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Star Wars: The New Jedi Order #10
Dark Journey
The New Jedi Order continues as Jaina Solo struggles with anger and despair after the Jedi Knights' harrowing adventure behind enemy lines.
Though the Jedi strike force completed its deadly mission into Yuuzhan Vong territory, the price of success was tragedy: not everyone made it out alive. In a daring getaway, hotshop pilot Jaina Solo stole an enemy ship, taking along her fellow survivors--and leaving behind a huge piece of her heart.
With the enemy in hot pursuit, Jaina is forced to seek haven in the unprotected, unfriendly Hapes Cluster, where the Jedi are held responsible for a past tragedy--and where the royal family has grim plans for their famous Jedi guest. Even more sinister are the intentions of the Yuuvhan Vong, desperate to capture Jaina for a hideous sacrifice.
Grief-stricken and obsessed with revenge, Jaina is blind to these threats--and to the overpowering evil dangerously close to consuming her. In the coming conflagration, Jaina will be fighting not for victory or vengeance, but fore her very being . . .
Though the Jedi strike force completed its deadly mission into Yuuzhan Vong territory, the price of success was tragedy: not everyone made it out alive. In a daring getaway, hotshop pilot Jaina Solo stole an enemy ship, taking along her fellow survivors--and leaving behind a huge piece of her heart.
With the enemy in hot pursuit, Jaina is forced to seek haven in the unprotected, unfriendly Hapes Cluster, where the Jedi are held responsible for a past tragedy--and where the royal family has grim plans for their famous Jedi guest. Even more sinister are the intentions of the Yuuvhan Vong, desperate to capture Jaina for a hideous sacrifice.
Grief-stricken and obsessed with revenge, Jaina is blind to these threats--and to the overpowering evil dangerously close to consuming her. In the coming conflagration, Jaina will be fighting not for victory or vengeance, but fore her very being . . .
301 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Elaine Cunningham
91 books507 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author, best known for her contributions to shared-world settings such as the Forgotten Realms, Star Wars, EverQuest, and Pathfinder Tales.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author, best known for her contributions to shared-world settings such as the Forgotten Realms, Star Wars, EverQuest, and Pathfinder Tales.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
February 20, 2023
4.0 Stars
This mostly felt like a setup book for the events that will follow in traitor. It felt like reading the first half of a novel so I'm eager to jump into the next book soon.
This mostly felt like a setup book for the events that will follow in traitor. It felt like reading the first half of a novel so I'm eager to jump into the next book soon.
September 21, 2024
Definitely not the best installment in the series. It felt like not all that much happened, and one big question was left unanswered after the final page. I'm glad Elaine Cunningham only wrote one book in this series.
July 21, 2024
Enjoyed this quite a bit actually, read it faster than any other NJO book so far, so it must have been good?
Jaina is the main focus of this book and she's great. We pick up right after the previous book, Star by Star and we learn how Jaina and friends deal with the aftermath. The main plot of the series isn't moved forward a lot here, but there's some interesting development in certain subplots. A Lot of great character interactions as well. Though low on action the political scheming keeps it interesting.
It was a very hard task to follow the no doubt best book of the series so far, but I think it did an ok job. I give this something of a 3.5 or weak 4.
Jaina is the main focus of this book and she's great. We pick up right after the previous book, Star by Star and we learn how Jaina and friends deal with the aftermath. The main plot of the series isn't moved forward a lot here, but there's some interesting development in certain subplots. A Lot of great character interactions as well. Though low on action the political scheming keeps it interesting.
It was a very hard task to follow the no doubt best book of the series so far, but I think it did an ok job. I give this something of a 3.5 or weak 4.
December 18, 2015
Elaine Cunningham's "Dark Journey" is, if looked at carefully, an attempt to write a Jane Austen novel set in the Star Wars Expanded universe. It's basically "Pride and Prejudice" with lightsabers and X-wings. If that sounds like a negative criticism of the book, it's not. I actually liked it, quite a bit. It may, however, not be to every Star Wars fan's liking.
Set immediately after the excitement and tragedies of Greg Keyes's "Star by Star", "Dark Journey" allows the fans of the New Jedi Order series a slight breather. Not much, mind you, but enough…
Jaina Solo, suffering from a whirlwind of emotions brought on by the capture of her twin, Jacen, has stolen a Yuuzhan Vong frigate and escaped planet Myrkyr with the surviving team of Jedis sent on a secret mission. They escape to the Hapes Consortium, which gives them refuge, but the Solo family has a checkered past with the Hapes Consortium, specifically involving the royal family of Prince Isolder and Queen Teneniel Djo. (See Dave Wolverton's "The Courtship of Princess Leia".)
Former Queen Ta'a Chume,---who attempted to orchestrate an arranged marriage with her son, Isolder, and Princess Leia but failed thanks to that ruffian Han Solo---has now set her sights on Leia's daughter, Jaina, for Isolder. Jaina, if you haven't figured out by now, is Elizabeth Bennet. Like Elizabeth, Jaina is 18, feisty, head-strong and independent.
The Mr. Darcy character is Jagged Fel, an Imperial Tie-fighter pilot who is fighting with the New Republic. (The Empire is now an ally---try to keep up.) Jag and Jaina met several books ago, and they didn't meet cute. They actually butted heads quite a bit, which is, of course, an indicator that they are perfect for each other. There's also the age difference, which is about as creepy as it was in "Pride and Prejudice".
When Jag finds out about Ta'a Chume's plan to marry Jaina off to Isolder, he confronts Jaina about it, awkwardly. Clearly, he can't come right out and say, "Don't marry Isolder, Jaina, because I secretly harbor feelings for you." That would be silly, and it would probably screw up the plot of the novel.
Jaina has more important things to worry about than matters of the heart anyway. Like dealing with the possibility that she is slowly going over to the Dark Side with her strong feelings of vengeance and hatred toward the Yuuzhan Vong.
Okay, so the Austen allusions aren't nearly as overt as I'm letting on, and they may, in fact, exist solely in my own head, but whatever. It's a cute idea. There's still plenty of sci-fi action and suspense in Cunningham's novel to keep the anti-Austen readers satiated.
Set immediately after the excitement and tragedies of Greg Keyes's "Star by Star", "Dark Journey" allows the fans of the New Jedi Order series a slight breather. Not much, mind you, but enough…
Jaina Solo, suffering from a whirlwind of emotions brought on by the capture of her twin, Jacen, has stolen a Yuuzhan Vong frigate and escaped planet Myrkyr with the surviving team of Jedis sent on a secret mission. They escape to the Hapes Consortium, which gives them refuge, but the Solo family has a checkered past with the Hapes Consortium, specifically involving the royal family of Prince Isolder and Queen Teneniel Djo. (See Dave Wolverton's "The Courtship of Princess Leia".)
Former Queen Ta'a Chume,---who attempted to orchestrate an arranged marriage with her son, Isolder, and Princess Leia but failed thanks to that ruffian Han Solo---has now set her sights on Leia's daughter, Jaina, for Isolder. Jaina, if you haven't figured out by now, is Elizabeth Bennet. Like Elizabeth, Jaina is 18, feisty, head-strong and independent.
The Mr. Darcy character is Jagged Fel, an Imperial Tie-fighter pilot who is fighting with the New Republic. (The Empire is now an ally---try to keep up.) Jag and Jaina met several books ago, and they didn't meet cute. They actually butted heads quite a bit, which is, of course, an indicator that they are perfect for each other. There's also the age difference, which is about as creepy as it was in "Pride and Prejudice".
When Jag finds out about Ta'a Chume's plan to marry Jaina off to Isolder, he confronts Jaina about it, awkwardly. Clearly, he can't come right out and say, "Don't marry Isolder, Jaina, because I secretly harbor feelings for you." That would be silly, and it would probably screw up the plot of the novel.
