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"Balance Point," by Kathy Tyers [Del Ray, 2000]

Discussion in 'Archive: Literature Review Forum' started by Errant_Venture, Feb 23, 2005.

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"Balance Point," by Kathy Tyers [Del-Ray, 2000]

Poll closed Mar 25, 2012.
  1. 10 (Excellent)

    6.9%
  2. 9

    22.4%
  3. 8

    12.1%
  4. 7

    17.2%
  5. 6 (Average)

    12.1%
  6. 5 (Average)

    8.6%
  7. 4

    3.4%
  8. 3

    6.9%
  9. 2

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. 1 (Poor)

    10.3%
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  1. Errant_Venture

    Errant_Venture Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2002
  2. Errant_Venture

    Errant_Venture Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2002
    <b><i><font color=red>Balance Point</b></i></font> by Kathy Tyers

    <img src=http://www.theforce.net/books/images/balance-point.jpg>



    <b><font color=green>Synoposis</b></color>

    <i>In the aftermath of one tragedy,
    will a young Jedi?s search for redemption
    lead to yet another?

    Poisoned by centuries of technological excess, the planet Duro is an unlivable hell, long abandoned by its own inhabitants, who dwell above their polluted world in orbital habitats. But there is no place else to channel the flood of refugees fleeing the murderous Yuuzhan Vong. So a deal is struck: In exchange for a new home, the refugees will work to restore the planet to health, under the watchful eye of Leia Organa Solo.

    As tempers begin to flare between the Duros and the New Republic, and between groups of refugees, Han Solo, his son, Jacen, and the Ryn called Droma arrive to keep the peace. They are unaware that Leia is on Duro . . . and that Luke, Mara, and Anakin are on their way, searching for a missing Jedi apprentice. And none realize that the Yuuzhan Vong have chosen this embattled planet as the next target in their brutal coreward thrust.

    The unrest only strengthens Jacen Solo's growing belief that a true Jedi should not fight, but should lead others to peace through a deeper understanding of the Force. Now, as the fragile stability on Duro threatens to collapse into violence, Jacen Solo must face his greatest dilemma: At what point does the use of power become aggression? Whatever he decides, his next step could tip the galaxy's destiny toward the light or toward darknessówith the life of someone he loves hanging in the balance . . .</i>
     
  3. master_organa

    master_organa Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 5, 2004
    9. Very good, but quite worthy of a perfect score.
    Error: Only 1 message post per minute is allowed.
     
  4. NorCalBirdz

    NorCalBirdz Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 28, 2004
    Just finished it. Loved it. The NJO was beginning to wear down on me after the weak Jedi Eclipse, but I really enjoyed this one.
     
  5. sisyphusrocks

    sisyphusrocks Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2005
    I have a problem with Han and Leia being on the same tiny planet and not noticing each other.

    The women didn't do too well in this one, Jania's eyes and Leias legs.
     
  6. darthmohican

    darthmohican Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 5, 2005
    i thought this book was extremely boring minus the last 70 pages about

    5 out of 10
     
  7. darthmohican

    darthmohican Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 5, 2005
    This book was hard for me to finish...it was dule and boring to me
     
  8. Prequel_Dreamer

    Prequel_Dreamer Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2004
    Balance Point gets a one from me because it was boring and it painted Leia in a negative light and Mara in a positive one.
     
  9. jaeykey

    jaeykey Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2005
    Here's to hoping I don't step on any toes, but Jacen *really* pissed me off in this one. It's like, get over yourself man. You're not going to careen down the dark side if you use the Force to levitate stuff or get a sense of your surroundings. He just came off as a huge drama queen that wanted everyone to notice that he was distraught to the point that he refused to use the Force. Wow. Points for effort, but really, stop being a whiney retard. Countless generations of Jedi before him bore the martial mantle of Jedi Knighthood without becoming corrupted, so for him to go on this all out pacifist crusade to make a point just irked me.
     
  10. LordRevan19

    LordRevan19 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2005
    To me it was one of the better EU books that takes place after Return of the Jedi. I thought the whole Jacen not using the Force thing was a good plot story, but I wasn't realy into it.


    Good Stuff
     
  11. Rouge77

    Rouge77 Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2005
    Average in every way. Better than the preceding duology, though. Jacen was pathetic. I gave it 7.
     
  12. PerfectCell

    PerfectCell Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2005
    7

    A good book, I enjoyed it, and while it didn't have any glaring flaws it did feel flat for big chunks of pages.
     
  13. boady22

    boady22 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 24, 2003


    What can I say? This is your average NJO book. Nothing too impressive and somewhat out of place for the regulars (Leia getting hurt and not knowing that Han was around). I felt it was kinda boring. Duro was a boring place to read about, and I think the Ryn are just about the worst thing ever created in the SW universe.

