Vector Prime

For a Star Wars novel, especially one designed to relaunch Star Wars for a new audience, Vector Prime begins very slowly and very inconsequentially, with boring (and irrelevant) political scenes, and the characters all spread out from one another-- not to mention, totally separated from the actual plot of the story. It's an odd choice, and not a very effective one; I found myself getting bored. Even worse, the way our heroes get involved in the story is solely on the basis of coincidence; they want to check out some rumors about smugglers, apparently talking to Lando Calrissian is the only possible way to do that, and Lando's new base of operations just happens to be the invasion corridor of the Yuuzhan Vong. Surely there was a more show more elegant way to pull this all together?

If I had written Vector Prime, I'd have led off with the "Running the Belt" chapter (about a third of the way in); that's where the book comes to life, in terms of action, character, and that good old Star Wars feel. It's a great chapter, with cool action, Force powers, and it shows off the Solo kids as Jedi as legitimate as the previous generation. From there, the book is generally pretty successful; I love the chapters where Luke and Mara investigate the Yuuzhan Vong infection on Belkadan. There's a real sense that they've encountered something new, something entirely unlike the Empire or any other threat they've encountered before.

This is all driven home quite pointedly when Chewbacca dies, in what is undoubtedly one of the most epic sequences in Star Wars. They drop on moon him. Yes, that's right, it takes a whole moon to kill Chewbacca. It's a tight, chilling action sequence. Even better (which I'd forgotten), Salvatore puts it about a third before the end of the novel, giving its remainder a real heightened sense of threat, something the Expanded Universe certainly hadn't seen in a long, long time, not since the days of Thrawn or the Clone Emperor. Vector Prime isn't always successful on its own merits, but it definitely bodes well for what's to come.

The New Jedi Order: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

Star Wars The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime is the first book in the nineteen volume epic. Like most Star Wars books, it has it's share of fun new worlds, characters, creatures and humerus moments, but over all it's pretty slow moving. The story is so big that it takes the whole book just to establish the characters and the commencing of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Jecen and Jaina, who also star in the Young Jedi Knight series, return in this series just a little older and wiser. All our favorites like Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca also reappear in the novel. Although it's not so action packed as I had expected it to be, Vector Prime is a pretty good start to the NJO series. The story has some decent suspense and is thought provoking. The show more Yuuzhan Vong present an intriguing new concept and definitely change the way you look at the galaxy. Over all it's an interesting Star Wars tale that grows with each of the New Jedi Order books that follow. show less

Twenty one years have passed since the destruction of the Death Star and the establishment of the New Republic in an attempt to unite the galaxy under equality and peace. But the differences between the many worlds within the galaxy are still too obvious; and unrest has started to spread among the worlds branded as ”lower class”. Rhommamool is such a planet – a poor desert planet with a lousy economy compared to its neighbour planet Osarian with its white sand beaches and thriving economy.

Leia Organa Solo, her daugher Jaina and her sister-in-law Mara Jade travel to Rhommamool in an attempt to make a diplomatic agreement with Rhommamool's front protester; Nom Anor. He preaches anti-Osarian, anti New-Republic believes; but most of show more all, he is incredibly anti-droids which leads to a mass fire pit where many of the planets' droids are sacrificed in protest.

But Nom Anor's goals are not just for Rhommamool. Actually, he could care less about the uncivilized desert world. His goals are much bigger – something the astrophysicist Danni Quee will discover when she, along with her collegues, notices a strange comet-like object on their radars on the Outer Rim of the galaxy. She and her co-workers are all excited to go check the strange comet out; as someone comes with a theory that it might be made out of ice, and the fact that it came out of nowhere... like it came from a different galaxy.

This is technically my first Star Wars series; The Force Unleashed only consists of two books, so it doesn't really count. I've tried to avoid the series so far, only reading stray-books because all most series are at least five books each. But I've realised that I can't keep myself on a leash anymore. I need to get deeper into this messy, incredible world.

Even if it happens to be a book that's pretty far into the SW universe, I felt very welcome as I started reading. The book was only as complicated as most sci-fi books tend to be with their own words and sciences – but the plot was more or less all new; and old any history between characters was at least vaguely explained. I think it's important in a literature universe as big as this one to make sure you don't have to read the first hundred books to understand the first book in a new series.