Jaina has more important things to worry about than matters of the heart anyway. Like dealing with the possibility that she is slowly going over to the Dark Side with her strong feelings of vengeance and hatred toward the Yuuzhan Vong.
Okay, so the Austen allusions aren't nearly as overt as I'm letting on, and they may, in fact, exist solely in my own head, but whatever. It's a cute idea. There's still plenty of sci-fi action and suspense in Cunningham's novel to keep the anti-Austen readers satiated.
June 15, 2011
A quick visit to the Dark Side and back in time for dinner!
The team of Young Jedi Knights return from Myrkyr, torn over their losses. Jaina quickly takes control of the situation and directs them to the Hapan Cluster to recoup. There, she meets up with her parents, fleeing Coruscant's destruction, and the ever duplicitous Ta'a Chume, who has a trick up her sleeve.
NOTE: Based on both audiobook and novel.
NOTE 2: I am not even going to try to avoid spoiling this book. So here's your warning. You don't want to know who died in Star by Star, skip to the end to hear my overall thoughts.
Elaine Cunningham isn't the first person I would think to write a sci-fi/fantasy/epic novel in the Star Wars New Jedi Order series. She's more known for her Forgotten Realms fantasy novels than for aliens and laser swords. But this series has been greatly missing female writers, and she was brought in to write Jaina's story. As this novel occurs after Star by Star, the death of Anakin, and the capture of Jacen, Cunningham has her work cut out for her with the mostly unexplored character of Jaina. How does Jaina react? What are her thoughts?
When dealing with Jaina herself, Cunningham was brilliant. I think one of the best scenes was when she recreated the fight between Jaina and Jacen at the Shadow Academy. Not only does this new-to-Star-Wars author make a continuity nod (EXCELLENT), she shows knowledge and adeptness when writing about the vision encounter. It was a particularly moving scene and had me on the edge of my seat.
As for the character, Jaina, she is well done. I thought perhaps there was a little too much "tom boy" and a little too "anti-princess" and a little too much "She cleans up well", but overall, I think Cunningham did a good job with the limited material she had. I also liked how Jaina and Jag interacted; lots of sparks there.
As for the other characters, I mostly feel indifferent. Han and Leia weren't bad (though the brawl that Han gets into is completely stupid--Han would never get that injured ;) ), Tenel Ka was great, Kyp was a mystery, Jag felt a little to feminine (or is that my feminine bias coming out?), and the Yuuzhan Vongs, once again, fail to do whatever they are supposed to do, while, of course, still somehow winning this war.
Now, let's talk about the part I really have a problem with: the plot. I feel there were three things wrong: not enough emphasis on Anakin's death, too much emphasis on silly Hapan politics, and short term story. Anakin's death could almost have been a sidenote; his funeral doesn't merit the attention it should, Jaina gets over her sibling remarkably well, and Leia and Han are far more emotionally stable than parents who lost a son should be. I understand this book wasn't titled "Anakin's Tragic Death", but still, come on, don't pretend it's impact is only a blip on the radar!
As for the Hapan plotline...oh. My. God. It's terrible. I could understand the power play Ta'a Chume would have, but the timing is inappropriate (shouldn't have been the emphasis of this book, maybe a later one) and poorly done. What got into Ta'a Chume's mind to even THINK Jaina would be a wimpy, easily-led queen? If Leia was as stubborn, why would her daughter be much different? At one point, Jaina agrees to consider Ta'a Chume's plan. Why does Jaina even CONSIDER this stupid arrangement? This is completely out of character and distracts from the mission of her coming to grips with her brother and getting revenge! UGH!
As for my last problem, for a quick time, Jaina basically turns to the Dark Side and is EEEEVIL to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. But by the end, of course, Jaina has seen the error of her ways and is back on the "good side". While I appreciate that they even bothered to make one of the children flawed (at this time), why bother if you are going to hastily wrap up at the end? And speaking of hasty wrap-up, I wanted more of Jaina the Trickster annoying the hell out of the Yuuzhan Vong!!
But one thing I did like was the limited scope. We only have Jaina, Han/Leia, Jag, Ta'a Chume, and some Yuuzhan Vongs as viewpoint characters. It's nice to have a novel that scales back a bit.
This certainly wasn't the worst way I've ever spent my time, but I definitely feel it wasn't the strongest, most interesting of the NJO novels, nor was it the best novel of a Solo child. In fact, thinking back to when I first read these, I feel really bad as Jaina has the worst novel of the Solo kids (Conquest-Anakin, Dark Journey-Jaina, Traitor-Jacen). Decent but skippable.
The team of Young Jedi Knights return from Myrkyr, torn over their losses. Jaina quickly takes control of the situation and directs them to the Hapan Cluster to recoup. There, she meets up with her parents, fleeing Coruscant's destruction, and the ever duplicitous Ta'a Chume, who has a trick up her sleeve.
NOTE: Based on both audiobook and novel.
NOTE 2: I am not even going to try to avoid spoiling this book. So here's your warning. You don't want to know who died in Star by Star, skip to the end to hear my overall thoughts.
Elaine Cunningham isn't the first person I would think to write a sci-fi/fantasy/epic novel in the Star Wars New Jedi Order series. She's more known for her Forgotten Realms fantasy novels than for aliens and laser swords. But this series has been greatly missing female writers, and she was brought in to write Jaina's story. As this novel occurs after Star by Star, the death of Anakin, and the capture of Jacen, Cunningham has her work cut out for her with the mostly unexplored character of Jaina. How does Jaina react? What are her thoughts?
When dealing with Jaina herself, Cunningham was brilliant. I think one of the best scenes was when she recreated the fight between Jaina and Jacen at the Shadow Academy. Not only does this new-to-Star-Wars author make a continuity nod (EXCELLENT), she shows knowledge and adeptness when writing about the vision encounter. It was a particularly moving scene and had me on the edge of my seat.
As for the character, Jaina, she is well done. I thought perhaps there was a little too much "tom boy" and a little too "anti-princess" and a little too much "She cleans up well", but overall, I think Cunningham did a good job with the limited material she had. I also liked how Jaina and Jag interacted; lots of sparks there.
As for the other characters, I mostly feel indifferent. Han and Leia weren't bad (though the brawl that Han gets into is completely stupid--Han would never get that injured ;) ), Tenel Ka was great, Kyp was a mystery, Jag felt a little to feminine (or is that my feminine bias coming out?), and the Yuuzhan Vongs, once again, fail to do whatever they are supposed to do, while, of course, still somehow winning this war.
Now, let's talk about the part I really have a problem with: the plot. I feel there were three things wrong: not enough emphasis on Anakin's death, too much emphasis on silly Hapan politics, and short term story. Anakin's death could almost have been a sidenote; his funeral doesn't merit the attention it should, Jaina gets over her sibling remarkably well, and Leia and Han are far more emotionally stable than parents who lost a son should be. I understand this book wasn't titled "Anakin's Tragic Death", but still, come on, don't pretend it's impact is only a blip on the radar!
As for the Hapan plotline...oh. My. God. It's terrible. I could understand the power play Ta'a Chume would have, but the timing is inappropriate (shouldn't have been the emphasis of this book, maybe a later one) and poorly done. What got into Ta'a Chume's mind to even THINK Jaina would be a wimpy, easily-led queen? If Leia was as stubborn, why would her daughter be much different? At one point, Jaina agrees to consider Ta'a Chume's plan. Why does Jaina even CONSIDER this stupid arrangement? This is completely out of character and distracts from the mission of her coming to grips with her brother and getting revenge! UGH!
As for my last problem, for a quick time, Jaina basically turns to the Dark Side and is EEEEVIL to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. But by the end, of course, Jaina has seen the error of her ways and is back on the "good side". While I appreciate that they even bothered to make one of the children flawed (at this time), why bother if you are going to hastily wrap up at the end? And speaking of hasty wrap-up, I wanted more of Jaina the Trickster annoying the hell out of the Yuuzhan Vong!!
