What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Wars Legends: Novels
Star Wars: The Crystal Star
Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Vonda N. McIntyre continues the bestselling Star Wars saga as the ultimate space adventure unfolds in The Crystal Star.
Princess Leia's children have been kidnapped. Along with Chewbacca and Artoo-Detoo, she follows the kidnappers' trail to a disabled refugee ship, from which children are also missing. Here she learns of a powerful Imperial officer with a twisted plan to restore the Empire. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are cut off from Leia by the death of a nearby star, which has caused a disruption in the Force. They have gone to the planet Crseih to investigate a report of a lost group of Jedi. Instead they find a charismatic alien named Waru whose miraculous healing powers have attracted a fanatic following. As Leia follows the path of her children across space, Luke and Han draw closer to the truth behind Waru's sinister cult. Together they will face an explosive showdown that will decide the survival of the New Republic . . . and the universe itself!
Princess Leia's children have been kidnapped. Along with Chewbacca and Artoo-Detoo, she follows the kidnappers' trail to a disabled refugee ship, from which children are also missing. Here she learns of a powerful Imperial officer with a twisted plan to restore the Empire. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are cut off from Leia by the death of a nearby star, which has caused a disruption in the Force. They have gone to the planet Crseih to investigate a report of a lost group of Jedi. Instead they find a charismatic alien named Waru whose miraculous healing powers have attracted a fanatic following. As Leia follows the path of her children across space, Luke and Han draw closer to the truth behind Waru's sinister cult. Together they will face an explosive showdown that will decide the survival of the New Republic . . . and the universe itself!
413 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 8, 1994
100 people are currently reading
2944 people want to read
About the author
Vonda N. McIntyre
159 books370 followersVonda Neel McIntyre was a U.S. science fiction author. She was one of the first successful graduates of the Clarion Science fiction writers workshop. She attended the workshop in 1970. By 1973 she had won her first Nebula Award, for the novelette "Of Mist, and Grass and Sand." This later became part of the novel Dreamsnake, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The novelette and novel both concern a female healer in a desolate primitivized venue. McIntyre's debut novel was The Exile Waiting which was published in 1975. Her novel Dreamsnake won the Nebula Award and Hugo Award for best novel in 1978 and her novel The Moon and the Sun won the Nebula in 1997. She has also written a number of Star Trek and Star Wars novels, including Enterprise: The First Adventure and The Entropy Effect. She wrote the novelizations of the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 245 reviews
January 15, 2018
I love Star Wars books. They're somewhat of a guilty pleasure, the extended universe is a fun escape to a place where a bit of excitement is always happening.
Except in The Crystal Star, good gravy this book is terrible. Do you remember Q from Star Trek? The guy who could travel through space-time with a thought and possessed omnipotent, omniscient abilities? Well, imagine a Star Wars version of Q that is an amorphous foul-smelling blob with a series of severe mental handicaps.
Seriously. Except the situation keeps getting worse. Luke mysteriously loses control of his force powers, but inexplicably only sometimes; and, unimaginably, Threepio stands out as by far the most level-headed character throughout contrived crisis after contrived crisis.
You know what, forget the one-star rating. This book is a must-read, solely as a benchmark for terrible sci-fi/fantasy. Maybe I'm biased; I read it smack-dab in the middle of a one-hundred-book Star Wars EU binge, and it was the worst by an incredible margin. My verdict stands:
This book is awful.
Except in The Crystal Star, good gravy this book is terrible. Do you remember Q from Star Trek? The guy who could travel through space-time with a thought and possessed omnipotent, omniscient abilities? Well, imagine a Star Wars version of Q that is an amorphous foul-smelling blob with a series of severe mental handicaps.
Seriously. Except the situation keeps getting worse. Luke mysteriously loses control of his force powers, but inexplicably only sometimes; and, unimaginably, Threepio stands out as by far the most level-headed character throughout contrived crisis after contrived crisis.
You know what, forget the one-star rating. This book is a must-read, solely as a benchmark for terrible sci-fi/fantasy. Maybe I'm biased; I read it smack-dab in the middle of a one-hundred-book Star Wars EU binge, and it was the worst by an incredible margin. My verdict stands:
This book is awful.
July 8, 2025
Vonda N. McIntyre's "The Crystal Star" pits the beloved characters of the original "Star Wars" films into an interesting and socially important situation. In doing so, it elevates the book out of the simple space opera genre and into the realm of socially-conscious science fiction. Not that other novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe haven't made attempts at poignancy and relevance to current events. "The Crystal Star" just does it in a rather blatant way.
That McIntyre's novel is clearly written for a young adult audience is both weirdly appropriate and disturbing. Nevertheless, the book still manages to be entertaining, and it still captures the spirit of "Star Wars".
The issue the novel deals with is human trafficking and the contemporary slave trade, an issue that is as hot-button today as it was when McIntyre first published this book (1994), but one that rarely receives much attention in mainstream media and by our nation's leaders. McIntyre is clearly aware of the lack of thought and interest by politicians, journalists, and everyday citizens of this issue, and she does not hide her harsh criticism of them in the novel.
The book starts with a violent kidnapping of the three children of Princess Leia and Han Solo. Leia, the President of the New Republic, is involved in trade negotiations, while Han and Luke are off on a mission in another star system. The children are being watched by Chewbacca, who is severely injured in the attack that precedes the kidnapping.
Leia stops the negotiations to find her children, jetting off in her personal starship Alderaan with Chewbacca and R2-D2. Her investigation leads her to a fleet of ships long-forgotten in a desolate part of space. The ships contain cryogenically-frozen slaves deposited there by the Empire, left to die. When she resurrects some of the slaves, she discovers---to her horror---that the slave trade is still going on, long after the Empire fell, and has been going on all along under the noses of her and the other leaders of the New Republic. She discovers a secret conspiracy of New Republic politicians who have been profiting from this slave trade, most of whom are secretly planning a coup of Leia and a rebuilding of the Empire.
Across the galaxy, Han and Luke are discovering the same thing, completely unaware of what is happening to Leia and the children. Their investigation of a space station near a rare crystal star discovers a growing "cult" led by a former Imperial officer named Hethrir, who has been stealing children across the galaxy for his personal plan to resurrect the Empire and place himself in the role of the new Emperor. He attempts to do this with the help of a powerful alien entity named Waru, which apparently has the ability to heal the sick and the injured, but also has the ability to drain the Force from others.
All the while, the children---twins Jaina and Jacen, and toddler Annakin---must use their own resources and powers of the Force to escape their prison and rescue the hundreds of other children that have been kidnapped.
McIntyre tells an exciting and action-packed story, but her social commentary about a very important issue makes this one of the better Star Wars novels.
That McIntyre's novel is clearly written for a young adult audience is both weirdly appropriate and disturbing. Nevertheless, the book still manages to be entertaining, and it still captures the spirit of "Star Wars".
The issue the novel deals with is human trafficking and the contemporary slave trade, an issue that is as hot-button today as it was when McIntyre first published this book (1994), but one that rarely receives much attention in mainstream media and by our nation's leaders. McIntyre is clearly aware of the lack of thought and interest by politicians, journalists, and everyday citizens of this issue, and she does not hide her harsh criticism of them in the novel.
