Star Wars: Dark Nest I- The Joiner King by Troy Denning. Five stars. tA surprisingly complex EU novel overshadowed by many in the fanbase.tTroy Denning earned task of writing the first post-New Jedi Order novel while preparing the groundwork for Legacy of the Force. In the large New Jedi Order-Legacy of the Force-Fate of the Jedi meta arc Dark Nest the short breather between parts one and two. The Joiner King is an accomplished first act in Del Rey’s most underrated series.tThe Joiner King examines the mental fallout of the Yuuzhan Vong War five years after the war’s conclusion. Welk, Lomi Plo, and Raynar Thule, the main joiners at the center of the Colony and the titular Dark Nest, are physically scarred survivors of the Myrkyr mission from Star by Star while the other Young Jedi Knights carry the emotional scars. One of New Jedi Order’s central themes was the coming of age of the Young Jedi Knights’ generation. Notice how the joiners in the novel are suffering from existential ennui once the Vong War concluded. Jaina Solo starts her fat Lee Adama stage in this novel since she is a soldier who lost her war and her way. Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka as the two Myrkyr survivors who successfully resist the Colony’s call is an interesting choice, given their love child is conceived in The Joiner King. Jacen’s independence during his five year sojourn and Tenel Ka’s elevation to Hapan Queen Mother forced each of them to move on with their lives, but if this is for good or evil is too be seen in the continuing storyline.tEach of the Dark Nest novels focuses on a member of the big three, as shown by their appearance on the cover art. Han is The Joiner King’s pivot. Of the Big Three, Han has had the worst characterization in the post-ROTJ EU. Too many writers want to peg Han back into his Empire Strikes Back portrayal. Han as an old cranky man is humorous in a self-referential way given Harrison’s persona as an old cranky man, but the character suffers from little dramatic umph. Denning utilizes this interpretation of Han as a guiding light for the novel. Take Han’s dislike for bug species. Most writers would use this as a one shot joke referring to Indiana Jones. However, Denning uses Han’s reactions to the Killik, stemming from a religious racket Han started turned bad, as a post to use Han’s mild racism (or specieism?). Moreover, Han is very funny in this novel. His reference to breaking Raynar Thul’s mother’s heart, an event Luke or Leia is unaware of, is a great joke revealing Han’s character. On the whole, Denning employs a lot of humor to lighten the dynamics of the Chiss-Killik border conflict.tLuke must face the philosophical implications of the Jedi Order’s adoption of the Potentium over the traditional light dark dualism. Take Luke’s authorization of torture on the Jedi joiners to deduce the full effects of the Killik joining process. Luke watching Master Clighal inflict pain on Jedi he personally trained is a well-crafted scene illustrating his internal doubts against the necessity of the Alliance’s need to resolve the conflict between the Chiss and the Killik erupts into a full scale war. Additionally, Luke’s temporary aging after he uses the Force to create physical illusions is a nice stand-in for the sickness started to influence the Jedi besides setting a recurring motif in Dark Nest and Legacy of the Force.tGiven the novel was released after Revenge of the Sith Denning is able to include the Artoo subplot revealing Padme’s identity to Luke and Leia. Artoo possessing actual character traits aside, the interludes allow Luke to gain some insight on his father’s mental disposition as a means resolve the conflicts of the present. Nice touch by Denning to include this in an artful manner.tDenning suffers an undeserved reputation for creating confusing battle scenes which leave the reader unable to follow the flow. No, Denning crafts intelligent and thought duels second only to Stover. The two times Welk appears in combat the blocking of the scenes forces the Jedi defenders, Saba Sebatyne and later Luke, to utilize actual strategy instead of mere blunt force. Mara’s duel with the Gorog on Ossus is an intense and humorous exchange. The two’s temporary ceasefire when Ben arrives is remincient of the opening fight in Kill Bill Vol 1. Perhaps Denning’s martial arts background is a reason for his unique interpretation of the lightsaber duel. Whatever reason he creates exceptional combat situations.tCal Omas’ narrative arc turns into murky territory. His introduction in New Jedi Order is a strong