Force Heretic II: Refugee

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order #16

by Sean Williams, Shane Dix

Swift and deadly, the Yuuzhan Vong have blasted their way across the galaxy—and now stand on the threshold of total victory. Yet a courageous few still dare to oppose them. . . .

Rife with hostile cultures and outright enemies, the Unknown Regions holds many perils for Luke Skywalker and the Jedi, searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that may hold the key to dealing once and for all with the Yuuzhan Vong.

Meanwhile, on the edge of the galaxy and in the heart of a trusted ally, old enemies are stirring. The Yuuzhan Vong have inflamed long-forgotten vendettas that are even now building up to crisis point. And as Han and Leia journey on their quest to knit the unraveling galaxy back together, betrayal and deception await them. . . .

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

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 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

[Scott Rhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sixteenth book in the New Jedi Order series, "Refugee", continues the story started in Sean Williams and Shane Dix's first book of their Force Heretic trilogy. That book, "Remnant", had been decent but plodding. Unfortunately, "Refugee" isn't much better.

Searching the Unknown Regions for the legendary wandering planet, Zonoma Sekot, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, along with their team, recruit the help of the Chiss. They have been allowed to search the vast archives of ancient texts for any record of the mythical living planet, in the hopes of finding something that could turn the tide in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong.

I wish I could say this storyline was in any way interesting, but, honestly, Luke et al. spends a majority of time just skimming books in the library. Seriously. Oh, and Jacen and Danni Quee begin to have stirrings of sexual attraction. Unfortunately, they are both socially awkward nerds, so very little happens in that department.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia, along with Jaina and others, travel to Bakura to encourage the friendly but somewhat isolationist Bakurans to join the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong. When they arrive, however, Bakura appears to be in the middle of peace treaty negotiations with their ancient reptilian enemies, the Ssi-ruvi. (See Kathy Tyers' "The Truce at Bakura")

Jaina doesn't trust the lizards, a violent warrior race with a history of making promises that they easily break without remorse… not unlike the Yuuzhan Vong. When she stumbles upon a group of underground Bakurans who are against the peace treaty, she is forced to make a choice.

Then, there is Tahiri, the young Jedi Knight with a serious multiple personality disorder. (See Greg Keyes' "Edge of Victory I: Conquest")

This was probably one of my least favorite books in the New Jedi Order series. I'm not really looking forward to reading the third book in the Dix/Williams Force Heretic trilogy now, but I feel obligated to do so, since I am only three books away from the end of the entire series. Yay!!!

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

Another good entry in the New Jedi Order series.

[CS · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tired of the Yuuzhan Vong? You picked the right book!

Luke and gang still search for Zonoma Sekot, this time on the Chiss homeworld of Csilla and in a big library. Han and Leia and company flit to Bakura to recreate Tyer's "Truce at Bakura". And Nom Anor continues to be a heretic.

NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel.

Oh, novel, why do you do this to me? Even though I didn't like reading you the first time, I didn't start listening to the audiobook thinking, "I am going to hate this book, hee hee hee hee!!" I wanted this to be a decent book; I wanted to like this; I wanted to look forward to the end of the NJO series. But instead, you take my good will, you take my hopes and destroy them brutally. How dare you.

Who would have thought that a 400+ page book could have almost nothing of value happen in it. I may not have liked Force Heretic I: Remnant, but to its credit, something of value HAPPENS. Luke and Mara team up with the Imperials; the Imperials band together to fight the Yuuzhan Vong; the Imperials pledge to help Luke and Mara in their quest for Zonoma Sekot and to fight the Yuuzhan Vong alongside the Galactic Alliance.

But this book is 100% skippable. In other words: The ENTIRE BOOK is filler. This is positively ridiculous. You shouldn't be THREE BOOKS away from finishing the series only to hit filler. No. This is the time where things should be coming to a wire; where the fighting should be even more intense; where Luke should be racing to find Zonoma Sekot, where the Yuuzhan Vong should be planning to finally wipe out the Galactic Alliance or vice versa. Instead, let's move away from the battles that have marked the entire series and instead take a trip down memory lane and revisit old Bantam novels *facepalm*

Again, the audiobook spares me hours of misery by removing the useless "Nom Anor is STILL NOT FRAKKIN' DEAD and is a heretic for the Jedi, tee hee, isn't that funny because in the beginning he was trying to kill the Jedi" plot and summarizing Luke's stupid trip to the Chiss library mission with one sentence. Good grief, when I am GRATEFUL to an abridged audiobook for removing parts of the book, something is seriously wrong! Why is Nom Anor still alive? Why doesn't he do anything of value? Where are the other Yuuzhan Vong antagonists doing their big battles or whatever? Why is he the only constant Yuuzhan Vong from Day One?! ARGH!!

As for Luke's mission, this should be THE big thing (I mean, it's hinted that it is going to END the entire WAR), but instead, it's a stupid trip to the library to gawk at ZOMG! paperback books! And guess what?!?! That's where all the trouble is. The conflict is that the books aren't in digital format and easily searchable so Luke and co have to spend more time in the library searching for the damn planet! This, folks, is what the ENTIRE conflict for this plot thread. In a series which has been about the New Republic struggling to avoid genocide, where billions have died, where the very nature of the Force has been dissected and pawed over, Luke and his pals are hanging in the library, hovering over that damn card catalog system! You have got to be kidding me. THIS IS DRAMA?!?! THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO READ ABOUT?!?! Hunting down books, using the Dewey Decimal system, and pouring over pages?!?! This is as bad as making a book about playing a video game!!!

*Goes ballistic and is forcibly administered her happy drugs*

Ahhhhh...Sorry about that.

Anyway, the part of the story that the audiobook decided you couldn't live without is Han and Leia's trip to Bakura (why, I have no clue). You see, last book, they were assigned the mission to reconnect with planets that have been off the radar. And you know what? That's actually not a half bad mission. It makes sense that the government would want to check and see who is still out there, who is on who's side, and so on. But the problem is, the mission to Bakura ultimately A) has nothing to do with the greater Yuuzhan Vong war, B) is throwing our prima donna protagonists at a background mission at best, C) really doesn't bother to include the greater Yuuzhan Vong war (even, you know, a minor battle or something), D) is best probably for some secondary characters to go on (like Corran Horn or Kyp Durron), E) is badly placed in the series (why doesn't this mission happen, say, pre-"Star by Star" similar to the missions Stackpole wrote in for Corran and Ganner in "Ruin" and "Onslaught"?), F) is probably better for a side mission (you know, a B- or C- or even D- plot) and G) HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE YUUZHAN VONG WAR! We are at the point in the series where we should be revving up to the major climax, and we are doing Part Deux of "Truce at Bakura"?! What is WRONG with the authors?! *headdesk*

All the horrible cliches we've seen a billion times in this franchise reappear, with probably the only exception being yet another Superweapon of the Week, but Kevin J. Anderson isn't the author of this series (unless he used a psuedonym...), so that explains that. Anyway, here are some highlights:

1. Han and Leia gripe and whine about the Millennium Falcon being boarded even though it is PART OF THE BAKURAN DEFENSE FLEET'S JOB and would THEY honestly let just ANYONE waltz onto their ship without being double-checked, huh, huh, huh?!
2. Malinza Thanas (orphaned child of Pter Thanas and Gaeriel Captisan) is a whopping 15, is somehow the leader of an entire Rebellion, and can add her name to the list of Star Wars Mary Sues That I Desperately Want to Hunt Down and Kill.
3. Jaina, the supposed "Sword of the Jedi", gets captured and, in stereotypical damsel in distress style that would better suit a Disney movie, must be rescued by a man.
4. A Ryn, a species never seen before this series and yet "invisibly ubiquitous" as the plot requires, can break into any security installation and get whatever Macguffin is needed with a mere janitor's pass. And somehow avoid getting caught.
5. Rejects from the James Bond Villains School, who reveal their entire plan to our protagonists instead of A) doing their plan or B) killing our protagonists.
6. Characters that develop ZOMG! super-Force powers as the plot requires (Tahiri and her Force Bubble Plot Invincibility).
7. Tahiri, who was Vong Formed 6 books ago, but is only starting to deal with it now because the authors figured better late than never.
8. A false death that is so obvious in its setup, you want to tell the authors that Stackpole would like his trope back.
9. Double-, triple-, and quadruple-crosses by known enemies, which the heroes SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER than to ally with, but of course, they don't, otherwise there wouldn't have been filler--I mean, a book--to publish and soak money out of people.

