story takes precedence over whatever storyarc you're in, but shouldn't the arcs themselves feel like individual stories? This whole trilogy is about searching for a lost planet (and watching a character find themself again), and it's 1193 pages long!

The fact that this is a trilogy seems completely arbitrary, as does the title of the trilogy and the books themselves. For that matter, EVERY book title in this series has been uninspired, forgettable, and about as evocative as listening to the hum of a washing machine. As much as I like the way this series is going, I'm glad there are only two books left in this dang thing.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 1 out of 5]

2 books left, 2 books left, 2 books left....

The New Jedi Order series has become bloated and extremely uninteresting, and this Force Heretic sub-trilogy is the worst offender. This story could have been 1 decent book, but instead it was spread into 3 terrible books. The characters do a lot of standing around in these books and they are boring.

This is the worst of the Star Wars expanded universe. Only 2 books left in the NJO and I am at the point where I have no expectations for them and just hope they wrap the story up as quickly as possible.

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

this trilogy wasnt nearly as bad as I expected after book 1. across each of the three there were enjoyable parts and numerous parts that dragged. tahiris dreadful arc balanced out nom anors wonderful arc for example. I really did enjoy sekot and the ryn in this book specifically. this certainly wasnt what I expected for three of the final books of this long war, (especially due to the slower pacing and more drawn out searching) but hopefully the final 2 will capitalize on what was set up here.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very epic conclusion to an epic trilogy. Sometimes its reach feels like it's exceeding its grasp...but in the end, it's quite an exciting ending. If anything, the Vong side of the story is the least engaging and feels like it gets in the way. I'd say that would be my overall issue with this era of Lucasverse novels, but I enjoyed this as a stand-alone.

[Lance Shadow · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasted my time slogging through Rogue Planet for THIS????

After five months of constantly putting it off because I would rather be doing ANYTHING ELSE, I finally buckled down and forced myself to finish this awful book and this even more awful trilogy.

THE STORY: The heroes finally find Zonama Sekot. Took them long enough. There's another big battle where Han and Leia help the Imperial Remnant fight off the Yuuzhan Vong. How exciting. And Nom Anor is still doing dick-all with his heretic friends that he's been hanging out with throughout this trilogy and OH MY GOD I DON'T CARE.

And yes, I had to look over the blurb on the back cover to give you that summary by the way.

I'm going to keep the actual review of this book short, because how many times can I criticize the Force Heretic Trilogy for having so little plot and character development given how long these books are? What else is there to say when it comes to Shane Dix and Sean Williams' terrible, boring prose and tedious action sequences? I can say one thing: "Reunion" is THE WORST OF THE THREE when it comes to these criticisms. This book was SO KRIFFING BORING that I actually fell asleep at times trying to read it.
Sure it finally advances some of the plot threads that were introduced at the start of the trilogy and in Destiny's Way, there's a couple decent lines of dialogue regarding Sekot and its upcoming role in the war, and there's a nice moment with Tahir in the epilogue (which somehow went on for 40 pages, WHAT THE KRIFF ARE YOU DOING, DIX AND WILLIAMS??). However, for a book that's almost 400 pages long and the final installment of a 1200 page trilogy, I refuse to offer a lick of credit for doing far below even the bare minimum.

THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 0 stars.
Congratulations, "Force Heretic III: Reunion"! You are officially the first piece of media, Star Wars or otherwise, that I ever gave a 0 star rating after 10+ YEARS OF REVIEWS on this site!
The Force Heretic Trilogy was so painful to read that it made me start to actively resent the rest New Jedi Order series. This far in, I shouldn't have had to read through 1000 pages of filler just to pull out 200 pages with bare minimum plot progression- and the only hints of character development coming from 50 of those same pages.
After spending almost 5 years on this reading journey, I'm starting to feel like I have wasted my time. The New Jedi Order drags on for far to long for its own good. I'm tired of these books.

Am I going to finish the series? Of course I am. However, that's only because I'm down to the last two novels and I've made it to far to give up now (which believe me, if this trilogy happened in the beginning or even the middle of the series, I probably would have). I'm not going to read the last two books because I'm excited to see how the story ends. I'm not reading the final two entries because I care about where the characters end up. I'm only going to complete the series to say that I did.
Who knows? The Final Prophecy could be good, it's written by Greg Keyes and I liked his other NJO books. And besides, after the Force Heretic Trilogy, I don't see how it could get any worse.

Whatever. I just want to be done already.

[Michael Church · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy craaaaaaap! The dry and repetitive NJO series continues in this awful conclusion to the Force Heretic sub-trilogy. Despite having an AWESOME title, this whole thing has blown. It takes everyone 3 books to meet some meager goals. It's loaded to bursting with fluff, and THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS!

I know it's a stylistic thing, but chapters just make books less daunting. If it's moving at a good clip, sure, I'll just blow through the whole thing. But there is no way that the authors and editors didn't think this was at all slow. Plus, it is my opinion as a consumer that epilogues shouldn't be THIRTY PAGES! It's not like any of that stuff was truly after the main story, anyway. Sure, it wrapped up the other plot lines a bit, but not in a way that it needed to be called out separately.