supporter of the Jedi Order and opposition to the Yuuzhan Vong no matter the costs. The Omas in The Joiner King is a wearied, more experienced, more pragmatic politician. A comparison can be made to how history would have viewed Abraham Lincoln if he lived during Reconstruction. Most heads of state in the Expanded Universe are either paragons of morality or power hungry despots. Omas’ characterization in The Joiner King and the rest of the trilogy is the EU’s most nuance and realistic portrayal of a politician. Omas wants to finish the reconstruction of the galaxy after the Yuuzhan Vong War, and he wants the galaxy to stay in peace. His reference to a Jedi budget is his best line. One of the main advantages the novel form has over a film is prose’s ability to go deeper into issues than a film. Denning is one of the few EU writers to truly recognize this. From an outside perspective Omas is completely correct in his frustration at the seemingly autonomous actions of the Jedi Order. Kudos to Denning for making the EU readership stop for a couple seconds to think something over.tDark Nest I: The Joiner King is an excellent novel starting an excellent series. Rereading the Dark Nest trilogy has been a pleasure. I highly recommend readers to pick up this novel, and for people dissatisfied with the trilogy initially given Dark Nest deserves a second look. The Killik are simply McGuffins, something for the heroes to shoot at. A rare five out of five for me.
"Who else can we trust to wield our power? We must follow our own consciences."Five years have passed since the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, and some of the younger generation of Jedi Knights, including Jaina and Jacen, have left for the Unknown Regions. They have been summoned by a strange new alien race--one that has the Chiss carefully protecting their borders. When Han, Luke, Leia, Mara, and Saba head out to find the young Jedi Knights, they learn that not everything is as it seems...and secrets are everywhere.I Liked:One of my biggest complaints against Bantam era novels is how they often had some galaxy spanning crisis of the moment. I love my epic stories, but a single novel or a trilogy can't really give you the room to really make a conflict epic. Here, Denning doesn't try to make this conflict affect the galaxy in such an intimate way. Sure, the Jedi don't want to tick off the Chiss because the Chiss do help in border patrol, but again, this isn't "Life or Death" of the galaxy. It's just politics.Also, it's a whole lot of fun to see our favorite characters post-NJO. Han, Luke, Leia, and Mara are all well done, with appropriate growth from NJO and the five years. I thought Denning did a good job with all of them, to make them consistent and yet grow. Newer characters, like Jaina, Tesar, Alema, and Jacen, are equally well-done. I particularly wanted to read more about Jacen, as it seemed he had a lot of interesting insight. And kudos to Denning for the Tenel Ka/Jacen romance, brief as it is. Saba, who hadn't been my favorite character in the past, was extremely well-done. I love the effort Denning put into making her distinctly non-human. Her thoughts, actions, and words were most definitely Barabel and a much appreciated departure from "humans with rubber foreheads" you tend to see in scifi. And I thought Denning did a fairly good job revealing Luke and Leia's parentage (though read below).The new aliens were pretty cool as well. I liked seeing the connection between the aliens and the Killik Twilight, an Alderaanian moss painting first seen in Tatooine Ghost. I love authors who drop things like this in books and then get a chance to return to them. I also like how it made the galaxy seem bigger and with a greater history.The best things in the novel, however, are the Killik Hive Mind and the government vs Jedi. The Killik Hive Mind is an interesting concept, one that hasn't yet appeared in Star Wars. It's always interesting to look at "independence" and the Jedi Battle Meditation and see what new things can be learned. Similarly, I was very intrigued with the relationship between the government and the Jedi. Half the Jedi believe in supporting the government; the others believe in following the Force. Yet both still take money from the government coffers. Luke comments on the new "Grey" Jedi beliefs: that there is no Light and Dark side, only a Light and Dark side of a person (individual choice). I love new discussions, and it's cool to see Jacen's findings from NJO in this new arena.I Didn't Like:Tons of characters. Take a brief look