Revisiting the New Jedi Order
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/New_Jedi_Order_series
As a life-long die-hard Star Wars fan, I was beyond excited when after such a long dry spell, new Star Wars fiction began appearing in book stores. This was not fan fiction. This was published works approved by Lucasfilm written by some well-known science fiction writers. (Though, why use science fiction writers to work in what is clearly a space fantasy?) Shortly after the release of the iconic original film, a few books were published. Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was quickly followed by the late, great Brian Daley’s Han Solo Trilogy, a series of adventures of the intrepid space smuggler and his faithful Wookiee copilot set prior to the events of the original film.
But, after the release of Return of the Jedi, there was nothing. In this absence, fan fiction rose. I read some of it, the good, the bad, the awful, and the truly disgusting. Then came Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy. Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the story opened with Luke saying a final goodbye to the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi and wondering how he was to build the Jedi Order back to what it had been in the Old Republic. Equally as important, to me anyway, found Han Solo and Princess Leia married and expecting twins. Twins!
Due to the overwhelming success of these novels, which were well-written and did carry on the grand adventure in tradition of the films, more fiction appeared. This ranged from pre-trilogy stories featuring Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, to further adventures beyond Zahn’s trilogy, including a series of young adult and junior reader stories featuring Han and Leia’s children. Then, publishing house Del Rey decided to take the Star Wars universe into new heights (depths?) and announced what would be a twenty-one book series entitled The New Jedi Order.
The premise of this series was intriguing enough: a race of beings from beyond the galaxy, religious fanatics called the Yuuzhan Vong, had begun an invasion. Bent on destroying world after world due to the technology they see as an abomination, the Yuuzhan Vong became a dark threat to what had become a time of peace and prosperity in the New Republic. Of course, being a devoted fan, I eagerly awaited this and rushed to grab the launch novel, Vector Prime.
In order to show the fan base that this series was going to be different than anything Star Wars fans had experienced before, the publishers, on approval from Lucasfilm, killed off one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars franchise. Though it took a moon crashing on him to do it, Chewbacca the Wookiee—Han Solo’s friend and partner for however many years—died in the climax of the novel. What cut Han to the heart was that his youngest son, Anakin Solo, had seemingly abandoned Chewbacca in order to save refugees before the planet’s destruction. This turn of events did indeed change everything. There was great outrage at the beloved character’s death. But the sales of the series continued to be high.
I stuck with the series, despite what I perceived to be favoritism for Luke Skywalker and his wife Mara Jade over Han Solo and Leia Organa. After Chewbacca’s death, Han went into a tailspin, abandoning his wife and children in a galactic crisis to drown his sorrows. Personally, it was hard to read. One of the things I liked about Han Solo was his devotion to his friends. Yes, Chewbacca was his dearest friend. But isolating himself away from those who could have helped him grieve was painful. As the stories progressed, my impatience and dismay grew. Leia Organa stagnated in her Jedi abilities. (NOTE: this was not entirely the fault of this series. Growth in the Force hinted at in the Thrawn trilogy culminated in little or no expansion in subsequent novels. One reason, I feel, for this is because of the popularity of the Mara Jade character.)
While reading the book Balance Point, which was to feature the long-awaited reunion of Han and Leia, my frustrations grew when the reunion was treated with no great importance, especially in light of the fact that after being poisoned by the Vong, Mara Jade (now married to Luke Skywalker) had finally conceived. While this is a happy event, so should have been Han and Leia’s reunion. My interest waned, however, with the publication of Star by Star.
In this book, Anakin Solo, the youngest of the gifted Solo children, leads a daring raid into Vong held territory to destroy the voxyn, creatures that were quite lethal Jedi hunters. During that raid, Anakin died. And with it, my interest in the series as a whole.
I did not think it fair that Han and Leia, one of the three characters the original trilogy revolves around, were given a back-seat to “EU” characters.
I did not think it fair that Luke and Mara experienced bliss while Han and Leia had to suffer through the death of Chewbacca, the death of their son, the close walk their daughter made to the dark side after Anakin’s death, and the kidnapping and torture of their remaining son at the hands of the enemy.