Overall, there's only one character that has really grown in these recent books, and even her conclusion here (Tahiri) is pretty much a let down. The other story arcs don't really get any traction either. It's just stuff for the heroes to be doing that doesn't feel like it's actually contributing anything to the series. Especially after we had a near-final battle about 3 books ago, to then take the characters back to these menial tasks just shows that the editors wanted to milk this for as much money as possible. There is no other explanation that makes sense to me. Not to mention that there were some truly interesting things hinted at that NONE OF THE AUTHORS HAVE TOUCHED FOR A DOZEN BOOKS! Where the heck is Nen Yim? She was up to some crazy stuff last we saw, but still no details. Instead there's more Nom Anor being an a$$ and just being a nuisance. Who likes reading about nuisances? Not me.

I just...ugh. I have two more books in this series. If it wasn't for "Traitor," the whole series would be a ridiculous waste of time. Everything feels absolutely glacial in pacing and repetitive and predictable and just GET ON WITH IT! I'll check back in after the next one that *runs off to double check* thankfully does have chapters!

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes.

Force Heretic III: Reunion falls into many of the same traps as its predecessors (weird structure, frustrating pacing, general sense of filler-y-ness) while also retaining their strengths (for the most part great characterizations and "feel of the galaxy" carrying on from Destiny's Way). I'm thus running out of things to say. Let's just get on with it.

I mentioned the trilogy's problems with pacing before, but it really does need to be emphasized once more, right here. So, looking at the beginning of the previous novel, you had a mini-adventure with Luke and the gang which allowed for some great variety in terms of locale, but nevertheless served mostly to pad out the novel. FHIII does things similarly: We follow Han on a sleek visit to the local casino where he's promptly accused of cheating and thrown out of the establishment. Great stuff which this time around actually ties into the larger story! But after this everything settles on one setting respectively on both sides of the plot, Zonama Sekot with Jacen et al. and Esfandia with Jaina and the gang. Fair enough with the former and it wouldn't be a problem with the latter either, if more than like three things actually happened over the course of the plot. So there's another Yuuzhan Vong plan going around, the Falcon crew lands on the planet and accidentally commits homicide, they find the thing they're looking for and uncover a Peace Brigade cell (damn, these guys are still around?) in the meantime. Oh, and Droma makes a reappearance, which is always nice. Admittedly there's more having to do with Tahiri that I'll comment on later on, but still. Force Heretic just did not have enough fuel in the tank for an entire trilogy of books. The Zonama Sekot plot is more interesting overall but still quite slow and not quite as gripping as it could have been. Still an entertaining read, even if there's another kriffing kidnapping plot, even if this time around it's much more interesting and somewhat clever. It's just a shame that Danni Quee has officially stooped to being both a damsel in distress and the hero (Jacen)'s girl. She had so much potential... The way Jacen is portrayed seems weird. He's less of the "sagely" figure the previous post-Traitor novels have been building him up as and more of the confused teen from earlier in the series. You know it's bad when the guy we saw in Traitor starts defining himself by what he thinks a jedi is again, all the while appearing completely indecisive about whether to go full genocide or full pacifist. Negative character development! Ah, but he does have some great scenes in here too; the last few pages were really heartwarming for everyone involved. I'm certain Sean & Shane would have come up with more interesting stuff to fit this trilogy with had they been given more time on planning - or indeed, if the NJO team at large had planned its place in the story out more carefully.

If there's one thing unique to these two storylines I have to praise, it's their weirdly engaging sense of atmosphere. The NJO novels are no stranger to great imagery - poisoned Belkadan in Vector Prime, Jacen's vision in Balance Point, everything in Traitor, the coral reef vacation in Destiny's Way... this series is just full of incredibly memorable setpieces, arguably more so than the rest of the literary EU. Now, Zonama Sekot is nothing new - the late Greg Bear's depiction of it in Rogue Planet was nothing short of wonderful, and probably did a lot of heavy lifting for this novel. Be that as it may, ZS' depiction here still is stunning all the same. Maybe my imagination was just having a good day when I read these chapters, but nothing I could say right here would be able to properly convey its ethereal nature. Esfandia was great, too. A burning Yuuzhan Vong fighting against Jaina and her lightsaber on a mostly dark, snow-covered planet! How cool is that? I stand by the pacing issues, but there's no question the content here was fun to visualize. Zonama Sekot and Esfandia did a lot for my three star rating.

