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

Id give it a 9. I think the Bilbringi scenes could of been played out more. I think Keyes has more of a style that is good at character scenes not really battle scenes. I also hate that Nen Yim discovered something really really important and said
"nup cant tell you. Im now going off by myself into the unknown wilderness of a strange planet where I dont know what waiting for me with no more defence than extendable fingers."

 

Counting 38 reviews: 288.25/38 = 7.59/10

 

Anyone else?

 

8.5 out of 10

Great read, especially after the boring FH trilogy.

It was awesome to see a YV/GFFA group actually working together.

I hated how they didn't tell us what the "secret of the Vong" was, but I guess it contributes to the suspense factor.

 

I thought that it was pretty good, although at times some parts were indeed slow. Overall, I'd say this book was an 8.3/10. I honestly can't believe that the series has gone on this long, and that we now have one book left. Bring on TUF!!

 

Well, I really liked this book. I?m not a fan of Corran in the slightest, but the book dealt with him well enough? I didn?t like Tahiri wanting to be his apprentice, mainly because I think she could have chosen a lot better. However, the fact that she could be his apprentice, despite already being a Jedi, supports what I?ve believed from the beginning of the NJO: Apprenticeship is not required for a Force user to become a Jedi in Luke?s NJO. Apprenticeship is something a Jedi may choose, if that Jedi wishes to continue his or her guided learning beyond the requirements for the title.

That?s why I always disliked the knighting ceremony in DW. Everything indicated that the YJK bunch were already Jedi Knights? But I?ve rambled off topic?

I always liked Nen Yim, and I loved her in this book, but I was sad to see her go. I thought there was a lot more her character could have done.

I?ve really liked the way Greg Keyes has dealt with the Vong in all his NJO books. Unlike most other NJO books, I actually look forward to reading the Vong scenes in Keyes? books. I?m not entirely sure why that is, but I really like it nonetheless.

I never liked the way Keyes dealt with Jacen in his previous novels, but in this one, he left him out almost completely. Kudos to Greg Keyes for that. An absent Jacen is infinitely better than a bad characterization of Jacen, IMO, and I appreciate Greg Keyes not forcing another one of those upon us. (Too bad Luceno?the author who wrote the worst characterization of Jacen in the NJO?won?t have that luxury?)

Overall, I give this book an 8.5. I definitely enjoyed it.

 

9.5

An excellent novel.

 

It was a Star Wars book so I figured "sure, why not?"

The last NJO book I read was "Vector Prime".

"The Final Prophecy" confused all heck out of me.

6/10, until I get caught up on NJO

 

7/10. Would've liked it to be longer (common issue with these books, they read like young adult novels), and to have had a whole lot more with that battle scene. Also, I really liked some of the personal dynamics, but the Nom Anor stuff is REALLLLY getting old. There are plenty of compelling villains in SW....and he's not one of them. No sense of humor or style, he's out.

I've reread it a time or two, and probably will a few more times, but it's not going on my "reread on a rainy day" shelf like the X-wing books, the Zahn books, or I, Jedi.

 

Counting 44 reviews: 336.05/44 = 7.64/10

 

id give it an 8.5/10
i wish the 2nd to last njo book wasnt all about tahiri and coran
i like them both, but after the buildup of finding zonoma sekot, i wanted some follow up
it seems having a living planet being the key to the whole njo needs it to be in more than 3 books
in my opinion anyway

 

I'm noticing a lot of reviewers calling it fast-paced. Is this another Rebirth? Was it fast paced because it lacked depth, and thus made for quicker reading?

 

Excellence -- no, it wasn't another Rebirth. Rebirth had way too much going on. It was closer to another Conquest -- more focused on fewer characters.

 

9/10

It's interesting to see some minor characters take the lead for a change. Yes the Billbringi battle didn't have really anything to do with main plot but so what. It's nice to know how the war is going on. For example in Force Heretic we didn't get any news about war progress. And as for Fondor battle happening sort of off screen I think that was just a good thing. So far in SW books diversionary tactics like that Duro battle were used only in Thrawn trilogy. So to keep this short yes I liked the book. In fact more than any other SW book since SOA.

 

Counting 46 reviews: 353.55/46 = 7.69/10

 

I wonder if we can make it to 50 reviews. . .

 

I'll review it within a week, when I hope to read by then.

 

I just realized that I hadn't reviewed TFP.

Overall, I would give it an 8/10. It was, as far as I can tell, a big set up for TUF. It had some cool things and thinks I liked. It also had some bad things as well.

