"What have you done with *Fill-in-the-Blank*?"Luke Skywalker feels that he no longer can feel the Force the same way and decides to leave and search out a life of hermitude, like Obi-Wan and Yoda. However, a woman penetrates his fortress, with stories of his mother. Luke ventures out to find out more.Meanwhile...Lando is bored stiff and goes to Admiral Drayson, chief of Alpha Blue, for an interesting mission. Lando then gathers a team of Lobot, C-3PO, and R2-D2 to investigate a mysterious "ghost" ship.Meanwhile...Leia Organa Solo attempts to make an alliance with Viceroy Nil Spaar, Leader of the Duskan League and a Yevethan. But things turn for the worse very, very quickly...I Liked:Although not fond of how Lando aquires his mission, I do like the mission in general. In fact, I wish it had been divorced from this novel completely (because I've read the series, I know it has little to no import on the main story) and made into its own novel, like in the days of the Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley.Han and Leia again appear as good parents, and I can't tell you how happy I am for that. Han even goes so far as to take an "easy" assignment so he can stay on Coruscant with his kids (with a further tie-in to the events of The Crystal Star--I love it when authors do tie-ins!!).Han and Luke have a conversation about why Yoda and Obi-Wan became hermits (all of it retconned by this point). I thought Luke's discoveries or thoughts were interesting, and they did cast new light on Yoda and Obi-Wan (and the old Jedi Order in general).I Didn't Like:There are three stories here. One I don't mind, but has no bearing on the main story. One is okay (particularly by the end of this book, I found), but it hinges on Leia acting wildly out of character. The last is horrific and makes me want to sharped my teeth on a blackboard.Firstly, the characters. The ones that stand out particularly horrible are Leia and Luke. Leia loses all sense and military keenness, giving valuable intel to a non-ally, Nil Spaar. She then refuses to listen to her counselors, including Admiral Ackbar. Now, I could understand if she wouldn't listen to a young counselor, but Ackbar?! He's got a lot of sense and she's worked with him for years! Is she really so hard up with a tenuous alliance with the Yevetha that she will put her opinon over his at all odds? What happened to her common sense? Or, as Han put it best: "Who was that person and what have you done with Leia?"As for Luke, I could go on for years. What man creates an order then leaves it a mere two years later? How could he be so powerful to create a fortress from scratch and yet need to be a hermit? Why would he leave his siste when she needed him most, only to return to dig her for more information on his mother? Why the big hurry to find his mother now? Why isn't HE helping with this crisis?As you can see, the characters tie in very, very closely to the plots. Lando has to act like a super-spy to penetrate Admiral Drayson's uber secret office. I didn't know there was training for that at Smuggler's Academy! Was that "How to Penetrate an Uber Secret Office 101"? And much of the Yevethan conflict could have been averted had Leia got her head out of her you-know-what and started using her brain instead of her hippie waving peace flag. As for Luke, bah, he's a lost cause. I have no idea why he was included in here. It seems like everyone wants to make him super strong in the Force yet a wuss at the same time (bowing to the whims of Akanah, who has to be the worst girlfriend he has ever had).Speaking of Akanah, can you spell "Annoying"? Well, that's how you spell Akanah! I thought Callista was bad, no, Akanah is worse! She whines about Luke using the Force to protect them from people who try to kill them, bursts in on his sanctuary and lies about his mother (no secret to those of us who have seen the prequels). What is it with Luke and hooking up with these whiny women? Get a grip, Luke! You're a Jedi Master!And about the title: "Before the Storm" could not be more apt. The action only happens at the very, very end and only is briefly seen. Now, if this were a long series, like the New Jedi Order, then this book would have worked perfectly. But for a trilogy? Uh, not so much.Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:Perhaps a d*** or h*** once in a while.Luke travels with Akanah (and I'm sure there is some "Woohoo-ing" going on in the interim).People die in the conflict, but it's only the beginning so you don't see much.Overall:With a fresh view in mind, I can easily say that this book is still bad. Characters don't act like themselves. Two plot threads don't have anything to do with the main one. And while the political machinations are interesting and Lando's plot is kinda interesting, do I really want to read through yet another bad Luke plot to get to it or read Leia ignoring everyone she cares about? The answer is: Not really.
