The Unifying Force (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 19)

The book came in and is hardback. My husband will be excited to read it. However, there is no CD-rom as stated in the item description. Two thumbs down on that front.

Firstly, I must give full credit to James Luceno for doing, in 500 pages, what few authors could do. That is, conclude a series that by almost any measure, was nowhere near completion at the finale of the previous book. He didn't even sacrifice the pacing of the novel itself to do so. This is evidenced by the fact that almost nothing happens in the first fifty pages of this book. In 50 pages at least Jane Eyre had concluded that she hated her step-brother. I was bored senseless by the seeming lack of purpose for this lengthy introduction, but I quickly realized that's exactly what it was - an introduction. Though Luceno does spend an extraneous amount of time on the background info of the series in that introduction, from the point of view of the book as an independent unit, it also serves a number of useful plot and character services. This time also pales in comparison to the myriad of occurences that are described in the other 450+ pages. Luceno's storytelling, if nothing else, is brilliant. The plot moves quickly, effortlessly, without any glaring character-innacurracies or sudden impromptu plot movements. The novel did falter for me near the end, when the action sequences (despite taking centre-stage) faltered and the dialogue and descriptions became weak or at times too overly-contrived. All things considering though, the writing was excellent for a book that must've been rushed through all stages of production. Now though, comes my analysis of the series as a whole, and the plot that LucasArts and the mosaic of writers they employed created. Quite simply: It was good. Not great, not amazing, but not horrible or ruinous of the Star Wars Universe. One major question I have to ask is... How does George Lucas expect to make a sequel containing the main three characters of the first three movies, in this radically altered Universe? He can't really make a sequel of anything immediately following the destruction of the Empire, as that is catalogued in the Extended Universe (EU) already, and I don't see how anything but three movies devoted to the Yuuzhan Vong could really explain Coruscant's changes, or the extreme character development of someone like Jacen Solo - not to mention all the other new characters the series relies on as well. While I trust Lucas' view of the series as a whole, I don't trust his moviemaking skills after the prequels, and whether he could create a post Yuuzhan-Vong galaxy as emersive as he did the original one, is something I'm not decided on. The Yuuzhan Vong themselves, however, were an excellent motivator for the whole "Extragalactic Invaders" idea, coming across as ruthless, defiant and bloodthirsty as any other patron of the Sci-Fi idea, but with the philosophical backings to make it work. As disfigured as their beliefs are, they do have some merit, and eventually (in The Unifying Force) there was even a hint at the reason for these beliefs. If there was one constant I loved seeing throughout th

The war is coming to an end, but who will win? Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker are stuck on the living planet Zonama Sekot, a planet that could be the salvation for both the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong. But Supreme Overlord Shirma would rather see every planet in the galaxy burn to ashes then to surrender, that's why he has hatch a five thousand plus ship fleet to Mon Calamari, temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance, to crush the native inhabits of the galaxy in massive stroke. But the Alliance commanders and the Jedi have a few tricks up their sleeves, but so do the Yuuzhan Vong.From the first to the last page, The Unifying Force will keep you reading for an uncountable amount of time. James Luceno, who wrote Agents of Chaos, (NJO books 4 and 5) comes back to write the conclusion of the New Jedi Order, a series of books that have broken the rules of fantasy and science fiction. It has kept it's readers glued to the page for five years, even though this series has 19 books (not including two ebooks), it doesn't seem to be enough to tell the tale of one of literature's most brutal wars. One closes the book of the New Jedi Order feeling as if he or she had just survived a massive cataclysmic disaster, but knows that they will be able to tough out any future conflict.This is not the end of the Expanded Universe, after the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi find that they must redefined what the Forces is, lines between the Light and Dark have become permanently blurred. The Mandilorians, lead by none other then Boba Fett(he's only in the book for about five pages, then fly's off, so stop drooling), scored major brownie point with the Alliance by liberating several systems single handedly. But what do these small, but incredible strong warriors have in store for the rest of galaxy?