The book starts with a violent kidnapping of the three children of Princess Leia and Han Solo. Leia, the President of the New Republic, is involved in trade negotiations, while Han and Luke are off on a mission in another star system. The children are being watched by Chewbacca, who is severely injured in the attack that precedes the kidnapping.
Leia stops the negotiations to find her children, jetting off in her personal starship Alderaan with Chewbacca and R2-D2. Her investigation leads her to a fleet of ships long-forgotten in a desolate part of space. The ships contain cryogenically-frozen slaves deposited there by the Empire, left to die. When she resurrects some of the slaves, she discovers---to her horror---that the slave trade is still going on, long after the Empire fell, and has been going on all along under the noses of her and the other leaders of the New Republic. She discovers a secret conspiracy of New Republic politicians who have been profiting from this slave trade, most of whom are secretly planning a coup of Leia and a rebuilding of the Empire.
Across the galaxy, Han and Luke are discovering the same thing, completely unaware of what is happening to Leia and the children. Their investigation of a space station near a rare crystal star discovers a growing "cult" led by a former Imperial officer named Hethrir, who has been stealing children across the galaxy for his personal plan to resurrect the Empire and place himself in the role of the new Emperor. He attempts to do this with the help of a powerful alien entity named Waru, which apparently has the ability to heal the sick and the injured, but also has the ability to drain the Force from others.
All the while, the children---twins Jaina and Jacen, and toddler Annakin---must use their own resources and powers of the Force to escape their prison and rescue the hundreds of other children that have been kidnapped.
McIntyre tells an exciting and action-packed story, but her social commentary about a very important issue makes this one of the better Star Wars novels.
June 22, 2022
You know something is wrong when Leia says "Piloting was more fun than being a Jedi!"
Oh no! Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin have been kidnapped on Munto Codru, while their mother, Leia, is touring the more peaceful worlds of the New Republic. The official on Munto Codru are convinced it is a "normal" kidnapping, but Leia thinks otherwise and leaves with Chewie and Artoo to find her children. Meanwhile, Han and Luke go vacationing to Crseih Station in pursuit of Jedi.
NOTE: This is a review based on the audio book and what I remember from reading the actual novel years ago.
I Liked:
The biggest redeeming factor of this book and one of the biggest reasons I rated it two stars is the rising importance of Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin. For the first time, we get to see through Jaina's eyes, and McIntyre absolutely nails this portrayal. All the children act their age, speak their age, and think their age. I enjoyed their portions of the book, and back when I read it when I was a teen, that was the reason I liked this book enough to devise my internet moniker (get it? Crystal Star(r Light)?).
The second biggest factor was Leia behaving like a mother. In the Jedi Academy trilogy, Leia was content to dump her children where ever and on whomever was available, whether it was Chewie, Winter, Ackbar, or Jedi students she didn't even know. Knowing how she was raised, I found this unbelievable and disturbing. Here, Leia runs for her children and when they aren't there, she pretty much immediately packs up to leave after them. Now THAT'S the mother I was thinking she would be!
Also, there were a few touching scenes with Han mentioning his fear his children would turn to the Dark Side (oh, boy, that is sure touching after Legacy, isn't it?) and if they died, and I did like the inclusion of a former love for Han, Xaverri.
I Didn't Like:
With the exception of a few books (the Thrawn Trilogy being the foremost), it seems to me most of the books of the Bantam/early 90's era portrayed our Big Three (Han, Luke and Leia) way, way out of character. This book is no different. Han goes into the virtues of flirting, even though he's been married to Leia for over six years. A bit early for the seven-year-itch or is he experiencing an early mid-life crisis? I don't know, but I still have trouble with his return to the smuggler of A New Hope (gambling, drinking, carousing at night-it seems like all these books want him to return to being a rogue and forget the fact he was a respected general). Luke acts like he has constipation all the time. I know this was "because of the crystal star's resonating with the Force" or "because Callista left him" (only, didn't he reconcile with her in Planet of Twilight), but can anyone else say: "Been there, done that"? How many planets/aliens/weird events must Luke encounter that *surprise surprise* rip away his Force abilities, leaving him a whining baby that is easily swayed to join Waru? And Leia, while far more motherly than earlier portrayed, drove me nuts. Not only was her code-name absolutely goofy sounding, not only did she give the absolute most ridiculous name to a ship ("Alderaan"? Made me think she was talking about a planet, which has some funny connotations, to be sure), but Leia also at one points says Luke chided her on learning how to pilot instead of being a Jedi and she chose piloting because "It was more fun."
As for the other new characters: Well, they aren't much better. Firstly, it was extremely odd to hear "Werewolves" (spelled wyrwolves) in a Star Wars novel. And centaurs was kinda weird. I didn't hate those concepts too much, though I kept feeling like there was something more about them that I wasn't hearing.
Hethrir is a completely stereotypical bad guy, plum out of a children's book, and his wife, Rillao, is the stereotypical counterpart to him. Why can't authors make a little bit more...oh, I don't know, maybe realistic heroes and villains? Hethrir and Rillao were both trained by Vader, but of COURSE, Rillao is a healer and opposed to violence and of COURSE Hethrir embraces the Empire and kills without a second thought. It was so stereotyped, I could gag. And their son, Tigris! BAH! He reminded me too much of Dev Sibwarra, only Dev was at least half decent (being brain washed directly). Tigris is just plain stupid. Oh, and his daddy is so mean and bad, that he lies to him about his mom and being able to use the Force! Did you know Hethrir is the Bad GuyTM?
As for the plot, well, I enjoyed Leia's search for her kids far more than another weird vacation for Han and Luke. Why do these guys always go on vacations to the most out of the way, most disgusting, most undesirable places in the world? That would be like me saying, "Oh, I want to go vacation in a pig sty!" Why don't they go somewhere decent? And why bother looking for Jedi in a place that has a population of like a thousand? Seems to make more sense to go to the bigger worlds to find Jedi potentials instead of the smaller ones, but then, we wouldn't have the "wonderful" plot of Waru, a creature that must have been a Star Trek reject. I swear, I've not seen many Star Trek episodes, but I am pretty sure this one would fit. An unknown, multi-dimensional creature that deceives its followers into feeding it and is destroyed in the end? Call up Gene Roddenberry now!
Overall:
While I still greatly enjoyed reading about Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin, the rest of the book did not have the feel of Star Wars. Unless you want to see how the Solo children started out or are trying to read all the novels, pass on this one.
Oh no! Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin have been kidnapped on Munto Codru, while their mother, Leia, is touring the more peaceful worlds of the New Republic. The official on Munto Codru are convinced it is a "normal" kidnapping, but Leia thinks otherwise and leaves with Chewie and Artoo to find her children. Meanwhile, Han and Luke go vacationing to Crseih Station in pursuit of Jedi.
NOTE: This is a review based on the audio book and what I remember from reading the actual novel years ago.
I Liked:
The biggest redeeming factor of this book and one of the biggest reasons I rated it two stars is the rising importance of Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin. For the first time, we get to see through Jaina's eyes, and McIntyre absolutely nails this portrayal. All the children act their age, speak their age, and think their age. I enjoyed their portions of the book, and back when I read it when I was a teen, that was the reason I liked this book enough to devise my internet moniker (get it? Crystal Star(r Light)?).