Nom Anor and Tahiri Veila continue to be the best part of this trilogy. The Prophet gets one of his very best scenes in this novel, perhaps the best depiction of what makes Nom Anor Nom Anor. So Shoon-mi attempts a coup against Nom Anor after getting fed up with all the unnecessary Shamed One sacrifices during their terrorist endeavors, rallying up a group of Shamed Ones himself, storming Nom's chambers and holding him at coufee-point. What does Nom Anor do? Stall the situation out by playing on Shoon-mi's fears, generally being a badass, until his bodyguard Kunra storms the room by chance and kills every assailant. He seems quite fearless in the face of death in this scene to be sure, though I don't think Nom Anor is necessarily completely above the fear of mortality. He cares about one thing, and one thing only, and that's himself. Dying an undignified death like this would be the last thing he would want to do, and the fact he stays this cool just shows how well he can read his opponents. Of course Shoon-mi is a weak-willed bottom feeder, one who simply does not have the strategic mind to do what his Prophet does. So why beg for your life if, instead, you could just manipulate him until there's an opportunity for escape or retaliation? Nom Anor is just such a manipulative, self-serving bastard, you can't help but root for him. His operation going south with the death of Ngaaluh at the end actually made me somewhat sad. Great build-up for The Final Prophecy. Tahiri's story similarly reaches an important development: The Ryn's message from the last book is proven to be true; Tahiri Veila and Riina Kwaad are two sides of the same coin. Thankfully, and after a lot of strife, their subconsciousness does decide to become one, and in a very literal sense, too. Tahiri and Riina literally merge together. What emerges from this was really quite surprising to me: Instead of just "Tahiri but with the ability to speak Yuuzhan Vong" we get a completely new character. Sure, she calls herself Tahiri, but feels... different. This is no longer the young child/teenager from Junior Jedi Knights and Edge of Victory, but a grown woman. Her strategic mind, Yuuzhan Vong-isms, and deep adoration for her friends are very fun to read about, the last piece of evidence that Force Heretic's problem was never its character-writing. Great stuff all around to be sure, but did it have to take three books to tell these stories?

What we're left with is another decent enough novel that could have and should have been much better than it ended up being. This entire trilogy was just a muddled mess; never bad, but always inferior. Inferior to the story it could have ultimately told, and yes, inferior to the other novels in its series. Still, the developments we do get in here are much appreciated and make the first and third books worth a look at least. Thankfully, I'm still very much looking forward to how the New Jedi Order continues, so on to the penultimate novel, The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "trilogy" could definitely be a bit of a slog at times. That may partly be because there were no chapters, so it felt as of it jidt kept going on forever with few real breaks. I also can't help but think some of the story arcs could have been trimmed down a bit.

That said, still overall enjoyable. I was glad the search for Zonoma Sekot actually took this long--not something that I wouls have wanted rushed in one book. Thairi's deacent into insanity, and eventual recovery was also handled well. It was good to finally see her step into her own character rather than be solely defined by Anakin.

Unfortunately, the Nom Anor parts were hit and miss. At times it didn't feel like the authors here nailes down his character--his internal thoughts/feelings sometimes seemed to really diverge from previous books and I wasn't convinced it was intentional.

The Han/Leia/Jaina stuff was fine and enjoyable, but nothing much to speak of. I feel like they could have been put aside for a book or two (as has happened with all the characters at one point or another throughout the series) and it may have helped tighten up the story.

But just two more books to go!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't think the "Force Heretic" subseries really needed to be three novels long. There were some really good ideas in it, like the Tahiri/Riina story (which I think is going to be key to the resolution of the whole NJO saga) and Zonama Sekot, but it's something that really could have been set over two or even one book. The whole thing dragged out way too long and suffered greatly from the "Let's revisit every single Star Wars plot idea ever" concept that the NJO has been suffering from.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm highly impressed. I didn't like FH1 or especially #2 very much, but this one is incredible. The characters all act like themselves, events happen and characters act for a reason, space battles and combat are well described, and the plot moves fluidly. I especially liked the changing viewpoints, particularly where Sekot is asking Jacen and Luke the same question and you get to see their same-meaning-yet-different answers. That was cool. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read part of the NJO before now; you won't be dissappointed.

[Nick Antonoglu · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
An inconsistent package. The highs here are the best the Force Heretic Trilogy has to offer, but the lows are on par with what I’d expect from Force Heretic II.

The biggest positive here is the Zonama Sekot plot. We FINALLY get some resolution for plot threads set up all the way back in Rogue Planet, and open new ones that leave me excited to see what Zonama Sekot’s future holds. While this whole story is really solid, the dialogue between Sekot and Luke/Jacen towards the end is REALLY good, and back up to snuff with some of the series’ better books. It transported me back to a time where the NJO practiced show don’t tell, and emphasized where the series excels: ideological discussion between diverse beings.

I really enjoyed this segment of the book. Saba’s character gets great development and an excellent conclusion to her arc, Sekot’s character is even more fascinating and nuanced here than Rogue Planet, and Jacen’s development in Traitor and Destiny’s Way really shines through here. I will note that the xenophobia of the Ferroans is initially quite annoying, but the book does adequately explain why their stupid decisions early on were made. I think Greg Bear did a better job describing and immersing the reader within Zonama Sekot in Rogue Planet, but this book was not focused on worldbuilding—this is a plot driven outing.

