The JC Lit Reviews Special: FORCE HERETIC II: REFUGEE (REFUGEE spoilers)

As I had expected, the reviews for Refugee are fairly mixed, and my review will certainly be no exception.

I liked Refugee but I didnt think that it was as good as Remnant. The deliberate pacing didnt bother me that much considering this seems to be the tack that most authors employ when writing the second book of SW trilogies, whether intentional or not. What really got to me was the fact that this didn't seem like an NJO book at all; it felt more like a bridge novel that took place on the periphery of the NJO rather than smack dab in the thick of it. Reiniforcing this image was the glaring lack of face time that the Vong got, especially Nom Anor, whose scenes were drastically reduced from Remnant. I also didnt like the constant bait-and-switches with the P'w'eck and the Bakurans.

Other than that, I liked the continued characterizations of Jacen, Danni, Saba and Tahiri, and once again Mssrs. Williams and Dix make Jaina mercifully bearable in this one. Both Malinza Thanas and Wyn Fel were nothing more than generic cardboard characters, but I doubt we'll be seeing much more of them down the road anyway.

6.5 / 10


Also, as far as all the female characters popping up, well, this is nothing new as far as Williams and Dix are concerned. Ive read all of their non-SW books and they write very strong, independent female characters, usually as the lead or in a very important supporting role. In fact, you need look no further than their terrific Evergence trilogy to see what I mean...

 

Agreed. All their books have a leading female cast. It's ridiculous that this has to be "refreshing" whan they comprise the other half of humanity.

It drew my attention that females littered all across Remnant. Good!

 

It's hard to post a review for this book, because the minute i finished reading it it forgot what it was about. NJO books fall into two categories for me, ones i enjoy and then remember afterwards, and the ones i enjoy and then forget.

the non-remebering group:

Onslaught
Ruin
Balance Point
Conquest
Rebirth
Traitor
Remnant
Refugee

I give all of these books a 6 or a 7

the ones i remember:

Vector Prime 8

Star By Star 8

Dark Journey 8

Rebel Dream 9.5

Rebal Stand 8.5

Destiny's Way 9


I give Refugee a 7 , it was better than some of the other ones i don't remember... I think

 

For me the thing with the female characters was just plain strange. It got to the point where I'd read a scene and actually get distracted by the overuse of chicks.
COL. Fel would be flying along, and then we'd be assailed with a scene like this:
"Jag looked out the viewport of his clawcraft only to see a Y-wing get stuck in a tractor beam--oh yeah, the pilot was a woman. And so was the pilot of the Ssi-ruuk fighter. And the captains of every capital ship in the engagement."
Sure, women make up over fifty percent of humanity here on earth, but they don't make up anywhere near that much of the military. If the authors had just left out the useless gender references, the book would have read a lot better--for me at least.

 

Counting 12 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REFUGEE = 98.5/12 ~ 8.21/10

 

8.5/10

 

I thought that Refugee was not disturbingly bad or amazingly good. It just was. And that's the problem.

After reading nearly 400 pages we are in exactly the same place we were when we began. Han and Leia's group is off to uncover another contrived local insurgence. Luke and Jacen's group is going into unknown space still in search of Zonama Sekot. Nom Anor will continue rallying support for the Jeedai heresy. I don't think this is a book that will be discussed very much because it begs a non-reaction. It's not good enough to raise interesting and debatable questions or bad enough to inflame anger and bashing. The high and low points I can recall offhand include:

THE GOOD

-Nom Anor explaining the Force at one of his rallies. The YV have got to admit the Jedi are accessing something that they are not and to see that Anor has actually grappled with that question a bit was interesting.

-Tahiri recollecting the events of the past year including Ikrit's prophecy. This girl has some serious issues that I don't think will be easily reconciled (until the YV gain access to the Force).

-The physical description of Csilla. We are bombarded with planets and species in the Star Wars universe and it has been a while since we have visited a new planet I've been truly intrigued with.

-Jacen's interaction with Wyn Fel. I really liked the questions Jacen poses about Wyn Fel's future. I think that she has the potential to be a genuinely interesting addition to the cast of the next generation of Star Wars heroes.

THE BAD

-Bakuran conspiracy plot. My viewpoint here is probably tainted by the fact that I haven't read The Truce at Bakura but I didn't really care about the fate of the planet at all. The pantheon of characters in the political drama was overwhelming in number but underwhelming in depth. Boring.

-Two questions that irked me throughout--
-Since when do the Ryn have a vast underground conspiracy fully informed on the covert disruptions of the Yuuzhan Vong?

-How did Wyn Fel's "program" scan for planets and then for a moon so quickly? I thought the whole point was that they couldn't do searches like this because the information was stored in books instead of electronically.

- Little mistakes like when Cundertol flexes his "fists" before fighting the Yuuzhan Vong at the end when he only has on arm left.