About the only redeeming quality to this book is Tahiri's quest. Yes, it's weird it's taken so long to get to it (she was Vong-formed WAY back in "Conquest"), but it is interesting and well-done.

Like "Remnant", this book is terrible. It is boring, it is pointless, and it is stupid, relying on a plot regurgitated from the Bantam era while trying to conceal it as "building" on previous novels and hoping that you aren't paying enough attention to see the similarities. Unlike "Remnant", there is no reason why this book exists, other than to soak money from Star Wars suckers like myself. I disliked this book heartily and do not recommend even more vigorously.

[Steve Holm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eeh, didn't quite get into this one. Mostly a side story as the main focus, with very little development of the main series plot. Felt very fillerish.

A weak 3 is generous.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked this one. About four different scenarios were going on. The bulk of the book centered around a revisit to Bakura and the Ssi-Ruu. Parts of the Bakura story took place both in space and on the ground. There was also a trip to Chiss space and their library, but it didn't take up a large portion of the book. Nom Amor is also present, but nothing changes with that story, there.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[elef · Rating 3 out of 5]

at some point i started wonder if all these books are necessary. like do we really have to find that planet and all?? it's getting boring idk

[Seth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’m just burnt out on Star Wars or if this one was just bad but I could barely focus on it.

[Caleb Likes Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well… this was an improvement over the first Force Heretic book, but only slightly. Still not quite feeling this trilogy.

There was some good stuff here. A couple of the plotlines are quite interesting: Luke, Mara, Jacen, and others’ search for Zonama Sekot being one; some of the stuff happening with Tahiri being another; and Nom Anor’s involvement with the Yuuzhan Vong being a third, if underused. I found all these plotlines pretty interesting and especially enjoyed the character interactions within them. This book also sees the return of Bakura and the Ssi-ruuk which, while not loving the book they originated from, were nice to see again. I particularly enjoyed some of the worldbuilding in that aspect of the book.

The rest, though, was not very interesting to me. It feels like half the plotlines here were really intriguing, while the other half failed to capture my interest. That’s the main downside of the book to me: a good chunk was just a bit boring. I don’t think it’s as egregious as the first Force Heretic in this regard, as I generally at least enjoyed most scenes individually, but the overarching plots didn’t really do it for me at times. Also, I still dislike the no-chapters structure.

Overall another sorta meh book in The New Jedi Order. I hope I enjoy the third Force Heretic, because this section of the series has been a bit of a dud compared to the rest.

Rating: 6.5/10

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why am I alive when the one I love is dead?

Oh dear.

After the promising first book, I'm disappointed to say that Force Heretic II: Refugee fails to live up to its potential. There are some important developments and good scenes in here, sure, but the experience is bogged down by incessant padding the likes of which I haven't experienced in an Expanded Universe novel since some of the weaker Bantam era trilogies.

Let's start with the things Refugee gets right. Nom Anor continues to be the unquestionable highlight of this trilogy. Playacting as Yu'Shaa, the Shamed One prophet, makes for his greatest story role yet. He gets to manipulate people, come into indirect contact with Shimrra's court and, after all this time, finally put his plaeryin bol to some good use! I thought I'd never see the day! My only gripe here is that he's barely in the novel. A lot of time is spent with the Leia/Jaina/Tahiri side of things, and both Nom Anor and Luke/Jacen suffer for it. Speaking of the latter, after a reasonably fun opening adventure our Zonama Sekot team actually manages to land on Csilla, where they come across not just the ridiculously antiquated medium of books but also the awesomeness that is SOONTIR FEL. The Essential Reader's Companion includes a great piece of art detailing this encounter and I can't get enough of it. Nearing the end of this subplot here, there's another Jacen romance moment a la what we got last time and it's absolutely glorious. As I said, if there's one thing you can't complain about with this trilogy, it's the consistently on point characterizations. Speaking of, Tahiri's story is largely well-handled (I'll get there...), with a great climax at the end. The Bakura mission has some good stuff in it just in general; I'm a fan of Truce at Bakura so seeing my favorite space dinos - and, in a much appreciated twist, their otherwise neglected servants - again was a treat, and Williams & Dix get a lot of mileage out of Melinza Thanas, another EU deep cut we should've gotten to much earlier. There's enough good stuff in here to elevate Refugee to decent status, and I do appreciate it. But it's telling that most of it amounts to scattered details here and there or plotlines that were unfortunately cut short.

As an aside, how could I forget Jon Foster's amazing covers? I've long held the opinion that the original New Jedi Order covers are often unfairly overlooked in favor of their shiny Japanese counterparts, and the Force Heretics are up there with both Dark Tides and the Greg Keyes books in terms of having awesome covers. Sure, some details are off; the scene chosen for Remnant... never occurs, and Refugee seems to have gotten Jaina's lightsaber color wrong. But they're nevertheless so full of energy and action and arguably convey the "alien" feel of the Unknown Regions better than the prose itself does. Give me these rough, human depictions of the cast over their also appealing but ultimately too perfect looking Japanese alternatives any day.

I think Refugee's problems mostly boil down to its aforementioned padding, certainly a result of this trilogy's pitch simply not having enough to work with for an entire trilogy. Hilariously, this is best reflected in how our protagonists spend most of this book: Nom Anor is mostly stuck in his audience chamber waiting for others to do stuff for him, Jacen and the rest of his troupe are stuck in a library, Han and Leia are on Bakura waiting for stuff to happen, Tahiri... is going through her current shtick of making a bit of progress and then blacking out, something which even Jaina, the most proactive character in here, falls victim to twice! Jag Fel, meanwhile, is flying around Bakura and being completely confused as to what is actually happening around him, lol. I'm already starting to forget the details of what exactly happens in this book, so I could be completely off-base with this comment, but I don't think there's any real narrative reason for the gang to even go to Bakura. Sure, seeing Malinza and the rest of Bakura again is great, but what does this trip specifically accomplish? By the end of it, we've gotten the name of the next location to jump to, the next level in this greatest hits video game of a plot. I could accept the Koornacht visit for the sheer shock value of learning what exactly happened there, but despite more time being devoted to it, Bakura feels more empty. Like with many of the Bantam trilogies, you can feel Force Heretic already running out of steam by its middle entry.

