After the Yuuzhan Vong War—the most devastating conflict in the long history of the Galaxy—there is peace. But it is a strenuous peace, plagued by the fact thousands of species were dislocated after the war. The Jedi Order strains under the weight of their newly embraced relativistic approach to the Force. Their now believes are put to the test when a crisis occurs between the Chiss Ascendancy and a collection of Killik hives encroaching on their boarders.

The story felt partially like an epilogue dealing with the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong War, and the first novel in a new trilogy that introduces a fresh plot. What makes it great, is how the scars of the war takes center stage in the story. ( )

I confess, this book got five stars due to my current Star Wars: The Old Republic obsession. Now the Alderaan storyline makes so much more sense. Also, hive minds, one of my favorite sf ploys. ( )

Having finished The New Jedi Order after an awful long time reading, I thought it would be nice to read the Dark Nest trilogy, a follow-up to its events five years on of which I had fond memories. The first book is decent: parts of it are fun, while parts of it meander a bit too much. Denning always does a good job with Han and Leia; the interactions and adventures of the two of them are always fun to read in his hands. I'd really like to see him tackle more books like Tatooine Ghost, that allow them to go on an adventure without all the baggage of telling some galactic threat story. The Killik nests and the joiners are also some pretty interesting concepts, a little more sci-fi than Star Wars usually gets, but Denning pulls it off here, I think. On the other hand, I don't think he really gets the version of the Force that was advanced in Traitor, and I really dislike what he begins to do with Jacen here (which will culminate in Jacen's fall to the Dark Side in the tremendously misjudged Legacy of the Force). On the whole, this volume is fun, but the seeds of what will make the later Dark Nest books not as fun are present, as well.

The premise: ganked from BN.com: After triumphing in Star Wars: The Unifying Force, the heroes of the New Jedi Order return in a dazzling new adventure!

Luke Skywalker is worried: A handful of Jedi Knights, including his nephew and niece, Jaina and Jacen Solo, have disappeared into the Unknown Regions in response to a strange cry for help that only they could hear. Now the alien Chiss have angrily lodged a formal complaint, accusing the missing Jedi of meddling in a border dispute between the Chiss and an unidentified aggressor.

Luke has no choice but to head to the Unknown Regions for serious damage control. Han and Leia follow, intent on protecting their children from what could be grave danger. But none of them are prepared for what they find when they reach their destination.

A colony of mysterious aliens is expanding toward the edge of Chiss space. The leader of the alien nest is resolute. Adept in the Force, he is drawing old friends to his side, compelling them to join the colony and meld their Force-abilities with his, even if it leads to all-out war. . . .

My Rating: Worth Reading, with Reservations

Rating these books will be weird, and it'll take some time getting used to. Because truly, I'm rating these books more against each other than I am against a general scale, you know? That said, anything rating "Excellent" or higher should be considered, provided it's friendly to non-SW readers.

In this case, my reservations are partially my fault, because it's been so long since I've finished the New Jedi Order. But the characterizations sometimes left me a little bewildered. I'm hoping that things iron themselves out once the trilogy continues, because as a fan of Jaina, I don't like where this book left her at all, and I'm (rightly) concerned about Jacen.

That aside, it was fun to finally come back and sink back into this universe once more. No, this is not a book I'd recommend to a casual reader, let alone a casual Star Wars fan. This is a book to be read immediately after The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force, and that series has its own prerequisites. So don't start here. But if you're a regular Star Wars Expanded Universe reader who just happened to miss this trilogy, it's looking like it may not be something you want to skip. I can see things shifting, setting up for a much bigger story (which is an unfair observation, since I already know there's a MUCH bigger story coming after this trilogy). The book has a solid beginning, middle, and end, and it left me looking forward to book two of the trilogy.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. And I also want to point out: there will be spoilers, at any given moment, for the entire run of Star Wars books up until the date the current book was published. So if the Star Wars are something you want to get into, stop now and read THIS instead. I don't recommend anyone reading the full review unless they've read the book I'm reviewing now, due to aforementioned spoilers, so stop now or -- if you have read the book -- carry on!

Comments and discussion are always welcome, so if you ARE caught up, feel free to read the full review at my blog. The link below will take you there directly. :)

REVIEW: Troy Denning's STAR WARS: DARK NEST I: THE JOINER KING

Happy Reading! ( )

Good grief! Won’t farmboy, family and friends, ever get a chance to relax and have some fun? Troy Denning makes life miserable for Luke, Mara, Leia, Han and their kids. Bugs big and small, Dark Jedi, space dogfights, light saber duels, sexual tension, and two more books in the series to come. Included with this novel is Ylesia by Walter Jon Williams, a New Jedi Order short story previously released as an eBook.

Published in mass-market paperback by Del Rey. ( )