But one thing I did like was the limited scope. We only have Jaina, Han/Leia, Jag, Ta'a Chume, and some Yuuzhan Vongs as viewpoint characters. It's nice to have a novel that scales back a bit.
This certainly wasn't the worst way I've ever spent my time, but I definitely feel it wasn't the strongest, most interesting of the NJO novels, nor was it the best novel of a Solo child. In fact, thinking back to when I first read these, I feel really bad as Jaina has the worst novel of the Solo kids (Conquest-Anakin, Dark Journey-Jaina, Traitor-Jacen). Decent but skippable.
September 26, 2023
Well, this was… not bad, but a little disapponting after the incredible book that was Star by Star. I predict this will be one of the more forgettable NJO books as time goes on.
There was some good here. I really enjoyed several of the characters, predominantly Jaina and Kyp but also the OT trio, Mara, and Lowbacca. They were all well done and I enjoyed their interactions, especially Jaina with Kyp, Leia, and Han. Lots of good dialogues in this book. I also really enjoyed seeing the aftermath of the previous book, which made the opening very interesting to me, as well as the characters’ reactions to the major event of that book (if you know, you know).
However, most of the rest of the book was just okay or even boring to me. Save for Jaina, Leia, and Kyp, I found most or all of the other POVs pretty uninteresting. The plot also didn’t draw me in all that much. I feel like this was a pretty forgettable book all things considered, even though it did have its highlights.
Overall this was an okay read. I did really enjoy some character work and their reactions to past events, but little else really stood out to me. Kind of a disappointment, sadly. I hope the next few books pick things up a bit more.
Rating: 6.5/10
There was some good here. I really enjoyed several of the characters, predominantly Jaina and Kyp but also the OT trio, Mara, and Lowbacca. They were all well done and I enjoyed their interactions, especially Jaina with Kyp, Leia, and Han. Lots of good dialogues in this book. I also really enjoyed seeing the aftermath of the previous book, which made the opening very interesting to me, as well as the characters’ reactions to the major event of that book (if you know, you know).
However, most of the rest of the book was just okay or even boring to me. Save for Jaina, Leia, and Kyp, I found most or all of the other POVs pretty uninteresting. The plot also didn’t draw me in all that much. I feel like this was a pretty forgettable book all things considered, even though it did have its highlights.
Overall this was an okay read. I did really enjoy some character work and their reactions to past events, but little else really stood out to me. Kind of a disappointment, sadly. I hope the next few books pick things up a bit more.
Rating: 6.5/10
January 7, 2019
I love this book so much. Give me all the rightfully angry Jaina and Hapan politics. GIVE IT TO ME.
January 27, 2022
A surprisingly solid follow-up to the intense "Star By Star", though there is still too much going on, plot-wise, for my taste. What I appreciated best about this was that it not only took a breather from the main thurst of the Vong saga, it dealt quietly and efficiently with many loose ends and created many a turning point for a number of characters. It even managed to deal with hanging threads dating as far back as "The Courtship of Princess Leia"...which is an achievement in itself. I haven't seen Elaine Cunningham as part of the more recent Disney/Lucasverse line-up of authors...and I hope the powers-that-be realize this is an error that should be rectified.
April 4, 2022
I was all set to give this even a 4.5 rating, until the book abruptly ended without any real turn to the dark side. Flirting with it, and being tempted by it isn't the same thing. I'm convinced this series is about 10-12 books too long. I'm halfway through now, and not sure I have the interest to keep it up. What really kills this one is indeed its abrupt ending with everything wrapped up in a bow, except for the overall invasion itself.
January 23, 2022
Another New Jedi Order entry completed! Following the eight month endurance test that was Star by Star, I'm still at a loss for words as to why I finished this novel in only three weeks (despite it being only half the length that Star by Star was). I'm not sure I liked Dark Journey all that much... in fact, while most of the other books in this series so far I felt had too much filler or repetition and could have had pages cut, this book felt too short and may have benefited from being longer.
At the end of the day, Dark Journey ended up being a rather frustrating entry in the NJO that had the potential to be amazing, but ended up being just.... eh?
STAR BY STAR SPOILER WARNING: I will make sure to avoid talking spoilers for Dark Journey specifically, but I cannot avoid spoiling the biggest plot developments from Star by Star- they basically drive the entirety of the story and characters in Dark Journey, and I can't really talk about this book without that essential context. So if you don't want to be spoiled from Star by Star, skip this review.
1. Anakin Solo died.
2. Jacen Solo was captured, and for all intents and purposes, has disappeared and cannot be found.
3. The Yuuzhan Vong have reached and conquered Coruscant.
THE STORY: Dark Journey picks up immediately after the events of Star by Star. Our heroes have been left in complete disarray following the disastrous setbacks inflicted upon them by the Yuuzhan Vong in the previous book. The novel opens as Warmaster Tsavong Lah's Victory above Coruscant is imminent, with our heroes still trying to escape. They rendezvous in the Hapes Cluster, where a gathering of desperate refugees have given the Hapans a political advantage- the Vong have threatened planets who accept refugees with swift and deadly punishment, leaving Hapes one of the few safe havens left. This enables the Queen Mother Ta'a Chume to use them as a bargaining chip in order for her to get her way.
Regardless, the plot revolves around Jaina Solo, completely distraught following the mission to Myrkyr. Grieving the loss of her brothers and a desire for revenge have left her in a vulnerable- and dangerous- place. Kyp Durron, leader of the more aggressive rogue jedi faction, wants to bring Jaina and her talents with the force and with starships into his fold. Ta'a Chume sees the potential for a a successor as Queen Mother of Hapes- someone who can be a strong leader and protect her people from the Vong threat. But Hapes won't be safe for long, for Harrar, a Yuuzhan Vong priest, is looking to capture Jaina, and has set his sights on Hapes.
THE BAD: Going into this book, I was optimistic that Dark Journey could change my tune on Jaina Solo in this series. As a novel specifically centered on Jaina following the what happened in Star by Star was a perfect opportunity to refocus her character arc and infuse some much needed personality after almost 9 whole books of haphazard storylines and little to no personality.
While Dark Journey made some progress in this regard, I think it often missed the mark.
The biggest issue I have with Dark Journey is the plot, which thanks to the large presence of the Hapans and their court intrigue, made for a story that felt too overstuffed and convoluted for its own good. This book wasted a perfect opportunity to really dive into Jaina's anguish and turmoil but instead we have too many characters that this book tries to focus on- you not only have Jaina, but also Han and Leia, Kyp Durron, Jagged Fel, Harrar, Tenel Ka, and Ta'a Chume- the last two of which take up way too many pages and really didn't need to have significant roles in this story. Making a visit to Hapes is all fine and good, but I get the feeling that Elaine Cunningham was a fan of the Hapes Consortium and wanted as much of them in her book as possible. Unfortunately, for a storyline that ends up getting the majority of this novel's focus, it didn't lead to any development for Jaina's personal journey. Most importantly, nothing going on with the hapans and their royal succession issues was interesting in the slightest- and the uninteresting spotlight on Tenel Ka's character was nowhere near worthwhile enough to justify it.
Speaking of Jaina's "Dark Jouney", I had some issues with that too. I don't have a problem with how Jaina was characterized, but the sequence of events does not flow very well at all. By the end of the book, it felt like little to nothing was accomplished. It sucks, because there were some great ideas here, but because the plot was so incoherent, these ideas failed to amount to anything satisfying. I don't know if Elaine Cunningham was trying to go for subtlety or if she just failed to tie these ideas together properly, but if its the former it was definitely a case of taking said subtlety too far.