The Nom Anor plot is quite good, here, although still understated. He appears so infrequently in Force Heretic II and III I honestly am caught off guard. I thought this plot ended well, and it leaves me wondering what the future of his character is. We can finally see some cracks in his facade, and it makes Nom Anor all the more nuanced for it.

Now the negatives. The Battle of Esfandia is just…too…LOOOOOOONG. The Force Heretic lack of conciseness strikes again, and with a vengeance. So many pointless battle plans and scenes of characters discussing battle plans and drawn out explanations of battle plans and bewildering executions of battle plans that I honestly just stopped caring. When Jag Fell fucking rams his ship into a Yuuzhan Vong cruiser, flies out of an explosion in a damaged husk, and somehow ESCAPES UNHARMED, I kind of stop caring about what’s happening. I get it, it’s Star Wars, but if you’re going to devote so much of this book (like half of it!!!!) to these insane moments, I kind of need some stakes beyond “they could die!” Because of COURSE they won’t die.

Tahiri’s arc is a bright spot in this plot. We FINALLY get resolution to this (frankly overlong) battle between her personalities, and the resolution is quite good. The new Tahiri is a fascinating character who has the potential to be super interesting and impactful moving forward. This was the only time I didn’t mind the mental visions she was having, and I honestly wish the series didn’t show us any of them until this book.

Now, I want to discuss this trilogy has a whole, because I find it to be an interesting anomaly in the series. The obvious issue is the length of it all. The whole trilogy is nearly 1200 PAGES. That’s the length of Star by Star, Dark Journey, and Traitor combined, and yeah, this trilogy absolutely cannot justify its length. If they had edited for conciseness, I bet each book could be cut down to 200-300 pages MAX, and the story would have benefited as a result. Most of the bloat is within the Han/Leia + Jaina/Jag plot lines, which make up nearly two thirds of this trilogy while offering the least of the three plots. Luke/Jacen’s and Nom Anor’s plot lines are the best parts of this trilogy, and should have been given the primary focus. They honestly could have cut the majority of Galantos, ALL of Bakura, and some of the fluff in Esfandia. That alone would make this segment of the NJO much more digestible.

I’m torn about the chapterless format. While it made the trilogy easy to pick up and put down, the pacing of some plot lines suffers as a result. Nom Anor’s plot has so much stuff happen between each short section that it sucks a lot of the tension out of his schemes. Luke’s plots are great, but the segments they’re told in are so bite sized it makes me wish for more every time. This is the worst in the final book, where Luke/Jacen’s conversation with Sekot is painfully divided into these really quick chunks interspersed between much longer sections of Esfandia. The authors misunderstood what makes this series special. There is WAAAAAY too much focus on the Han/Leia Galactic Alliance plots and too little on the Imperial Remnant, Jedi, and Zonama Sekot, the interesting parts of the NJO.

Overall, yeah, this trilogy isn’t a great entry. If you’re unsure about these (although if you’ve come this far you’ll probably just read them anyway) skim the Galantos plot in I/read the rest, skim ALL of II, and read III. There’s a lot of filler, and filler this late in a 19 book series is a really big speed bump in what’s otherwise been a mostly smooth ride.

Okay, we’re through. The last hiccups in the series are over: only two books left. The Final Prophecy and The Unifying Force are up, and then I will finally conclude the NJO. It’s been a long, wild ride, and I know that some of the best is yet to come. I’m going to take a small break, but then I’m very eager to finish this journey.

[M Hamed · Rating 1 out of 5]

the shit i have to endure to reach book 19 is overwhelming

[Malkhai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/20...

I could pretend being a super cool Star Wars fan who has timed a Star Wars book review with the release of the last film. I could pretend I’m celebrating Star Wars, because my whole agenda has to spin around it during these days. Truth be told, it has been a coincidence. I didn’t even realize about it until this morning. And now that I’m on the path of honesty, I must also point out that my excitement for the new movie is pretty low. I will watch it, but I have the feeling is going to sadden me. But that is a story for another blog that I do not have, so let’s review the book that brought me here today!!

We reunite again with the two missions being told through this trilogy of the New Jedi Order saga: the search for Zonama Sekot led by Luke and the unraveling of the mysteries sorrounding the lack of communications with several spots of the Galaxy led by Leia. Will our heroes find the living planet and convice him to join the cause against the Yuuzhan Vong? Will the communications be finally restored so thay can go on with their lives? Will the plan of Nom Anor bare results or fail miserably? The answers to those questions are one far galaxy away…

I have enjoyed the conclusion of the trilogy much more than the previous book, but they are not that different from each other. This story still feels a bit hollow in comparison with others of the saga and I’m wondering why they decided to make it a trilogy when they obviousoy didn’t have that much to tell. A much more condense story would have been way better, but I guess more books means more money. This book has the interesting, but rather boring part and the stuffing, but enjoyable part. The former is Luke’s mission. They finally find Zonama Sekot and it has been a total blast to return to the planet I met so long ago. But the initial emotion was rapidly extinguished when they start talking in circles and getting nowhere until the very end. The return of the living planet deserved a more epic story, but I guess the best is still to come. What I can’t forgive, though, is the dull storytelling that almost made me take a nap. A waste of characters like Mara or Danni, who barely have any weight during this stage of the quest. I am also a bit peeved about the fact that the events from the previous book have little to zero impact. They had to flee from Chiss territory due to some blue people being upset by their presence there. I thought they were going to be a thorn in their backside during this book, too, but they don’t even get a mention. That makes the second book even worse than before.