-Overall, I thought the writing style was bland, the plot wasn't intriguing enough to sustain the diversion from the main storyline, and nothing really happened to advance even these side-plots.

THE UGLY

Nom Anor using his plaeryin bol. Bleh!

Final Score: 5 out of 10

 

My guess is the chiss were yanking Luke's chain

 

I give it an 8. Nom Anor again stole the show. I was a drop disappointed in the Bakura storyline. I liked Luke and the rest going to the Chiss homeworld, however I was hoping that similarly to what one of the TFN reviewers said the search would be going from place to place or like "Jason and the Argonauts." I am excited for hte next one as we will finally have Zonama Sekot. I wish though i doubt it will happen that Luke will find out about Anakin and Obi Wan being there but you never know. I also thought that granted we saw it from Nom Anor's eyes, but Shimmra seemed less intimidating and just a typical overlord. He didn;t seem as smart as in Destiny's Way

 

Well, it was a refreshing break from non-stop Yuuzhan Vong action, which is always nice. It also had some cool Chiss stuff and I liked the return to Bakura. As for pacing, I read these books so fast I never notice pacing much. I don't like the lack of chapters though. So I give the book 9.5/10

 

Actually, Talz' review was pretty decent.

 

Counting 16 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REFUGEE = 129.5/16 ~ 8.09/10

 

9/10

 

Counting 17 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REFUGEE = 138.5/17 ~ 8.15/10

 

I enjoyed Refugee. I liked the bakura plot - it was really interesting. Also it was cool to meet the Fels, although a little history on what has been happening with them would be nice. I am looking forward to the Tahiri story line. I like their writing style, and I am really looking forward to Reunion.

I give it a 9.5/10.

 

8.5/10

The book just gave me a good feeling while I was reading it. I liked the pace and the story in general although the whole P'weck/Bakura thing seem pointless in the NJO.

Traitor 10
SBS 10
Vector Prime 6
Rebel Dream and Stand 8.5's
Dark Journey 8.5
Conquest and Rebirth 9's

 

Hopefully I'll be getting the thing later today - review asap!

 

Counting 19 reviews.


JC Lit Average Rating of REFUGEE = 156.5/19 ~ 8.24/10

 

alright ill rate this book: i give it a 7.0
it was alright...i enjoyed seeing bakura in this series...and i liked the somewhat twist ending but again i was cant stand the romance thing.....

 

No detailed reveiew this time, I'm afraid, due to temporal constraints (i.e. I've got an essay to work on!)

Not as impressive as FH1, but still enjoyable. 7.

 

I also enjoyed it less than FH1 but only because the Empire is more Interesting than the Bakurans. This was a good story but with a few exceptions could have easily been written in any other part of the EU time frame. The bakuran plot however was important for the NJO as if the Ssi Ruuk had been able to claim Bakura they would have pushed on into the wider GFFA leading to a battle on two fronts for the alliance. The Chiss storyline was even more important as Luke almost fell victim to the same fate as Joruus Cboath which would have been a great blow to the GFFA especially with ZS not found. Even having read many spoilers I still was surpised by some of the twists in the bakuran plot. the book built up to a climax quite well much like the series as a whole which I believe will end very well. The purpose of the series seems to be to set the characters up for the final act of the NJO and this was achieved.

8.5/10

 

Although I agree that the Empire was more interesting to see than the Bakurans, I found the Chiss fascinating so I reckon Refugee was better than Remnant in that respect. It is good to see what is happening to Tahiri... the thought of a Jedi and a Yuuzhan Vong personality sharing the same body is extremely interesting.

Although I said the Empire was more interesting than the Bakurans, don't get me wrong... I thought catching up with the Bakurans was fascinating. I was driving home from Uni with a friend beginning of this week and we stopped into the shops for me to get Refugee. After getting it and I told him it focused on Bakura (thats all I new of the story at the time) he said.. "I wonder if they will mention Malinza Thanas or will they completly ignore her" We both thought she would be ignored... boy were we wrong haha!

The Chiss, as I said were great... I like Irolia, and the Fel's finally get some light... I think this is the first time we have ever actually seen Syal Antilles... although it did struck me as kind of odd that they continously called her Antilles rather than Fel...
The books was funny, with them not recognising them. Jacen, this sophisticated hero of the series started describing them as big heavy bricks!

Nom Anor's story was very interesting. The religion heresy thats developing is very good at twisting the Vong gods into the Force belief, and the addition to 'becoming one with the Force' it is shaping out to be very good.


I go for a ... um.. how about a 8.75/10

 

It was an enjoyable read, rare for me to say this about NJO as it is.

I'll rate it 8/10 for now, and post a more detailed review later. Much better than Remnant, that's for sure.

 

Counting 24 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of REFUGEE = 195.75/24 ~ 8.16/10

 

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