Another big problem I had with this book was Han Solo, who felt entirely out of character here . I understand that he and Leia aren't the main characters here, and I get that Cunningham was trying to set him up as Leia's compass during her time of grief, just like Leia was Han's compass after the loss of Chewbacca. Too be fair, the scenes where Han comforts Leia are rather touching. But that being said, I do not buy for a second that Han would be as passive as he was throughout this book following what happened in Star by Star.
Then, there's the funeral scene. While there were a couple lines of dialogue that I found effective and poignant, it failed to make up for a scene that felt far more rushed and cut short than it should have been. .
Finally, there's Harrar and the Yuuzhan Vong. This subplot in particular suffers from the distraction of the Hapan court detour. An interesting take on the Yuuzhan Vong that ties into Jaina's story is hidden in here, but there's too little page time spent on it. So what we get ends up feeling like just another obligatory Yuuzhan Vong/villain POV.
THE GOOD: For all of the things that frustrated me about Dark Journey, there was an amazing story in here somewhere. The opening 100 pages were brilliant and really hooked me in, even if it all got lost in the shuffle once we got to Hapes.
Elaine Cunningham did a great job characterizing Jaina Solo- the establishment of her inner turmoil was handled quite effectively, and I found it compelling that she would have been pulled in all these different directions. For roughly the first half of the novel, Jaina's emotional state was quite engaging to explore, and even though the buildup in most of the second half was weak, I thought the ending was passable enough in setting up potential story for Jaina in the rest of the NJO series' second half. Don't get me wrong- this series has a long way to go when it comes to her character. But this was a step in the right direction.
Welcome back to the story, Jagged Fel! After his introduction in Dark Tide II: Ruin, Jag disappeared for six whole books, and now he plays a big role here. I found him to be an interesting character in this novel and Cunningham integrated him into the story fairly well (or at least, as well as this convoluted mess of a plot would allow). I rolled my eyes at Jaina's romantic subplot(s) in previous NJO novels but I actually enjoyed the interplay between Jaina and Jag quite a bit in this book. Unlike previously when Jaina's love interests came off as a crutch when the authors couldn't figure out what to do with her character, here it felt natural and it makes perfect sense why Jaina would so easily be swept up by someone like Jag. Finally, Cunningham made sure not to dwell too much on this storyline, leaving ample room for later books in the series to build on it- and most importantly, prevent it from falling into overbearing YA romance tropes.
I also (mostly) like Kyp Durron a great deal in this book. I loved when Cunningham went inside his head during the first 100 pages, showing how his role as the leader of a more aggressive jedi faction has taken a bit of a toll on him. Kyp's behavior toward Jaina often made him unlikeable, but after the initial setup and how he has been portrayed in previous books it makes sense. There's still more to explore with the dynamic between Jaina and Kyp, but there's also nine more books to do that and this was a decent start.
The charerization of Leia in the first half of this book is the most effective work for the character in this whole series so far. While I was disappointed that this book didn't take full advantage of it, Cunningham's take has been hands down the most interesting I've seen for Leia in the original Expanded Universe since Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. While her storyline in Dark Journey is far from great, pretty much all of the problems come down to the messy plot, not Leia herself. .
I thought Elaine Cunningham's writing overall was pretty good, and demonstrated a fair amount of potential. The action scenes were pretty well written, her dialogue is good, and she does a great job expressing the emotions that these characters are going through. Dark Journey was her first and only feature length Star Wars novel- although this firs book was far from perfect, I think she could have really refined her style and written some great material if she had the opportunity to write more books for this franchise.
Lastly, let's elaborate overall as to what made those first hundred pages so good. This felt like a completely different book from the Hapes vacation that we get for the majority of the story, as I loved how Cunningham explored the immediate aftermath of the events from Star by Star. We get to see the continuation of Han/Leia/Luke/Mara evacuating Coruscant and what is happening to the remaining members of Anakin's Myrkyr strike team. Especially with the latter, the dynamic between Jaina and the other survivors was so well set up that I wish the rest of the book continued it instead of stopping upon arrival at Hapes. You still could have fit Kyp Durron, Han and Leia, and Harrar in a natural way, at least far more so than whatever the Hapan court was supposed to do.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3 stars.
There's an amazing story hidden somewhere in the messy, convoluted novel that is "Dark Journey". There are definitely moments where this potential shines through, particularly in the first third of the novel. Cunningham uses what the previous New Jedi Order books established to write a compelling and interesting take on Jaina Solo, as well as offering welcome spotlights on other characters like Kyp Durron and Jagged Fel who haven't gotten that much development.
However, this book needed some overhauling. Far too much time was spent on the Hapan Queen Mother succession storyline, when the story pitting Jaina against Harrar was much more intriguing and should have gotten far more focus. I will concede that this novel proved that interesting character work CAN be done with Jaina Solo, and this was a step in the right direction for smoothing out what has been a completely haphazard hodgepodge of ideas for character arcs in the first half of the series. That being said, this book could have been so much better than it was. I haven't given up on Jaina Solo completely, but my patience is starting to run out and I'm becoming less optimistic. Dark Journey was a book specifically about Jaina- no Jacen or Anakin to take away the focus from her. And yet, somehow this book failed to build upon the setup from Star by Star in an effective and satisfying way, despite it being practically GIVEN ON A SILVER PLATTER. Was this a case of "too little too late"? I wouldn't go that far, but especially after how strong this book opened compared to the underwhelming place it ended, I expected so much more.
At the end of the day, Dark Journey ended up being a rather frustrating entry in the NJO that had the potential to be amazing, but ended up being just.... eh?
STAR BY STAR SPOILER WARNING: I will make sure to avoid talking spoilers for Dark Journey specifically, but I cannot avoid spoiling the biggest plot developments from Star by Star- they basically drive the entirety of the story and characters in Dark Journey, and I can't really talk about this book without that essential context. So if you don't want to be spoiled from Star by Star, skip this review.
1. Anakin Solo died.
2. Jacen Solo was captured, and for all intents and purposes, has disappeared and cannot be found.
3. The Yuuzhan Vong have reached and conquered Coruscant.
THE STORY: Dark Journey picks up immediately after the events of Star by Star. Our heroes have been left in complete disarray following the disastrous setbacks inflicted upon them by the Yuuzhan Vong in the previous book. The novel opens as Warmaster Tsavong Lah's Victory above Coruscant is imminent, with our heroes still trying to escape. They rendezvous in the Hapes Cluster, where a gathering of desperate refugees have given the Hapans a political advantage- the Vong have threatened planets who accept refugees with swift and deadly punishment, leaving Hapes one of the few safe havens left. This enables the Queen Mother Ta'a Chume to use them as a bargaining chip in order for her to get her way.
Regardless, the plot revolves around Jaina Solo, completely distraught following the mission to Myrkyr. Grieving the loss of her brothers and a desire for revenge have left her in a vulnerable- and dangerous- place. Kyp Durron, leader of the more aggressive rogue jedi faction, wants to bring Jaina and her talents with the force and with starships into his fold. Ta'a Chume sees the potential for a a successor as Queen Mother of Hapes- someone who can be a strong leader and protect her people from the Vong threat. But Hapes won't be safe for long, for Harrar, a Yuuzhan Vong priest, is looking to capture Jaina, and has set his sights on Hapes.
THE BAD: Going into this book, I was optimistic that Dark Journey could change my tune on Jaina Solo in this series. As a novel specifically centered on Jaina following the what happened in Star by Star was a perfect opportunity to refocus her character arc and infuse some much needed personality after almost 9 whole books of haphazard storylines and little to no personality.
While Dark Journey made some progress in this regard, I think it often missed the mark.
