Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews RETROSPECTIVE Special: THE APPROACHING STORM

It has come to our attention that, sadly, there have not been reviews for all of the books. A few got missed along the way. So this is your chance to review books that never got reviewed along the way so that we can update our rankings in our all-time count and have these threads for reference in the Index, etc.

This round it's The Approaching Storm, the lead-in novel for ATTACK OF THE CLONES, filling the same relative spot as Cloak of Deception did for THE PHANTOM MENACE and that Labyrinth of Evil did for REVENGE OF THE SITH. It was also the second Star Wars entry for Alan Dean Foster, of Splinters of the Mind's Eye fame.

Please review the book and provide a rating from 1 to 10.

Some previous review threads in the main review series:
Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss
Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover
The Cestus Deception, by Steven Barnes
Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Jedi Trial, by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, by Sean Stewart
Labyrinth of Evil, by James Luceno
Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, by Veronica Whitney-Robinson
Tatooine Ghost, by Troy Denning
Survivor's Quest, by Timothy Zahn
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, by Aaron Allston
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, by Aaron Allston
Traitor, by Matthew Stover
Destiny's Way, by Walter Jon Williams
Force Heretic I: Remnant, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic II: Refugee, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic III: Reunion, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
The Final Prophecy, by Greg Keyes
The Unifying Force, by James Luceno
Dark Nest I: The Joiner King, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest III: The Swarm War, by Troy Denning
Outbound Flight, by Timothy Zahn
Republic Commando: Triple Zero, by Karen Traviss
[link=http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=23987236&brd=10003&start=24

 

Third. Third entry by Foster. He's "George Lucas" of ANH novel fame.

I give it an 8. For restraint and good atmosphericalness.

 

This is a good book. A quite unusual book for Star Wars (at least in my admittedly limited and skewed experience), but a very good read. There isn't that much action, or philosophy (part of what I read these books for), but solid characterization and a very unique planet. Actually, I'd say the planet is the main character in this book. The planet and the quirky, somewhat weird civilizations living on it. It reminded me of the Wild West and Oriental Adventures written by Karl May that I read voraciously when I was a kid.

Just like those books, Approaching Storm made me feel like I was there, saw the grassy planes or the bustling cities, and noticed the anatomical and cultural similiarities between the creatures on this planet. If a Star Wars book makes you really feel like you enter a different world, it is this one. Sure, it has flaws. Obi-Wan doesn't get much characterization, and nothing much happens. But this is enough. Just like the characters are surprised by the environments and the strange animals, so is the reader. In effect, you take a tour of a foreign planet, front row center, feeling the dirt stick in your teeth^^.

I enjoyed the book very much. It isn't the best Star Wars novel ever, and the 'dastardly plot' in the background leaves a lot to be desired. In hindsight, the revelation of the Mastermind behind it is a letdown. (no, it's not Sidious) But, it fails miserably as a movie tie-in. Where Cloak of Deception and Labyrinth of Evil give more weight to the movie, and deepen the viewer's understanding, Approaching Storm just shows what the protagonists did before entering that Elevator to Padmé's appartment. Hardly a world shattering revelation.

Still, a very good book. I'm giving it 7.5 of 10 points.

 

Aside from Dooku's appearance at the end, I can't think of a single thing I liked about this book. The prose was flat and unmemorable, the pacing was monotonous, none of the characters were nuanced, likable, or even entertaining. I can't even really remember what main plot of the story was, it was so dull. Oh, and Anakin sings.

2/10

 

I think i created a post a few months ago just to stress how much i hated this book. I found it to be the most tedious, repetitive, and un-Star Wars-like book produced in YEARS. I really have nothing positive to say about it, and I really enjoyed both of his SW books (for what they were). It pains me to do so, but I give this a....

1/10

 

18.5/4 = 4.625

 

This isn't the best SW book, but it is by no means the worst. Sure, it has problems, mostly being the lack of action or galaxy-shaping plot, but it was still for me an enjoyable read. It did well in actually describing the Ansion and not making it cardboard planet #1138. I was introduced for the first time to Barriss and Luminara, two great EU characters. Anakin was shown as a troubled but good-hearted young man. Jedi are shown solving conflicts successfully and without needless killing. Above all, there was not really any controversy or disregard for the spirit of Star Wars.