The good- I liked seeing Corran again, as well as everyone's favorite Yuuzhan Vong shaper. I was also supprised to "see"-rather read-that Pash and Page were still around, at least until the end of TPF. I liked the Wedge/Jaina plotline for the most part.

The bad- I was saddened by Nen Yim's death, as well as Pash and Page's apparent death. I thought that parts of the Tahiri/Corran plot were just really confusing.

Like I said earlier, I'd give it an 8/10.

 

Since did did Mastadge become the creator of these threads? I thought Caine always did these?

It feels good to post in this thread now.

I give TFP a 9.

In my opinion it is above a good portion of the previous NJO books, though it can't top Traitor.

The action was good, granted the dog fighting was not as good as Stackpole's novels, that is to be expected. I loved reading about capital ship battles for a change, not to mention Wedge's trick using the tractor beams to alter the Vong ships course.

The land battles left something to be desired, though I did like how Tahiri got defeated so easily by Anor. The use of a rock as a killing instrument was a very nice touch.

I did enjoy the humor in the book, it had a lot of one liners that are equal to Allston's novels.

The use of characters that have been neglected in the NJO so far was very refreshing. I liked reading about Corran again and the cameo that Pash made was much needed.

I like that closure was given to Pash and Page in the EU. I was also stunned to hear that Pellaeon had a son.

All in all, it is a very good book.

 

The Final Prophecy was a great book, maintaining a good pace all the way through. The action scenes were exciting, even though I'd been spoiled for the outcome. I really liked the ending scene, and the last line - "The wind began." I was very impressed with TFP which, although it did feel like a filler-novel and a wrap-up for the EoV duology, was an excellent story on its own and as part of a larger epic. The characters were very well written, so I'll go through what I thought of them:

Tahiri: Excellent. She's just as entertaining as ever, but now much more sure of herself. It's pretty cool to see her mix of Jedi and Yuuzhan Vong personalities. If there's one minor gripe I have about Tahiri, it's that she still seems to be predominantly Tahiri, if you know what I mean...

Corran: One of the things I like about Greg Keyes is the fact that he can write Corran as well as the man who created him - Mike Stackpole. Corran was his usual self in this book, and, although he seemed untrusting of Tahiri earlier in the story, it was good to see the Master-apprentice interaction between the two, and to realise that they are still friends. There was some potential for Corran to have some good action scenes in TFP, but because someone (cough*Nom Anor*cough) screwed things up, the opportunity was lost.

Nen Yim: I've always found Nen Yim's character intriguing, and TFP makes her even seem likeable. The interaction between her and Tahiri was nice, and it made them seem like friends in the end. I actually found Nen Yim's death very sad, and Tahiri's discovery of this was moving. I can't wait to find out (though I have a fair idea thanks to TUF spoilers) what Nen Yim discovered. All the times she came close to revealing it but was cut off somehow...

Harrar: Not too different from his usual characterisation, except this time it was good to see another side to his personality. His discussions with Corran about the Yuuzhan Vong and their nature were very interesting. I hope Harrar survived, to become the new Prophet, or something like that. After all, it was never clearly stated that Harrar died...

Wedge: He always seems slightly grumpy when written by Keyes, but his characterisation never strays far from the Wedge Antilles we all know and love. His story, in coordinating the Battle of Bilbringi for the Galactic Alliance, was actually quite interesting. The battle scenes were well-written, and something tells me that Wedge will be back for TUF.

Han and Leia: Both written well and true to character.

Jaina: Also good, consistent with the more happy manner in which she's been portrayed during the FH books. It seems like Jaina's finally out of angry-land.

Nom Anor: The reason I've saved "The Prophet" for last is because I'm sick of him. I hate Nom Anor, and I'm sick of his constant failures-followed-by-survival. True, his storyline has been appealing lately and, while I'd hoped it wouldn't happen (though it was always going to), Nom Anor has turned back to Shimrra. I was hoping that his experiences with the Jeedai heresy would have changed his ideals, though I should have realised by Reunion that Nom Anor was doomed to stay traitorous, back-stabbing and greedy. Well, after killing Nen Yim, poisoning Sekot and escaping death and sacrifice as many times as he has...it's crunch-time. Nom Anor must die! (Not that he isn't an interesting character, but I mean, come on....he's had more luck than the BIG THREE have!)

General comments: Overall, I was really impressed with this book. I like Keyes' writing style and the way that he portrays the characters. His novels have been among the best in the NJO series, holding a place among my favourites, especially in the cases of EoVI and (now) TFP. This book wrapped up some of the loose ends of the EoV duology, but, true to what many have said, raised more questions than it answered. I like the good mix of items that Keyes incorporates in

 

Counting 49 reviews: 380.05/49 = 7.76/10

 

8.5 out of ten...