An unfortunate side effect of this seeming effort to pad things out is an elevated amount of baffling moments. Having Luke and the others visit Csilla is great, sure, but though I do like the library setting and some of the interactions there, certain elements seem off. The Chiss in Refugee seem quite snippy, less the cold and calculated individuals from works past and more just a group of arrogant people without a lot of defining features otherwise. Same goes for Mara, sadly. Soontir Fel returning is great, of course, but shouldn't he be with the Empire of the Hand instead of here on the Chiss capital? In fact, why does nobody actually mention the Hand of Thrawn? Oh, and as the novel progresses his daughter gets kidnapped as a bargaining chip or something in the weirdest and most unnecessary plot in here. Didn't this exact thing happen to her already, way back in the X-Wing comics...? This might be a reach, but Han seems a bit flanderized in here too, a lot louder and much more brash than in previous NJO outings, including the last one. With this example especially I don't think Sean & Shane necessarily have a "wrong" view of the character, it's just, if I had to make a guess, that the lack of otherwise meaningful content leads to the cast's supposed defining features being played up. My last complaint has to do with the explanation given for Tahiri's behavior. So apparently the reemergence of her Riina personality has to do with a certain event leading Tahiri to fall into past trauma. Good. That event being the Yuuzhan Vong starting to lose the war as of Destiny's Way, which apparently deeply upset Riina as a Vong, making her reawaken. Nonsense. I think the initial concept of a small thing leading Tahiri to fall into a bout of PTSD-induced schizophrenia is conceptually great, but the actual explanation we do get is rather silly. The trigger really should have been more insignificant, perhaps a smell or souvenir of sorts pertaining to Yavin IV. Something more in line with how victims of PTSD actually have to deal with, and not the clunkiness of her Riina personality noticing that the war is taking a turn.

Refugee is a decent enough read, I suppose, but easily the weakest NJO novel so far. Its good elements are ultimately drowned out by a distinct lack of interesting material to fill almost 400 (!) pages with. Not bad, but certainly not up to the series' standards. Maybe the next novel will pick up the slack and meet or even exceed the potential outlined in Remnant.

[M Hamed · Rating 1 out of 5]

greed ,it's the only justification for such atrocity

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong 3.5 stars...but I can't go any higher because I feel as if too much is going on here, and the density and quality of the stories are just too much for a single novel. To say nothing of the fact that I found the Bakura side of the plot far more interesting than the search for Zonoma Sekot...and actually more interesting than the original novel "Truce at Bakura". I wish it had been in its own novel -- it deserves to be so.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites. Sort of slow and a significant part of th book takes place in a library.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting turn at the end. One more book in this sub series and back to normal writing not long sections with no chapters and randomly switching POV.

[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 second book in the Force Heretic trilogy, Force Heretic: Refugee by Sean Williams and Shane Dix.

SOME HISTORY:

Sean Williams and Shane Dix didn’t expect a lot of media attention for their Star Wars book deal, but that was not the case. Williams was unfortunately misquoted in their local paper, making it seem as though they were writing the scripts for Episodes VII-IX, not a trilogy in the New Jedi Order book series. Prequel fever was raging wild at the time, so Australian media ran with this story--even though it was absolutely incorrect. Force Heretic: Refugee made it to number eight on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of May 18, 2003, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I have no memory of this book at all. Did I buy it? Did I read it? Who knows!

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Rife with hostile cultures and outright enemies, the Unknown Regions hold many perils for Luke Skywalker and the Jedi searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that may hold the key to dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, Han and Leia journey on their quest to knit the unraveling galaxy back together, but betrayal and deception await them on Bakura…

THE CHARACTERS:

As with Force Heretic I: Remnant, Refugee is divided into three main subplots: Han & Leia, Jaina & Jag, and Tahiri’s mission to Bakura, following up on a rumor passed along by the Ryn network; Luke & Mara, Jacen & Danni Quee, and Tekli & Saba Sebatyne’s continued search for Zonama Sekot, this time in Chiss territory; and Nom Anor’s new life as Yu’shaa the Prophet and his increasingly desperate attempts to get a spy into Supreme Overlord Shimrra’s court.

The Solo team (I don’t want to keep typing out all their names) arrive at Bakura in the middle of a very tense situation--the Bakurans are allying themselves with the P’w’ecks, who overthrown their Ssi-Ruuk overlords (our old foes from The Truce at Bakura). While Han and Leia pursue the diplomatic side, Jaina follows up on more information from the Ryn network that leads her to Malinza Thanas. The orphaned daughter of Gaeriel Captison, Malinza is part of a political group that wants to end interference from Imperial or Republic forces, so that Bakura can govern itself (not surprising, after what happened in the Corellian trilogy…). Jaina’s not particularly good at investigating--she remains in the dark for most of the story, and is betrayed by multiple individuals--but since she’s not a trained investigator, I was OK with her screw ups.

Because as it turns out, the P’w’eck have not been emancipated, but are still in league with the Ssi-Ruuk! Between Blaine Harris’s bomb during the consecration ceremony and Prime Minister Cundertol’s secret agreement with the Ssi-Ruuk, our heroes end up in a very bad situation towards the end. The threat of entechment (how the Ssi-Ruuk steal people’s spirits to power their droid fighters) hangs over everyone’s head, but especially over the heads of Jag and Twin Suns Squadron.

Luke and Jacen begin the novel running from hostile aliens--but don’t worry, they’re all OK. They’re subsequently contacted by a Chiss officer, who gives them clearance to enter the Chiss capital of Csilla. They met with officials from the Four Ruling families, who allow them to search the Expeditionary Library for references to Zonama Sekot, but they have a short timeframe to do so: only two days.

They arrive at the library, they’re surprised that the library is totally analog (all physical books, no databases); they look through a lot of books; they meet Baron Fel again, as well as his wife Syal Antilles and daughter Wyn; they take a short break to foil a scheme against Baron Fel’s family, and then return to the library. They run a search for systems that have acquired new planets, and find nothing. Jacen in particular is upset by this deadend, because what’s the point if they don’t find the location of Zonama Sekot? There’s possibly a little development on the Jacen/Danni relationship front, except Jacen doesn’t answer her--he has an eureka moment, runs back to order a search on all systems that have acquired new moons, and bingo.

Side Tangent - Archival Rant :

It was funny at first when Luke and company were flabbergasted by the presence of actual physical books in the Expeditionary Library, but then I started to think: surely one of them (like Luke) has seen physical books before? I know that the Jedi of old loved their holocrons, but there had to have been ancient Jedi texts in paper form as well!

And while I can understand holding onto physical items and not depending wholly on a digital collection (files can become obsolete, or be corrupted, or even hacked), I’m surprised that the Chiss don’t have any sort of digital backup. Rare books can be damaged or destroyed--back things up!

Finally, Saba mentioned that the air of the library was warm and dry, and it was making her scales itch. Dry, yes: it’s recommended that paper collections be kept at 30-50% humidity--too wet and you’ll start to grow mold, but too dry and the pages will begin to crack. But archives shouldn’t be warm at all; again, the Smithsonian recommends that paper-based collections be kept at 35-65℉ or 1.6667-18.3333℃. Libraries shouldn’t be toasty warm--that’s why you shouldn’t keep your books in non-climate-controlled places like a garage or a shed.

BACK TO CHARACTERS:

Nom Anor is growing his congregation of Shamed Ones (and increasingly, Vong from other castes as well), but he needs to know what Shimrra is planning. Nom Anor and Kunra catch, interrogate, and kill a spy in their midst, so they know that the priests are trying to infiltrate their Jeedai heresy. But fortunately, they soon bring a priestess of the deception sect into their heresy (side note: after so many books of Nom Anor dithering about using his poison eyeball, he finally uses it--and immediately has an “oh shoot, wrong decision” reaction), and are finally able to overhear what Shimrra’s up to. Spoiler alert: not much; things are going badly.

I find the Ssi-Ruuk intriguing, since they’re rather different from other reptilian yet human baseline species we’ve encountered in the Star Wars galaxy. Trandoshans have two arms and two legs, and they’re basically human-sized lizards. Barabels have two arms and two legs, and a tail, and they’re (again) human-sized lizards. But the Ssi-Ruuk are different, and look more like sentient dinosaurs. Their language sounds like fluted whistles (thus their human-given pejorative of “Fluties”), their weapons are different, and their technology is driven by the subjection of others. They’re foreign to the rest of the galaxy, which makes them so unknown and frightening.