The biggest issue I have with Dark Journey is the plot, which thanks to the large presence of the Hapans and their court intrigue, made for a story that felt too overstuffed and convoluted for its own good. This book wasted a perfect opportunity to really dive into Jaina's anguish and turmoil but instead we have too many characters that this book tries to focus on- you not only have Jaina, but also Han and Leia, Kyp Durron, Jagged Fel, Harrar, Tenel Ka, and Ta'a Chume- the last two of which take up way too many pages and really didn't need to have significant roles in this story. Making a visit to Hapes is all fine and good, but I get the feeling that Elaine Cunningham was a fan of the Hapes Consortium and wanted as much of them in her book as possible. Unfortunately, for a storyline that ends up getting the majority of this novel's focus, it didn't lead to any development for Jaina's personal journey. Most importantly, nothing going on with the hapans and their royal succession issues was interesting in the slightest- and the uninteresting spotlight on Tenel Ka's character was nowhere near worthwhile enough to justify it.
Speaking of Jaina's "Dark Jouney", I had some issues with that too. I don't have a problem with how Jaina was characterized, but the sequence of events does not flow very well at all. By the end of the book, it felt like little to nothing was accomplished. It sucks, because there were some great ideas here, but because the plot was so incoherent, these ideas failed to amount to anything satisfying. I don't know if Elaine Cunningham was trying to go for subtlety or if she just failed to tie these ideas together properly, but if its the former it was definitely a case of taking said subtlety too far.
Another big problem I had with this book was Han Solo, who felt entirely out of character here . I understand that he and Leia aren't the main characters here, and I get that Cunningham was trying to set him up as Leia's compass during her time of grief, just like Leia was Han's compass after the loss of Chewbacca. Too be fair, the scenes where Han comforts Leia are rather touching. But that being said, I do not buy for a second that Han would be as passive as he was throughout this book following what happened in Star by Star.
Then, there's the funeral scene. While there were a couple lines of dialogue that I found effective and poignant, it failed to make up for a scene that felt far more rushed and cut short than it should have been. .
Finally, there's Harrar and the Yuuzhan Vong. This subplot in particular suffers from the distraction of the Hapan court detour. An interesting take on the Yuuzhan Vong that ties into Jaina's story is hidden in here, but there's too little page time spent on it. So what we get ends up feeling like just another obligatory Yuuzhan Vong/villain POV.
THE GOOD: For all of the things that frustrated me about Dark Journey, there was an amazing story in here somewhere. The opening 100 pages were brilliant and really hooked me in, even if it all got lost in the shuffle once we got to Hapes.
Elaine Cunningham did a great job characterizing Jaina Solo- the establishment of her inner turmoil was handled quite effectively, and I found it compelling that she would have been pulled in all these different directions. For roughly the first half of the novel, Jaina's emotional state was quite engaging to explore, and even though the buildup in most of the second half was weak, I thought the ending was passable enough in setting up potential story for Jaina in the rest of the NJO series' second half. Don't get me wrong- this series has a long way to go when it comes to her character. But this was a step in the right direction.
Welcome back to the story, Jagged Fel! After his introduction in Dark Tide II: Ruin, Jag disappeared for six whole books, and now he plays a big role here. I found him to be an interesting character in this novel and Cunningham integrated him into the story fairly well (or at least, as well as this convoluted mess of a plot would allow). I rolled my eyes at Jaina's romantic subplot(s) in previous NJO novels but I actually enjoyed the interplay between Jaina and Jag quite a bit in this book. Unlike previously when Jaina's love interests came off as a crutch when the authors couldn't figure out what to do with her character, here it felt natural and it makes perfect sense why Jaina would so easily be swept up by someone like Jag. Finally, Cunningham made sure not to dwell too much on this storyline, leaving ample room for later books in the series to build on it- and most importantly, prevent it from falling into overbearing YA romance tropes.
I also (mostly) like Kyp Durron a great deal in this book. I loved when Cunningham went inside his head during the first 100 pages, showing how his role as the leader of a more aggressive jedi faction has taken a bit of a toll on him. Kyp's behavior toward Jaina often made him unlikeable, but after the initial setup and how he has been portrayed in previous books it makes sense. There's still more to explore with the dynamic between Jaina and Kyp, but there's also nine more books to do that and this was a decent start.
The charerization of Leia in the first half of this book is the most effective work for the character in this whole series so far. While I was disappointed that this book didn't take full advantage of it, Cunningham's take has been hands down the most interesting I've seen for Leia in the original Expanded Universe since Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. While her storyline in Dark Journey is far from great, pretty much all of the problems come down to the messy plot, not Leia herself. .
I thought Elaine Cunningham's writing overall was pretty good, and demonstrated a fair amount of potential. The action scenes were pretty well written, her dialogue is good, and she does a great job expressing the emotions that these characters are going through. Dark Journey was her first and only feature length Star Wars novel- although this firs book was far from perfect, I think she could have really refined her style and written some great material if she had the opportunity to write more books for this franchise.
Lastly, let's elaborate overall as to what made those first hundred pages so good. This felt like a completely different book from the Hapes vacation that we get for the majority of the story, as I loved how Cunningham explored the immediate aftermath of the events from Star by Star. We get to see the continuation of Han/Leia/Luke/Mara evacuating Coruscant and what is happening to the remaining members of Anakin's Myrkyr strike team. Especially with the latter, the dynamic between Jaina and the other survivors was so well set up that I wish the rest of the book continued it instead of stopping upon arrival at Hapes. You still could have fit Kyp Durron, Han and Leia, and Harrar in a natural way, at least far more so than whatever the Hapan court was supposed to do.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3 stars.
There's an amazing story hidden somewhere in the messy, convoluted novel that is "Dark Journey". There are definitely moments where this potential shines through, particularly in the first third of the novel. Cunningham uses what the previous New Jedi Order books established to write a compelling and interesting take on Jaina Solo, as well as offering welcome spotlights on other characters like Kyp Durron and Jagged Fel who haven't gotten that much development.
However, this book needed some overhauling. Far too much time was spent on the Hapan Queen Mother succession storyline, when the story pitting Jaina against Harrar was much more intriguing and should have gotten far more focus. I will concede that this novel proved that interesting character work CAN be done with Jaina Solo, and this was a step in the right direction for smoothing out what has been a completely haphazard hodgepodge of ideas for character arcs in the first half of the series. That being said, this book could have been so much better than it was. I haven't given up on Jaina Solo completely, but my patience is starting to run out and I'm becoming less optimistic. Dark Journey was a book specifically about Jaina- no Jacen or Anakin to take away the focus from her. And yet, somehow this book failed to build upon the setup from Star by Star in an effective and satisfying way, despite it being practically GIVEN ON A SILVER PLATTER. Was this a case of "too little too late"? I wouldn't go that far, but especially after how strong this book opened compared to the underwhelming place it ended, I expected so much more.
January 24, 2013
I'm not going to backfill reviews for all of the NJO books I've read because, honestly, I'm barely halfway through the series and, in my opinion, it's already dragged on for far too long. This book comes after one of my least favorite creative decisions in the series, although that was executed spectacularly in the previous book.
Dark Journey, to be blunt and brief, bored me. I understand that this was a different perspective for the series, more of a character study of Jaina and how she evolves as a young women and develops her personality really more than any other book I've read. That being said, I just stopped caring after awhile. I get it. She's upset and dealing with a lot. This was a story of her flirting with the dark side of the force, with actually was handled quite well. As much as it would have been more fun to see her go all out and start hurling force lightning and being more action packed, the character study approach really lent itself to show Elaine Cunningham has a thorough understanding of the subject matter, and even the force.
The political intrigue and backstabbing was something that would have worked well had it been part of multiple story lines which balanced it better. As it is, I can't even remember what stories happened alongside of Jaina's. Though that does point to the ability of that central story line to stand above the rest, it also points to the other story lines not being memorable at all. There were some good moments and some less than stellar moments. It was an essential building block for the character, and having read subsequent novels, I can say that it has made her more three dimensional to me. I still don't like her that much, though. Probably because I haven't seen her do anything that truly came across as awesome since the second or third book in the series (and even then she only managed to impress me in the company of her brothers). Here's hoping Jaina can pull it out for me in the rest of the series, and thanking the writers for not zeroing in on a single character like this again.