The second biggest factor was Leia behaving like a mother. In the Jedi Academy trilogy, Leia was content to dump her children where ever and on whomever was available, whether it was Chewie, Winter, Ackbar, or Jedi students she didn't even know. Knowing how she was raised, I found this unbelievable and disturbing. Here, Leia runs for her children and when they aren't there, she pretty much immediately packs up to leave after them. Now THAT'S the mother I was thinking she would be!
Also, there were a few touching scenes with Han mentioning his fear his children would turn to the Dark Side (oh, boy, that is sure touching after Legacy, isn't it?) and if they died, and I did like the inclusion of a former love for Han, Xaverri.
I Didn't Like:
With the exception of a few books (the Thrawn Trilogy being the foremost), it seems to me most of the books of the Bantam/early 90's era portrayed our Big Three (Han, Luke and Leia) way, way out of character. This book is no different. Han goes into the virtues of flirting, even though he's been married to Leia for over six years. A bit early for the seven-year-itch or is he experiencing an early mid-life crisis? I don't know, but I still have trouble with his return to the smuggler of A New Hope (gambling, drinking, carousing at night-it seems like all these books want him to return to being a rogue and forget the fact he was a respected general). Luke acts like he has constipation all the time. I know this was "because of the crystal star's resonating with the Force" or "because Callista left him" (only, didn't he reconcile with her in Planet of Twilight), but can anyone else say: "Been there, done that"? How many planets/aliens/weird events must Luke encounter that *surprise surprise* rip away his Force abilities, leaving him a whining baby that is easily swayed to join Waru? And Leia, while far more motherly than earlier portrayed, drove me nuts. Not only was her code-name absolutely goofy sounding, not only did she give the absolute most ridiculous name to a ship ("Alderaan"? Made me think she was talking about a planet, which has some funny connotations, to be sure), but Leia also at one points says Luke chided her on learning how to pilot instead of being a Jedi and she chose piloting because "It was more fun."
As for the other new characters: Well, they aren't much better. Firstly, it was extremely odd to hear "Werewolves" (spelled wyrwolves) in a Star Wars novel. And centaurs was kinda weird. I didn't hate those concepts too much, though I kept feeling like there was something more about them that I wasn't hearing.
Hethrir is a completely stereotypical bad guy, plum out of a children's book, and his wife, Rillao, is the stereotypical counterpart to him. Why can't authors make a little bit more...oh, I don't know, maybe realistic heroes and villains? Hethrir and Rillao were both trained by Vader, but of COURSE, Rillao is a healer and opposed to violence and of COURSE Hethrir embraces the Empire and kills without a second thought. It was so stereotyped, I could gag. And their son, Tigris! BAH! He reminded me too much of Dev Sibwarra, only Dev was at least half decent (being brain washed directly). Tigris is just plain stupid. Oh, and his daddy is so mean and bad, that he lies to him about his mom and being able to use the Force! Did you know Hethrir is the Bad GuyTM?
As for the plot, well, I enjoyed Leia's search for her kids far more than another weird vacation for Han and Luke. Why do these guys always go on vacations to the most out of the way, most disgusting, most undesirable places in the world? That would be like me saying, "Oh, I want to go vacation in a pig sty!" Why don't they go somewhere decent? And why bother looking for Jedi in a place that has a population of like a thousand? Seems to make more sense to go to the bigger worlds to find Jedi potentials instead of the smaller ones, but then, we wouldn't have the "wonderful" plot of Waru, a creature that must have been a Star Trek reject. I swear, I've not seen many Star Trek episodes, but I am pretty sure this one would fit. An unknown, multi-dimensional creature that deceives its followers into feeding it and is destroyed in the end? Call up Gene Roddenberry now!
Overall:
While I still greatly enjoyed reading about Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin, the rest of the book did not have the feel of Star Wars. Unless you want to see how the Solo children started out or are trying to read all the novels, pass on this one.
July 23, 2024
I am usually very respectful and try to find the positive in my reviews, and as such, this will be a very short review.
I liked a few of the scenes with Jacen and Jaina when they were kidnapped, and liked the character of Lusa.
I thought that the characters of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and Artoo did not feel like their movie/other book counterparts. They felt so off in this book.
The plot and worldbuilding felt more like it would have worked in Star Trek. It may not have been great in Star Trek, but it would have worked better than here.
Overall, I did not care for this book at all, and its only recommended for completionists. 2 out of 10.
I liked a few of the scenes with Jacen and Jaina when they were kidnapped, and liked the character of Lusa.
I thought that the characters of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and Artoo did not feel like their movie/other book counterparts. They felt so off in this book.
The plot and worldbuilding felt more like it would have worked in Star Trek. It may not have been great in Star Trek, but it would have worked better than here.
Overall, I did not care for this book at all, and its only recommended for completionists. 2 out of 10.
September 18, 2011
Great book with the original members of the original trilogy. After reading this book, I really wanted George Lucas to make this into a movie.
November 26, 2014
This book never really feels like A Star Wars story. All of the familiar characters are there, but the plot seems like a generic sci-fi story moulded to fit into the Star Wars Universe, rather than something inspired by it. The writing style and pacing was awful, and many of the character motivations seemed suspect. The only positive was how mercifully short this novel was. An easy read, but not worth it.
January 5, 2010
If not the worst, then one of the worst Star Wars books. Derivative, repetitive plot. (Getting tired of secret dark-side disciples of Palpatine or Vader. What happened to the Rule of Two?)
Cute idea voicing a five year old's POV, but McIntyre should have spent more time with five year olds. She portrayed Jaina as capable of physics beyond many high school graduates.
Cute idea voicing a five year old's POV, but McIntyre should have spent more time with five year olds. She portrayed Jaina as capable of physics beyond many high school graduates.
October 13, 2011
One of my personal favorites. I always enjoy reading about the Solo twins.
November 28, 2009
It is my opinion that the time when this book was published, was a black era for the Star Wars novels line. From the high standards set by Timothy Zahn, to the very decent Kevin J. Anderson and X-Wing novels of the time, it was most probable that the ineveitable dip in quality would happen.
The book suffers from the fact that there is little to no character development within its pages. When this is coupled with the fact a lot of the major players are written out of character, a good compelling read this does not make. Luke comes across as a whiny teenager, as opposed to the Jedi Master he has become, as established by Anderson after Zahn, Han appears to be devolving back to smuggler scoundrel, despite the fact that he is a married father and former general. The only characters who do get any decent amount of development are Jaina and Jacen, but if memory serves this is most likely their first true focus within a story, and as such they are pretty much blank slates.
Overall, the story suffers the same as a number of other stand-alones set within a set continuity. Whether this is down to editorial oversight, or the author not getting the characters, is a question I cannot answer.
The book suffers from the fact that there is little to no character development within its pages. When this is coupled with the fact a lot of the major players are written out of character, a good compelling read this does not make. Luke comes across as a whiny teenager, as opposed to the Jedi Master he has become, as established by Anderson after Zahn, Han appears to be devolving back to smuggler scoundrel, despite the fact that he is a married father and former general. The only characters who do get any decent amount of development are Jaina and Jacen, but if memory serves this is most likely their first true focus within a story, and as such they are pretty much blank slates.
