Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: FORCE HERETIC I: REMNANT(REMNANT spoilers)

Yeah, but like Luke said of the Jennasari, "They did the right thing for the wrong reasons".

I guess that's what Qui Gon means when he says that those who are evil can do good and vice versa.

At least they got rid of the Yevtheva.

 

[ For reference, on a new page ]

Counting 6 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REMNANT = 47/6 ~ 7.83/10

 

Just finished Remnant. I was favorably impressed, but not greatly impressed. Don?t get me wrong, it?s a solid novel.

But it wasn?t as biting as Traitor. It wasn?t as fun as Rebel Dream or Rebel Stand. The battles weren?t as good as Star by Star. There were continuity mistakes that will have to be patched up. Pellaeon says something that I don?t think any self-respecting Imperial officer would ever say. Also, it felt to be like Luke, Leia, Han and Mara got relegated to supporting roles. Jacen, Jagged, Nom Anor, Tahiri and Pellaeon seemed to me to be the mains in the story. I liked all of their POV?s, but they felt disjointed somehow. I also didn?t much like the lack of chapters.

It was solid, no doubts there. I?ll be rereading it tomorrow before I hand it off for friends to read. But I?ll mostly be skimming to the better parts (which usually involved Luke, Pellaeon, Danni and Jacen).

 

But you didn't give a number rating Jon!

JMA

 

[ Up ]

 

Oh yes, 8/10. Solid, not great.

 

The biggest criticism I have of Remnant is that, from very early in the book, I got the feeling that the authors hadn?t read DW (and I think other people have noticed that too). I genuinely appreciate DR trying to get these books to use ASAP, but they are sacrificing a certain level of quality by doing so.

There were also other continuity and editing problems in the book. From an economic standpoint, sending preliminary copies of the book to certain extreme fans and asking for their input could probably alleviate these problems at a minimal cost. Yes, this could create the potential for a leak, but there are ways to deal with that?

Aside from that, the book was very good. Yes, Nom Anor was out of character (he somehow reverted back to the way he was in VP, as if his character hadn?t evolved at all in the series), but this didn?t take too much away from my enjoyment of his part of the book?

Somehow, this book presented a more Bantam feel to me than the other NJO books. I?m not sure what cased that, but I enjoyed it.

I?m a big Jacen/Tenel Ka fan, but I didn?t particularly dislike Jacen?s relationship with Danni. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I do think Jacen and Tenel Ka should be together in the end (though that doesn?t necessarily mean the end of the NJO), but I think a Jacen/Danni relationship is fine in the meantime. Luke didn?t marry the first woman he had an intimate relationship with, and I don?t really think Jacen should either. And besides, Danni isn?t exactly a bad catch, IMO. Of course, I?d prefer that they stay friends after the relationship ends, as opposed to Danni running for the hills like most of Luke?s former lovers?

Tahiri?s little side quest is definitely interesting. I first thought it was a red herring about the possibility of Anakin coming back, and it still might be, but I think it?s more about Tahiri?s struggle to deal with her Vong personality that she shoved aside in Conquest. I?m really looking forward to this little plot?s conclusion.

Jacen was pretty cool, IMO. He has finally demonstrated those political/diplomatic skills that we all knew he had. I agree with Jacen about Mara and Danni over reacting a bit, but it was still cool to see him really work in that arena.

Jaina? Well, I think she?s better than she was in the previous couple of books, but I never actually had a problem with her back then, so I really wouldn?t be a good judge of that?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. All the plot lines were interesting, and I?m really looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.

Rating: 8

 

I like it. I've had it for awhile and finished it a few days ago. I give it an 8.5.

I felt it was tight and well thought out with a good pace. I think that the characters were "in character". I was doing cart wheels over the page count.

I thought Mara was written like her Bantom days. I wish there was less Nom Anor and a bit more mention of Shimrra. Less Saba and some Tenal Ka.

I wish there was some more of.

Spoiler













"Anakin is trying to kill me" from Tahari





















End spoiler.

But that is why it is a trilogy. Can't wait for the next book.

 

As a reminder... despite my previous stupidity there are spoilers allowed in this thread -- no space needed.

 

Counting 9 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REMNANT = 71.5/9 ~ 7.94/10

 

Hey guys

I'm really enjoying reading your feedback. 7.94/10 is more than I dared hope for for our first effort, so thanks for that! Writing at the tail end of the NJO series has been a stupendous task for all concerned, and although it's inevitable that continuity errors will creep in, we're all appalled that some made it through. Argh!

We'll try harder, I promise. There are lots of cool things to come in REFUGEE and REUNION. While I can't keep tabs on what's happening here as often as I'd like, I will be back soon to see how that rating is going.