So, if I sound so annoyed with this book, how come it has a better mark than the previous one? The mark I have granted this book is mostly thanks to Leia’s mission. Yeah, I still need to see the importance of it, but I have to admit that it has been very enjoyable with crazy action keeping me engaged at all times. We have space battles, hand-to-hand combat, spies, revelations, old friends, new cultures… All the good stuff that Luke’s misison lacks of. There are many remarkable situations to point out, but among my favourites I would pick these ones: General Pellaeon and his honest attempts to forge an alliance with their former enemies, Jag’s moment of glory showing off his superb skills, the step forward developing Tahiri character and the romantic moment were several “I love you“s are said between Jag and Jaina. But, above them all, there is something even better: the return of Droma. I LOVE that character. I LOVE the chemistry he has with Han. They argue as if they were lovers!! The Ryn is a joy to read. It always makes me smile with the way he complains about his life being put in danger. He could look like a coward, but it is just a charade. It’s the kind of character that I want to read more about and I’m eager to find him again in the future.

I still don’t like the way this book is indexed. Long chapters divided in very short fragments that jump from one plot to the other with zero warning. I have found that style harder to follow and it also hinders my capability to focus on the story. My brain had to switch gears too fast and it is not as young as before. I need digesting time and this book grants me none. It’s like a cruel personal trainer who is deaf to any whining between one exercise and the next. My mind slipped now and then and I’m afraid some detail may be lost forever. I hope it is not an important one.

And that’s all. The conflict with the Yuuzhan Vong should be almost over and it doesn’t look like a happy ending is about to happen. Ultimately, this is a Star Wars saga, so I guess the good ones will win. It is the state of the Galaxy that worries me, though. Two more books will unveil the mystery…

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as weak as Remnant, but not as strong as Refugee, Reunion closes out the Force Heretic trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix. There are four story threads that weave through this tale, some stronger than others.

On Yuuzhan'tar, Nom Anor continues to work on his plot to overthrow Supreme Overlord Shimrra. But there are stirrings among his followers that they may not be happy with his leadership. And Shimrra may also be on to the spy Nom Anor has placed in his court. He will have to watch his back; but survival is what Nom Anor is best at. Meanwhile, Han and Leia get called to Esfandia, a remote planet that has a communications relay that allows contact with those in the Unknown Regions. The Yuuzhan Vong are threatening the relay and a small group from the Galactic Alliance must try to defend it. During the battle, Han and Leia get isolated from the others and must go it alone. Jaina stays by Tahiri's bedside, while the young Jedi struggles with her Yuuzhan Vong alter ego. Dix and Williams give us a number of scenes recounting the internal fight between the two aspects of Tahiri's personality, as envisioned in her dreamlike state. And finally, Luke, Mara, Jacen and others finally find Zonama Sekot, the living planet. But although it is clearly powerful, the living world refuses to be drawn into the conflict between the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong. The local Ferroan inhabitants are also displeased with their presence and take action to eliminate the threat.

The longer this series runs, the more it feels like an episodic soap opera. Although occasionally entertaining, the subplots can sometimes leave the reader scratching their head. Why are we spending so much time with Nom Anor? Or with Tahiri? Is the conflict on Esfandia meaningful, or just another minor skirmish in a long, grinding war? I didn't always feel that Dix and Williams gave me clear signals on what was incidental and what was worthy of closer attention. There is a flatness to the writing, rather than a distinct ebb and flow between the highs and lows.

Still, this trilogy didn't annoy me the way that some of the other New Jedi Order books did. The authors handle the characters well and they tie their work neatly to what has gone before. The action sequences are solid and often distinct (e.g. not just another space battle). Although a book like Reunion makes me wonder where the series is going, I didn't necessarily feel like it was just treading water.

[Todd Selby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The search for Zonama Sekot comes to an end as Luke, Jacen and the others finally locate the mysterious planet. Reunion ties up the overarching plot of the Force Heretic trilogy, but in doing so it helps set the stage for the quickly approaching endgame.

I liked the plot on Zonama Sekot well enough. I was glad to see Rogue Planet referenced so extensively, a nice continuity tie. Jacen and Luke's two simultaneous conversations with Sekot were interesting and insightful, both into the nature of the Force and the inner nature of these two Jedi. Luke realizes what needs to be done to end this war, as does Jacen. But Jacen is seeking a solution that doesn't exist, even though it might be a bit more ideal than Luke's solution.

