The Official Conquest discussion thread! (Spoilers allowed)

Unfortunatley, I DON'T have it yet. I'm hoping it will come tomorrow.

 

I just found Conquest at Media Play!

 

WARNING!!! ACTUAL SPOILERS!!!
(Oh, and I got mine from the Waldenbooks in South Burlington, VT)
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Anakin teams up with a shamed Yuuzhan Vong warrior- we learn about the Vong underclass (the Shamed Ones)- Ani the Deuce gains a new understanding about the Yuzzies' reasoning, and some of the Shamed Ones (low-ranking Yuzzies, not GFFAer slaves) begin to see the Jedi as their possible liberators (which could be the glimmer of light at the end of the NJO tunnel (now, if only Borsk stops being his intractable self!)

 

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK!

 

How does it end? If you've gotten that far, that is.

 

Freakin'-a.

Intrigue. I like. Now Allston's books can have the Wraiths doing their sneaking around since they have Vong friends.

 

Oh and what's the exact page count?

 

Becca, they are all off reading. Can't answer your questions.

 

Why would you WANT to know how it ends? I wanna read it for myself. Oh the torture!

 

Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait. It seems like forever since their was a NJO book out.

 

The page count is 291.

 

too short.

I guess they are going for quality verse quanity.

 

or writers block

 

Ugh. I didn't want to be spoiled. But I was scrolling down the page and saw the first line of a spoiler! Ah, well. I guess it doesn't ruin the book too much.

EDIT: Well, now that I look back on the topic it says "Spoilers Allowed." I should've been more careful. Ah, well!

 

As soon as possible, could someone post a full summary?

 

Do you enjoy taking all the fun out of it, Becca?

Then again, I'm in here too...

 

Ok, I?ve finished Conquest. I read it at work this evening, and I just got home, and it?s 1am here, so if I don?t make sense, blame it on the Yuuzhan Vong- not Vong, ~Yuuzhan~ Vong.


The Good

First of all, when they said this book focused on Anakin, they weren?t lying. Almost all of the novel is centered around him, for better or for worse. For me personally, it was worse, but at least he wasn?t nearly as annoying as he was in novels past. For once, he was thinking about what he did (sometimes), and not just acting blindly. There weren?t many points in the book I was wishing I could blast him, which speaks very well for the story.

Incidentally, Greg Keyes is a great writer, able to write very vivid descriptions. His characterizations weren?t bad either, when characters other than Anakin were on screen. Talon Karde was very funny to read. Lines like ?Shada might still manage to kill them all, but that would leave the galaxy short one Talon Karde, which would be a terrible tragedy,? made his bits very good fun.

Rafts of people make cameo appearances here- Qorl, Ikrit, Valin Horn, H?sishi, and others. Some of them felt a bit forced, like Qorl, but most were integrated fairly seamlessly. We didn?t actually get to see Corran I don?t think, though he was flying around in a battle at the end. Apparently he?s taken up cooking.

Luke and Mara weren?t written to bad for their quick seen near the beginning. Mara is suffering from mood swings and odd cravings, and is anticipating bloated ankles and the rest of it to begin shortly. Jaina and Anakin figure it out in this book.

In his short scenes, Warmaster Tsavong Lah is obsessing about Jacen Solo. I can?t wait for the next time those two meet?


The Bad

Han and Leia are mentioned perhaps twice. Apparently Luke has stashed the two of them away somewhere.

Still too much of the torture stuff for my taste. I found what they were doing to Tahiri very disturbing.

It?s all about Anakin. ~sigh~


Short Summery: Anakin and Jacen figure out that the Vong are going to attack Yavin 4. Anakin disobeys his uncle and hops in his X-Wing, coming to the rescue (in this case, I?ll give him the benefit of the doubt- for once he actually seemed to be listening to the Force). Finds Peace Brigade people there. Makes his way to the Academy, helps Kam and Tionne evacuate the kids. He stays behind to buy some time, along with Tahiri, Ikrit, Valin Horn, and Sannah. Ikrit dies, and though Anakin gets away, Tahiri is captured by the Vong. Anakin leaves the other kids with Qorl, and heads back to rescue Tahiri. Along the way he breaks his lightsaber and meets a Vong warrior who is willing to lend a hand. Meanwhile, the Vong have torn down the Academy and built their organic buildings. Tahiri is slowly being shaped and tortured and brainwashed, as they assimilate her. Anakin and his new Vong pal arrive and go undercover for a few days, Anakin posing as a slave. Eventually he repairs his lightsaber, and gain the ability to sense the Vong, to a limited degree. I?ll have to go back and reread all of that section? At the last moment before Tahiri is put on a ship, he arrives. Things turn ugly, but Tahiri breaks through her brainwashing and saves him. She?s still seriously screwed up though. Escaping the planet, the cavalry arrives in the form of Corran Horn, Jaina and Jacen (all in X-Wings) and Booster Terrik (in his ~red~ Star Destroyer). There?s a short epilogue where Jacen and Anakin argue philosophy, and then Anakin goes to Tahiri. And in the last scene, we find that some Vong are perhaps abandoning belief in their gods for the belief in the Jedi.

 

I....must...not.....read! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks Gandolf! Can't wait to read it myself.

Ikrit!

 

Wow, Gandolf. You mind if I post that summary on my page? You'll get full credit, and a link if you've got a homepage or something.

 

This is looking good--and I live in a town with bookstores that either don't know what star wars is--or won't put them out until the 3rd.

 

I can't believe Han and Leia aren't in it at all.

What a total gyp after Leia's injuries and the estrangement plotline.

Ugh, I'm beginning to hate the NJO more and more.

 

WOW, Gandolf thanks!

 

Yeah thanks!

 

"Meanwhile, the Vong have torn down the Academy and built their organic buildings."

I wonder what they'd make of all the Sith paraphernalia lying around in the lower levels of some of those temples.