Dark Journey, to be blunt and brief, bored me. I understand that this was a different perspective for the series, more of a character study of Jaina and how she evolves as a young women and develops her personality really more than any other book I've read. That being said, I just stopped caring after awhile. I get it. She's upset and dealing with a lot. This was a story of her flirting with the dark side of the force, with actually was handled quite well. As much as it would have been more fun to see her go all out and start hurling force lightning and being more action packed, the character study approach really lent itself to show Elaine Cunningham has a thorough understanding of the subject matter, and even the force.
The political intrigue and backstabbing was something that would have worked well had it been part of multiple story lines which balanced it better. As it is, I can't even remember what stories happened alongside of Jaina's. Though that does point to the ability of that central story line to stand above the rest, it also points to the other story lines not being memorable at all. There were some good moments and some less than stellar moments. It was an essential building block for the character, and having read subsequent novels, I can say that it has made her more three dimensional to me. I still don't like her that much, though. Probably because I haven't seen her do anything that truly came across as awesome since the second or third book in the series (and even then she only managed to impress me in the company of her brothers). Here's hoping Jaina can pull it out for me in the rest of the series, and thanking the writers for not zeroing in on a single character like this again.
July 10, 2021
You know it’s bad when Kyp Durron tells Jaina she crossed the line several kilometers back. At least it’s making Kyp start to rethink his tactics. And Jag is back!
I really enjoyed this one. It’s primarily about Jaina, and the writing is on the better end of the scale for this series. Also, the author seemed to have a little better than bullet point knowledge of YJK (or at least the Shadow Academy arc). It felt more authentic when she drew on elements from that story arc and worked with the characters originating therein. Well, except for the indication that Jacen was oblivious to Tenel Ka because it was pretty obvious they had crushes on each other, though I guess the closest they came to opening up to each other about it was when she kissed him at the end of The Emperor’s Plague rendering him speechless.
Jaina’s a total mess, Anakin’s funeral was heartbreaking 😭😭😭😭😭, Hapan politics is...there are no words for Hapan politics or for Ta’a Chume. I feel really bad for Tenel Ka, especially knowing how much she has to sacrifice from here on out. Jag’s dad can totally tell Jag likes Jaina, even though Jag hasn’t fully realized it himself. And Jaina is 100% her father’s daughter. Which...isn’t always a good thing, especially during times of grief.
I really enjoyed this one. It’s primarily about Jaina, and the writing is on the better end of the scale for this series. Also, the author seemed to have a little better than bullet point knowledge of YJK (or at least the Shadow Academy arc). It felt more authentic when she drew on elements from that story arc and worked with the characters originating therein. Well, except for the indication that Jacen was oblivious to Tenel Ka because it was pretty obvious they had crushes on each other, though I guess the closest they came to opening up to each other about it was when she kissed him at the end of The Emperor’s Plague rendering him speechless.
Jaina’s a total mess, Anakin’s funeral was heartbreaking 😭😭😭😭😭, Hapan politics is...there are no words for Hapan politics or for Ta’a Chume. I feel really bad for Tenel Ka, especially knowing how much she has to sacrifice from here on out. Jag’s dad can totally tell Jag likes Jaina, even though Jag hasn’t fully realized it himself. And Jaina is 100% her father’s daughter. Which...isn’t always a good thing, especially during times of grief.
December 26, 2015
This one was a real showcase for Jaina.Having to deal with the death of her youngest brother and the capture of her twin brother Jacen.Her heart pulls her in many different directions and during her darkest moments she comes to realize her need for vengeance is causing her to drift from the light side of the force.Kyp Durron,Jagged Fel,Lowbacca,and Tenel Ka play prominent roles as well in this adventure.All in all a very satisfying read.
November 17, 2021
Reading thread on twitter:
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December 17, 2022
Jaina braced herself for the pain of this new betrayal, but none came. Perhaps losing Jacen had pushed her to some place beyond pain.
Jaina Solo seems to be in a weird spot. Neither as easy to like as child prodigy Anakin nor as controversial - with both ardent supporters and virulent haters - as philosophical Jacen, she seems to have fallen to the side with both the fans and authors. While the Dark Tide duology, Balance Point, and Rebirth did enough character work to turn her from the mere archetype we see in Young Jedi Knights and Vector Prime to a personality of her own, she still continues to feel like a third wheel behind her two brothers by this point. Enter Elaine Cunningham's Dark Journey, the immediate follow up to Star by Star, which attempts to give Jaina her own, character-driven storyline, only to be lambasted by fans as a terrible novel. Indeed, Dark Journey was considered the weakest NJO novel upon its release, and though the fandom's perception has somewhat changed since then, it still stands as one of the least respected parts of the series. A shame, as Dark Journey is an entertaining and much needed story whose inclusion, I am convinced, only makes the overall series a stronger end product.
So what is it that makes people dislike this novel so much? Let's start by discussing the main character, Jaina Solo. The last time we saw her, she was teetering close to the dark side as a result of her grief, and DJ naturally picks up on this. The Jaina we see her is at perhaps the lowest point in her life: Constantly in a grim mood, ready to pick fights and only a hairlength away from having a complete meltdown, Jaina is clearly still flirting with the Dark Side. It's heartbreaking to see this formerly enthusiastic, joyous girl turn into a fatalist like this, but, since her out of line actions are always underlined by her thoughts on the situation at hand, her emotional state, and her place in the galaxy, thus giving them some much needed context, Jaina manages to be an engaging main character throughout. Sure, she's not pleasant to be around, but does a protagonist have to be a perfect, kind angel to be likeable, or even just fun to read about? I, for one, am glad that Jaina and Jacen are both different spins on the protagonist role instead of just serving similar roles to Anakin. Dark Journey is where Jaina finally comes into her own as an individual and I couldn't be happier.
Speaking of Anakin: One thing I do have to criticize is how the aftermath of the previous novel is dealt with.
The Force is not the only thing Jaina is flirting with, though. Throughout the experience, she comes into contact with multiple men who may or may not be interested in her, and a decent amoung ot page time is devoted to these hypothetical pairings. I suppose this is one of the main things people were complaining about: The novel primarily features a female character, was written by a woman, includes some semi-romantic subplots and, to make things even worse, has a pink cover! Clearly, it's an icky wicky girls' novel for girls!!! Believe it or not, it isn't as bad as it might seem, though the whole affair isn't perfect, either. The first of these potential love interests is her old friend Zekk, who - as a logical extension to his own experiences with the Dark Side, is getting steadily more worried about her and her... problems with stability. Zekk sadly doesn't develop much in this novel, just as he didn't in SbS, instead continuing to serve as the resident moral compass and reminder of how the DS can consume someone if they aren't careful. So, given his past experiences, it is no wonder that he ultimately A perhaps even bigger reminder of the DS' effects on force sensitives is Kyp Durron, who is thankfully not as assertive towards Jaina as he was in Rebirth. Good riddance. He nevertheless spends a lot of time with Jaina in this one, again, so let's talk about it. After getting his Dozen wiped out again (lol), he ends up on Jaina's side and kind of maybe becomes her Jedi Master for a while. What disappoints me in Kyp is that, though he's clearly conscious of the burden on his shoulders, he really just does not make any real attempts from shielding Jaina from the DS for most of this novel. Oh Kyp, why do you have to be so... Kyp. There are some scenes with semi-romantic undertones here, but I'm happy to announce that Kyp seems to have completely given up on Jaina in that regard, after all. Last and certainly most promising as a romantic matchup is Jagged Fel, who makes his triumphant return in the main NJO novels after being absent from every book after Ruin and only reappearing in a short story written by Cunningham herself. Yes, these two actually do get some overtly ship-y scenes together, but nothing much actually happens there and I don't mind them anyways. Jag's stone-cold, deadpan delivery contrasts beautifully with Jaina's brash nature and that fact alone makes them a better fit than the YJK's Jaina and Zekk, who had even less strictly personal chemistry than Jacen and Tenel Ka... though I suppose that's a story for another time. Jag himself is fun, but sadly nothing special yet. I appreciate the attempts to give him things to do and have him navigate... unusual social situations, but I suppose a character defined as being this rigid just doesn't have a lot of potential for depth. I do hope Jag does end up getting more development as time goes on, though.