Cheers,
Sean

 

Thanks for dropping by Sean!

I hope you'll talk to us about Remnant and the rest of the trilogy in the Authors fourm now that the first book is out.

My score? A solid 9.

I admit, it was a bit disapointed that Luke and Mara didn't get that awesome action scene seen on the cover (in one of the next books perhapes?), but I thought it was great overall. Tahiri, Saba, Luke and Pealleon were my favorite characters in the book overall, but all the gang was well done. The whole "bringing the Empire into the war" plot line was great. It's something I've wondered about since Ruin. The Han and Leia banter was great too.

Favorite scene? It had to be a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers and wardroids mowing down a few Yuuzhan Vong spys! I always liked Stormtroopers, I'm glad they were able to hold their own against the Vong.

Second favorite scene? Luke leading a charge of TIE fighters against the Vong! Talk about some serious irony!

I can't wait to see where the next two books go. Although I do hope Luke and Mara are featured in more of the fighting in the next two books. They've shown their usefulness as leaders, now they need to beat down some more Vong!

 

Man, it's always great when the authors appear to say something!

JMA

 

i just finished the book, i really liked it, there were some minor things that could have been done better, but it set a great opening for the triology, i am glad that the empire is now in the fight, i have always like old Pellaeon, he was great in this one, i am curious as to what exactly is going on in tahiri's mind

i think it was a solid 9

 

Thanks for dropping by Sean!

 

Counting 11 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REMNANT = 89.5/11 ~ 8.14/10

 

I really wanted to like this book . . . and I really expected to, too. I've heard nothing but praise for the EVERGENCE and EARTH books, although I haven't yet gotten around to reading them, and I've really been looking forward to FORCE HERETIC. And while it wasn't as awful as THE APPROACHING STORM or even as bad as RUIN, you'd have to go back that far to find a Star Wars novel I've been as actively disinterested in. Maybe I'm a bit jaded because I've read so many Really Good books so far this year, but there were a whole lot of things in REMNANT that just struck me as a bit . . . off.

First, there were the characterizations and character development. For the most part, this was all quite good. However, many of the characters seemed to be developing from where they should have been by now, but not from where they are. As has been pointed out, Nom Anor's segments were quite interesting, but his actions in parts of DESTINY'S WAY seem to have been ignored, and his character's development since VECTOR PRIME seems to have been forgotten. By now, Nom is not religious, has no problem with cowardice, doesn't really care so much about contact with machines. And yet here he does. Similarly, it was nice to see Tahiri's trauma still with her -- but kind of awkward, since nothing's really been done with that for quite a few books. Furthermore, like Nom Anor, her "development" in DW seems to have been ignored -- for better or worse, she was a squadron commander there, which doesn't make much sense here given the comment about her not being a very good pilot. I did really enjoy Jacen and Jaina's characters here, but unlike most of the rest of you, I didn't care much for Saba's character. Pellaeon was a blast, and I really liked him here, got no real complaints about that. And chatterbox Leia was fun.

Further, I really enjoyed all the tying-up of EU loose ends; finally the EU limbo thread might be able to brought closer to some kind of closure. And a big THANK YOU to Shane and Sean for mentioning Kyle Katarn. I really appreciated that. I enjoyed the plot, the whole idea of making sure that there's still some kind of unity when the war's over; to make sure that it's actually worth winning, although I also agree that the reasoning behind the Sekot mission was a little skimpy.

One thing that bugged me a little was that the Jedi didn't seem to have much grasp of the Force. For example, when the mouse droids got knocked out of Threepio's arms, would it not have made more sense for Jaina and Kenth to have simply scooped them back up with the Force than spending several minutes chasing them around and lunging for them?

In terms of the various plotlines, the mission to the Empire was by far my favorite, with the exception of the bits from Saba's POV. Next came the bits from Tahiri's POV, and then the Nom Anor bits. Not being a big fan of the whole Jag/Jaina thing, I thought a little more time was devoted to their relationship than was strictly necessary, but it did seem to be better done than in some of the other novels.