Overall, the story suffers the same as a number of other stand-alones set within a set continuity. Whether this is down to editorial oversight, or the author not getting the characters, is a question I cannot answer.
April 17, 2016
As one of the children in this book might say, "Yucky!" Vonda should've stuck with Star Trek novelizations (I'm guessing; never have read any of her novelizations - never having read any of the Star Trek novelizations - I can only make guesses as to her writing talent in that world). None of the characters behave in character, except for perhaps Chewbacca; even C-3PO isn't nearly as annoyingly pedantic. And the story? Besides being, as others have pointed out, generic, it doesn't at all fit in with the Star Wars universe. Especially once you take out the standard "remnants of the Dark Side/Empire are left over and are trying to rebuild" plot points, you're left with the bit revolving around the character of Waru
I gave up about halfway through and skimmed the rest of the book just to finish it because I couldn't take the inanity or the mediocrity any longer.
I gave up about halfway through and skimmed the rest of the book just to finish it because I couldn't take the inanity or the mediocrity any longer.
August 8, 2012
Many others have spelled out just how terrible this book is. Everyone is completely out of character and the plot, as much as it can be said to have a plot, feels like something from a completely different universe.
If you are intent on reading most of the Expanded Universe books, you can safely skip this one. Nothing happens to the characters in any meaningful way, and the events are pretty much ignored by the future books. Though there is one book, I think in the New Jedi Order set, that makes a brief passing reference to it in one sentence. But you wouldn't be missing anything.
I'm serious, it isn't worth your time or your money. In fact, you would do the world a favor by placing a warning label on any copy you find.
If you are intent on reading most of the Expanded Universe books, you can safely skip this one. Nothing happens to the characters in any meaningful way, and the events are pretty much ignored by the future books. Though there is one book, I think in the New Jedi Order set, that makes a brief passing reference to it in one sentence. But you wouldn't be missing anything.
I'm serious, it isn't worth your time or your money. In fact, you would do the world a favor by placing a warning label on any copy you find.
December 6, 2020
Good interesting plot, except
- almost none of the central cast were written anywhere true to "form"
- ABSOLUTE trigger warning for child trauma -- did this need to happen to the characters?
+ Jacen & Jania's story and characterizations were quite good, loved Jania's POV
+ While I haven't re-read the novels where Xaverri first appeared, she was interesting & written well
+ Ditto for the Firraro (ferraro)?
Ok now that I've just read Katharine Trendacosta's review I think 3 stars is too many -- but in fairness this is definitely not the worst writing in a Legends book. I think it was the Jedi Trilogy? The one where I kept highlighting passages in the kindle and annotating them with "FFS". Only did that once here.
*For F... Sake
- almost none of the central cast were written anywhere true to "form"
- ABSOLUTE trigger warning for child trauma -- did this need to happen to the characters?
+ Jacen & Jania's story and characterizations were quite good, loved Jania's POV
+ While I haven't re-read the novels where Xaverri first appeared, she was interesting & written well
+ Ditto for the Firraro (ferraro)?
Ok now that I've just read Katharine Trendacosta's review I think 3 stars is too many -- but in fairness this is definitely not the worst writing in a Legends book. I think it was the Jedi Trilogy? The one where I kept highlighting passages in the kindle and annotating them with "FFS". Only did that once here.
*For F... Sake
September 7, 2021
What could have been a good book is ruined by a boring subplot with Leia and the kids. Han and Luke's investigation into a mind-controlling cult leader, who just so happens to be a sentient, transdimensional golden blob that oozes healing syrup and eats force sensitive people, was just awesome and should have been the whole book. I don't know why so many EU authors are obsessed with bringing the Empire back and trying to make me care about literal toddlers.
June 22, 2010
Okay, I'm pretty good at understanding weird and bizarre Sci-fi plots, but this one made my head spin. It did not work as a Star Wars novel and though I actually read this book over 12 years ago, I want that lost time back.
May 5, 2020
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: The Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre.
SOME HISTORY:
Vonda N. McIntyre’s most lasting contribution to science fiction will probably be Dreamsnake, her 1978 novel that won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award. She also wrote a number of Star Trek novels in the 1980s, so it’s no wonder that Bantam contracted her for a Star Wars book. However, The Crystal Star was released in December of 1994, and it didn’t do suuuuper well. Crystal Star made it to number eight on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of November 27, 1994; it was ultimately on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered very little of this book. That was clearly a conscious choice on my part; after reading this, I’m not sure how much I WANT to remember.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
When her children are initially kidnapped, Leia changes from fancy robes into a tunic/leggings look. And as the bounty hunter Lelila, she wears intense purple eyeshadow and puts streaks in her hair. I lied earlier about remembering nothing from this book; I definitely remember the hair dye wriggling through her hair.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia’s children are kidnapped! She and Chewbacca chase after the kidnappers, and are the most method of method actors. Meanwhile, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and a purple C-3PO head to Crseih Station in search of weird goings-on or potential Jedi or something.
THE CHARACTERS:
Despite his prominent position on the cover, Luke does not play an important role in this book. In fact, you could have eliminated him from the story very easily. He tags along with Han on the trip to Crseih or Asylum Station, acts weird, quickly falls under Waru’s sway, and is willing to die?? Not to mention that instead of adopting a disguise like Han’s beard or Threepio’s purple paint job, he just uses the Force to look like a different person. Why would you do this? It seems like such a waste of power, and surely the old Jedi would have pulled this trick all the time.
Han is grumpy and gets drunk a lot. He’s very distrustful of Luke. That’s it, that’s his subplot. He also has this weird exchange with Luke in the beginning, where he says that it’s perfectly fine for him to flirt with other people. I suppose this is foreshadowing that we’re going to run into one of his exes over the course of the story, but it’s a weird attitude for him to adopt. He’s not jealous like he was in The Courtship of Princess Leia or even Dark Apprentice, he’s just a grouch.
After discovering that her children have been kidnapped offworld, Leia immediately takes off in pursuit of them. Which is great! I totally accept that she would drop everything and chase down the people who hurt her family, mama bear style--especially when you remember that her planet was destroyed by the Empire, and her family is all she has left. But whether to raise suspense or keep us guessing, McIntyre writes from Leia’s point of view in a disjointed way. In the first chapter, her children are gone--her children are gone--the bomb--her children! She almost starts to sound whiny, and I don’t think that was McIntyre’s intention at all.
Leia also assumes the identity of Lelila, a bounty hunter. She goes all into this role. When she is the bounty hunter, she refers to herself as Lelila, and Leia as a separate person. This was really weird, and I’m not quite sure what the point was.
So we have Han’s viewpoint for the Crseih Station arc, and Leia’s for the tracking down the kidnappers arc. Since we need to know what’s happening to the children, McIntyre writes from both Jaina Solo’s viewpoint, as well as from Tigris, a preteen working for the villain.
Jaina is five years old. Frankly, her internal narration as well as the things she accomplished seemed far beyond anything that a five year old is capable of, but I accepted it. (At least she had more to do than in some of the Del Rey books, where all the authors could think to do with her was to give her endless boyfriend troubles!). Jaina is curious and brave, and like her mother, she doesn’t settle for just rescuing her brother. No, Jaina rescues all the children in space slavery!
Tigris is not as interesting. He’s manipulated by Hethrir, and unable to see it.
