Hi, I need some help quickly. I just started reading star by star and Leia is in the hospital room recovering. However, she was okay during Edge of Victory. Was Star by Star written before the Greg Keyes duology? And if so, why was Keyes not informed of this beforehand. I am really confused. I have only gotten 20 pages in so please no spoilers. thank you
If you are reading the paperback version, then that's actually the "Recovery" short story by Troy Denning. IIRC it's supposed to take place immediately after Balance Point, but for whatever reason (probably because both are Denning) it got shoved into SBS.
What you're reading is Recovery, a short story originally available in ebook format. It takes place shortly after Balance Point and about concurrently with Edge of Victory. It introduces some characters that appear in Star By Star, hence its placement at the beginning of the book. Once you reach the end of Recovery, you'll notice the actual beginning of SBS.
I just finished re-reading it today. Finished it on the train to work, started re-reading Rebel Dream on the train home. Skipped Dark Journey as it's one I've never overly enjoyed but I'll probably re-read the rest of the NJO. (I spend 4/5 hours travelling on trains to and from work every day so lots of time to read )
Gosh no! Each way would kill me lol! I have a two hour journey to work and then depending on what time I leave it's two or three hours to get home lol. Damned awkward train times. Spoiler SBS is probably my favourite but in the past when I've felt like randomly reading a NJO novel it's usually the Rebel Dream/Rebel Stand novels that I tend to pick up, mostly because I enjoy the post-invasion Coruscant (where it's been taken by the Yuuzhan Vong but not yet terraformed by them) and because I enjoy the Wedge/Celchu moments.
Allston's duology is probably one of the most re-readable stories in the NJO. Some others would be the Edge of Victory duology and The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes, James Luceno's Agents of Chaos duology. The duologies were all great.
I just finished reading Star by Star and I must say it was very entertaining. I give it a 8.5 out of 10. I have a couple of comments then a question that I need answered. MINOR SPOILERS involved. I didnt like the way the book ended. After 605 pages you would think it would have a better ending considering Denning is not writing a sequel. Also, I thought the process of finding and killing the queen voxyn was way too long. Finally, I didn't like how easy Senator Shesh was able to kill a norghi. That didnt seem realistic. Now to my question. When did Jaina learn how to use force lightning? I don't read the young adult books, did she learn it there? Also, I was under the impression that Jedi didn't use force lightning, that it was a sith thing. I would appreciate it if someone could give me an answer. Thank you
It is indeed a Sith (or at least, Dark Jedi) thing- Jaina using it is a hint that she's in the process of Falling To The Dark Side. Her behaviour in Dark Journey suggest that she's arrested this Fall a little- but is still somewhat Dark- but she starts moving toward redemption toward the end of the book.
Denning stinks at writing conclusions. You'll understand after LOTF and FOTJ. The hunt for the Queen was long. Stranger things have happened. Jaina was close to falling to the Dark Side. She lost Anakin and Jacen was captured. That would make anyone snap.