Prime Minister Cundertol, on the other hand, was odd. He’s a very suspicious figure--in league with the Ssi-Ruuk, inhumanely strong and fast--and it turns out that he’s a human replica droid. The OG Cundertol was enteched into a HRD so that he could achieve immortality...but he’s in turn killed by a Yuuzhan Vong agent masquerading as a Ssi-Ruu. (Which...I know they’ve developed many different ooglith cloakers, but the Ssi-Ruuk are so far from the human baseline that I’m not sure how a cloaker can mimic them? But whatever.)

We learn a little bit more about the Chiss, although this will become confusing and convoluted and overwritten in later books. We meet another Fel kid, which brings the number of named Fel children up to four: Davin (deceased), Jagged, Cherith (deceased), and now Wyn. There’s mention of a Cem, but they’re not confirmed to be a Fel kid.

ISSUES:

I continued to struggle with the lack of chapters--thinking about it further, I think my problem comes down to Williams and Dix not committing fully to a no-structure, continuous story. I have no problem reading the Discworld books, but apart from the ones with Moist von Lipwig (which are structurally Victorian/Edwardian pastiches) the books are one continuous chapter-less story that I felt free to put down whenever. But the Force Heretic trilogy still pays lip service to a traditional structure (prologues and epilogues, distinct numbered parts) so once I reached one of those definite stopping places, it was hard for me to pick the book back up.

If I felt like Luke’s Imperial Remnant subplot in Remnant was vastly more important than Han and Leia’s mission to Galantos, the subplots felt flipped in importance in Refugee. Luke’s team don’t accomplish much here; I like fictional libraries, but they spend far too much time faffing around in the Chiss library before Jacen miraculously finds Zonama Sekot’s location at the end. Even the action element (the plot against the Fels) felt lesser than what Han & Leia and Jaina & Jag were dealing with.

But as much as I enjoyed the Bakuran subplot, I’m not sure how much enjoyment a new reader would get from it. The P’w’eck leader explains a little bit about the Ssi-Ruuk, but there’s an assumption that the reader has already read The Truce at Bakura and doesn’t need to be completely filled in. I suppose that’s the downside of these “tying up loose ends from the Bantam era” subplots--you need to have read those Bantam era novels to actually derive any satisfaction from the conclusion. In Tyers’s novel, entechment is described (and shown) in detail, and becomes a terrifying prospect to our heroes; in Refugee, though, we never see it in action, so it’s not as scary a threat as it could be.

And finally, the pace continued to be far too slow in this book. The beginning set off with a bang, with Luke and Jacen running from hostile Alien-esque aliens and Han and Leia’s motives immediately questioned on Bakura, but once those initial incidents were resolved the pace slowed considerably. It honestly didn’t start to pick back up until Part Four: Consecration, which meant that most of the book was slow going. Again, it was hard for me to pick the book back up when I knew that the reading process was a bit of a slog.

IN CONCLUSION:

Refugee definitely felt like a middle book to me: we don’t have a lot of progress with the Zonama Sekot search until the very end; Nom Anor’s congregation is growing and he finally has a high-ranking official in his heresy, but any big confrontations or revelations are pushed back until book 3; and while I found Han and Leia’s mission on Bakura interesting (it was fun to revisit stuff from The Truce at Bakura), Tahiri’s fate is left hanging. I think that there are some fun ideas here, I just wish that the structure and the pace didn’t make it so easy to put this book down.


Next up: a short story from Star Wars Insider issue 75, set in-between Force Heretic: Refugee and Force Heretic III: Reunion: Or Die Trying by Sean Williams and Shane Dix.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/LTDoxn0yzrY

Smithsonian Institute Archives info on temperature and humidity for archival collections: https://siarchives.si.edu/what-we-do/...

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...

[Lance Shadow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well folks, we've hit not just a new low for the New Jedi Order, but for me personally, a new low for Star Wars novels in general. This book was PAINFUL to get through.

So how did we get to this monumental milestone in my Star Wars reading journey? Well, this is the 16th book in the New Jedi Order novel series, which I have been reading for more than four years now. And honestly... this book killed my emotional investment in the series. At this point in the New Jedi Order's narrative, things should really be ramping up towards the big climactic finale. It wasn't too long ago when Destiny's Way actually did a great job setting the stage for it to happen. But pretty much as soon as the momentum was built up, Force Heretic I: Remnant ground everything to a halt. And Force Heretic II: Refugee only made things worse- much, MUCH worse.

THE STORY:
So we have one storyline involving Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni Quee, Saba Sebatyne, and Tekli (?), maybe some others who I don't remember, going to (gasp) an analogue library on Csilla, the homeworld of the Chiss. Actual hard bound books in STAR WARS? HOW KRIFFING RIVETING! (that was sarcasm by the way). I think there's an action sequence or some kind of attack in there somewhere, but I completely forgot.
At the same time, there's another storyline going on where Leia, Han, Jaina, Jag, and Tahiri go to Bakura for a Diplomatic mission (Gee, haven't seen that in the New Jedi Order, how fascinating.) (didn't catch my sarcasm yet? I meant GODDAMIT NOT ANOTHER ONE OF THESE!).
Finally, we have Nom Anor, who just sits around on Yuuzhan Tar and hangs out with the Shamed Ones some more. They just chat a bunch. I'd love to make another joke about it but I already completely forgot everything they were prattling on about. More importantly, I don't care.

THE BAD: Somehow, Shane Dix and Sean Williams repeated EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR MISTAKES FROM THE PREVIOUS FORCE HERETIC. Good God, are they TRYING to ruin the series at this point???
If you saw my review of the first Force Heretic book, all of the complaints I had about that book apply to this one- "Refugee" is bloated, boring, and once again continues to waste the reader's time.
Just like before, every single character is ridiculously boring. So was the action. And the dialogue. And both of the subplots. But unlike Remnant, there's no charming chemistry between Jaina and Jagged Fel, because he gets past his discomfort with PDA- ensuring that they play out like any other generic romantic pairing in any story ever.
And HOW THE KRIFF did this book go for ALMOST 400 PAGES? Thank goodness it wasn't quite as long as Remnant, but it was still WAY TO KRIFFING LONG.

Seriously, there's not a single aspect of this novel that I genuinely liked. Force Heretic II: Refugee was a miserable exercise of sheer boredom in which took a miracle in the force to complete.

THE... NOT SO BAD(?): I will try to offer a touch of positivity by pointing out ONE ASPECT that COULD HAVE BEEN good if it was handled by a more capable writer than either of the guys in the hack duo that wrote this maker-awful trilogy.
The Tahiri storyline had potential to be interesting. And I really have to emphasize, POTENTIAL. Because in practice, it still sucked because of the dull and sluggish writing from Dix and Williams. I liked the idea of Tahiri's alter-ego, Riina Kwaad, resurfacing. After Greg Keyes set up this plotline for Tahiri in the Edge of Victory books, none of the authors following him did anything with this. Riina doesn't even get a mention until this book. So... yeah, Dix and Williams tried to address it so I guess that's something?
There's also a line somewhere in the middle where Tahiri addresses Han and Leia as family. I like this idea quite a bit (IN CONCEPT!) as well. Tahiri having lost her parents and her mentor figures, and Han and Leia having lost Anakin, it makes sense that these three characters could bond. And I have quite a soft spot for the found family trope. But again, it was all executed terribly in this book so I can't give these two authors credit for it.

Lastly... the Bakura suplot is definitely fanservice for fans of The Truce at Bakura. They bring in the Ssi-Ruuvi and whatever weird technology they were supposed to have, so if you're into that... you might find this book slightly more bearable than I did...?

THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 0.5 stars.
GOOD. KRIFFING. GOD. "Force Heretic II: Refugee" was ATROCIOUS. Taken in isolation, this book is probably not that much worse than "Remnant". While the characters are dull as sin, I didn't get the sense that anyone was outright inaccurate to how they've been portrayed in the rest of the series. And at least the library subplot feels more closely connected to the search for Zonama Seekot than all the dicking around with the imperial remnant (Oh right, that's supposed to be the driving motivation for our heroes in these books. But I don't care enough to add that bit into THE STORY).

But CONTEXT MATTERS here. I already wasted my time reading a 400+ page Force Heretic novel with boring filler plots and zero character development with Remnant. "Refugee" was basically the same thing- a novel so bloated and painful to read through that it left me seething with anger that Shane Dix and Sean Williams had the KRIFFING NERVE to torture me like this TWICE IN A ROW. Because of this, I can finally say I have read a Star Wars novel worse than Fatal Alliance. That book had pretty much all the same problems as this one (and it was 100 pages longer too!) but at least that was just an isolated case of bad where I could just ignore it until I need to make unfunny jokes in my reviews or I needed to make a point of comparison when venting about bad star wars content.
With this book, however, it is starting to make me look back less fondly on the New Jedi Order series. I'm very quickly losing my interest in this story. Sure I'll finish the series, but only because I'm so close to the end. I don't feel invested anymore because of how tired this trilogy has made me.

Speaking of which, right... Force Heretic is a trilogy... which means.......
...
...
I still have to read one more of these stupid Force Heretic Books.
GOD. KRIFFING. DAMMIT. KILL. ME. NOW.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Del Rey started the New Jedi Order to get away from people trying to overthrow the New Republic and blame the good guys. So in this book, we get a plot about people trying to overthrow the New Republic and blame the good guys. What?

Danni and Jacen have no chemistry together. Why are they making this a thing? The only good thing I have to say about this book is that Tahiri's struggle with Riina is a welcome addition to the series and the EU as a whole. Also, I only have three books left. "Thank the maker!"

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of three halves...(!)

The Ssi-Ruuk story was surprisingly enjoyable - though the revelation near the end had predictable inevitableness.

The Chiss story was fun, though the Zonama Sekot story (the reason for being with the Chiss) is rather tedious - rather like 'Gaia' in the later 'Foundation' books.

Nom Amor's religion building is fun to watch - religions co-opted for political purposes, and with the potential to leave politics behind and forgotten....

[Nick Antonoglu · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/10
The Truce at Bakura II - I mean Force Heretic II - is probably the most pointless book in the NJO. It isn’t a shitshow, but I gained nothing of value from reading it.

Positives…um, I’m not sure. Like, the good stuff here is nothing you haven’t seen done better in the other books. The characters are still good (mostly), and the evolution of their relationships is well paced. I liked the intro with the Krizlaws. Csilla is a cool planet. Nom Anor is…alive.

Now, the big determining question as to whether you will enjoy this read: Do you think The Truce at Bakura is the greatest piece of Star Wars literature ever written?

To be up front, I have never read Truce. I briefly digested a wookiepedia summary of it as I got further into this one and realized just how Bakura-focused it was going to be and…it seems alright? This book does do well in filling in the gaps that may be needed from Truce, but here is the big problem - why is the fourth to last book in a nineteen book series (and the second book in a sub-trilogy) a SEQUEL TO A COMPLETELY UNRELATED STORY??? Like, I just don’t get it. This book dragged the pacing of the series to a SCREECHING halt, and for what? Ssi-Ruvi imperium lore? Bakuran freedom fighters? Chiss familial politics?

Again, the Bakura stuff isn’t terrible, but it is really misplaced and reeks of filler. And while it isn’t terrible, there are a lot of problems with this mess of a plot - so much subterfuge and so many characters/interests get completely muddled by bad pacing and hokey dialogue. Man, the villains in the Bakura plot suck. The Keeramak is the most overhyped antagonist I’ve read in a while, Harris is a mustache twirling charlatan who loses almost laughably easily, and Cundertol is…whatever. Why does this book have three antagonists if they’re all going to suck?

There’s honestly just so much clutter in this plot, I don’t even know how to talk about it. The writing problems from Force Heretic I persist here, and make things WAY more confusing and detailed than they have to be. Dialogue is stilted and hammy, characters go on and on about blatantly obvious revelations, and man…WE GET IT! IF YOU LOSE IN A FIGHT, YOU WILL INDEED EITHER DIE OR GET TAKEN PRISONER! NO SHIT, JAG!!!!!

Anyway, I couldn’t believe how much of this book was stuck at Bakura. The Yuuzhan Vong aren’t even involved in this plot line until like the last two pages of the book, and even then, the reveal is so dumb. This is the most filler plot in the whole series, even more than Balance Point.

I will complement Goure the Ryn. He was the best part of the Bakura plot and a fun addition to the team’s dynamic. That’s all.

Despite making up like 2/3rds of the book, the Bakura plot isn’t the entire story. There are actually other subplots here, and while they are both better, they still are unnecessary and bloated.

The Luke Skywalker library plot was the one complaint I had heard going into this one, but I actually thought this was my favorite of the three. That’s not saying much, but at least the characters here had a goal relevant to the series’ overarching conflict. The library stuff is kind of dumb and a little boring, but it services the overarching narrative. I liked the time spent developing Saba and Jacen/Danni’s relationship. Could this have been done better? Probably, but it was the best part of the book so I’ll take what I can get. The Soontir Fel/Wyn conflict was the exception to my enjoyment here, a dumb and pointless distraction.

The Nom Anor plot is fine. He is still Propheting. There were like 3 scenes with him in the entire book so I wonder why he’s even here to begin with. Just cut this and add more scenes of C-3P0 translating the Keeramak’s speech! Or maybe more pointless and edgy visions for Tahiri!

I really didn’t like the Bakura plot.

Yeah, this might be the new low for me. While I really didn’t like Balance Point, at least that book served a purpose in the narrative. You can effectively skip this book and miss nothing. Here, I’ll summarize the only events that mattered for you in three sentences: Jacen comes up with the idea to look for Zonoma Sekot orbiting a gas giant, and picks up a lead from a book. Tahiri’s Yuuzhan Vong personality is growing stronger, and she needs to reconcile with it to move on. Nom Anor converts a high level Yuuzhan Vong priestess into a spy in Shimmra’s court.

Boom. That’s the book. 397 pages in three sentences. Truce at Bakura fans, eat your heart out, but the rest of us will now move on to better things.

This was a tough one, but going into it knowing it would be slow and bad helped take the edge off. Just one more book in the Force Heretic trilogy, and I hear Force Heretic III is an improvement over II.

At this point though, I’m just counting down the days until I reach Final Prophecy, and get back to the interesting stuff.

[Kasc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off rather promising. Other than giving us a lengthy exposition, it throws us into the action right away: Luke and co. are hunted by a species they visited in peace including a creature that could have come right out of the movie Alien. Meanwhile, Leia and co. are attacked by a bunch of battle droids on their trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, as soon as the first action is settled, the novel becomes a chore for a while with overly lengthy sequences, lack of action, and lack of relevance to the overall Yuuzhan Vong plot.

The quest to find Zonama Sekot continues and it takes the mission into Chiss territory in the Unknown Regions. Once there, Luke, Jacen, and Saba spend hours and hours in a library going through actual books to find clues about the lost planet. While their exasperation at realizing they would have to go through data analogously is hilarious, this whole plot line is as dull as it sounds. However, it does introduce us to Jag’s family, which I found interesting (although both his mom and sister are a little annoying).

