What Not To Read in the New Jedi Order...

Well I finished Star By Star last night, altogether thought it was a good book. I rushd through the ending, not really caring about the whole Ben deal. So Shesh lived, as of the end of Star By Star? I wasn't paying too much attention. I feel that Anakin's death wasn't as momentous as I imagined it, and thought Tahiri could have been a little more devastated, but oh well. And Borsk's sacrifice was really cool.

So, I picked up my copy of Dark Journey and I'm wondering if I should read it. It looks like a lot of people say no. Was it even enjoyable, or was it like the Agents of Chaos dulogy which made me want to scream?

Obiy

 

Agents of Chaos was a fabulous duology in comparison to Dark Journey. And AoC made me want to scream the first time I read it.

Though... if you get a chance, at some point go back and reread AoC, especially once you've developed your overall sense of the Star Wars continuity better. It's well worth it, and I found the second read immensely more enjoyable.

But if you're going to skip any book in the NJO, Dark Journey is the book to skip. Almost nothing of any consequence happens in it, at all.

- Keralys

 

I personally thought the Agents of Chaos duology was great and a suitable tie-in between the old Han Solo Adventures and the NJO. But I guess it's not everyone's cup of tea....

 

Thanks a lot. I guess I won't read it then. Maybe I'll go back and reread it later, when I'm not trying to finish them all in a rush.

Since the Enemy Lines dulogy doesn't seem that interesting to me, I guess I should just start Traitor.

If I did start Traitor tomorrow, and then went on with the NJO, would there be a lot I missed from the three books, like would I have to read the summaries or should I just wait until I can read them at my own pace?

Obiy

 

Dark Journey isn´t that bad a book, better
than Agents of Chaos books in my mind...

 

Those 4 books of the NJO (DJ, ELI&II and TR) are good that they can really be read in any order. it is more or less happening simultaneously. Especially TR. its judt that DJ has the earliest starting point and the end of that sort of matches up with halfway through ELI. Traitor starts just after DJ starts and goes all the way to the start of DW

 

Well, it all depends if you like some humour. It seems that Ememy Lines is an acquired taste, I personally liked it (although ELII was a little iffy), but Aaron Allston is my second fav author (after Matt Stover, obviously).

In terms of importance, not a whole lot happens. We could spoil it for you (or you could read the NEC).

All in all, if you skip it, DON'T SKIP TRAITOR. It's my favourite of the entire NJO. No matter how it is, it is important, especially concerning the Dark Nest series, as Jacen's attitude will leave you confused.

Alright, spoiler time... at the end of SbS:

- Jaina and her parents aren't doing too well emotionally (obviously, Anakin's dead).
- Jacen is captured, but his twin bond through Jaina is cut off (leaving Jaina to think he's dead).
- Tahiri ain't that good either
- The New Republic is practically dead at this point, the fleet is scattered in all directions, and have almost no leader (a Council rules in Borsk's death... and good riddance to Borsk, btw).
- Luke and Mara have Ben back, but Mara is more protective of him since the kidnapping.
- The Vong are doing really well here, but Tsavong Lah is pissed at Viqi Shesh (can't remember why).

Anything else? Let us know if you're reading the EL series or not, then we can spoil that too.

 

The Vong are doing really well here, but Tsavong Lah is pissed at Viqi Shesh (can't remember why).

Failing to get Ben was her last in a long line af failures in helping the YV

 

Hero's Trial was a decent enough read. Only most of it wasn't James' own creativity. Jedi Eclipse is another matter; and what connection did the title have to events? What was being eclipsed?

 

If you have to skip, absolutely skip:

Dark Journey.

You can skip the Enemy Lines duology, but I loved it.

Force Heretics I and II are skippable, III is only needed at the end, and you can find that info off of Wookieepedia.

 

Dark Journey, don't even hesitate to skip, scoff and scat away. I wouldn't skip Traitor. It was an interesting read. Replete with myriad problems, but balanced out by enough positives. Enemy Lines, by Revan's harlot, Enemy Lines was pure filler material start to finish and absolute series waste, the latter half most especially. Words fail me in expressing the breezy termerity I read.

