Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: THE FINAL PROPHECY (TFP spoilers)

Counting 21 reviews: 155/21 = 7.38/10

 

Well, I give it a 8.

I thought that the book was a breath of fresh air after the horrible FH books. It was nice to see Wedge and Corran again, and the inclusion of minor characters like Pash made it fun. Finally we see the Galactic Alliance military on the offensive, and they are retaking the galaxy. The battles are well described and detailed.

Interestingly enough, the parts about Zonoma Sekot bored me to death in the FH books, but I found them interesting in this one. My only real complaint about this book was that is was a little short for my tastes. All the same, it sets up TUF real well.

Well done Mr. Keyes!

 

Counting 22 reviews: 163/22 = 7.41/10

 

Has nobody else read this one?

 

I'd say 9 out of ten. fast paced, kept my interest. great story.

a few problems, such as Corran a little out of character and Tahiri hero worship of him coming out of nowhere. But I thooughly enjoyed it.

can't wait for TUF.

My preciousss...

 

Counting 23 reviews: 172/23 = 7.48/10

 

I'll give it a 8, it was fun, it was certainly a good deal better than those crapful Force Heretic books. And over all, I had a good time reading it.

 

This book was not what I was expecting at all. The main reason being the fact that "The Final Prophecy" wasn't referring to Ikrit's Anakin/Tahiri prophecy. I also wasn't expecting Nom Anor to reveal himself to Shimrra in the way that he did. I was also hoping that Jacen was going to be a major player in this book so his characterization could be fixed (unless his behavior in FH was intended to be that way).

With all that said, I still enjoyed the book. I think it set up the final book very well. I also like how Keyes developed Nen Yim and Harrar's characters. We see a side of the Vong we have never seen before. I really want to find out exactly what the connection is between the YV and ZS.

Hopefully Luceno will make the finalle spectacular. Heres hoping that Jacen returns to his butt-kicking Traitor self.

Rating: 8.5/10

 

Counting 25 reviews: 188.5/25 = 7.54/10

 

9/10

Good, fast-paced action. Good character development and it set everything up for TUF.

Sure, this book might have been an appetizer, but appetizers can taste great.

As far as "major" characters not being in the book. Nom Anor is arguably one of the top three characters in the entire series. Not to mention Nem Yim and Harrar. The NJO is a huge series and every book, especially paperbacks, can't focus on Luke, Leia, and Han all the time.

Of course they weren't going to come out and give all the answers of Zonoma Sekot, but they did give some pretty good hints.

 

If the goal of this book was to move all the pieces into place for the Grand Finale then any rating should be weighted largely on how pumped you are for TUF after finishing TFP. As for me, I am STOKED. Well done, Mr. Keyes!

THE GOOD

-"The board is set. The pieces are moving. We come to it at last - the great battle of our time!"
I loved the way the story arc came together - after so many years the end is finally near and I am excited for it!

-Yuuzhan Vong characters.
I really enjoyed the Edge of Victory duology and although Traitor holds the crown for best NJO work in my mind those were a close second. Why? The Yuuzhan Vong characters had depth. They were fleshed out and became more than one-dimensional science fiction bad guys. They were people. Vua Rapuung and Nen Yim are two of my favorite characters from all of Star Wars literature.
Once again in this book, Keyes gives the baddies some personality.

-Cast dynamics
The reason the original Star Wars movies are SO good isn't because any of the actors (besides Ford) are outstanding on their own. They worked well together and their relationships were interesting. Keyes delivers here big time. The 'strike team' of Corran, Tahiri, Nom Anor, Nen Yim, and Harrar had some really neat relationships and interactions to work with and Keyes does a great job of providing interesting exchanges between almost every combination available in that group. On p. 176 Harrar comments that he has had "little opportunity to speak with infidels when they weren't being sacrificed or tortured." Perhaps it has been that huge build-up of tension with no genuine conversation between GFFAers and YV that made their discussions in this book such a delight to behold.

-Nom Anor
Is he good? NO. But is a great villain and I hate him with a passion not because he is a stupid or ill-conceived character but because his evil self-interest is written so well in this book. He, not Shimrra, is the Emperor of the NJO, serving no one but himself manipulating everyone and everything around him to meet his own ends. AAAARGH!

- www.yesasia.com
Just a little personal anecdote that really put a smile on my face. I just moved to Taiwan from the United States six weeks ago and I didn't know how long it would be until I'd get my hands on the last two NJO books and at what cost. Then I found this website which ships Western entertainment products free in Taiwan and Hong Kong. So for the US retail price of $6.99 I got free shipping and the book arrived this morning only 8 days after release. Not bad!

THE BAD
First off, nothing was really *bad* in my opinion but the good stuff (Corran, Tahiri, 3 YV storyline) was so GOOD that the other stuff (which would have seemed outstanding in the FH Trilogy) paled in comparison.