I have an uncommon and slightly unhealthy addiction to Star Wars novels. I have read 54 of them, which is utterly ridiculous and not something I share with everybody. I could have read 54 other books and been a lot smarter, but I didn't. I mean, seriously, I even counted them. Ridiculous.This is to hopefully give my opinion more credibility when I say that this is hands-down the smartest, most mature Star Wars novel I have yet to read. It has garnered a bad reputation since it certainly resides outside the typical Star Wars novel construction - it is slow-paced, light on action, and does stray from the canon in ways that will turn typical fans off. I welcome it. I really don't know if I can read another slapstick space battle or totally shallow deus ex machina laser fight escape. Kube-McDowell thankfully wrote a book brimming with intelligence and outstanding dialogue that, perhaps unfortunately, reinvigorated my interest in the series.Instead of writing another implausible adventure story, Kube brings an outstanding sense of reality to the galaxy in which all the books take place, which lends credibility and substance to the Star Wars saga as a whole. He fleshes out numerous details of the New Republic's political and military structures, and paints a genuine picture of a massive governmental body in its infancy trying to use both diplomacy and morally-questionable black ops to protect its members. He weaves together more minor government branches and chain-of-command protocols into his story than in the rest of the 90's SW books combined. He understands the psyche and choices of military generals all the way down to the file clerks. You really will see the difference in his writing within the first two chapters - it's gritty and to-the-point, bothering very little with flourish or puerile humor. It's also more intense and captivating.With his characterizations, he has obviously gone through all the previous chronological material and thought about what emotional state they would all be facing. They are all written with a heavier hand, less able to deal with the stresses that their adventures have put them through. It's nothing new, but Kube really puts a voice to what we already know about them.And I will mention also that there is a high level of creativity in his unique alien technologies, and his obvious knowledge of real-world aviation and aircraft systems helps the realism of his science fiction. No Sun Crushers or Centerpoint Stations to worry about in this one.This book has a unique militaristic adult style, which is sorely lacking from modern-day Star Wars. I was pretty disappointed when the Clone Wars we've all imagined as the galaxy's most intense and violent struggle was given practically no more story than a children's animated series. This book could not be more different. For other books unwilling to rehash the same style over and over again, I recommend Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Tales From Jabba's Palace, and The Lando Calrissian Adventures, since Star Wars needs more variety than what most of these authors are willing to dare.
What do You think about Before The Storm (1996)?
Eh. Not as good as SW books can be (the X-Wing series), but not as horrible as many of them (Courtship of Princess Leia, for instance). The trouble with many of the SW books that feature the movie characters is that I find the characterizations in the book to be extremely inconsistent. Leia in this book is ineffectual, naive, and narrow-minded, pretty much the opposite of her movie character. Luke goes from peaceful hermit determined to take no more action in the world to an impatient jerk while in the company of the book's only other female character, another weak (despite her supposed power) and deceitful woman. Han is barely present except to give updates on the kids and do one minor thing to forward the plot, and old favorite Admiral Akbar seems a bit lame, too. Lando and the book's new characters, however, are interesting, and the plot is intriguing. I assume all the disparate plot elements will come together in the next book, and perhaps will make up for the jarring interpretations of beloved characters.