It was a fun book. Because of school, I found myself constantly distracted from reading it, but whenever i did get around to reading it...wow, what fun!

 

Counting 50 reviews: 388.55/50 = 7.77/10

 

Unfortunately, I don't have an extensive review.

I rate this novel a 6. Definitely on-par with the series as a whole. I found the first 14 pages of this novel more engaging and more action-packed than the prior 4 books COMBINED. The rest of the novel followed suit. I was sad to see Nen Yim go. I think someone mentioned that it was a nice 300-page prologue to TUF. I would agree with that.

{ For comparison:
Vector Prime 8
DT I: Onslaught 3
DT II: Ruin 7
AoC I: Hero's Trial 10
AoC II: Jedi Eclipse 7
Balance Point 9
EoV I: Conquest 8
EoV II: Rebirth 5
Star by Star 9
Dark Journey 4
Rebel Dream 7
Rebel Stand 6
Traitor 10
Destiny's Way 5
Remnant 4
Refugee 3
Reunion 3 }

 

I don't know how I came home that day with The Final Prophecy instead of The Praxis by accident, and with Rebirth decompositionally fresh in my mind, I opted to read two other novels first. But the course had been plotted, the astronav set, and there was no choice but to hyperjump to the end.

And I actually found myself getting to the end cover.

This is nothing like Rebirth's superficial depth, vile "book" that it was. It began boring, in a place we've been many times to, but what this book offered was creative writing. Almost every scene and chapter ended in a suspenseful style, enticing the reader to continue another page, and another, and before you know it you're at the end. The only other book I know does this (albeit, better) is Orphans of Earth. New variables are thrown in, new tangents that don't leave the plot stale.

Granted, this was a relatively fast read, and again it had that annoying 300ish page limit, but simplisty worked here. I don't think it was a prologue to the next book, any more than the daytime sun is the prologue to the nighttime moon.

What made this book absorbing was characterisation. Readers have never seen a galactic citizen actually converse with a Vong. Readers have rarely seen a Vong talk without barking mad screaming. Readers have rarely seen these one-dimensional page-wasters do anything but human sacrifice and idol worship. And that made the series all the more laughable, that we should wait to the end to see this.

Corran was only chosen because his escapades with Veila gave them a past connection. The apprenticeship was out of the blue and awkward, and makes you wonder how Valin Horn would feel. Veila herself was of course as straight-minded as all Jedi seem to be; a bump off a ledge was all Nom Anor needed. Anor himself was nothing we haven't seen in a dozen books: cowardice, scheming, but at least he wasn't stuttering like in Traitor. His planetary poisoning was never quite explained, and seemed just a little too easy.

But it was Yim and Harrar who shone in the book. Does Harrar have a domain surname? Priests in other books have. Yim is one of the very very few lady Vong we've seen in an entire series, so why wouldn't readers be taken to her? I still think she looks like that Edward Sizzorhands on the cover, and her Veila conversations were fun to read. Harrar's had infidel discussions before, but he was questioning his faith in Dark Journey and Rebel Stand, so his scenes were of particular interest too.

Readers were informed of Fondor's recapture in a character's conversation, and if Bilbringi's yards are also all but demolished, has it occured to anyone that two major production centres are gone? I anticipated the use of a cloaked battle station sometime in a SW book, so it was nice to see my prophecy come to pass, though I hedged it be over Coruscant. But adding to the book's creativity, you had privateers crewing it, not your typical Brigaders or Vong infiltrators.

I'm not going to praise Wedge's tractor-beam tactics. Warships have more than gun batteries, and good writers uses all inspiration and imagination at their disposal. I've done that with my own works, but it was nice to see someone else thinking the same lines. Otherwise, the Bilbringi scenes were so intermittent as to be a subplot. Jaina is coming across to be very easily captured these days, and how did the Vong keep the Sekotan ship alive if the pilot was dead, when such things went unexplained?

And finally, we now know how long the Vong were travelling. Around a thousand years. The entire series was annoyingly vague with "millenia". Select Zomanan plantlife dated only that far back, unless I understood the revelations wrong. And yet past books have said Shimraa made the "great prophecy" to come over to this galaxy in his one; we've had past discussion how thousands of years Shimraa could be before. This book gave the impression he only ascended to leadership once the travelling was done. Hmmmm . . .

Overall, the character depth and creative structure saved this book where space battles w