Tahiri got really interesting in this book. I liked that Jaina decided to help her out in her mental struggle, after two books of suspicion. It was certainly an interesting dilemma; the Vong drastically altered Tahiri so that Riina was a whole part of her, and she wasn't about to go away. But in the end Tahiri realizes what to do, and mixes Tahiri with Riina to form a new, better person. I think it's great that she's finally her own person now, great development right there. She's certainly come a long way since Anakin's death. The stuff with the communications center was cool, especially the retiern of Pellaeon. Except this time he's working with the Solos instead of the Skywalkers. Still, he said it before, but he indeed strikes hard at Vorrik. I liked how the authors presented the case of the traitor. They make us all suspicious about this Noghri, but he ends up sacrificing himself toward the good of the GA, and the spy turns out to be someone else entirely. It was also great to see Droma again, and to learn that he is the mastermind behind the Ryn Network. His banter with Han was great, almost reminded me of Han's banter with Chewie.

Nom's plot took some interesting turns. Nice to see that Kunra is actually loyal to him, but still makes sure Nom knows that he owes Kunra for saving him. Then, in an even worse blow, Ngaaluh is exposed by Shimrra. But I feel Nom's story is not yet over. He's one of the craftiest characters around, somehow he will find a new way to elevate himself.

I give this a 3/5 for a nice conclusion to the Force Heretic trilogy, and some great character development all around.

[Kasc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Force Heretic III: Reunion concludes the Force Heretic trilogy within the New Jedi Order series. Unfortunately, other than hoped, this is not a suspenseful finale that wraps up all the loose threads from its two a little tedious, but ok predecessors. To the contrary, this is the dullest book in the trilogy and possibly within the entire New Jedi Order series.
In the end it seems that everyone is exactly where they started in the beginning of the book making the whole story seems somewhat pointless. Zonama Sekot has finally been found and is now supposed to turn the tide in the war, except that no one knows exactly how or seems to have given it any concrete thought. The living planet does make for a very unique setting, tough, and the notion that Anakin and Obi-Wan have at some point been there is quite interesting. Yet, despite these strong premises the story on Sekot never really becomes gripping. Plus, the character Sekot just does not come across as very likeable and I honestly do not care if the planet ends up getting destroyed or not.
Far across the galaxy, Han and Leia end up on the near to inhabitable planet Esfandia. I found this to be another compelling setting and this story line to be the stronger one as it builds up at least some suspension and has a few solid action scenes, both in orbit and on ground.
As in the first two books, this one also frequently checks in with what Nom Anor is up to on former Coruscant. Personally, I could have gone without the majority of these sequences and they contribute heavily to my perception of this book being incredibly boring. Like the first two books in the trilogy, this one is just too long delivering too little story in too many pages. I am only giving it two stars rather than one because I gave the first two books three and they were not really that much better. Plus, it does have some good ideas, which are just executed poorly or get lost in lots of unnecessary clutter.

Overall, I think this trilogy would have worked better as a duology. In principle, its major storylines have some appeal, but are stretched out unnecessarily over three books. Compressing the three books into two and vigorously cutting the transitional passages could have made two solid novels, although the question of whether anything has really been accomplished throughout the course of it would remain.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to power through this book quickly for three reasons. 1) I am SO far behind in my Star Wars reading and come on, really? Just do it already. 2) I didn't want to pause it so I could read this week's Sci-Fi book club book. Just finish it already! 3) I wanted to finish this trilogy before I forgot what happened in the other two books.

I know, I know, useless boring information! (UBI as my wife refers to it.)

I liked a few things about this book that went beyond the routine, as far as Star Wars epic NJO installments go. One, the call backs to Anakin and Obi-Wan from their visit to the Star Wars: Rogue Planet. Two, and I wasn't sure I was going to like this, the focus on Tahiri and her transformation. I ended up liking where they took it. I have been very happy that her character, introduced in the Junior Jedi Knights kids' series, continues to play a prominent part in the NJO, even after [spoiler]Anakin's death a few books back[/spoiler]. Three, making Jag a likeable character. Before he was just sort of the whiny hot shot pilot and wanna be boyfriend. He finally got some good character development. Four, the return of Droma and the mysteries of the Ryn.

I can sort of see where the NJO might be going, from the other plot of Nom Anor and his fake prophet role, and the resolution of the rogue planet storyline in this book. I unfortunately already have had a few NJO-end game spoilers which I'm trying to ignore. Well anyway, book 17 in the can! Just a couple or three more to go to finish this series!

[Rob Whaley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously, did the editors take a holiday with this trilogy? These three books were the worst part of the New Jedi Order series, by far. At least in this one, we finally get some plot advancement with Luke and the others finally getting to Zonama Sekot. Even then, though, the pacing is a nightmare: for every page and a half we get of Luke and Jacen on the planet, we get 6 pages of Han/Leia/Jagged action. Which, while not bad, does drag on and can be frustrating, especially when the action on Sekot really gets going.