The Unifying Force by James Luceno was a mastery of a book. That is not to say it up there with the best books ever, but to a fan of the universe created by George Lucas it is one of the best ever. It deserves a ranking up there with Zahn's original trilogy. I have read all of the books in New Jedi Order as they came out along with all of the Star Wars books. The Unifying Force deserves a spot among the best in the New Jedi Order. My personal opinion is the top two are Star by Star and Unifying Force. I almost didn't jump on this one right away because the past few NJO novels have been OK and not stellar. I was glad I did.The book was fantastic. It had something for everyone. The war and massive space battles, and through statistics thrown in you get a sense of how massive this war is. The use of all the leaders throughout ALL of the previous Star Wars books, from Wedge Antilles to Ackbar, through Kre'fey to Sovv, including Bel Iblis and so many more. Your favorite was in this book. Unifying Force brought back all the favorite characters from other books. Some of my favorites, Shada, Talon, Crev Bombassa, Lando, and Tendra were all involved. The politics were there in limited form, same with love stories. Even though the Jedi and their affiliates really did get the focus in this story, Luceno made it not seem too focused on them and some other books have done. The best part of The Unifying Force, I believe, is the grandeur and absolute enormous size of it. It is huge in every sense. The Galactic Alliance is making a huge stand. While all the other books did a very good of bringing back a few old friendly faces, this book brings back EVERYONE. There is not a single important person not mentioned or that doesn't make an appearance. It is some much fun to see all your "old friends" in action playing important roles. I have only a few minor complaints with this book. I didn't want to put them in, but I feel I have to include them to be fair. The battles seemed rushed sometimes. Han, Leia, and Luke specifically seem to get into impossible situations with captures and fights all over the place, and they always conveniently get out. It seems almost as if the author was told that he was in no way or form to kill anyone important, which makes sense but kind off kills the suspense. Also, at times there seemed to be too many characters running around inside the Coruscant system and you sometimes lose track of them. However, as I said before, I have very few complaints with this novel. This book meant a lot to me personally. It was meant to have a feeling of closing. There is a very good chance this will be the last book to be set this side of the Galactic Civil War. The Unifying Force did this very well. I finished the book in a very happy mood, a very content one. The loose ends from all over the place were tied up. The New Jedi Order comes to a close with a great novel in The Unifying Force.

Warning: if you haven't read most of the Star Wars books in existence, many of the wonderful, unexpected moments in "The Unifying Force" will probably pass you by. It is extremely satisfying to see so many characters from, and references made to, older books in the Star Wars saga. All of our favorites are back in character, and we get to see some new sides to certain characters, that just might change your opinions of them. To name names would be to spoil the surprises. For those looking for a little philosophical thought, I'll just say that I'm still trying to completely figure things out. What I have figured out is that the notion of the Force at the end of this book is quite different than the one we see at the beginning of "The Phantom Menace". And, this evolution in thought makes sense. What I loved best about this book was that the Jedi did not dominate it. While they still played a very important part, it was made obvious that everyone had an important role in saving the galaxy, even the enemy. In other words, the galaxy needs its Han Solos just as much as it needs its Luke Skywalkers. Did Mr. Luceno tie up all the loose ends? Most of them, yes, and for one in particular, it was done in absolutely fitting fashion. But, he also raised a few interesting questions, for which no answers were given. I hope to see these addressed in future books. In closing, I'd like to thank Mr. Luceno, and all the other NJO authors, for continuing the action and adventure in a galaxy far, far away. The journey wasn't always smooth, and a few good friends were lost along the way, but in the end, the magic was back, and I knew just exactly why I had become a Star Wars fan in the first place.

I read started this book the day after I went to see the Matrix Revolutions. Where that movie completely failed to tie up any loose ends and become a fitting conclusion, this book is the epitome of what the final chapter in an epic saga should be. It is intense, it is fast paced, and it comes packed with all of the philosephy that readers of Star Wars books that have to do with the nature of the Force should be hoping for. I really think that this is the best book in the whole series, something that many conclusions fail to be. Back to my Matrix example: where that movie ties up absolutely no loose ends, this book comes up with a satisfying ending, while not going the tired route of having everything returned to normal after the war is over. The good: Leia, Han, and Luke's charaters are written exactly as they were played in the movies, and Jacen is becoming easily the coolest character in the EU. The battle scenes are absolutely stunning, which I was surprised by because I dont remember the action standing out in the two other NJO books that James Luceno wrote. The plot is brilliant, and most if not all loose ends are tied up. You finally find out why the Yuuzhan Yong are outside the Force! And my least favorite character FINALLY bit the dust.The not-so-good: pretty small complaints here, but there were some typos (i remember Jaina being referred to as Jaina Skywalker, when her last name is Solo). But aside from that my only problem was that some of the space battles got a bit too confusing for me.But overall I am COMPLETELY satisfied by this book, and the series. Kudos to James Luceno, and all of the other authors and minds behind the NJO series!