It felt so good to be reunited with old characters; none of the books I've read before have contained the trio from the Original Trilogy so it was nice to see them again; and to know I was about to go on yet another adventure with them. And boy, was it a good one.

I really liked the plot; there were about three or four different main locations within the book with different characters at different places but it never really felt that messy. Everything held together quite nicely – I don't think I would've enjoyed it if it weren't for the different main plot locations.

But I'm constantly in awe about these books; because while I do feel like the characters from the films (such as Luke, Leia, Han, etc) are all quite nicely in-character (!) written, I have a hard time getting attached to the original ones. Danni was really hard for me to get used to because I feel like manic pixie dream girl is the #1 trope within the SW universe; and it gets old really, really fast. They are all just... the same. She felt like one of the main original characters from Kenobi; which reminded me of a character from Death Troopers.

It isn't hard to write complex, realistic female characters. It's really not. But I feel like in the SW universe, they always have the same personality, similiar rough background and they are emotional but can handle tools and says ”don't be such a girl” when her male friends whine – well, maybe not literally but it's the vibe I constantly get. The Solo children all blew my mind with how awesome they were; but of course Jaina had to comment on her brother wearing a !!!skirt!!! and how she would never let him forget that one. That's not... okay. Perhaps it will different as I dwell further into the SW universe. Maybe I'm just comparing the female characters too much. But we all know Star Wars is honestly not known for being a gender equal franchise (I love Leia as much as everyone else, but one woman among fifty men doesn't say shit). Maybe I have to let it to and take it for what it is.. an amazing series of space adventures. Either way, I'm definitely in for a ride and I'm quite excited about it. show less

The absolute first thing one needs to know when approaching The New Jedi Order series is that these books have been written over the course of the last ten-or-so years, and in now way reflect The Force Awakens or any of the modern generation of Star Wars. Think of it, if you will, as a parallel universe.

Once that is out of the way, each book of The New Jedi Order series must be approached as its own entity, because with any fandom-based storyline, each story is written by a different author. Vector Prime, written by R.A. Salvatore, falls short of his usual lyrical storytelling. It is, more or less, what you might expect from a sequel in print written by someone other than the author of the original story. There are, however, a few show more intrigues within the individual characters.

For me, the character that stands out is Jaina Solo (one of the three Solo children). She is a strong character written into the story at a time when Star Wars didn't have many strong female characters and she quickly outshines (in my opinion) her mother, the renown Leia Skywalker-Solo. She also stands head-to-head with her aunt Mara Jade, and characters like these make the story an interesting read, if not particularly exciting. Jana is certainly a breath of fresh air after going between her two brothers, each with their own interpretations about the Force that they'd really, really like to share. Over and over.

The plot, unfortunate, has been overused in science fiction and the story itself is flat, with too many characters doing too many things I simply cannot bring myself to care about.

I would recommend this story to science-fiction fans with an open mind (as these books are no longer considered canon) and a taste for Star Wars. I would also advise readers that if Vector Prime does not suit your fancy, other books in the series written by other authors settle a little better. show less

I love this introduction to the New Jedi Order. Through Jacen and Anakin's debates, we gain insight in the innerworkings of the Force and the various Jedi philosophies regarding how the Force ought to be used. We are also introduced to an entirely new species. Although they are the enemies for this series, they are not flat, 2-dimensional villains. Instead, Salvatore has provided a backstory and culture which allows us to begin to understand a culture very different from our own.

This is a huge spanning story line - a complex history with many characters who are each given in depth exploration. There are losses, both of characters and ideas. This is a battle worthy to follow the battle to destroy the Empire. After a while, however, you begin to feel some sympathy for our favorite movie characters who live their WHOLE lives fighting in life and death situations. How exactly can you have a family and a life in that environment? Some interesting things to think about in these books.

Heartbreaking!

This is the first time I've read a star wars novel and felt such dread and sadness. No spoilers on the specifics, this may not have the same tone as the other star wars novels, but it is a great read!