Han and Leia’s mission in turn takes them to Bakura, where they arrive at a rather inconvenient time as the latter is in the middle of a major political transition while some kind of conspiracy appears to be going on. The Bakurans aren’t all that happy to see the Galactic Alliance emissaries doubting that joining the Alliance would be beneficial for them. I think in contesting its value, an interesting question is raised: are individual entities really better off under a centralized system?
Personally, I enjoyed this storyline a lot more than the other one. For one, I like revisiting places from previous stories (had I not read Truce at Bakura the interrelatedness would have annoyed me, though). For another, it involves more action and is able to build up a great deal of suspense especially towards the end, which was perturbed a little by the authors cutting away to the Unknown Regions plot or, worse, the useless Nom Anor side plot at the worst possible moments.
Han and Leia play a rather negligible role here, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it means that we get to see Jaina take things into her own hands. While she goes about it in a rather amateurish way, it is refreshing to see her outside of her starfighter for once. Plus, the older she gets, the more uncanny the resemblance to her mother in terms of temperament and behavior seems to get.
On the other hand, sidelining the original cast is always a missed opportunity. Besides that, Han and Leia appear quite useless in the final confrontation. Leia draws her lightsaber and does nothing with it and whether Han even gets involved I am not sure. Also, Leia lets the bad guy get away to coo her daughter. Funny she should start acting like that now that her kids are grown.
The authors also give us a little insight into Tahiri’s struggle with the Vongforming she has gone through and Anakin’s death, which is both captivating and heartbreaking. Han and Leia are trying to help, but somehow, they are going about it all wrong treating Tahiri like a child and talking about her like she’s not even in the room when standing right next to her. Their behavior paired with the fact that Tahiri is still a teenager make her rash actions understandable. On top of that, her time with the Solos must have had an impact on her, because she is capable of being just as self-important as the Solo kids. Much like Jacen thinking his falling to the Dark Side would mean the practical collapse of the galaxy, Tahiri thinks that if she falls to her Vong urges, “life in the galaxy would vanish under a creeping tide of darkness that no dawn could ever hope dispel” (dramatic much?). Also, I get that Tahiri is grieving over Anakin, but her fixation on their “love that could have been” is a little much. Even worse, everyone else, too, seems to think the two of them would have ended up together. I mean, knowing how those stories usually turn out they probably would have. However, they were still kids so there is a decent chance they would have broken up at some point.

All in all, this book has a lot of grievances. Considering how far we already are in the series it adds surprisingly little to the overall plot and would probably have done well with 100 or so fewer pages (apparently it is frowned upon to release anything under 350 pages). Nevertheless, I am giving it three stars because with all of its faults I enjoyed a good portion of it and did not want to put it aside towards the end.

[Malkhai · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

Little by little I’m reading this saga… Almost 15 years enjoying that far galaxy during its conflic against the Yuuzhan Vong. My intention was to read it faster, but publishers in Spain had another opinion, so I had to wait until my English was good enough to tackle that Universe in its original language. The New Jedi Order is the perfect example of why the Expanded Universe was so great and why it shouldn’t have been dismissed so promptly by the new owners of Star Wars.

As in the previous book, this one is also divided in three fronts. One of the main ones is the mission to Bakura, where Leia, Han, Jaina and company go to investigate the political situation of a planet always afraid of alien invasions. We also have the quest to find Zonama Sekot lead by Luke, Mara, Jacen and company. They want to cut down the time of searching by using the Chiss records about the Unknown Regions. Too bad our blue pals are not famous for their trusting nature. And lastly we also follow Nom Anor and his revolution of the Shamed Ones. No rest for the wicked I guess…

Is the story nice and enjoyable? Yes. Is the story full of Star Wars lore and magic? Yes. Is the story worthy of being one of the last books of The New Jedi Order saga? Sadly, I’m afraid that is not the case. I’m here to read about the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. For the first time in many years the good guys have the advantage, but it seems they have enough time to distract themselves with secondary missions that are barely related with the biggest conflict. That is not really what I wanted to read. We should be reaching some kind of climax to the story, but these last two books feel like a stop just to catch your breath. If it were just a book, I would be OK with it; but it looks like the whole trilogy is going to be like that…

Now that all the whinning is out of me, I will be able to judge the story by what it is and not by what I want it to be. Among our hands we have an action-packed book with great characters, nice stories and some twists and punches to keep things interesting. By far, the most remarkable one is the story of Bakura. I wasn’t at all pleased with another journey through memory lane, but I must admit the result is quite good. I would even consider that part the main one of the book and the one that gets all the focus in the last chapter. And it is the story with all the twists (some pretty badass), although I must say I don’t really like the way all the secrets are revealed almost at the same time. It was crazy. No time to digest a punch when we are already receiving another one and two more are waiting… I consider myself a masochist as a reader, but that was a bit too much.

The other two stories are less interesting. Luke’s part of the book has a very strong start, but it loses momentum pretty quickly. The search for information in Chiss space is necessary, but it lacks emotion and, sometimes, it is even boring. There is a weak attempt to bring some drama, but it dies as soon as it starts. And the part with Nom Anor is just more of the same. I hope we get something mindblowing in the third book after reading over and over again how Nom Anor spreads the new truth about the Jeedai. He must have some kind of epic endgame. It is Nom Anor, after all.

I usually don’t mind the constant leaping from one story to the other, but this time those jumps happen every few paragraphs and as a reader I found myself having issues relocating my focus. I usually read at night and my brain is not as young as before, so I had more difficulties than expected to follow all the threads. That’s why I’m grateful the last chapter (the important one) is only focused on Bakura.

I don’t have anything special to say about the characters. These all friends are all great and a pleasure to read, but I would have loved some kind of development. Being honest, there is something about that with Tahiri (be careful what you wish for…); but I was hoping for a more romantic development. Thanks to this trilogy, Jacen, Jaina, Jag and Danni are not in a constant fight for their lives; so I was expecting a more direct approach to their feelings. What can I say! I’m a sucker for love!!

[Todd Selby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Refugee picks up the Force Heretic trilogy and sets new events into motion. The issues of the first book are still present; Tahiri is still having issues while Luke and Jacen are still looking for Zonama Sekot, but their plots are very different from the previous book.

This book was almost the reverse of the last one in terms of quality and enjoyment. The Solos' story was better than the Skywalkers' story. Though, even in Remnant the Skywalker story was boosted by the fact that Pellaeon was a major player there. Here they interact with the enigmatic Chiss Ascendancy. This secluded society is very cautious when it comes to outsiders, so they are wary of Luke, Jacen and the others traveling throughout their territory with what they see as a shady operation in the works. Everyone travels to the Chiss capital of Csilla, where they meet Soontir Fel and some of his family. Despite the romance between Jaina and Jag, Soontir treats the Jedi no different than any other outsiders, at least until they foil an assassination/kidnapping attempt against Fel's young daughter. I thought this development was a little contrived, just to take up space since it would be a short story if the Skywalkers simply find Zonama Sekot this early. That said, I did like their research in the Csilla library hall, and their thought process behind searching for their wayward planet. It's interesting to see the indirect effects Zonama Sekot has had on the planets it visited over the last fifty years. Still, it was cool to see some facets of Chiss society.

Following the advice of a mysterious Ryn, the Solos and Tahiri travel to Bakura, because the authors want to revisit as many Bantam plots as possible. :P But seriously, I thought this was a very cool plot. We once again deal with a xenophobic, warlike species and a planet that fears them. But unlike the Fian people, the Bakurans seek to ally themselves with the slaves of their former enemies, the latter of whom have seemingly been defeated. But not everything is as it seems on Bakura. Jaina gets a lot of good action working with some Rebels led by none other than Gaeriel Captison's daughter, Malinza. They work as a guerilla movement against the Prime Minister, who it turns out is plotting against the Bakurans with the Ssi Ruuk, who are not subjugated and are trying to invade once again. Tahiri also gets in on the action by working directly with one of the Ryn, and the two of them uncover some shocking truths about the Prime Minister, who has been entrenched into a human replica droid in return for his obedience to the Ssi Ruuk. But the day is saved! The Ssi Ruuk's slaves, the P'w'eck, rebel for real and kill the Ssi- Ruuvi leader, while the Prime Minister flees, only to find out that this whole affair was orchestrated by the Vong to sow chaos. And now Tahiri is catatonic, as her Vong half begins to take over.