One good thing is that we finally get some closure on Tahiri. Turns out she's got split personality and is still dealing with the Riina persona the Vong implanted in her. After some mental trauma, she finally comes to an understanding and manages to meld her two personalities into one. She's now part human, part tuskan, part jedi, and part Yuuzahn Vong. She seems more at peace now, and the Solos are willing to trust her again.

Meanwhile, after landing on Sekot, Luke and Jacen manage to convince it to come back to the galaxy to help with the war effort. And the Alliance and Imperials manage to come together for the first time ever.

This trilogy easily could've been condensed into one or two books, not in 3 400 page books. None of which have chapters. This felt like a homage to the bantem era of SW books, and not in a good way. At least it's finally over, and we're getting to the end of the series.

[Katrin von Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, the Force Heretic trilogy reaches the point, the characters actually get somewhere, and we can move on to more plot impacting, final novels of the New Jedi Order. As with many reviews, this one does contain spoilers.

Like the previous two books, Force Heretic: Reunion, follows three story lines: Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba, Tekli, Captain Yage, and the crew of the Widowmaker searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that is supposed to play a key part in the war; Leia, Han, Jaina, Jag, Tahiri, Twin Suns Squadron, Captain Mayn, and the crew of the Pride of Selonia continuing their quest to reestablish communications in various regions or the galaxy; and Nom Anor taking up the role of Prophet in a Jeedai heresy uprising on Yuuzhan'tar.

The Skywalker story line, the whole point of the trilogy, finally reaches its destination. After pushing through several hundred pages of filler and off-topic events tied only together by leads to the Rogue Planet, the reader gets to the event they've been waiting for; the finding of Zonama Sekot.

I have few complaints with the handling of Zonama Sekot itself, aside from how long it took to get there. Seriously, did we really need three books to get to one planet? Other than that, I think Williams and Dix did a fine job with portraying Zonama and Sekot (the planet and the mind respectively). I especially enjoyed the scene where Sekot compared (for Jacen's benefit) speaking with the beings that inhabited Zonama to a person conversing with a dust mite that crawls across their skin. I'm not sure why I enjoyed that line so much, but I did.

However, we still don't really know what role Zonama Sekot will play in the Yuuzhan Vong War, which makes me wonder why this trilogy was even written. I mean, why write three unnecessarily long books about finding a planet and then not give any indication of the planet's use? We were told in Destiny's Way that Zonama Sekot would play a key role in helping the newly created Galactic Alliance win the war. As a reader and devoted Star Wars fan, I expected to find out why this one planet is so crucial in the book following Destiny's Way. Instead, I read through a long trilogy only to discover that the planet has agreed to help the Galactic Alliance...but its reason for importance is still unknown. So, while I was pleased with Luke and friends finally finding the planet and convincing it to return to the galaxy with them, I was a bit disappointed to not know more about Zonama Sekot's importance three books after the idea was introduced. Still, the Skywalker team accomplished their goal well enough to satisfy me as a reader and allow me to move on from that particular plot line on a good note.

The Solo story line also reached its ultimate goal. As an earlier reviewer pointed out, Cal Omas states at the end of the novel what most of us thought at the beginning of the Force Heretic trilogy: Han and Leia are too important to be sent on a menial task like reestablishing communications when there are many other, more essential things they could be doing to aide the Galactic Alliance in winning the war.

As has been stated before (both by me and by others), the whole point of including the Solo plot seemed to be setting up and executing the conflict with Tahiri. I think Williams and Dix really shone here, with their resolution of Tahiri's inner conflict. I was leery of bringing Tahiri back into the spotlight at first, seeing it as a way to just drag the NJO out longer. But, I think that what Williams and Dix have done will play a significant role in the outcome of the war (not to say that I want a minor character to win this long, galaxy wide conflict...that would be a bit of a let down). The joining of Tahiri and Riina was the strongest part of the Force Heretic trilogy, the coming together of two previously conflicting cultures into one personality. I am eager to see where future authors take this.

As for the Nom Anor story...I can't help but wonder why it was even included. Yes, it set up the Jeedai heresy that I'm sure will play a role in ending the war. And yes, it gave Nom Anor a few character-building moments. But, other than that, what did it really accomplish? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the snippets of Yuuzhan Vong culture and I feel that portraying the Yuuzhan Vong is one of the authors' strong points. However, it just doesn't seem that this particular plot line went anywhere. We now know for sure that the Yuuzhan Vong political structure is corrupt and unsound...but we knew that before. We also know that Nom Anor is up to something...when isn't he? All in all, this story went no where and accomplished very little aside from setting up the heresy conflict that I'm sure will come into play later. So, as much as it pains me to say this about a Yuuzhan Vong story, what was the point of this?