 

I'd guess at the Jedi being Eclipsed by Han doing the scoundrel routine. He's just about the only person I can remember doing anything right in that book.

 

Amen.

For better or worse, the entire Force Heretic trilogy is essentially a series of distractions from the war itself. Two events of consequence happen, and both are more thoroughly explored in The Final Prophecy.

A lot of people panned Dark Journey, which was inevitable considering it came right after the excellent, series-defining Star by Star, and was presented as a companion piece of sorts to the excellent, series-defining Traitor*. I thought it was a decent (if slightly flawed) read... but if you're in a rush, you can probably skip it.

*Excellence is entitled to his opinion, but it's wrong.

If you ever travel back in time and contract selective amnesia specifically relating to the NJO, I suggest skipping Jedi Eclipse, too.

 

Dark Journey can be easily skipped. You won't miss anything.

I thought Enemy Lines was pretty good as far as the fight scenes went, but yeah, it can be skipped too.

I started reading Traitor, then just got so damn bored I skipped to the end. I made it to page 50 before deciding I was wasting my time. The only thing I got out of it was the opinion that Jacen Solo is crazy and -obsessed.

Like most of the people here say, you must read Destiny's Way, The Final Prophacy, and The Unifying Force.

 

I enjoyed it, but I *really* enjoyed Star by Star too. So if you thought it was just "pretty good," you may not like Dark Journey.

On the other hand, I'm in complete agreement with you on Agents of Chaos, so maybe you *would* like it.

Hope that helps.

Dave

 

I guess I'm one of the defenders of Dark Journey here. It doesn't add anything exceptional as far as the overall plot of NJO is concerned, but I found it interesting. Most people just find Jaina's dark introspection not worth reading. Maybe because it's the most Jaina-based book in the NJO that people don't like it. Jaina isn't exactly most people's fav character in the NJO or in SW in general.

 

Also, a number of fans felt/feel that some of the plot points in DJ were somewhat rediculus.

 

Ive read everything up to Traitor and so far, out of all those books, the only one Ive enjoyed was Star By Star, its like pulling teeth for me with the other ones.*

*Although I loved the writing style in Traitor (Yay Shatterpoint!) but I have no interest whatsoever in Jacen/Jaina/Most NJO characters or Vergere or the Vong. In fact, I love the Clone Wars novels a lot more, go Triple Zero!

I read both Joiner King and Unseen Queen before I even started with the NJO so I think you can skip the entire series and still understand most of what is happening. Maybe thats why it was easier for me to observe Jacen's unhealthy mental state in that particular trilogy. Before Darknest, the only Post ROTJ books I had read were the Coriellian Trilogy and the Thrawn books.

I was so wonderfully oblivious to the chicken and her S&M Vong polluted "teachings" before the NJO series. Aside: Rouge Planet was tremendiously hard to get through because the pace is so slow and it kinda spoiled the ending of NJO for me. Which is a good thing, I suppose, since I dont see myself finishing the series any time soon. Ill see if I can read it all by Xmas.

In reality I bought the entire series used for about 30 bucks. So, money-wise, I dont think it was a total waste compared to paying the full admission.

Edit: The only reason Im reading the whole series is so that people cant say "Did you even read it, No?, then why are you displeased with it ect ect..."

Although I did enjoy seeing half of that idoit Hanpan Fleet get decimated by Centerpoint. Ive been annoyed with that particular race since thier introduction in Courtship of Princess Leia.

 

I'm lost in a game's fog of war, HappyBob. I thought I did recommend Traitor?

 

I would really try and read them all if I were you. Even if that means you have to wait a little to get into LOTF. You don't really want to leave holes, I know personally it bugs me, but then again I'm not everyone.

 

Why don't you just ressurect the thread when you're finished reading? Or go back to the NJO era when you've read Betrayal, finding out how X Y Z came about, just like the prequel trilogy?

I'll be waiting for the paperback version and I know there'll be spoilers in thread titles by then.

 

I stand corrected. A thousand and one apologies.