The last "ship" plays into a larger storyline, which is why it gets its own spotlight here. Most of Dark Journey takes place in or around the planet of Hapes, Tenel Ka's homeworld; as a result of the current, post-SbS refugee stream moving into the Hapes Cluster, DJ's entire cast converges to this one point. While this is happening, the planet's ruling class is having to deal with the aftermath of the disastrous events of Jedi Eclipse on top of court intrigues. Teneniel Djo, the planet's queen and Tenel Ka's mother, is steadily getting weaker as a result of some... extremely dark happenstances, so TK's sociopathic grandmother Ta'a Chume is scheming even more dastardly plans than before. Though I suppose technically not the main antagonist, Ta'a Chume is nevertheless the most hateable character in this entire story, which is exactly what she should be. More than in any other EU story beforehand, the Queen Mother's plotting here is a main focus, and her character is elevated greatly as a result. I knew that she didn't have any scruples beforehand, but still, to think how far she is willing to go to reach her goals... what an awful human being. Among her plots is the attempt to get Isolder, Leia's former courtier, to marry Jaina and make her the new queen of the Hapan Consortium, which is just concerning. Isolder doesn't quite come out of this in the best way either, not immediately disregarding the idea. Thankfully, though, neither Isolder nor Jaina actually wants to go through with it, nor do they - spoiler alert - actually do get married in the end, so there's that. No romance here. I'm okay with Ta'a Chume planning such a thing, but I could have still done without Isolder's gut reaction. The last thing I want to mention here is Tenel Ka, whose portrayal in DJ is decent, too. Being honest, she does not do a lot for most of it until a very vital scene near the end. Taking everything here into consideration, I suppose Dark Journey is a win for the protagonists' side again, but you can't deny all the different shades of grey and personal misery present.
Perhaps the biggest development for the series as a whole comes with the Yuuzhan Vong, though. Harrar, the YV's head priest originally introduced in the Agents of Chaos duology, comes into the spotlight once more and is joined by Khalee Lah, Tsavong Lah's son. Khalee himself is perhaps the most pathetic Yuuzhan Vong character we've seen so far, constantly getting one-upped by the infidels and with a hot-tempered personality to boot. Everything comes to a close with him
I suppose I can see why some people take issue with Dark Journey. There are some problems with its pacing and inter-series continuity, some of the directions it takes with its characters are controversial, and both the Hapan court drama and the interspersed romantic elements could alienate certain readers. Personally, though, I really don't mind these things much, if at all. Though Dark Journey is not the best New Jedi Order novel so far, it nevertheless gives Jaina Solo some much needed, well executed spotlight and advances the series in other key elements such as the Yuuzhan Vong's heresy plot. After reading all four of her EU contributions back to back, it's a shame that Elaine Cunningham's planned second novel was cancelled. I would have loved to read more of hers.
Next up: The beginning of Aaron Allston's Enemy Lines duology, Rebel Dream. I can't wait.
Jaina Solo seems to be in a weird spot. Neither as easy to like as child prodigy Anakin nor as controversial - with both ardent supporters and virulent haters - as philosophical Jacen, she seems to have fallen to the side with both the fans and authors. While the Dark Tide duology, Balance Point, and Rebirth did enough character work to turn her from the mere archetype we see in Young Jedi Knights and Vector Prime to a personality of her own, she still continues to feel like a third wheel behind her two brothers by this point. Enter Elaine Cunningham's Dark Journey, the immediate follow up to Star by Star, which attempts to give Jaina her own, character-driven storyline, only to be lambasted by fans as a terrible novel. Indeed, Dark Journey was considered the weakest NJO novel upon its release, and though the fandom's perception has somewhat changed since then, it still stands as one of the least respected parts of the series. A shame, as Dark Journey is an entertaining and much needed story whose inclusion, I am convinced, only makes the overall series a stronger end product.
So what is it that makes people dislike this novel so much? Let's start by discussing the main character, Jaina Solo. The last time we saw her, she was teetering close to the dark side as a result of her grief, and DJ naturally picks up on this. The Jaina we see her is at perhaps the lowest point in her life: Constantly in a grim mood, ready to pick fights and only a hairlength away from having a complete meltdown, Jaina is clearly still flirting with the Dark Side. It's heartbreaking to see this formerly enthusiastic, joyous girl turn into a fatalist like this, but, since her out of line actions are always underlined by her thoughts on the situation at hand, her emotional state, and her place in the galaxy, thus giving them some much needed context, Jaina manages to be an engaging main character throughout. Sure, she's not pleasant to be around, but does a protagonist have to be a perfect, kind angel to be likeable, or even just fun to read about? I, for one, am glad that Jaina and Jacen are both different spins on the protagonist role instead of just serving similar roles to Anakin. Dark Journey is where Jaina finally comes into her own as an individual and I couldn't be happier.
Speaking of Anakin: One thing I do have to criticize is how the aftermath of the previous novel is dealt with.
The Force is not the only thing Jaina is flirting with, though. Throughout the experience, she comes into contact with multiple men who may or may not be interested in her, and a decent amoung ot page time is devoted to these hypothetical pairings. I suppose this is one of the main things people were complaining about: The novel primarily features a female character, was written by a woman, includes some semi-romantic subplots and, to make things even worse, has a pink cover! Clearly, it's an icky wicky girls' novel for girls!!! Believe it or not, it isn't as bad as it might seem, though the whole affair isn't perfect, either. The first of these potential love interests is her old friend Zekk, who - as a logical extension to his own experiences with the Dark Side, is getting steadily more worried about her and her... problems with stability. Zekk sadly doesn't develop much in this novel, just as he didn't in SbS, instead continuing to serve as the resident moral compass and reminder of how the DS can consume someone if they aren't careful. So, given his past experiences, it is no wonder that he ultimately A perhaps even bigger reminder of the DS' effects on force sensitives is Kyp Durron, who is thankfully not as assertive towards Jaina as he was in Rebirth. Good riddance. He nevertheless spends a lot of time with Jaina in this one, again, so let's talk about it. After getting his Dozen wiped out again (lol), he ends up on Jaina's side and kind of maybe becomes her Jedi Master for a while. What disappoints me in Kyp is that, though he's clearly conscious of the burden on his shoulders, he really just does not make any real attempts from shielding Jaina from the DS for most of this novel. Oh Kyp, why do you have to be so... Kyp. There are some scenes with semi-romantic undertones here, but I'm happy to announce that Kyp seems to have completely given up on Jaina in that regard, after all. Last and certainly most promising as a romantic matchup is Jagged Fel, who makes his triumphant return in the main NJO novels after being absent from every book after Ruin and only reappearing in a short story written by Cunningham herself. Yes, these two actually do get some overtly ship-y scenes together, but nothing much actually happens there and I don't mind them anyways. Jag's stone-cold, deadpan delivery contrasts beautifully with Jaina's brash nature and that fact alone makes them a better fit than the YJK's Jaina and Zekk, who had even less strictly personal chemistry than Jacen and Tenel Ka... though I suppose that's a story for another time. Jag himself is fun, but sadly nothing special yet. I appreciate the attempts to give him things to do and have him navigate... unusual social situations, but I suppose a character defined as being this rigid just doesn't have a lot of potential for depth. I do hope Jag does end up getting more development as time goes on, though.