—Tracy
I am a Star Wars fan. When the first movie came out I was just out of the 9th grade and was absolutely captivated. It is one of the few movies I have seen more than once in the theater and I actually saw it 5 times there, even taking my 85 year-old grandfather to see it. I've seen every one of the movies as soon as it came out and while I agree with most people that the second trilogy (prequel) was not as good as the first trilogy I still enjoyed them. I read the first few novels that came out as well (remember I am a completest) but thought them merely OK. I didn't read them for the great writing/characterization, etc. but rather to gain factual knowledge of that universe I loved.But then more and more novel tie-ins started to come out and the quality was just not high enough for me to continue with them. I knew there would be an inexhaustable supply, too many to read unless I read little else and so I made the decision to stop reading any of them. I broke that decision once when RA Salvatore came to town and I bought a copy of Vector Prime so he could sign it and I could give it to my dad who also had been reading quite a few Star Wars books. Now cut to this year. For Father's Day my son gave me a computer game "Gold pack" of 5 older PC Star Wars games. I've been enjoying it quite a bit and it got me "in the mood" all over again. And I had one more Star Wars trilogy still on my shelf that my dad had given me and that I still had not read. So now was the time.Before the Storm is the first book in the "Black Fleet Crisis" trilogy, written by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. I found this book to be a lot like all of those other SW novels I had read...that is it was OK but certainly did not set new standards for quality science fiction. This takes place about 12 years after the events of "Return of the Jedi". The New Republic has entered a time of relative peace and so, of course, a new threat needs to be invented. I found the writing to be pretty good throughout this novel; I could easily follow the plot and the author captured the voices of the major characters pretty well: Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, 3-PO, Admiral Ackbar, etc. The plot however was slow. There seems to be several main plot lines developing independantly of each other and I'll just have to wait to see if the other two books bring them together. The best plot line was Leia's where she acts as the head of state and allows her trusting nature to lead the New Republic into catastrophe with the bad guy race. Han's role was disappointing as he has settled down into his role as father to the kids although it looks like he might get some action in the next book. Luke's role was the most disappointing as he abandons everybody and goes off on his own (doesn't that always happen?). This trilogy was written before the second set of movies was filmed and so there are some major conflicts, most especially, Luke's mother.So I guess I'm still where I was before...I'll finish out this series but am doubtful of reading more SW books, at least about this era. I have heard good things about some of the "origins" stories, about the beginnings of the Sith, etc. which I may look into one day.
—Benjamin Thomas
Every once in a while, I have to let my sci-fi geek get its freak on (I have no idea what the hell that statement means, but it sounds appropriate), which usually entails a lazy day of watching six hours straight of cheesy science fiction movies. My wife loves it when I do this. So, anyway, I just recently watched the original Star Wars trilogy again, for the 153rd time, and it still remains awesome. Now, of course, I am back on a Star Wars book-reading kick. There are roughly several hundred-plus novels in the "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars, novels which have carried on the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, et al beyond creator George Lucas's six films. I have only read about a dozen of these novels. I would say that 60% of what I have read is decent, 10% is garbage, and 20% is actually excellent writing. (I wish I could say that a very scientifically-based rubric of my own device went into those figures, but, alas, no. I kinda just made it up based on what I liked and disliked.) I'm reading Michael P. Kube-McDowell's three-novel Black Fleet Crisis series now, starting with Book 1: "Before the Storm", and I have to say that it falls into the 20% category of excellent writing. It's much better than Kevin Anderson's "Jedi Academy" trilogy and on a par with Timothy Zahn's superb "Thrawn" trilogy, in my opinion. Sadly, if you haven't read those series prior to this, parts may seem confusing as McDowell does reference characters and events from them. But, unless you are a die-hard Star Wars fan-boy like myself, you won't care. Plot synopsis: The story takes place twelve years after the events of "Return of the Jedi". Leia and Han are married with three children, twins Jacen and Jaina, and baby Anakin. Leia is President of the New Republic, and she is currently in negotiations with the stubborn Yevethans to join the Republic. Unbeknownst to her, the Yevethans may not just be stubborn but plotting something nasty against the Republic. Meanwhile, Admiral Ackbar learns of a missing "Black Fleet" of old Imperial star destroyers, rumored to have been destroyed but never confirmed. If it still exists, and it falls into the wrong hands, the New Republic would not be able to stand up to a fleet of that magnitude. Okay, actually it would be able to---I just wanted to use Ackbar's famous phrase. Also meanwhile, Luke is feeling somewhat antsy and depressed and leaves the Jedi Academy to go searching for his long-lost mother (here is where the expanded universe kind of falls apart, because this was written obviously before the second prequel trilogy and McDowell obviously does not know, as we all now do, that Luke's real mother, Amidala, is dead). Also also meanwhile, Lando Calrissian, Artoo, and Threepio are on a secret mission to investigate a mysterious ship that they have dubbed the "vagabond". When they attempt to sneak on board, the ship (which they begin to suspect is actually "alive") kidnaps them and hyper-drives them to a far corner of an unexplored galaxy. All of this is very fast-paced and exciting, and I pretty much devoured it in a sitting. I'm just starting the second book and loving it as well...
—Scott Rhee
