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Title: Balance Point (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 6) by Kathy Tyers ISBN: 0-345-42858-7 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 03 July, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (84 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Balance between Greatness and Crapish
Comment: This book has a reasonably simple plot which is quite easy to understand. In the complicated political world of Star Wars, this was a much welcomed breather. Basically, the entire Star Wars family ends up taking many paths to Duro, which is the Yuzzhan Vong's next target in their push toward Coruscant. The true heart of the story comes in character development, such as relationships between Han and Leia, Han and Droma, Jacen and EVERYONE, etc. These developments are also a great break from previous NJO books. Overall, in these aspects, the book is like the author's other Star Wars novel, Truce at Bakura. However, the book falls short of being great in the same way as TB, just not as much. Because of the simple plot in the novel, the action scenes (which are very short), can be confusing at times. One example which comes to mind is when Jacen and Jaina are flying through the orbital city in a vehicle. Fast readers might have problems understanding what is going on, so slowing down the pace is needed at times. Also, the character development goes to far and makes the plot predictable. The focus is Anakin deciding to stop use the Force. In the end, he must decide whether he should continuing using the force in order to save a loved of his. These sort of things become predictable, and the plot begins to fizzle at the end. Overall, the most memorable impressions I had were that of the recurring secondary characters. The scenes with Randa the Hutt, Nom Anor, & Droma were done particularly well, saving the novel from becoming pointless. I recommend this book, but not highly.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Vast Improvement Over James Luceno
Comment: Book six of the New Jedi Order series, Balance Point, could not be better. Kathy Tyers (author of the excellent Truce at Bakura) returns to the Star Wars Universe to write an extremely satisfying novel.
Like James Luceno's Jedi Eclipse, Tyers' book has a vast number of stories to follow, but unlike Luceno, Tyers does it well. The extra storylines have a reasonable purpose, unlike Luceno's, and everything is well-told and suspensful. Leia is still working to help refugees and Jacen and Han (no longer whiny and moping constantly) go to help, aswell. The two do not realize that Leia is close to them and, indeed, whether she is even alive. Jaina is severely injured, and recuperating, battered, scarred and blind, after having to go ev (extravehicular) during a battle. Anakin is, as he has been in the New Jedi Order, annoyingly competent. Tyers also examines Luke and Mara's relationship, which hasnt really been done since the Hand of Thrawn duology by Timothy Zahn.
All of the characters show development, but none more then Jacen, who is still struggling to come to grips with his role in the force. At what point does fighting become of the dark side? While Jacen does not answer that question, or most of his many others, in Balance Point, he does finally realize that sometimes one must fight to protect their loved ones, even if that means violence.
Overall, Tyers puts together an excellent story, and a refreshing change from James Luceno and his subpar duology. Maybe it's just coincidence, but the New Jedi Order authors with prior Star Wars experience seem to write the more enjoyable novels, or at least up to this point in the series.
Rating: 3
Summary: Light, dark...what's the difference?
Comment: Up until now, the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series has been cosmic in scope, with characters moments taking place on a backdrop of world after world falling to the villainous Yuuzhan Vong. With Balance Point, Kathy Tyers gives us a bit of a break from that. Sure, the Vong are still ravaging every planet in sight, but the events of the book are limited to one planet with all of the characters involved being there. It's a bit more intimate in scope in one other way, too: the main point of the story is young Jacen Solo's quest to discover just what his place in the Force is. It's a nice change of pace, but the presentation is a little boring and the characters sort of lie there on the page.
I have to admire Tyers' attempt to do a Star Wars novel with very little starship combat, though there is a fair share of juking and jinking to be done. However, what we're left with flies off the page like a Tie Fighter with one solar panel missing. It's sad because this is a novel that sets up a lot of the books to come (or appears to, anyway). Coruscant is threatened, Han and Leia may be back together and Han is acting more like himself after what happened in the last few books. Jacen comes to a crossroads and appears to make the correct decision, and there's plenty of personal action. Yet for some reason, none of this stuff seems to move. Droma gets very little characterization, and what there is of it is carried over from Luceno's novels (Hero's Trial and Jedi Eclipse). He is clearly not taking Chewbacca's place, but I can't tell if that's because he's not supposed to or because he's just characterized badly.
The regulars are decent, but bland. The reunion between Han and Leia should be electrifying, but it just limps along (granted, they are in decontamination, but still...). It's nice to see them working together and caring about each other, but it would have been nice to have better dialogue for them. Jacen's relationship with his sister, Jaina, takes a nosedive as Jacen reveals that he won't use the Force, even to rescue their mother. Thankfully, Jacen realizes that not using the Force but relying on others to use it is kind of hypocritical, but then he never does anything with that realization. When Jacen makes his final decision about his destiny, it all comes about in a fairly clichéd way, with a loved character being in danger forcing him to decide. The answer is, of course, predictable.
We are introduced to Warmaster Tsavong Lah, a Vong who appears to be an ongoing character in this one, as well as meeting Nom Anor yet again. Anor is actually getting a bit irritating, so one can only hope that he will soon be vaped accidentally by one of his own troops. He's a spy, infiltrating the New Republic in various guises, showing up in book after book in another role, serving the Vong god of Tricks rather then the god of Violence. While it looks like this dynamic could be interesting in future books, Anor as a character has never achieved anything more then reader annoyance in my book.
As I said before, the plot is a lot more intimate and less star-spanning then previous books, which does make for a tighter book. I really liked the way the book didn't jump all over the known galaxy and stayed in one place pretty much. Of course, it's a stretch that they all end up in the same place yet again, but it's a given with the Star Wars books, so I should probably stop complaining about it. I also really liked the relationship between Mara and Anakin, and to a lesser extent, Luke. A momentous event in Luke and Mara's relationship occurs in this book, and I hope it leads to even more interesting things. In the meantime, though, Mara and Anakin make a wonderful pair. Mara's the experienced one and Anakin is eager to learn at her feet. He learns a bit about espionage as well as more about using the Force. He's also shown to be a bit of a hot shot, and I hope this leads to a lesson in future books.
All in all, Balance Point is a perfectly acceptable Star Wars novel. It has some excitement and some good character moments. I just wish there had been more of them. If you're reading the series, it's not really one you can skip (though hopefully future books that rely on it will tell you enough about it if you do decide to pass it by). It's also good enough to get through if you have to. But if you're picking and choosing, give this one a miss.
David Roy
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Title: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 4) by JAMES LUCENO ISBN: 0345428609 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9) by Troy Denning ISBN: 0345428676 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Dark Journey (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 10) by ELAINE CUNNINGHAM ISBN: 0345428692 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Dark Tide II: Ruin (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 3) by Michael A. Stackpole ISBN: 0345428560 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 06 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Dark Tide I: Onslaught (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 2) by Michael A. Stackpole ISBN: 0345428544 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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