- The Bilbringi attack story.

Ususally when we are treated to multiple stories they at least have some point of connection to aid in transition from one to the next. The attack on Bilbringi was in no way linked to anything that was happening on Zonama Sekot and so everytime the narrative skipped back to Bilbringi *I* felt like the one being hit by the Interdicter cruiser, interrupting my pace and jerking me uncomfortably. The stuff was good, one of the better space battles in the series, but it didn't jive with what was really going on. I'd rather have 100 more pages of the 'strike team' talking about Yuuzhan Vong origins and contradictions of culture and such. Oh well...

-"Sucking" joke

Just a nitpick really. I thought the 'sucking' joke in The Approaching Storm sucked so when it reared its ugly head again on p. 89 I wasn't impressed.

THE UGLY[/i]

The murder of Nen Yim.
At the risk of being labelled a heretic myself, I must say that Nen Yim's death shocked me more than either Chewbacca's or Anakin's. I really liked this character after EOV and thought she was one the best written by the time she hooked up her qahsa to Sekot's memories. Then in a universe with light

 

Wow. So I typed up the previous post pretty late last night and didn't bother to check it before or after posting. Oops.

Apologies for the annoying messed up HTML tags.

 

I give it a 6

It would have been much better if the Bilbringi sequence was handled with any sort of competence.

 

I'd give it an 8

Really liked Harrar and Nen Yim and it was nice to see a Sekotan starship again.

I agree with Talz that Nen Yim's death was a shocker. She was getting so...likeable. Same with Harrar although it wasn't quite as bad. Why is it always the good characters that have to go?

And I didn't really get the whole secret of Zonoma Sekot thing Maybe it's because I finished it around 3 in the morning...

 

I would give it 9 out of 10.

I found it well-written, and found the whole ZS storyline gripping, adn loved seeing Nom Anor back to form.

The only problem with this book was that I found the Wedge storyline quite boring, and wanted to get back to the Tahiri/Corran/Nom Anor storyline as quickly as possible.

 

The book rates a 7, nothing really spectacular but nothing horribly bad, which is a more impressive achievement.

Do wonder now if an opportunity was lost by having Fondor re-taken off-screen, would have been good to see. The Wedge story was well-done but a lack of suspense killed it a bit, though the use of the Golan was a neat idea, continuity.

Am a bit irked that we don't know the arrangement Luke has negotiated with ZS, though that's more a blurb failure than Keyes.

But it is a lot better than FH3 which was a mess, which was a shame given how it started out with Remnant.

JB

 

This gets a 6 from me. The basic concept of the book is pretty good, but as far as setup novels go for the ending, this isn't very good. It moves too fast and it leaves a lot of important stuff out.

 

alright....here's my thoughts:
1. nom anor was restored to his evilness(which i like)
2. Pash died (which i liked)
3. Pelleaon son died (which i liked)
4. Nen Yim died...hahahahah (which i liked)
5. Harrar probably died (which i liked)
6. Wedge lived (ok..i'll live with it)
7. Han lived (which i liked)
8. wondertwin saves the day (WHICH I HATED!!!!!)
9. other wondertwin wasnt it...hardly (which i loved)
10. corran was sarcastic (which i liked)
11. tahiri has grown up, and got her butt whooped (which i liked)
12. Zonoma Sekot didnt get destroyed (didnt like)

...so with that i give it an:

The Final Prophecy:8

 

8/10

I found all the parts interesting, but some descriptions were confusing and the pacing was bad in some instances.

 

I generally really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. My only reason for not giving it a higher score, are the Bilbringi scenes. The big battle scenes are usually the most enjoyable to read for me but for this book i found that i was more just putting up with it while waiting to get back to Zonoma Sekot . Although this could have just been because the the Zonoma Sekot scenes were so well done.

So i give it a 8.5

 

I'd give this book, and every book in the New Jedi Order excluding Vector Prime and Balance Point a 3 out 10. Has this series gone down the tubes fast. They fluff these books with action and countless pages of worthless backstory and there's no real good dialogue. I mean, it's like the prequels. Lots of action. Lots of fluff. No real solid material. Zahn's five novels. WOW! There was good storytelling. Most of the early Bantam books were good. I have not been impressed with the way Del Rey has handled the Star Wars franchise at all.

 

Counting 36 reviews: 270.75/36 = 7.52/10

 

EDIT: Never mind. I took Mastadge's advice.

 

EDIT: De gustibus non disputandum.

 

I give it a 8.5
Found it a bit boring, but Keyes did exactly what he was supposed to, set it up for TUF, he did it and did it well, so it didn't involve major stuff. I hated it when Nen Yim died with "It's what -----"
argh, killer. I'll have to wait for another year to find out what she was going to say, the TUF paperback :\