The villains are...meh. Hethrir is your typical Force-sensitive, wants to resurrect the Empire type. Waru is a giant gold-scaled blob of viscous stuff. He’s from another dimension, or another galaxy, or something. He’s formed a cult? There’s probably a kernel of something interesting there, regarding cults and healing versus the threat of not healing, but since he’s a blob of golden jelly it’s hard for me to take him seriously.
ISSUES:
I can sort of see what McIntyre was going for with the child slavery plot line--the New Republic has outlawed slavery, but it can be hard to see beyond your own borders--but the execution is not great.
Sometimes Star Wars media take the concept of a “galaxy far far away” too far: instead of glass, we have to use “transparisteel.” Instead of elevators, they ride in “turbolifts.” But persistent Earth-isms can be just as off-putting, and there’s a lot in this book. People eat cookies. A child is described as being a centaur. Now, I’m not doubting the existence of centaur-like aliens in the SW universe--Mos Eisley cantina alone had a wolfman and a devil man--but it felt weird to outright call her a centaur or “centauriform.”
Xaverri is interesting--how easily she fell into Waru’s cult, but how she’s also able to see the bad parts of it--but her backstory is depicted in the lightest of strokes. She had a family taken from her by the Empire; now she scams them. There’s not a lot to go on, and A.C. Crispin will use that to her advantage in the The Han Solo Trilogy.
Force things: Hethrir has the ability to dampen the Solo children’s Force abilities. However, they are able to get around it by manipulating molecules to make light and moving grains of sand or insects. How does this work? Is this a common skill? Does this require special training? (We are never told!)
Similarly, Luke and other Force-sensitive individuals on Crseih Station are not just unable to use the Force, but feel very sick. This is very different from the effect that the ysalamiri create, which seems to be a Force-less bubble with no adverse health effects. Apparently this is because of the resonance of the crystal star, but it’s just one more unexplained weird Force thing.
And the other Force users we encounter in this book are the opposite of subtle. We know that Hethrir is bad because he suppresses the alien children’s abilities, and sells them into slavery, and wants to restart the Empire! Meanwhile, his former lover Rillao is good because she can only use the Force to heal and to soothe. For once, I would love for the bad guy to be a Force healer; how could they use the Force to injure and worsen conditions? That would be fascinating! But alas, we have not yet reached that level of nuance and are stuck in a very black-and-white view of the Force.
The ending is atrocious. Waru needs to consume a powerful Force user to be able to return to his dimension or what have you. Luke begs for Waru to kill him! He dives into his golden viscous jelly. Leia dives in after him. Han dives in after the two of them! They are almost lost! The only thing that makes them regain their senses are the children yelling “Come back! Come back!”
NO.
IN CONCLUSION:
I love some of McIntyre’s other novels, but The Crystal Star is just bizarre. Very little from it is carried over to other stories, so I think you could skip it during your own 90s Star Wars reread and not even notice its absence.
Next up: the first in the Corellian Trilogy, Ambush at Corellia by Roger MacBride Allen.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/wipwdCjNf6g
This week’s focus: The Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre.
SOME HISTORY:
Vonda N. McIntyre’s most lasting contribution to science fiction will probably be Dreamsnake, her 1978 novel that won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award. She also wrote a number of Star Trek novels in the 1980s, so it’s no wonder that Bantam contracted her for a Star Wars book. However, The Crystal Star was released in December of 1994, and it didn’t do suuuuper well. Crystal Star made it to number eight on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of November 27, 1994; it was ultimately on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered very little of this book. That was clearly a conscious choice on my part; after reading this, I’m not sure how much I WANT to remember.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
When her children are initially kidnapped, Leia changes from fancy robes into a tunic/leggings look. And as the bounty hunter Lelila, she wears intense purple eyeshadow and puts streaks in her hair. I lied earlier about remembering nothing from this book; I definitely remember the hair dye wriggling through her hair.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia’s children are kidnapped! She and Chewbacca chase after the kidnappers, and are the most method of method actors. Meanwhile, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and a purple C-3PO head to Crseih Station in search of weird goings-on or potential Jedi or something.
THE CHARACTERS:
Despite his prominent position on the cover, Luke does not play an important role in this book. In fact, you could have eliminated him from the story very easily. He tags along with Han on the trip to Crseih or Asylum Station, acts weird, quickly falls under Waru’s sway, and is willing to die?? Not to mention that instead of adopting a disguise like Han’s beard or Threepio’s purple paint job, he just uses the Force to look like a different person. Why would you do this? It seems like such a waste of power, and surely the old Jedi would have pulled this trick all the time.
Han is grumpy and gets drunk a lot. He’s very distrustful of Luke. That’s it, that’s his subplot. He also has this weird exchange with Luke in the beginning, where he says that it’s perfectly fine for him to flirt with other people. I suppose this is foreshadowing that we’re going to run into one of his exes over the course of the story, but it’s a weird attitude for him to adopt. He’s not jealous like he was in The Courtship of Princess Leia or even Dark Apprentice, he’s just a grouch.
After discovering that her children have been kidnapped offworld, Leia immediately takes off in pursuit of them. Which is great! I totally accept that she would drop everything and chase down the people who hurt her family, mama bear style--especially when you remember that her planet was destroyed by the Empire, and her family is all she has left. But whether to raise suspense or keep us guessing, McIntyre writes from Leia’s point of view in a disjointed way. In the first chapter, her children are gone--her children are gone--the bomb--her children! She almost starts to sound whiny, and I don’t think that was McIntyre’s intention at all.
Leia also assumes the identity of Lelila, a bounty hunter. She goes all into this role. When she is the bounty hunter, she refers to herself as Lelila, and Leia as a separate person. This was really weird, and I’m not quite sure what the point was.
So we have Han’s viewpoint for the Crseih Station arc, and Leia’s for the tracking down the kidnappers arc. Since we need to know what’s happening to the children, McIntyre writes from both Jaina Solo’s viewpoint, as well as from Tigris, a preteen working for the villain.
Jaina is five years old. Frankly, her internal narration as well as the things she accomplished seemed far beyond anything that a five year old is capable of, but I accepted it. (At least she had more to do than in some of the Del Rey books, where all the authors could think to do with her was to give her endless boyfriend troubles!). Jaina is curious and brave, and like her mother, she doesn’t settle for just rescuing her brother. No, Jaina rescues all the children in space slavery!
Tigris is not as interesting. He’s manipulated by Hethrir, and unable to see it.
The villains are...meh. Hethrir is your typical Force-sensitive, wants to resurrect the Empire type. Waru is a giant gold-scaled blob of viscous stuff. He’s from another dimension, or another galaxy, or something. He’s formed a cult? There’s probably a kernel of something interesting there, regarding cults and healing versus the threat of not healing, but since he’s a blob of golden jelly it’s hard for me to take him seriously.
ISSUES:
I can sort of see what McIntyre was going for with the child slavery plot line--the New Republic has outlawed slavery, but it can be hard to see beyond your own borders--but the execution is not great.
