Force Heretic II: Refugee (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 16)

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Sean Williams, Shane Dix
Publisher:	Del Rey
Release date:	29 April, 2003
Our price:	$6.99

Force Heretic II: Refugee (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 16)

Average rating: Stars

2.5/5, An improvement, but not enough...

To say the first "Force Heretic" novel was a monumental dissapointment that made me want to rip my eyes out, would be a minor understatement. Which made it all the more surprising to find that I actually enjoyed this second book in the Williams-Dix composition for the New Jedi Order series.

In all honesty, it appears as though one of the writers (I can't tell which) wrote the first book, and the other one wrote this one, so different did I find the styles. Gone were the plaguing problems of incoherent sentences and paragraphs, stuttering storylines and lack of involvement in the characters. As well, I found most of the intrigue laced in this book to actually work. Previously, I staunchly believed mystery and Star Wars don't mix - they didn't in Episode II, on film, they definitely won't on paper - but at least in the case of Bakura, with so much back-stabbing and betrayal going on at once (even the Yuuzhan Vong get in on it) I was genuinely pulled into the book. The whole plot on Csilla seemed like an afterthought however, and the conflict that occured there seemed a little too mainpulative and coincidental. It would've been much easier for Jacen, Luke and Co. to learn Zenoma Sekot's location without an overly done powergrab. Just my opinion. The plot with Nom Anor as Yu'shaa, the Prophet, also worked well, and helped advance the Yuuzhan Vong side of things with surprising clarity.

Of course, the book still wasn't that great.

The lack of chapters will bug me forever, I'm sorry, it probably sounds petty, but it just doesn't work for me. Call it a stylistic choice if you want, I hate it. The characters were absolutely stupid on occassion (even if I feel Dix and Williams did an ok job of molding them this time), a good case of which is with Jaina. She has ample opportunity several times to free herself from Harris (the Vice-President) and his cronie's grasp, yet waits until possibly the worst time to do so, after two backup character's unneccessarily die. I mean, she only has to fight two guys, and at one point one of them is knocked out of the equation and Jaina isn't even bound by cuffs (as she is when she eventually does break free) and yet she still doesn't act, instead choosing to allow another person to die. Horrible plot-manipulation, flat out. Time and time again, I saw character's make hideously foolish choices that no Star Wars hero or heroine would truly make, just to make the plot advance. It came off as downright lazy to me. That being said, I still enjoyed the plot - go figure.

All in all, this novel was a definite improvement on the previous Williams-Dix endeavor, but still failed in far too many aspects to be worthy of joining the likes of Traitor, Star by Star, or any of Aaron Allston's or Michael Stackpole's novels. 2.5/5 stars.

Force Heretic II: Refugee (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 16) - Sean Williams, Shane Dix

Ugh.

Whose idea was it to let this slop stretch into a trilogy? All of the important points could have been condensed into a single novel (or maybe even a short story). The New Jedi Order does bring an exciting new plot arc to the Star Wars universe, and there have been some great books in the series, but once we get toward te end, the true marketing genius becomes clear; a reader who has already read a dozen novels and gotten caught up in the story of the war with the Vong, will work their way through even the worst book to make it to the end of the series. Or indeed, the worst three books. Only a couple of interesting bits (like the Tahiri subplot) save this from a 1 star review.

Sean Williams, Shane Dix - Force Heretic II: Refugee (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 16)

The Truce is Broken

The second novel of the Force Heretic trilogy encompasses three story lines. The first story line follows Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and other Jedi as they enter Chiss space in search of the planet Zonama Sekot, in hopes that the planet will hold the key to winning the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. While an interesting tale, it is really a secondary story to one of the other story lines. However, this book does move the story along for Luke and Co.

The second story line is also a sub-story. Nom Anor is the fallen Executor of the invading Yuuzhan Vong race. He has been banished as a Shamed One. Not satisfied to sit back and accept his fate, Nom Anor has begun a heresy of sorts by establishing a cult amongst the Shamed Ones that reveres the Jedi, and looks upon them to free the Samed Ones of the shackles of oppression.

The main story follows Leia and Han Solo, their daughter Jaina and Jag Fel as they return to Bakura. Bakura was the subject of the novel 'Truce at Bakura,' which takes place immediately after 'Return of the Jedi.' In that novel, an alien race called the Ssi-ruuk were threatening to 'entech' an entire planet. Entechment is a process of stealing the souls of a sentient being and using it to control a machine.

Bakura appears ready to sever its ties with the New Republic and form an alliance with a race once subjugated by the Ssi-ruuk. There is more than meets the eye though. The Prime Minister is missing, but then suddenly reappears. The Deputy Prime Minister suspects something is up. Malzana Thanas, the daughter of a political hero of Bakura, is being tried for treason. Intrigue abounds.

Overall, this novel was pretty clever. The story on Bakura had many layers, but about two thirds of the way through, the pieces fall into place rather obviously for most readers. It was interesting, and a bit refreshing, that most of the action took place away from the war against the Vong. However, there is a bit of a surprise near the end of the book that will cause most readers to scratch their head a bit.

Tahiri has an interesting role in this triology. She is dealing with an inner demon, and after this novel, she may never be the same again. This sub-plot has alternated between being interesting and annoying. Hopefully, it will reach an interesting conclusion in the third installment.

I'd recommend this novel to anyone that has been reading the New Jedi Order. I would not recommend starting with this novel. Go back to the beginning and read 'Vector Prime' and other novels in the series first.

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