I have few complaints about the authors' writing style itself. The lack of chapters can get really bothersome and makes finding a stopping point extremely difficult. Also, the authors have a rather annoying tendency to jump from one story line to another just when the previous story line was getting interesting. There is also a great reliance on coincidence (for example, Luke and friends just happen to arrive at Zonama Sekot as it is being attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong). Otherwise, they obviously know the Star Wars universe and have done their research (and it's nice to see references to past books). Their writing style, while not the best, is hardly painful to read and is easy enough to understand.

Do I wish I hadn't read this trilogy? No. However, it took three books to accomplish four simple things: an alliance with the Imperial Remnant, the finding of Zonama Sekot, the set up of the Jeedai heresy, and the joining of Tahiri and Riina. Some serious editing should have taken place. The trilogy could have easily been cut down to one or maybe two (at most) books without losing any of the plot. I recommend that any Star Wars and NJO fan at least read Reunion (as it contains the most significant information). I am eager to move on from this now and see how some of the more established authors of the Star Wars universe end the New Jedi Order.

This review is also posted on Amazon.com.

[Darryl Dobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luke, Mara and Jacen achieve their quest in finding Zonoma Sekot, the living planet. So their story arc was more about convincing the planet to help them fight the war. The concept of a living planet with so much power is a cool one. The kidnapping, as I've found many times in this trilogy, is just a story-stretcher.
Han and Leia arrive at a small planet that is a key communications hub "just in time" (of course!) to hold off a Vong attack, with the help of Imperial Admiral Palleon. Tahiri, with the help of Jaina, finally "finds herself" and is able to live with two personalities (the other one being Vong) as one. I like the idea of her becoming a better Jedi and warrior as a result, and I also love the return of Droma to the series as I find him a great character. But this battle for the communications hub I found uninteresting in general.
The other storyline was again the most interesting. Nom Anor continues to rise in prominence as the underground Prophet. And you just know that this will be a key to the Vong's downfall in the future.
A mediocre novel that again covered for its shortcomings with speedy scene/story shifts.

[Arlene Kellas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give 1/2 stars. This book is more than a 3, just less than a 4. It’s Star Wars, so that’s a given, but it lost something in comparison to the other books in the trilogy. I don’t know if it was Sekot or just how the battle ran, but it didn’t focus much on the pilots. Which could have been interesting with TIEs , claw crafts and X-wings flying and working together. And the rag tag fleet was a reach.

I did love the character interactions. Tahiri’s transformation process was so well done. I loved learning about a new species that hadn’t been known before. The Brrbrlpp would be facilitating to see. Amazing that they learned to communicate.

Zanoma Sekot would be another fascinating place to see or visit. I loved how the planet played with them all to test them. Getting info before making his mind up.

This line summed up a lot in regards to what people really want.

“The same as any intelligent entity: to live in peace, to grow in knowledge and wisdom, to love and be loved in return.”

Excerpt From
Force Heretic: Reunion
Sean Williams
This material may be protected by copyright.

[Eric Sullenberger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book finally gets to what should have been a climactic end to this trilogy within the larger series. It had potential and I had high hopes for it, but it just never got there. Yes, they reach Zonama Sekot and loose ends are beginning to be tied up neatly with an end in sight. But instead of something decisive we're still stuck with Jacen's waffling in his moral philosophy trying to decide what to do. It's almost like the character growth that occurred as part of major decisions he made in previous books have been forgotten. When a decision is made it's a mediocre cliffhanger for the next book. Once again I've just listened to the abridged audiobook, but there seems to be a lot of content census on the internet that the print version drags even more.
I don't recall whether I've listened to this one one or two times before, but I do feel like I was definitely more focused this time than in the past. And certainly that's true for the other two in the series as well.

[Michael Wiggins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book in the continuing Yuuzhan Vong war series had plenty of potential, but I was left disappointed on two fronts. I found the main storyline, playing out on Zonoma Sekot, to be underwhelming. The jedi are placed in a stressful, risky situation so that the planet may judge how wisely they act under pressure, but the decisions by Jacen Solo seemed anything but wise to me. He certainly placed himself and all his friends at risk in addition to the dangers they already faced. Of course, that was portrayed as wisdom and restraint, but I don't buy it. Mainly, however, I never really felt they were in danger, because the whole thing seemed contrived. Tahiri's evolution, while probably the most natural possible outcome, also came across as anticlimatic. Perhaps that's just me, though. I may just feel this series is a few books longer than necessary.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 17 down, only 2 more to go in this 19 book slog that I have for some reason dedicated myself to completing. Sean Williams & Shane Dix add tasteful but ultimately standard fare more in line with Force Heretic 1 after the somewhat disappointing Force Heretic 2. The extended universe/canon lore implications in the work are fun, as the book was published after Attack of the Clones but before Revenge of the Sith was released in theaters. I'm interested to see where they take Tahiri's character as I found her somewhat drab and underdeveloped in the series so far. Unfortunately, with so many action heavy plots going on at the same time, some characters (Leia in particular) are sometimes relegated to being "women in refrigerators." Let's see how they use the living planet in the next book. Overall, enjoyable pulp.