Sometimes Star Wars media take the concept of a “galaxy far far away” too far: instead of glass, we have to use “transparisteel.” Instead of elevators, they ride in “turbolifts.” But persistent Earth-isms can be just as off-putting, and there’s a lot in this book. People eat cookies. A child is described as being a centaur. Now, I’m not doubting the existence of centaur-like aliens in the SW universe--Mos Eisley cantina alone had a wolfman and a devil man--but it felt weird to outright call her a centaur or “centauriform.”
Xaverri is interesting--how easily she fell into Waru’s cult, but how she’s also able to see the bad parts of it--but her backstory is depicted in the lightest of strokes. She had a family taken from her by the Empire; now she scams them. There’s not a lot to go on, and A.C. Crispin will use that to her advantage in the The Han Solo Trilogy.
Force things: Hethrir has the ability to dampen the Solo children’s Force abilities. However, they are able to get around it by manipulating molecules to make light and moving grains of sand or insects. How does this work? Is this a common skill? Does this require special training? (We are never told!)
Similarly, Luke and other Force-sensitive individuals on Crseih Station are not just unable to use the Force, but feel very sick. This is very different from the effect that the ysalamiri create, which seems to be a Force-less bubble with no adverse health effects. Apparently this is because of the resonance of the crystal star, but it’s just one more unexplained weird Force thing.
And the other Force users we encounter in this book are the opposite of subtle. We know that Hethrir is bad because he suppresses the alien children’s abilities, and sells them into slavery, and wants to restart the Empire! Meanwhile, his former lover Rillao is good because she can only use the Force to heal and to soothe. For once, I would love for the bad guy to be a Force healer; how could they use the Force to injure and worsen conditions? That would be fascinating! But alas, we have not yet reached that level of nuance and are stuck in a very black-and-white view of the Force.
The ending is atrocious. Waru needs to consume a powerful Force user to be able to return to his dimension or what have you. Luke begs for Waru to kill him! He dives into his golden viscous jelly. Leia dives in after him. Han dives in after the two of them! They are almost lost! The only thing that makes them regain their senses are the children yelling “Come back! Come back!”
NO.
IN CONCLUSION:
I love some of McIntyre’s other novels, but The Crystal Star is just bizarre. Very little from it is carried over to other stories, so I think you could skip it during your own 90s Star Wars reread and not even notice its absence.
Next up: the first in the Corellian Trilogy, Ambush at Corellia by Roger MacBride Allen.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/wipwdCjNf6g
May 13, 2024
Not as bad as people make it out to be, but definitely not great either. Mostly a fun kid’s story.
February 18, 2013
This is a disappointing entry in the Expanded Universe canon. Vonda McIntyre is a respected sci-fi writer who has won both Hugo and Nebula awards. I have enjoyed some of her earlier Star Trek novelizations. So how she produced this sub-par Star Wars book is a bit of a mystery.
I won't bother you much with the plot except to say that it deals with some pretty stale Star Wars tropes, including the kidnapping of the Solo children (again), the attempt by a former Imperial official, now in hiding (how many of these guys are there?) to revive the Empire once more and the search for yet more lost Jedi. Seriously? * yawn *
But the clichéd plot elements aren't really the problem. The issue here is execution. The writing is poor, the characters are handled inadequately and the stylistic choices are pretty questionable.
To wit: I don't need the author of an EU novel to give me Shakespeare. But there was a point in reading this book at which I began to believe that McIntyre could only write subject-verb, subject-verb, subject-verb. There was virtually no variety in sentence length or construction. Yikes! Second, it is not clear to me that McIntrye "gets" these characters. I can't say much about this without providing spoilers, but suffice it to say that several major characters take actions that don't seem completely commensurate with their character traits in the films or other EU books. Finally, the stylistic choices are very strange. When we cut away to the scenes of the children who have been kidnapped, McIntyre changes her writing style. She seems to be attempting to write from the children's point of view without actually moving to first-person. This attempt just seems to create an artificial, strained and juvenile feeling to these scenes. It does not add any value. My advice would have been to stick with third-person omniscient and let the third person remain an adult. And if you're going to use first-person narrative, go all the way. This in-between voice (third person juvenile) didn't work.
All of these complaints, and I haven't even had time to mention the rubber science in this book (e.g. an anti-Force that sucks power from the Force or a freezing star, etc.) But you get the point already. This book just isn't very good. Suffice it to say that this one is for the die-hard completists only.
I won't bother you much with the plot except to say that it deals with some pretty stale Star Wars tropes, including the kidnapping of the Solo children (again), the attempt by a former Imperial official, now in hiding (how many of these guys are there?) to revive the Empire once more and the search for yet more lost Jedi. Seriously? * yawn *
But the clichéd plot elements aren't really the problem. The issue here is execution. The writing is poor, the characters are handled inadequately and the stylistic choices are pretty questionable.
To wit: I don't need the author of an EU novel to give me Shakespeare. But there was a point in reading this book at which I began to believe that McIntyre could only write subject-verb, subject-verb, subject-verb. There was virtually no variety in sentence length or construction. Yikes! Second, it is not clear to me that McIntrye "gets" these characters. I can't say much about this without providing spoilers, but suffice it to say that several major characters take actions that don't seem completely commensurate with their character traits in the films or other EU books. Finally, the stylistic choices are very strange. When we cut away to the scenes of the children who have been kidnapped, McIntyre changes her writing style. She seems to be attempting to write from the children's point of view without actually moving to first-person. This attempt just seems to create an artificial, strained and juvenile feeling to these scenes. It does not add any value. My advice would have been to stick with third-person omniscient and let the third person remain an adult. And if you're going to use first-person narrative, go all the way. This in-between voice (third person juvenile) didn't work.
All of these complaints, and I haven't even had time to mention the rubber science in this book (e.g. an anti-Force that sucks power from the Force or a freezing star, etc.) But you get the point already. This book just isn't very good. Suffice it to say that this one is for the die-hard completists only.
August 24, 2019
I thought maybe everyone was being needlessly critical of this book but.... nah, they were being factual. The characters, especially Luke, aren't really the Star Wars characters we know and love. They just happen to share their names. Luke acts like a whiny, immature teen, being prone to emotional outbursts, when his character at this point is a strong, wise, Jedi. The story plot switches way too fast. Instead of spending one chapter on one story arc, the author skips around needlessly often. Sometimes revisiting a story for a mere page and then switching again. Most books, I find myself being drawn into a situation and then the chapter changes and I can't wait to get back to whatever the previous chapter was talking about. Then by the end of the next chapter, it's pulled me in again. This book switches so often, it left me with little to no interest in any of the stories. And then the "waru" character made no sense for the majority of the book or how he tied into the story until his involvement was conveniently explained in the last few pages from a character that didn't make sense for them to know all about him...it... whatever it was. and then the book stops half way through the wrap up and not much gets explained, but I didn't really care for the characters anyways. It'll go on my shelf as an added "legends" piece but I won't read through it again like I have the Jedi Academy series, The Thrawn Trilogy or the Han Solo trilogy. Pretty disappointing book. The reviews are true unfortunately.
December 5, 2011
I love Star Wars, and am currently reading through the entire collection books, and every now and then, I read some that seem to take forever to get through. When reading a book, especially a Star Wars book, you know something is wrong.
All the characters are ill written, and seem like completely different people. There is a golden shelled thing that is implied to be a demon. What is up with that? There are somethings that just DON'T mesh with Star Wars, and demons (along with the zombie atrocity) are a part of that category. Also, Jacen and Jaina are kidnapped, and Jaina acts WAY older the five. She seemed more like a seven or eight year old, not five.
