After a very long pause in the publication of new material in the New Jedi Order series, Sean Williams and Shane Dix bring us the first chapter of the Force Heretic trilogy, Remnant.Aptly titled, most of this novel takes place in the Imperial Remnant, who has fallen under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong, and is very nearly destroyed. A large amount of the novel also revolves around Nom Anor, as he struggles for survival in the under levels of Yuuzhan'tar, previously known as Coruscant.Overall impressions of this novel are quite positive. Though not necessarily as memorable as many of the other books in this series, it stands very well as not only a single novel, but doesn't fall victim to the trilogy effect. The book actually has one of the most satisfying endings of the New Jedi Order.The first notion that this book may be a slightly different read than normal is the lack of chapters. The story is divided into four parts, no doubt the result of having two authors working on it. We can assume that both authors wrote two parts.However, this novel doesn't fall prey to many of the traps that others in the series has similarly not been able to avoid. There are no annoying repetitions of various terms or phrases, no scenes that simply don't make sense, with the exception maybe of Tahiri's dream scenes.Unfortunately, the book is not completely without fault. There is very little humor, and rarely will the reader more than grin at some cliché line, or an inside joke. The space battles are adequate, but lack the vivaciousness of other NJO novels.Though the Expanded Universe has not always followed the movies, or George Lucas's explicit word, it was especially disheartening to read that C-3PO was built by Cybot Galactica, when we know he was, in fact, assembled by Anakin Skywalker from spare parts. While an explanation probably exists, this reviewer has yet to see it.Tahiri's scenes were quite odd, and if they continue in the same manner throughout this trilogy, it will be a frustrating series. However, it is a good possibility that Tahiri is the Force Heretic that the series title implies.Other than those small problems, there are no major issues with this novel. Despite not being an exceptionally memorable book, Remnant holds up quite well. After reading this book, the titles Refugee and Reunion, the two remaining chapters in this series, become obvious, and we can look forward to a decent series.
Two letters describe this book. P UThis book stunk. So many of the other Star Wars Expanded Universe books have been so good - but this is another in a long string of stinkers. Hardly any character development, not much in the way of story line - I have a hard time seeing how this ever got printed. Only one badly wriiten battle scene, and in trying to cover every character in the universe, this managed to do very little to build on the history or lore of any.I already have the rest of the New Jedi Order series, so I will finish them up, so I wont be surprised by who dies, or hooks up with whoever, etc... But I cant wait to get through these, and hopefully on to better writing, better stories, and NO MORE FREAKING VONG. These are the worst bad guys in the history of the franchise. I almost get the feeling, someone read the Yevethan stories and thought, "What a great idea, why not drag out 10 or 15 or 20 of these, instead of the 2 or 3 that might have been interesting!"I guess at least (in this series, not this book) they havent been afraid to kill some main characters, including one of the best loved aliens of all time, Chewbacca. Chewy had a long run, starting much further back than we would have guessed, and I guess his time had come. I look ahead to Refugee and Reunion without much hope of anything, except continuing to draw breath long enough for them to be over, and the dim hope the last 2 book in the NJO are better than the almost 2 dozen preceeding loads of steaming bovine fecal matter.
What do You think about Remnant (Force Heretic, #1) (2003)?
I wasn't expecting too much out of this trilogy of books, I imagined it would be a sort of "filler" before the last two books of the NJO. I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.The beginning was slow, and the first 100 pages took a bit of work to get through. After the setting and situations were established, the book got going for me. I liked this book as much as I did because because it kept the focus on the characters, rather than just the plot. Jacen, Jaina, Jag, Tahiri, Pallaeon, and even Nom Anor were all very enjoyable to read about in this book. I'm looking forward to the next in the trilogy.
—Sean Neprud
I should start by saying that I basically know how NJO is going to end, but of course this book was first published some 9 years ago, and the story has leaked out a bit. Despite that knowledge, I felt Williams & Dix wrote a credible beginning to this mini-trilogy that establishes 3 separate storylines, each which feels like it could lead up the the penultimate ending for the series. First Luke & Mara are off to find the living planet, Zonoma Sekot at the behest of the recently deceased Jedi, Vergere. While on route, they acquire an unlikely ally. Han & Leia find themselves trying to patch together some of the communication relays to outlyng planets yet to have felt the Yuuzhan Vong's might, or have they? And Nom Anor, the disgraced Vong intendant, discovers the Jeedai heresy and sees a way to rise back into a position of power for himself despite the heresy being detrimental to the Yuuzhan Vong race. The action for each of the three plots is exciting, but the possibility of the dangers becoming more intense in Book 2 of the arc, Refugee, are too obvious to stop reading now...so on we go.
—William
There's some good moments and ideas in here: the beginnings of a search for a mythical, sentient planet; Admiral Pellaeon being boss; strange happenings with Tahiri; Nom Anor running around deep inside Coruscant; the Imperial remnant's interior struggles.But overall, this book is slower than it should be. It juggles a few too many characters, which wouldn't be a problem, except it could've been easier to follow.A few brilliant moments keep its rating up, though. Particularly Gilad Pellaeon shouting down a Yuuzhan Vong commander, and some of the foreboding dreams of Tahiri. I actually enjoyed following Jacen's character, and it's nice to see the capable Danni Quee back (IMO she should have been one of the main characters throughout the whole series, not popping in and out).I get that this is the first of a trilogy, but we're in the last quarter of the New Jedi Order series as a whole--the pacing should really be quicker.
—Daniel
