Dark Tide I: Onslaught

Reading this validated my belief that the timeline I'm going off is miscalibrated; there's no way that the first two volumes of Invasion could fit between this and Vector Prime, as the Yuuzhan Vong have clearly not been heard from since then.

Like Vector Prime, this book suffers from starting dully, with lots of political scenes and squabbling; I'm not sure why the powers-that-be behind The New Jedi Order were so into story thread of government denial of the Yuuzhan Vong threat, because it is utterly dull. Who wants to see our heroes constantly arguing with a bunch of idiots?

I remember liking Stackpole's X-Wing novels, but I don't think he's at his best when away from that milieu. Things are a little too mechanical in his writing, a show more little too black-and-white, and while that's suited for stories for fighter pilots, it doesn't really work for the Jedi: the Force doesn't come across as a mystical presence, but a tool: in his books, Jedi always talk about "TK" (i.e., telekinesis), and that just feels so incredibly un-Star Wars to me. Can you imagine Alec Guinness saying it? Also, characters are constantly lecturing each other on its correct use. Again, it's hard to be interested in the philosophical debate between Luke Skywalker and Kyp Durron when the narrative clearly thinks Luke is right and Kyp is an idiot.

Stackpole's at his best when dealing with Corran Horn, the Jedi without telekinesis but with great mind powers, which leads to some inventive scenes, and there's a great ground battle on Dantooine near the end of the novel, but it just takes too long for everything to get there and get going.

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This book is okay, but nothing special. Stackpole writes the minutiae of combat, particularly space combat, quite well. Character isn't really his strong point, though. While some of the conversations about the nature of Jedi and the Force were interesting, any character interaction involving any sort of emotion was handled in a decidedly amateurish way. And the way he treated Han Solo in his grief is nothing short of criminal. Still, this book serves its purpose, advancing the plot of the New Jedi Order series without stooping to Kevin J. Anderson-level lameness, and there's something to be said for that.

I really *don't* like the NJO books, but I really do like Stackpole, so this book was a compromise for me. I hate what they've done to Mara (given her that debilitating, incurable disease so that she's inherently weaker than she was/Luke), I find the "alien threat" incredibly boring, and I'm still upset (as is Han, the drunk?, apparently) that they killed Chewie. Plus, I've never liked the Solo kids. That said, this being Stackpole, there's lots of nice Corran and Jedis, and Wedge and Tycho even come back at the end. :) Recommended if you like the NJO books.

Star Wars The New Jedi Order Dark Tide 1: Onslaught is a good continuation of the NJO series. I believe it's an improvement from the first. Michael A. Stackpole fills this novel with plenty of great x-wing action reminiscent of his contributions to the X-Wing series. It's an easy read and is fairly short but the story is solid and I like the Jedi action better than the first. Overall, this Star Wars tale is filled with excellent action, adventure and character development. I highly recommend it.

Very good. What's really great are the characters, not only do we have the old favorites like Luke who busts out with the dual light sabers to kick some extragalactic amphistaff, but we have the Leia and Han's children who I would imagine will become more and more important as the series progresses. These compelling characters keep me reading, I already have Dark Tide II on my night stand and look forward to reading it.
http://dfollett76-books.blogspot.com/2008/01/dark-tide-i-onslaught.html

Being the visualizing reader that I am, this book was excellent from that point of view. The storyline is only advanced in a small amount, which is not unpleasant, but does lend a feeling that the entire NJO series will be short-lived in the timeline. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

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