The plot was jumbled and random, and I just DID NOT LIKE IT. I would be tempted to give it one star, but I have to admit that there are far worse books that deserve that grade.
All the characters are ill written, and seem like completely different people. There is a golden shelled thing that is implied to be a demon. What is up with that? There are somethings that just DON'T mesh with Star Wars, and demons (along with the zombie atrocity) are a part of that category. Also, Jacen and Jaina are kidnapped, and Jaina acts WAY older the five. She seemed more like a seven or eight year old, not five.
The plot was jumbled and random, and I just DID NOT LIKE IT. I would be tempted to give it one star, but I have to admit that there are far worse books that deserve that grade.
November 7, 2022
Ok, let's ignore that stuff that was revealed at the very end. This was a pretty good book. The characters didn't act quite how I expected them to, but Han showed growth, Luke had an excuse, and Leia was just plain awesome. The villains actually managed to be established as terrifying. And the twins got amazing character development.
I went into this book expecting things to get weird, but in all honesty that didn't happen till the end. That said, some driving elements involved Star Trek esqu elements that felt very out of place in a Star Wars novel. Said elements are only explained at the ending, so they don't really impact the reader's enjoyment, but it does stop you from guessing hidden elements of the story.
All considering, this is one of my favorite legends books so far, rating above The Truce at Bakura but well below the Thrawn Trilogy.
I went into this book expecting things to get weird, but in all honesty that didn't happen till the end. That said, some driving elements involved Star Trek esqu elements that felt very out of place in a Star Wars novel. Said elements are only explained at the ending, so they don't really impact the reader's enjoyment, but it does stop you from guessing hidden elements of the story.
All considering, this is one of my favorite legends books so far, rating above The Truce at Bakura but well below the Thrawn Trilogy.
April 4, 2021
Although there have been many reviews putting this book down, I liked it.
Leia and Han's children have been kidnapped. Along with Chewie and Artoo-Detoo she followes the kidnappers trail, and discovers that it is much deeper than a simple kidnapping. While Luke, Han, Threepio are on planet called Creseih, which one of it's stars is dying, and causing a disruption in the force, and is cutting off Leia and Luke from contacting each other through the force. Also on Creseih is a mysterious alien named Waru, who performs miraculous healing. Which has caused a cult-like following.
First of all, whoever said women can't write Star Wars books is WRONG! This book was awesome! Hethrir seemed really evil! I couldn't put this book down. Read it!!!!
Leia and Han's children have been kidnapped. Along with Chewie and Artoo-Detoo she followes the kidnappers trail, and discovers that it is much deeper than a simple kidnapping. While Luke, Han, Threepio are on planet called Creseih, which one of it's stars is dying, and causing a disruption in the force, and is cutting off Leia and Luke from contacting each other through the force. Also on Creseih is a mysterious alien named Waru, who performs miraculous healing. Which has caused a cult-like following.
First of all, whoever said women can't write Star Wars books is WRONG! This book was awesome! Hethrir seemed really evil! I couldn't put this book down. Read it!!!!
March 23, 2025
I wouldn't say it's the best book ever, but it certainly wasn't the worst. I understand that some points feel a bit rushed, others seem drawn out, but ultimately the book is sort of a window into a situation rather than a comprehensive reference book.
Still not fantastic, but better than many are saying.
Still not fantastic, but better than many are saying.
December 5, 2019
I read this a few years ago and only realized it wasn't in my list until recently and even years later. I can say that this is part of the trash that was left behind when the legends continuity was disregarded.
June 24, 2011
For some reason this has been one of my favorite books in the Star wars EU series for years. It's one of the few I felt compelled to buy.
July 23, 2023
Definitely one of the strangest books I’ve ever read lol
April 19, 2025
1.5
In coming back to these older, maligned Star Wars entries, I want to approach them in as open minded a manner as possible. Vonda N. McIntyre is a well respected sci-fi author, she's won awards and such, so even if her brand of storytelling doesn't quite match what Star Wars fans were looking for, maybe there'd be a good story or good ideas in there somewhere - it's happened before (cough, Children of the Jedi, cough).
Uh, no. This book sucks.
This book sucks and I'm just not really sure what McIntyre was trying to do. It's so scattered and ill conceived, it really feels like an editor took a hatchet to it and then no one did any work to fill in the gaps. Scenes pass where circumstances change mid sentence (When Han and Luke get to the space station, it's repeatedly described as deserted. Until the next sentence they're in the middle of a market, with no description in the interim.) Characters appear, or change thought and direction for no reason. Whole plot points appear and disappear randomly until you just kinda gotta accept that the whole thing is a contrivance, things are going to happen conveniently (Leia just hyperspace jumps to the exact tree her kids are hiding in, which like sure The Force, but god this sucks).
It's not like there's *no* redeeming qualities. The setting of Crsieh (? whatever) Station is cool (I think), some bizarre confluence of astral phenomena that's sorta badly described, but you can imagine some neat shit going on out there. The *idea* of a Empire cult stealing children to sell into slavery, culling out the force users for special purpose is a good one. The *idea* of the cult of Waru is.... well, it's not very good, but it could almost be interesting. It's all definitely more telling of a Sci-fi, Star Treky plot, and not one of the good ones.
But it's all let down when you get to the characters - you could sustain a lot of this nonsense if you had the adventurous feeling behind it, but McIntyre totally misses the pulp, instead letting all three main plotlines down desperately. Leia wakes up and finds her children have been kidnapped - her story is one about discovering the trail (until she just randomly finds them as mentioned above.) But her character in the meantime is naive, floundering, a fish out of water crying waif than just grates against what a strong character a nuanced over-responsible mother could be in this story. Han and Luke are worse - Han devolves into a twenty year old alcoholic, and Luke is an entirely emotionless, uncaring robot. Together they mostly bicker. It sucks.
Finally, there's a point of view from the kids - mainly from Jaina. It's pretty infamous, since McIntyre is writing about the adventures of 5 year olds, and chooses to write from the 5 year old's perspective. Why she chose kids so young is beyond me, since you could age them up just a tad and have it be less irritating throughout. But no - a third or more of the book is this bizarre toothless boarding school narrative, through the eyes of a five year old - even if it was written in the crappy style the rest of the book is, it'd be grating, but here it's interminable.
You would be correct to skip this.
In coming back to these older, maligned Star Wars entries, I want to approach them in as open minded a manner as possible. Vonda N. McIntyre is a well respected sci-fi author, she's won awards and such, so even if her brand of storytelling doesn't quite match what Star Wars fans were looking for, maybe there'd be a good story or good ideas in there somewhere - it's happened before (cough, Children of the Jedi, cough).
Uh, no. This book sucks.
This book sucks and I'm just not really sure what McIntyre was trying to do. It's so scattered and ill conceived, it really feels like an editor took a hatchet to it and then no one did any work to fill in the gaps. Scenes pass where circumstances change mid sentence (When Han and Luke get to the space station, it's repeatedly described as deserted. Until the next sentence they're in the middle of a market, with no description in the interim.) Characters appear, or change thought and direction for no reason. Whole plot points appear and disappear randomly until you just kinda gotta accept that the whole thing is a contrivance, things are going to happen conveniently (Leia just hyperspace jumps to the exact tree her kids are hiding in, which like sure The Force, but god this sucks).