Nom Anor does not get as much pagetime here as he did in Remnant. His heretical movement is growing, and is causing concerns to rise in the ruling circles. I like his performances as the Prophet, and his plotting to return to power. His plan to insert a spy into Shimrra's court is nothing short of insanity, but with the backing of the priestess Ngaaluh, it might just work. Nom's story is developing in unique and interesting ways, and it is clear that he will continue to play a large role in the rest of the series.
I think this novel could have benefitted from a shorter length. Either that, or we could have seen more of Luke and co.'s search for Zonama Sekot. Searching through a library is one thing, but when it occupies the majority of their plot, it becomes a bit much, and it got a little boring. There could have also been more insight into Chiss society, but I guess that may have detracted from the plot too. Poor Tahiri. She considers the Solos her family, but Jaina views her with great suspicion. I guess it's a product of the war. The Jedi and the GA are fighting the Vong, so naturally Jaina is distrustful of a girl who has some Vong within her and is showing signs of split personality.

I give this 3/5 stars for some more fun adventures for our heroes.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Australian authors Sean Williams and Shane Dix offer up another solid entry in the New Jedi Order series. This one finds Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, Jacen Solo and the rest of their entourage traveling to the homeworld of the Chiss in the Unknown Regions. They hope to solicit the aid of the Chiss in their quest for the living planet Zonama Sekot. But there are conspiracies roiling under the surface on the capital of Csilla that may foil their efforts - and threaten their lives. Meanwhile, Han, Leia and Jaina Solo are busy at Bakura, attempting to bring the Bakurans into the new Galactic Alliance. But there are strange happenings here as well, and Jaina will eventually make contact with underground leaders in an attempt to understand the strange politics at play. A third plot line follows the continuing adventures of Nom Anor, former Yuuzhan Vong Executor, as he attempts to build a false religion and overthrow the Supreme Overlord.

I enjoyed this book because I think it does a nice job of capturing the essential things that make Star Wars interesting. It's not always about battles between the stars or lightsaber duels (although we have some of that too). Here, there are politics, alien races and cultures, subterfuge, moral conundrums and dark forces at play. It's a bit busy at times, but the authors have been given almost 400 pages to tell their tale, so although the pace is up-tempo, I rarely felt like they rushed through something. They also have the advantage of characters that have been pretty well developed over the 15 previous books of the NJO series.

This is the second book of the Force Heretic trilogy and I am about to begin the third. I am not sure who the "force heretic" is at this point (Tahiri Veila? Nom Anor? Jacen?) and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to know or if that is going to be a big "reveal" in the final installment. I am also unclear as to what the through-line of the trilogy really is. What connects these books? Each volume so far has had a couple of self-contained stories. The connective tissue appears to be the ongoing search for Zonama Sekot, Tahiri's struggle against her implanted Yuuzhan Vong persona and perhaps Nom Anor's antics underground on the Vong capital planet of Yuuzhan'tar. My hope is that all three ongoing plots will be given some sort of resolution in the final book.

P.S. I just noticed that I gave the first book in this trilogy two stars. So this one is definitely a step up and a move in the right direction for Williams and Dix.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 🌟

Nunca creí que diría esto en toda la saga, pero Nom Anor salvó el libro; las únicas partes que me interesaron fueron las de él.

En este libro suceden varios acontecimientos: un viaje muy caótico de Leia, Han, Jaina y Tahiri a Bakura, junto con el escuadrón Twin Suns, en el que Jaina acaba medio secuestrada al intentar rescatar a una rebelde en prisión llamada Mazira, una tragedia que acaba con la vida de muchos y un conflicto militar entre los Ssi-ruvi y los p’w’eck; el resurgimiento de Riina dentro del cuerpo de Tahiri, que ya había empezado a actuar extraño desde el libro pasado, pero ahora la causa es revelada; el desvelamiento del ryn que los ayudaba, que se llama Goure; y la búsqueda de Zonama Sekot en la biblioteca de los Chiss.

Honestamente, el libro empieza entretenido y estaba invested en el culto que se armó Nom Anor, pero el libro empezó a bajar desde que aparecen los Chiss. No hay nada en el universo de Star Wars que yo adore más que a los Chiss, pero el problema es que estos autores no captan su esencia en absoluto, se sienten como si hubieran copiado algo contradictorio a lo que escribió Zahn hasta el momento (en el que se publicó el libro). Y por si fuera poco, toda la trama de Bakura y de Cundertol (que se revela que fue reconstruido para ser inmortal por los yuuzhan vong) fue muy poco memorable y ni siquiera logró captar mi atención; fueron casi dos capítulos enteros de tortura. Quizá no logré entender todo porque no me leí Truce at Bakura, pero me pareció irrelevante.

En general la trama de la saga no avanzó mucho, lo único que se rescata es que ya saben dónde está Zonama Sekot y próximamente se embarcarán hacia esta luna.

[Philippe Yaworski · Rating 1 out of 5]

What few books I've rated 1 star all have in common that I've literally lost sleep over how much I hated them.

This is a stupid book written and vetted by stupid people.

The climax literally would not have happened had Jaina remembered that she has the Force and can easily disarm a person. Jaina, in fact, really took the brunt of the damage when the authora decided to start waving their stupid stick around.

"Oh no, we[4 people]'re being menaced by one guy with a blaster and the one other guy he's with is otherwise preoccupied." Force pull the blaster, point it at the two guys or give it to one of your allies. Congratulations, you now have numerical and military advantage.

"If you arrest me, you'll cause a political incident." Yes, let's just ignore the fact that you've already caused a political incident by TRIGGERING ALL THE ALARMS IN THE AREA BY TRYING TO BREAK INTO A FOREIGN POWER'S JAIL. The worst part is that the guard she's talking to falls for this bullshit logic, and this scene kills the brain cell of anyone reading it.

"Oh no, we're trapped behind a locked door, however will we ever get out of here?" [b]YOU. HAVE. A. LIGHT. SABER.[/b]

Not that Jaina gets ALL the bad logic moments, such as Luke thinking "Hmm, Jacen just told me Fel's daughter was taken away under Fel's orders, but Fel's been with me for the last half-hour and hasn't given anyone order to bring his daughter to him. Guess there's no use telling Fel this tidbit of information"

What wasn't mind-numbingly stupid in this book was simply boring as hell.

[Captain I · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled, really struggled, to get into Remnant (the one before this), and I struggled even more with Refugee -- I just don't like the authors' writing style. It's dry, over-detailed and plain. Boring, in other words.
I'm not keen on the concepts in this trilogy either. One is too predictable (The government of this backwater planet is corrupt! We know. The same happened in the last one. Yes, but the twist this time is; the government is doubly corrupt! ...Right. And the Yuuzhan Vong are behind it all? But...but they don't know that! Yes, but we do.) and the other way too far-fetched (bearing in mind that I'm already reading a Star Wars book) and I just am not interested in Nom Anor. Not in. The. Slightest. And he gets a lot of tedious page-time.
Also, I don't exactly live for detailed blow-by-blow descriptions of spacecraft dog fights (I find them the hardest to visualise) and once the initial half-second has been painstakingly documented in three paragraphs, the result is not even slightly as thrilling as it is supposed to be -- it's skim-worthy.
As will be the next book before I finally get out of this trilogy -- I will still read it, only so that the last two books in the series make sense to me, but I think the dialogue alone and the occasional sentence of prose will be read. The rest will be skimmed -- and the bits with Nom Anor will be skipped entirely.