above at the names I mentioned then tack on about a half dozen to a dozen more. I do love how Denning avoided making all the parties human, but did Han and Leia and Luke and Mara and Saba and Jaina and Jacen and...and...ALL have to be involved? Kinda hard to get invested in characters when they hardly appear.Speaking of hardly appearing, let's talk about R2-D2 and his revelation. As I said above, generally I love it. However, it completely, and I mean completely, drops off the face of the book about 200 pages from the ending. I understand throwing in a scene where Luke learns more about his mom in the middle of a battle wouldn't work, but I still felt somewhat confused when there wasn't even a hint of it in the epilogue.The pacing also is all over the place. The story tends to get bogged down in this sudden "Let's explain exactly how the Millennium Falcon goes into hyperdrive" (huh? When did we start doing this?), scenes where everyone and his/her mother (sometimes literally!) join up to go somewhere, or odd battles. I had a particularly hard time near the beginning when Jaina and Jacen and the others are fighting with the Taat against a Chiss force. I kept wondering where they were going, what they were doing, and what the whole point of the scene was. Speaking of "what the whole point was", there's also this strange, out of left field scene where Saba goes hunting. The scene is important to show that a baddie is still alive and to establish Saba's alienness, but overall, I couldn't help reading this and wondering, "Why is this here? Isn't there a different way to show this baddie???"While the story is interesting, it's easy to start questioning how quickly the Jedi become Joiners. Isn't Jaina the Sword of the Jedi? Why is she so easy to sway? I didn't think she was THAT close to SPOILER...Lastly, gore. Denning loves to gross us out with body functions, vomit, and body parts. It's not the worst I've seen, but I did get tired of hearing about so-and-so avoiding his vomit on the floor.Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:Star Wars slang at worst.Tenel Ka and Jacen consummate their relationship. The Killiks have a mating dance, which several of the Jedi Knights participate in. Yet another ex-girlfriend of Han's is revealed.Kinda gory at places. Decapitations, arm removals, explosions, goring, and more may be found.Overall:After the epic NJO, it's nice to have something more low key. And I love how this book explores the Killik's Hive Mind, the changes in the Jedi Order and the rising bickerings between the government and the Jedi. But the book was a challenge to finish. The pacing is funky, there are a ton of characters, and it isn't always easy to see what the point of a scene is. Good, but not great.
What do You think about The Joiner King (2005)?
This book started off a bit slow as the author worked his away through the introduction of a few new (minor) characters and of the new "bad guys", the Killiks. However, the ending (no spoilers) is fast paced and crackles with energy because you really aren't sure what is going to happen. While I did not figure one of the major characters was going to be killed (as Troy Denning has done before), there were sufficient twists and turns to make me push through the last 100 pages as fast as I have read any Star Wars novel before.
—William
I cannot give this a star rating - in fairness - because the copy of this I ended up with was abridged, and I did not catch it until I was half through, so then I just let it run.If you ever tried an abridgement, there are COUNTLESS inconsistencies that some jagoff editor decided was okay, and did/do not effect the overall story experience. In my opinion, they are WRONG.The +/- half or so of the story that was there sounnded interesting, and if the holes were filled in I bet this would have been pretty good.
—Darth
Meh. Typical Star Wars novel, but far more convoluted. Denning creates a whole new species in the Unknown Regions, about the only place you can do that in the Star Wars Universe these days, that is a hive mind and in conflict with the Chiss Empire. The problem is that the Killik hive mind has been attracting young Jedi to join their cause, causing them to lose their identity in the process. Denning models the species behavior on modern psychological understandings of the conscious and unconscious mind. But the whole explanation is never really clear and the relationship between the nests and which nests actually control the Will of the species is really confusing. Waiting for an improvement in the second book.
—Nicholas