    Bottom line.... another swing and miss
     
  14. Corellian_Cutie

    Corellian_Cutie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 13, 2005
    Jacen kinda annoyed me with the whole not-using-the-Force...
     
  15. Jacen-Vader

    Jacen-Vader Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2005
    9. The novel is well, the resolution is perfect. With the fall of Lah for Jacen, and the vision of Darth Vader. The battle of Duro, and the backcover with Jaina in the Bacta Tank. JA
     
  16. Obese_1_Ka-Blooey

    Obese_1_Ka-Blooey Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2006
    jacen was annoying. period. "just use the force, you loser" i felt like saying. but other than that and the whole ryn/duro part(it was really boring it was okay. i give it an 8
     
  17. ConservativeSoldier

    ConservativeSoldier Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2005
    This wasn't a boring story at all. Sure, there weren't explosions in every chapter or lightsabers cutting through Vong every other page, but if you get too much of that and too little plot development, then soon that gets boring.

    This is a solid 8 and the best Kathy Tyers Star Wars piece.
     
  18. Obese_1_Ka-Blooey

    Obese_1_Ka-Blooey Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2006
    yeah but saying it's the best Kathy Tyers Star Wars book isn't saying much...
     
  19. 1_4_Jedi

    1_4_Jedi Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2006
    5/10

    Not a very compelling plot, and two dimensional characters which came off as mostly tired or cranky dominated this book. Jacen was just about as annoying as nails on a chalkboard, and the Duros were a bunch of self-absorbed pricks at exactly the wrong time. Meanwhile the Vong are bearing down and about to flatten anything positive that may have come out of this book, with the hilarious exception of the (soon to be one-legged) Vong in an ass kicking-contest with the Jedi brat in full temper-tantrum mode. The only salvation was Han & Droma trying to keep things in control, and finally some reconcilliation between Han & Leia.
     
  20. RealTalk

    RealTalk Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2005
    3, i wasnt interested in the plot of the book, would of been a 4, but jacen being an annoying whiney bitch puts it to a 3, this book (along with a general lack of interest in the whole vong thing) caused me to take about a year off of reading these things, i just recently picked up edge of victory though and am enjoying it, so maybe i just didnt like the first few NJOs
     
  21. RebelSniper

    RebelSniper Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 29, 2006
    About an 8. I have a soft spot for this book because it was the first NJO novel that I read (I know, I know - stupid), I then lent it to my friend and we where hooked on the new "dark" Star War's novels. In retrospect I thought the book was quite enjoyable but Jacen was (as always) an annoying whiner.
     
  22. JainaRox

    JainaRox Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 23, 2006
    This totally awesome book is really worth a perfect score!!
     
  23. Obilieveinme

    Obilieveinme Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2005
    worst of the series I've read so far. pretty boring setting and result. Thank goodness for Greg Keyes after that story.
     
  24. Master-Chief-Kenobi

    Master-Chief-Kenobi Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2007
    This Novel is the reason why I find Jacen Solo as interesting & entertaining as Jar Jar Binks. I'm sorry but I can't stand to read about "jedi" that spend novel after novel after novel complaining & philosophizing while refusing to act until the very last chapters after everyone else in the book has cleared the way for them & then stepped aside for no good reason.
     
  25. KissMeImARebel

    KissMeImARebel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    I have mixed feelings on this one...because I think Tyers was really trying to get into the heads of characters and flesh out Jacen's internal struggle, and I'll give her credit for the effort. Some if it worked, but most of it didn't.

    I really wanted to sympathize with Jacen's PoV during the early NJO, but it never seemed like any author effectively crystallized it - including Tyers - and it really hurts the quality of BP. Jacen's desire for a more passive role could have made sense, but Tyers continues the pattern of handing him poor arguments. Jacen slides further into ridiculousness with his refusal to use the force, aided by an even more absurdly characterized Luke, who's advise is to go all out avoiding the force (I guess Luke thought this was the equivalent of making Jacen smoke a whole carton of cigarettes because his nephew wanted to smoke one cigarette; but whereas Luke figured Jacen would quit after a pack, Jacen actually smoked the whole carton).

    Similarly Tyers seemed to be trying to flesh out Mara Jade, and while I think personality-wise this is one of the 'better' takes on Mara...Tyers has her doing some silly things. Mara tracking Vong on Coruscant: good. Mara playing dress up: bad. Anakin oggling over Mara when she plays dress up: criminal. Leia's verbal banter with Lah was one of the highlights. Too bad she was shortly reduced a plot device to get Jacen to use the Force (her beating is a shameless case of Women in Refrigerators).

    Han and Droma were the only solid characters, but they can hardly carry things.

    I give it a 5 (although I think I accidently voted something higher - it's your lucky day, BP).
     
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