7.25/10

 

While a mediocre story, it certainly takes a hit for being touted as the "prequel to AOTC" when, in fact, it isn't. We learn about as much the Separatist movement as much as we learned about the Clone Wars in the Thrawn trilogy. But the capper is that the "mysterious leader" of the movement is constantly just avoided in various sitcomish ways before it's revealed - DUN DUN DUNNNNN! *Spoiler Alert* it's Count Dooku. *gasp* Not him? Who would've thought that he...
... oh, right. We've never heard of him before this book. That was the big payoff? "Slog through the book to get a SPECIAL PREVIEW of the NAME of the VILLIAN from AOTC!" While I can't remember the timing, presumably sneak peeks at the movie had already revealed it. What about the movement's origins? It's motivations? Or how about explaining why an ardent Separatist is still in the Republic Senate and is so beloved (even though - again - he's a Separatist and only a Representative) that the Chancellor attends his funeral?
The adventure was - meh-. Didn't really care about Ansion, the only parts that really intrigued me were the bits back on Coruscant.
Still, no podracing. 2/10.

 

This book had no entertaining qualities about it, nor in it. It seemed like one long big bore to me. There's not a single thing I can think of to redeem it in my eyes.

1/10

 

I actually only read this for the first time a few months ago and I found that my biggest complaint was that it felt very similar to Luke and Leia's adventure in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Maybe it was meant to echo their future adventure but to me it was too much.
It had good moments; in particular I enjoyed the part where the Jedi had to perform with their unique talents.
Overall, I would give this a 6.5/10.

 

7/10.

It dragged at times, but I really enjoyed the descriptions of the planet and and the book was something different in several ways.

I also felt it did a pretty good job of leading into AOTC and I wonder (and this is not sarcasm, but an honest question) how many of you read or reread TAS when it came out versus after seeing AOTC? Because that affects one's opinion in two different (contradictory) ways. In January 2002 it worked better as a lead-in than it might now, especially after we've all seen the Clone Wars and ROTS and wish some of those threads could have been preluded (but of course they hadn't been conceived yet).

On the other hand, in rereading it after AOTC I saw many lines or asides that hinted forward to the movie, but which were subtle enough not to be apparent if you hadn't seen the film yet. I read it when it came out and then twice again (once when the PB came out and again just recently in my endeavor to reread the 03-05 Clone Wars novels).

Also, comparing it to Cloak of Deception and Labyrinth of Evil isn't entirely fair. In particular, CoD came out two years after TPM, and enjoys the advantage of hindsight both for the readers and for the author writing it. (I surmise that Luceno had the Episode II script as well). LoE is a better analogy, but even then Luceno had a much deeper knowledge base of recent EU and worked more closely with GL than Alan Dean Foster seems to have done or been able to do:

 

Me actually writing these 25 words about this atrocity is giving this book more credit than it deserves. One of the worst SW books ever written.

2/10

 

I've never understood why people dislike this book so much. It's way better than The Crystal Star and Planet of Twilight, and it's better than some Del Rey stuff as well (The Cestus Deception and Rogue Planet come to mind). I liked the introduction of Barriss Offee, a very interesting character. The exploration of Ansion's terrain and wildlife was quite interesting. The scene with Barriss's acrobatics, Anakin's singing, Obi-Wan's storytelling, and Luminara's force talents is one of my favorite scenes in the prequel novels.

8/10

 

I,too, couldn't think of 25 words for this book. It's boring and monotonous. only the reminder of worse books would allow me to give it a 3/10. The character interactions save it from a 1/10.

 

67.25/14 = 4.8

 

As I remember it, it was an enjoyable if unremarkable book that fit in to the Episode II hype. It suffers as it could have been so much more really.

6/10.

 

5/10

Competently plotted, but third-person omniscient POV just isn't my thing.

 

Wasn't really that interesting but it had a few fun parts.

5.5/10

 

83.75/17 = 4.93

The low scores it's gotten are pulling this one way down. Interesting. This might be why it didn't get reviewed the first time around.

 

This was a boring book, but had some good character moments. 6/10

 

I read this book when it came out, but I can't remember a damn thing about it. I did love the concept of the lead-in book to the films, and Labyrinth of Evil and Cloak of Deception are very high on my list. But this one is too forgettable for me to even add any kind of score.

 

I don't like being negative about books.

But this book was lame. I enjoyed Jedi Trial better than this.

3.5/10

Just because they had Ani singing

 

I don't remember this book being that bad. Perhaps I will need to re-read this someday to refresh my memory.