It's not like there's *no* redeeming qualities. The setting of Crsieh (? whatever) Station is cool (I think), some bizarre confluence of astral phenomena that's sorta badly described, but you can imagine some neat shit going on out there. The *idea* of a Empire cult stealing children to sell into slavery, culling out the force users for special purpose is a good one. The *idea* of the cult of Waru is.... well, it's not very good, but it could almost be interesting. It's all definitely more telling of a Sci-fi, Star Treky plot, and not one of the good ones.
But it's all let down when you get to the characters - you could sustain a lot of this nonsense if you had the adventurous feeling behind it, but McIntyre totally misses the pulp, instead letting all three main plotlines down desperately. Leia wakes up and finds her children have been kidnapped - her story is one about discovering the trail (until she just randomly finds them as mentioned above.) But her character in the meantime is naive, floundering, a fish out of water crying waif than just grates against what a strong character a nuanced over-responsible mother could be in this story. Han and Luke are worse - Han devolves into a twenty year old alcoholic, and Luke is an entirely emotionless, uncaring robot. Together they mostly bicker. It sucks.
Finally, there's a point of view from the kids - mainly from Jaina. It's pretty infamous, since McIntyre is writing about the adventures of 5 year olds, and chooses to write from the 5 year old's perspective. Why she chose kids so young is beyond me, since you could age them up just a tad and have it be less irritating throughout. But no - a third or more of the book is this bizarre toothless boarding school narrative, through the eyes of a five year old - even if it was written in the crappy style the rest of the book is, it'd be grating, but here it's interminable.
You would be correct to skip this.
December 22, 2025
I went into The Crystal Star expecting disaster. Many consider this to be the worst Star Wars book written. So I was pleasantly suprised with how much fun I had with it. Its far from a master piece, but I had a good time.
I can see where the flaws come in. I think Han's characterization ignores a lot of development, placing him much closer to who he was in A New Hope than who he was when we last saw him in Planet of Twilight. That being said, I think Vonda nailed the spirit of that version of the character. His interactions with Luke at the beginning just made me smile so much, their banter bringing me back to the magic of the original trilogy. I really liked Luke's characterization in the first half of the book, his quiet uneasiness as he approaches the mysteries of the Crystal star and a new kind of power in creish station. A master who is wise, yet jaded from what he's seen. However he still has a light hearted humor to him. I loved the scenes where he waits up for Han in the living room, igniting his lightsaber and scolding Han the way a parent would turn on the lamp and scold a child. This makes some of Vonda's choices with Luke in the second half of the book baffling??? He has a ton of childish outbursts which come out of nowhere, and later he almost falls for the temptation of Waru. This was just a weird choice feeling like temptation of power like this is something he has dealt with an overcome twice before.
Overall I really liked Luke and Han's story uncovering the mysteries of Creish Station. The plot of the twins getting kidnapped and Leia finding them was good too, but could drag at times. I like getting to spend a little more time with an older version of the twins and seeing them more. The whole "rouge darkside user trying to rebuild the emporer" was already done in Children of the Jedi, but i feel like it was done much better here with Hethrir than it was Irek.
The final thing I really enjoyed about this book was the picture Vonda McIntyre painted with her description of The Crystal Star, the anomaly of a white dwarf star crystallizing as it gets pulled into a black hole. I could really picture it and gave the setting quite an atmosphere.
Over all far from a masterpiece, but no where close to the abomination people describe it as. A fun, but maybe innessential read.
I can see where the flaws come in. I think Han's characterization ignores a lot of development, placing him much closer to who he was in A New Hope than who he was when we last saw him in Planet of Twilight. That being said, I think Vonda nailed the spirit of that version of the character. His interactions with Luke at the beginning just made me smile so much, their banter bringing me back to the magic of the original trilogy. I really liked Luke's characterization in the first half of the book, his quiet uneasiness as he approaches the mysteries of the Crystal star and a new kind of power in creish station. A master who is wise, yet jaded from what he's seen. However he still has a light hearted humor to him. I loved the scenes where he waits up for Han in the living room, igniting his lightsaber and scolding Han the way a parent would turn on the lamp and scold a child. This makes some of Vonda's choices with Luke in the second half of the book baffling??? He has a ton of childish outbursts which come out of nowhere, and later he almost falls for the temptation of Waru. This was just a weird choice feeling like temptation of power like this is something he has dealt with an overcome twice before.
Overall I really liked Luke and Han's story uncovering the mysteries of Creish Station. The plot of the twins getting kidnapped and Leia finding them was good too, but could drag at times. I like getting to spend a little more time with an older version of the twins and seeing them more. The whole "rouge darkside user trying to rebuild the emporer" was already done in Children of the Jedi, but i feel like it was done much better here with Hethrir than it was Irek.
The final thing I really enjoyed about this book was the picture Vonda McIntyre painted with her description of The Crystal Star, the anomaly of a white dwarf star crystallizing as it gets pulled into a black hole. I could really picture it and gave the setting quite an atmosphere.
Over all far from a masterpiece, but no where close to the abomination people describe it as. A fun, but maybe innessential read.
May 26, 2025
How can anyone think this is the worst novel? Have they not read Children of the Jedi?
Ill conceived. Not particularly well executed. Interminable but not so badly written that the completionist can’t whip through it at pace.
The premise isn’t terrible, nor is the prose—although it won’t win any awards either. The problem is that little happens—kids get kidnapped and then… recovered. End of. Other than some associated fluff there’s not much to it. No pulp space opera action—why are EU authors so against emulating the film narrative structure?
Like other novels in the series, it indulges the formula of breaking the characters into sub groups and having them pursue separate plots only to meet up at the end. In this case, those plots converge in a somewhat coincidental manner. Moreover, Luke is effectively pointless in his plot and, like other books, we have to read about the antics of children—hardly what the original trilogy was about.
Annoying that the Crystal Star—top billing in the title—plays almost no role whatsoever.
Ill conceived. Not particularly well executed. Interminable but not so badly written that the completionist can’t whip through it at pace.
The premise isn’t terrible, nor is the prose—although it won’t win any awards either. The problem is that little happens—kids get kidnapped and then… recovered. End of. Other than some associated fluff there’s not much to it. No pulp space opera action—why are EU authors so against emulating the film narrative structure?
Like other novels in the series, it indulges the formula of breaking the characters into sub groups and having them pursue separate plots only to meet up at the end. In this case, those plots converge in a somewhat coincidental manner. Moreover, Luke is effectively pointless in his plot and, like other books, we have to read about the antics of children—hardly what the original trilogy was about.
Annoying that the Crystal Star—top billing in the title—plays almost no role whatsoever.
March 31, 2024
For a stand-alone, this was a rather good book. The plot revolves around Princess Leia's children being kidnapped. Luke Skywalker is unable to summon the Force to do his bidding, and it all has to do with a decaying star. Although I found the book to be a tad long, other than that, I have no complaints.
March 26, 2025
The best… the perfect… the ultimate - Star Wars book.
*review written by Waru.
*review written by Waru.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 245 reviews