My abstaining from Star Wars fiction lasted for years. But, after the prequel trilogy waxed and waned, I began to miss my old friends. Luckily, books continued. After the ending of the New Jedi Order series, another tale began. Called the Swarm War Trilogy, this series was a welcome change from the New Jedi Order. Leia, having resigned from politics, had begun studying and training as a Jedi. She and Han had been reconciled and were stronger than ever. She had even become an apprentice to Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne.
This series was followed by the dark Legacy of the Force series, which saw Jacen Solo, Han and Leia’s only surviving son, turn to the dark side to become Darth Caedus. To make matters worse, Caedus was ultimately defeated and killed by none other than his twin sister, Jaina Solo. (NOTE: this series spared no one—this time, it was Mara Jade who died.) Strangely enough, this series ended on a very bright note; Han and Leia are now grandparents to Allana Solo, the product of a brief affair between Jacen and his childhood sweetheart Tenel Ka. Through a series of events, the Solos have custody of the child and are raising her.
After this came the series Fate of the Jedi, which is ongoing.
But, all this prompted in me a curiosity. I had retained a couple of books from the New Jedi Order series so I decided to re-read them. I realized that there were some events that I had missed out on so I bought some more books from the series. While I am still not altogether thrilled with some of the characterizations written in the early books (I will never understand why Jaina Solo—who was a devoted pre-teen in the young adult books—became an angry teenager in these early books.), I have found some glimmer of hope for my favorite characters.
After their reconciliation (which should have taken place in Star by Star but was corrected in the e-novel Recovery), Han and Leia became devoted to each other in such a way that not even the death of their youngest son and the transformation of Jacen into Caedus could tear them apart. And I have had the chance to become re-acquainted with Jaina Solo. When Luke Skywalker decided to make her and the other young Jedi of her generation actual knights, the Force speaking through him proclaimed Jaina the Sword of the Jedi. I also got to read the introduction of a character I have grown quite fond of, Saba Sebatyne.
And I am also now more curious about the turmoil that has taken place in the life of young Tahiri Veila, Anakin Solo’s childhood friend. I guess as I’ve put some distance between the story arch of this series and subsequent series, I have found a new, if not restrained, appreciation for a series I once reviled. It will never become my favorite series of Star Wars fiction but I can understand its popularity at least.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/New_Jedi_Order_series
As a life-long die-hard Star Wars fan, I was beyond excited when after such a long dry spell, new Star Wars fiction began appearing in book stores. This was not fan fiction. This was published works approved by Lucasfilm written by some well-known science fiction writers. (Though, why use science fiction writers to work in what is clearly a space fantasy?) Shortly after the release of the iconic original film, a few books were published. Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was quickly followed by the late, great Brian Daley’s Han Solo Trilogy, a series of adventures of the intrepid space smuggler and his faithful Wookiee copilot set prior to the events of the original film.
But, after the release of Return of the Jedi, there was nothing. In this absence, fan fiction rose. I read some of it, the good, the bad, the awful, and the truly disgusting. Then came Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy. Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the story opened with Luke saying a final goodbye to the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi and wondering how he was to build the Jedi Order back to what it had been in the Old Republic. Equally as important, to me anyway, found Han Solo and Princess Leia married and expecting twins. Twins!
Due to the overwhelming success of these novels, which were well-written and did carry on the grand adventure in tradition of the films, more fiction appeared. This ranged from pre-trilogy stories featuring Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, to further adventures beyond Zahn’s trilogy, including a series of young adult and junior reader stories featuring Han and Leia’s children. Then, publishing house Del Rey decided to take the Star Wars universe into new heights (depths?) and announced what would be a twenty-one book series entitled The New Jedi Order.
The premise of this series was intriguing enough: a race of beings from beyond the galaxy, religious fanatics called the Yuuzhan Vong, had begun an invasion. Bent on destroying world after world due to the technology they see as an abomination, the Yuuzhan Vong became a dark threat to what had become a time of peace and prosperity in the New Republic. Of course, being a devoted fan, I eagerly awaited this and rushed to grab the launch novel, Vector Prime.
In order to show the fan base that this series was going to be different than anything Star Wars fans had experienced before, the publishers, on approval from Lucasfilm, killed off one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars franchise. Though it took a moon crashing on him to do it, Chewbacca the Wookiee—Han Solo’s friend and partner for however many years—died in the climax of the novel. What cut Han to the heart was that his youngest son, Anakin Solo, had seemingly abandoned Chewbacca in order to save refugees before the planet’s destruction. This turn of events did indeed change everything. There was great outrage at the beloved character’s death. But the sales of the series continued to be high.