Overall, my biggest problem with this book has to do with the presentation. It almost seemed like a rough draft, both in the text and elsewhere. The little blurb promoting TATOOINE GHOST in the front -- is only a blurb. Doesn't give the title of the book or anything. The about the authors section refers to one of their books being a "seque" to another one. Throughout the novel I noticed several grammatical and typographical errors, moreso than in most book -- "to" instead of "too," extra letters sometimes thrown into words, things like that. Also, there were frequently sentences that ranged from a little awkward to downright clumsy (I wish, when I'd noticed them, I'd marked them down so I could specifically reference them here. Sorry that I'm not providing specific examples). I definitely got the feeling that whoever edited this book wasn't doing a particularly good job, which is a shame considering that it has so much going for it. And finally, and most importantly, th

 

First, there were the characterizations and character development. For the most part, this was all quite good. However, many of the characters seemed to be developing from where they should have been by now, but not from where they are. As has been pointed out, Nom Anor's segments were quite interesting, but his actions in parts of DESTINY'S WAY seem to have been ignored, and his character's development since VECTOR PRIME seems to have been forgotten. By now, Nom is not religious, has no problem with cowardice, doesn't really care so much about contact with machines. And yet here he does. Similarly, it was nice to see Tahiri's trauma still with her -- but kind of awkward, since nothing's really been done with that for quite a few books. Furthermore, like Nom Anor, her "development" in DW seems to have been ignored -- for better or worse, she was a squadron commander there, which doesn't make much sense here given the comment about her not being a very good pilot. I did really enjoy Jacen and Jaina's characters here, but unlike most of the rest of you, I didn't care much for Saba's character. Pellaeon was a blast, and I really liked him here, got no real complaints about that. And chatterbox Leia was fun.

I actually viewed this almost directly oppositely from you -- that Remnant "normalized" the characterizations as to where they should have been, as opposed to the buchery that DW did to some of them. I thought that these characters were the more logical progression from EL, DJ and TR -> Remnant rather than EL, DJ and TR -> DW.

 

dp4m -- I agree with you. This is where they should have been. But for better or worse, thanks to DESTINY'S WAY, it's not where they actually are, and so now there's quite a bit of inconsistency. And since REMNANT came afterwards. . .

and Nom Anor is still inconsistently portrayed, whether you count developments made in DW or not.

 

Meant to post this here, but accidently posted it on the wrong thread:

I give the book an average raiting, 7/10. Basically its a pretty good Star Wars novel, it moves the plot forward, it has some decent action, and most of the relationships felt right.

But it wasn't great. It wasn't the kind of book you put down and say, hey, I think i'll read it again. That's how I felt about Traitor, Destiny's Way, Star By Star, etc. This was more of a Dark Journey kind of book.

I have just two problems with the book other than it not being very memorable. The first is I feel the heros are way too comfy with Pelleaon. Whats with everyone and their momma calling the Grand Admiral by his first name all the time. The second is the books resolution. How is Pelleaon's threat any different than the one he made in Dark Tide? I thought he always had the power to walk away? I did like the Grand Admiral's taunt of the Vong commander, though. Funny stuff.

Overall though it was money well spent. I am interested in following Nom Anor and Tahiri's stories as they continue to unfold, and I think the two authors did a good job sparking that interest for the next two installments.

It was good, just not great.

 

Whats with everyone and their momma calling the Grand Admiral by his first name all the time.

I noticed that. I don't recall anyone ever calling him Gilad before. I found it amusing.

 

Mas, i completly agree with you in regard othe character developement. what i think that we have to keep in mind is that this is a trilogy with 1200 some odd pages to do what WJW did in only 430 or so. that being said, DW should have been longer. Also, DW was about resolving all the galactic political problems that had come up in the course of the NJO. Whereas the FH trilogy will deal primarily with how the quest for Zonoma Sekot will affect all the major characters, and apparently some minor ones also. I really liked the characterization of the inner plight faced by Tahiri and Saba. they are both characters who could definitely use some more screen time, IMO. Overall, the lack of detailed action sequences are something of a letdown especially after the action depicted in T and DW. Maybe this is just not a strong suit of the authors or they are trying to accomplish something different in each novel while achieving an overall theme for the trilogy.



Overall, I give this book a 6.5 out of 10 with the caveat that i could very well change my score. Very often the sequels of a book have the ability to affect the appreciability of a book afte it is taken as a whole. I definitely like Ep. I better after seeing Ep.II. It is all about context.



And to the Authors.

You did a great job. PLEASE stop by more often to share your thoughts. you can always learn more from a book after you in return learn more about he author(s).


Paelleon(sp) was a BADASSS!! Thanks

 

Counting 14 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REMNANT = 109/14 ~ 7.79/10

 

re: the battle scenes -- I thought they were just fine; frankly, we've seen enough cockpit-POV furballs; we've seen enough of Jaina snaprolling around and worrying about dying. It was refreshing to have a break from what's become more-of-the-same, because let's face it, there're only so many ways you can make a spacefight interesting from the POV of a starfighter.

 

I thought the battle scenes in DW started getting redundant, but that's just me.

BTW, thanks so much for hanging with us, Sean (however limited it may be)! It's always a treat for me personally to hear from the authors.