(basically; I miss Matthew Stover)

[Katrin von Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, this was probably the most pointless book within the New Jedi Order so far. It's great that the authors wanted to bring back some characters from books past (Truce at Bakura) and give the readers an idea of what has happened to those characters and planets since the Yuuzhan Vong War started, but the events in Force Remnant II: Refugee are ultimately irrelevant to the overall NJO story. As with many reviews, this one does contain spoilers.

My biggest complaint with the book is the lack of the Yuuzhan Vong in general. The Yuuzhan Vong have been the main (and, for the most part, only) antagonists of the New Jedi Order series. Without them playing the role of primary antagonist, Refugee just doesn't seem to fit in with the other books in the NJO. If it was separate from the series, my opinion of the book might have been a bit more positive. But, as it stands, Refugee just wasn't a good NJO book...it lacked one of the main constants of the series so far: The Yuuzhan Vong.

Refugee didn't really contribute to the New Jedi Order as a whole. I would even go as far as to say it didn't need to be made into an entire book. Don't get me wrong, the plot was interesting and I was certainly glad to see something familiar from the Star Wars past. However, it wasn't consistent with or relative to what has been covered so far. I highly doubt the events in this book will greatly impact the NJO or the Star Wars timeline. There almost wasn't enough plot material to even make a book and there were definitely parts that seemed to drag a bit without contributing anything to the story. This could have easily been summed up in a few chapters at the end of Remnant or split up between Remnant and Reunion. It was unnecessary to make an entire book out of Refugee.

As with Remnant, there are three storylines being followed. The Skywalker group is still searching for Zonoma Sekot. The Solo group is still trying to reestablish communication to various regions of the galaxy. And Nom Anor is still playing the role of Prophet in a Jeedai heresy uprising on Yuuzhan'tar, hoping to topple Shimrra's rule. None of the story lines progress significantly.

Luke, Mara, Jacen, Danni, Saba, Tekli, and the Widowmaker's crew manage to stumble into Chiss space and continue to search for Zonoma Sekot there. The Chiss seemed a bit...off...in my opinion. I'm not really sure what it was about them, but they seemed different from how they have appeared in earlier books (notably Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology). Props to Williams and Dix for wanting to include the Chiss, but they didn't seem to play that significant a role. It almost struck me as the authors thinking "Who can we bring into this next" rather than thinking about the overall plot and story. There was nothing unique about the Chiss here...any race could have been substituted and the same outcome would have been achieved. I did, however, enjoy seeing Soontir Fel and the rest of Jag's family (Syal and Wyn) in action and doing their thing...even if it didn't do much for the overall story. In reality, all that was accomplished in the Skywalker team story line was the discovery of where Zonoma Sekot was most likely located. This, while significant enough an event to warrant being mentioned, did not need roughly one third of a book to be achieved. While this is the plot line that is most highlighted on the back of Refugee, it reads more like a subplot or side story of the book.

While Luke and friends are searching for the Rogue Planet, the Solo group (Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, Threepio, Tahiri, Twin Sun Squadron, and the Pride of Selonia's crew) have reached Bakura, following through on a tip from the Ryn network. This seemed to be the main story of Refugee (even though it received the smallest coverage in the back-of-the-book synopsis). The story here is decent enough: the Ssi Ruuk want to reclaim Bakura as part of their empire and plan to do so through deception via the lowly P'w'eck. The idea itself isn't that bad and using some "invading bad guys" from a previous book (Truce at Bakura) is something to be considered. However, as I stated earlier, the use of the Ssi Ruuk as the main antagonists make Refugee incoherent with the rest of the New Jedi Order books. If this was a novel on its own, maybe as a follow up to Truce at Bakura, it wouldn't seem so out of place and would probably even make a really good book. The whole point of the Solo story line seems to be setting up and continuing the Tahiri conflict. Again, not a bad idea...if Refugee took place several books ago, when Tahiri was still somewhat a main character. Nonetheless, I'm interested to see what Williams and Dix end up doing with Tahiri. The outcome of the Ssi Ruuk re-invasion was a bit predictable and ended pretty much as I expected it to. The Solo plot is probably the most covered story line within the book but, ultimately (and like the Skywalker plot), it doesn't achieve enough to warrant having as many pages written about it as it did.

The Nom Anor plot line almost wasn't even worth mentioning, it got so little attention and accomplished very little, which is a bit sad, in my opinion. If nothing else, Williams and Dix do write the Yuuzhan Vong (characters and culture) well and do a fine job of pulling the reader into the Yuuzhan Vong culture. So it was disappointing that the Yuuzhan Vong were mentioned as infrequently as they were. Again, as with the other two story lines in Refugee, not a lot happened with this plot. In fact, I think the only thing that was achieved was Nom Anor gaining a new asset in the form of Ngaaluh.

Ultimately, Refugee reads a lot like what it is: the second book in a trilogy. Nothing really significant is accomplished, nothing is tied up, and the plot doesn't progress enough to leave the reader feeling truly satisfied at the end. Like Force Heretic I: Remnant, this book seems to be more of a teaser trailer to Force Heretic III: Reunion than it does a novel that could stand up on its own and as part of the Force Heretic Trilogy and the NJO. There isn't anything particularly wrong with how Williams and Dix write (except the lack of chapters...finding a good stopping point can be really hard), but the plot just doesn't cut it for a NJO book. Perhaps Reunion will be better.

This review is also posted on Amazon.com.

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, it was better than the previous one. it was superior in terms of plot and pacing, making it go (thankfully) much smoother and quicker than its prequel.

this one was actually passable, but it still had major flaws. from cringe worthy lines to some terrible ideas i cant believe that two authors contributed to make this one happen. Tahiris arc is dreadful, but nom anors is great. the chiss are wonderful to see, as is the return of Bakura. the execution? meh. there wasnt a single new character worth remembering, and the political conflict on bakura was less than ideal (i believe jaina mentioned how confusing the situation was. yet somehow the authors weren't self aware to fix it)

side note, I cant figure out why this series, and this trilogy in particular, have such awful cover art.

final takeaway: good not great. we return to the events of yet another location from the previous books, without adding anything truly meaningful once again. I am positively astounded that they made an entire, really long series about this war that spans numerous years across an entire galaxy, yet we almost never get to see what's actually happening in said war.

[Darryl Dobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three storylines continue in the second book of the trilogy, using the same tricks as the first one – quick scenes as things bounce from one story to another in an effort to keep things interesting when they’re slow. The search for Sekot by Luke, Mara and Jacen was particularly plodding and frankly could have just been chopped in half. Adding a token kidnapping attempt was just a plot-stretcher.
The Leia and Han storyline also quickly grew boring thanks to the (far too) extended description of Tahiri’s struggles with her second (Vong) personality. The trips to the dream world became boring after, say, the first one! We get the message: she’s struggling to find herself and to find balance, no need to take us into that world fifty times to describe the same thing.
The Nom Anor storyline was actually the most interesting, as he becomes a ‘Prophet’ in an effort to band together and rile up all the Shamed Ones, prepping for a revolt. But it wasn’t enough to push this novel above “okay”.

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I’m in the mood for space battles and lightsaber duels. Thus, I took this book on a trip where I knew I’d have plenty of reading time and definitely time enough to make progress in my quest to read all the Star Wars books.

I feel like the middle dragged a bit much with scenes of politics and library research, but the payoff was good in the end. I did appreciate this had it’s own story to tell even as it was book two in a trilogy that is followed by the final book in the New Jedi Order series. Finally can it be that I’m nearing the end? (Even as I recognize I have a few more series and many standalone novels left in Legends!)

It didn’t move me emotionally, except briefly near the end when I feared the authors might have just killed off another beloved Jedi character. But I suppose they had certain plot points to cover and not every book can be the emotional home run singer of the others in this series have been.

All in all a fine installment in the NJO even though not the strongest showing of the series.