I stuck with the series, despite what I perceived to be favoritism for Luke Skywalker and his wife Mara Jade over Han Solo and Leia Organa. After Chewbacca’s death, Han went into a tailspin, abandoning his wife and children in a galactic crisis to drown his sorrows. Personally, it was hard to read. One of the things I liked about Han Solo was his devotion to his friends. Yes, Chewbacca was his dearest friend. But isolating himself away from those who could have helped him grieve was painful. As the stories progressed, my impatience and dismay grew. Leia Organa stagnated in her Jedi abilities. (NOTE: this was not entirely the fault of this series. Growth in the Force hinted at in the Thrawn trilogy culminated in little or no expansion in subsequent novels. One reason, I feel, for this is because of the popularity of the Mara Jade character.)
While reading the book Balance Point, which was to feature the long-awaited reunion of Han and Leia, my frustrations grew when the reunion was treated with no great importance, especially in light of the fact that after being poisoned by the Vong, Mara Jade (now married to Luke Skywalker) had finally conceived. While this is a happy event, so should have been Han and Leia’s reunion. My interest waned, however, with the publication of Star by Star.
In this book, Anakin Solo, the youngest of the gifted Solo children, leads a daring raid into Vong held territory to destroy the voxyn, creatures that were quite lethal Jedi hunters. During that raid, Anakin died. And with it, my interest in the series as a whole.
I did not think it fair that Han and Leia, one of the three characters the original trilogy revolves around, were given a back-seat to “EU” characters.
I did not think it fair that Luke and Mara experienced bliss while Han and Leia had to suffer through the death of Chewbacca, the death of their son, the close walk their daughter made to the dark side after Anakin’s death, and the kidnapping and torture of their remaining son at the hands of the enemy.
My abstaining from Star Wars fiction lasted for years. But, after the prequel trilogy waxed and waned, I began to miss my old friends. Luckily, books continued. After the ending of the New Jedi Order series, another tale began. Called the Swarm War Trilogy, this series was a welcome change from the New Jedi Order. Leia, having resigned from politics, had begun studying and training as a Jedi. She and Han had been reconciled and were stronger than ever. She had even become an apprentice to Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne.
This series was followed by the dark Legacy of the Force series, which saw Jacen Solo, Han and Leia’s only surviving son, turn to the dark side to become Darth Caedus. To make matters worse, Caedus was ultimately defeated and killed by none other than his twin sister, Jaina Solo. (NOTE: this series spared no one—this time, it was Mara Jade who died.) Strangely enough, this series ended on a very bright note; Han and Leia are now grandparents to Allana Solo, the product of a brief affair between Jacen and his childhood sweetheart Tenel Ka. Through a series of events, the Solos have custody of the child and are raising her.
After this came the series Fate of the Jedi, which is ongoing.
But, all this prompted in me a curiosity. I had retained a couple of books from the New Jedi Order series so I decided to re-read them. I realized that there were some events that I had missed out on so I bought some more books from the series. While I am still not altogether thrilled with some of the characterizations written in the early books (I will never understand why Jaina Solo—who was a devoted pre-teen in the young adult books—became an angry teenager in these early books.), I have found some glimmer of hope for my favorite characters.
After their reconciliation (which should have taken place in Star by Star but was corrected in the e-novel Recovery), Han and Leia became devoted to each other in such a way that not even the death of their youngest son and the transformation of Jacen into Caedus could tear them apart. And I have had the chance to become re-acquainted with Jaina Solo. When Luke Skywalker decided to make her and the other young Jedi of her generation actual knights, the Force speaking through him proclaimed Jaina the Sword of the Jedi. I also got to read the introduction of a character I have grown quite fond of, Saba Sebatyne.
And I am also now more curious about the turmoil that has taken place in the life of young Tahiri Veila, Anakin Solo’s childhood friend. I guess as I’ve put some distance between the story arch of this series and subsequent series, I have found a new, if not restrained, appreciation for a series I once reviled. It will never become my favorite series of Star Wars fiction but I can understand its popularity at least.
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