The last "ship" plays into a larger storyline, which is why it gets its own spotlight here. Most of Dark Journey takes place in or around the planet of Hapes, Tenel Ka's homeworld; as a result of the current, post-SbS refugee stream moving into the Hapes Cluster, DJ's entire cast converges to this one point. While this is happening, the planet's ruling class is having to deal with the aftermath of the disastrous events of Jedi Eclipse on top of court intrigues. Teneniel Djo, the planet's queen and Tenel Ka's mother, is steadily getting weaker as a result of some... extremely dark happenstances, so TK's sociopathic grandmother Ta'a Chume is scheming even more dastardly plans than before. Though I suppose technically not the main antagonist, Ta'a Chume is nevertheless the most hateable character in this entire story, which is exactly what she should be. More than in any other EU story beforehand, the Queen Mother's plotting here is a main focus, and her character is elevated greatly as a result. I knew that she didn't have any scruples beforehand, but still, to think how far she is willing to go to reach her goals... what an awful human being. Among her plots is the attempt to get Isolder, Leia's former courtier, to marry Jaina and make her the new queen of the Hapan Consortium, which is just concerning. Isolder doesn't quite come out of this in the best way either, not immediately disregarding the idea. Thankfully, though, neither Isolder nor Jaina actually wants to go through with it, nor do they - spoiler alert - actually do get married in the end, so there's that. No romance here. I'm okay with Ta'a Chume planning such a thing, but I could have still done without Isolder's gut reaction. The last thing I want to mention here is Tenel Ka, whose portrayal in DJ is decent, too. Being honest, she does not do a lot for most of it until a very vital scene near the end. Taking everything here into consideration, I suppose Dark Journey is a win for the protagonists' side again, but you can't deny all the different shades of grey and personal misery present.
Perhaps the biggest development for the series as a whole comes with the Yuuzhan Vong, though. Harrar, the YV's head priest originally introduced in the Agents of Chaos duology, comes into the spotlight once more and is joined by Khalee Lah, Tsavong Lah's son. Khalee himself is perhaps the most pathetic Yuuzhan Vong character we've seen so far, constantly getting one-upped by the infidels and with a hot-tempered personality to boot. Everything comes to a close with him
I suppose I can see why some people take issue with Dark Journey. There are some problems with its pacing and inter-series continuity, some of the directions it takes with its characters are controversial, and both the Hapan court drama and the interspersed romantic elements could alienate certain readers. Personally, though, I really don't mind these things much, if at all. Though Dark Journey is not the best New Jedi Order novel so far, it nevertheless gives Jaina Solo some much needed, well executed spotlight and advances the series in other key elements such as the Yuuzhan Vong's heresy plot. After reading all four of her EU contributions back to back, it's a shame that Elaine Cunningham's planned second novel was cancelled. I would have loved to read more of hers.
Next up: The beginning of Aaron Allston's Enemy Lines duology, Rebel Dream. I can't wait.
October 22, 2014
I enjoyed “Star Wars the New Jedi Order Dark Journey” by Elaine Cunningham, because it was very action packed. The book speaks from different characters point of view. It start off with Jaina Solo and her jedi friends, trying to do a search and destroy mission. Things went bad fast. They took an enemy ship to get away. They fled to Hapan, there they fixed the ship and found people to help them set up an ambush for the priest ship. The priest ship came and was eventually destroyed. Now Jaina Solo and her fellow jedi are safe.
Jaina Solo is a young jedi and the daughter of Han Solo and Leia Solo. Jag is an expert flyer. Kyp is a master jedi that becomes Jaina’s master. Priest, is a person who wants to sacrifice Jaina Solo and her twin Jacen Solo. Jacen Solo is a young jedi and Jaina Solo’s twin.
“Star Wars the New Jedi Order Dark Journey” takes place on Myrkr. This is where they try to destroy the priest ship. They have to flee to Hapan because of too many losses. Myrkr and Hapan are the two main settings that the book takes place in. These two settings are significant because this is where all the action and story line takes place.
The main theme is for Jaina to find strength in herself, and her friends. She has to keep her strength up and not let the dark side consume her. She has to open up to her master and not let all her emotions destroy her. She has courage and strength to get out of everything alive. She doesn't let everything that she was holding in destroy her.
I would recommend "Star Wars the New Jedi Order Dark Journey" to ages 16-32. Some of the plot is hard to understand. Both males and females would enjoy this book even though the main character is a female. This book is very action packed with a good story line.
Jaina Solo is a young jedi and the daughter of Han Solo and Leia Solo. Jag is an expert flyer. Kyp is a master jedi that becomes Jaina’s master. Priest, is a person who wants to sacrifice Jaina Solo and her twin Jacen Solo. Jacen Solo is a young jedi and Jaina Solo’s twin.
“Star Wars the New Jedi Order Dark Journey” takes place on Myrkr. This is where they try to destroy the priest ship. They have to flee to Hapan because of too many losses. Myrkr and Hapan are the two main settings that the book takes place in. These two settings are significant because this is where all the action and story line takes place.
The main theme is for Jaina to find strength in herself, and her friends. She has to keep her strength up and not let the dark side consume her. She has to open up to her master and not let all her emotions destroy her. She has courage and strength to get out of everything alive. She doesn't let everything that she was holding in destroy her.
I would recommend "Star Wars the New Jedi Order Dark Journey" to ages 16-32. Some of the plot is hard to understand. Both males and females would enjoy this book even though the main character is a female. This book is very action packed with a good story line.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2023
3.5/5
Primeira Leitura: 2011
Releitura: 2023
Contém spoilers de todos os livros até Star by Star.
Acabei gostando mais do que quando li pela primeira vez porém, isso não significa tanta coisa assim. O maior defeito do livro é tentar abordar coisa demais num livro de 300 páginas, o que acaba gerando uma grande confusão quanto ao tom da história.
Temos Jaina lidando com seu crush de infância, crush atual e o crush no Kyp Durron, além de estarem tentando arranjar o casamento dela com o cara que quase casou com a mãe dela e ainda por cima, é pai de uma amiga dela. Isso sem falar que a coitada está tendo que lidar com a morte do irmão mais novo e o sequestro do irmão gêmeo, a sede de vingança e o lado sombrio da força.
Enquanto isso, Hapes tá o cabaré puro depois de todo o rolê com a perda da frota por conta de Centerpoint Station, a rainha praticamente de cama e a sogra tentando arranjar o casamento do marido dela com uma menina da idade da filha dela. Falando na rainha... Socorro, que mulherzinha odiável. Personagem incrível, mas bem nojenta. As conversas dela com a Leia são simplesmente incríveis.
Isolder é um bananão mas que pelo menos se rende um pouco no final , já a presença do Jag é meio aleatória no livro. Gostei do pequeno vislumbre do ponto de vista do pai dele (nunca imaginei sentir compaixão por Soontir Fel mas aconteceu) mas a justificativa para a presença dele em Hapes é bem rasa. A presença do Zekk não faz muita diferença mas ele está lá, pra povoar os pensamentos da Jaina também (como se não já tivesse homem demais atrás dela).
Enfim, Jaina tentando bancar a política e flertando com o lado sombrio da força não é lá essas coisas mas entretêm e abre várias portas para os livros futuros.
Primeira Leitura: 2011
Releitura: 2023
Contém spoilers de todos os livros até Star by Star.
Acabei gostando mais do que quando li pela primeira vez porém, isso não significa tanta coisa assim. O maior defeito do livro é tentar abordar coisa demais num livro de 300 páginas, o que acaba gerando uma grande confusão quanto ao tom da história.
Temos Jaina lidando com seu crush de infância, crush atual e o crush no Kyp Durron, além de estarem tentando arranjar o casamento dela com o cara que quase casou com a mãe dela e ainda por cima, é pai de uma amiga dela. Isso sem falar que a coitada está tendo que lidar com a morte do irmão mais novo e o sequestro do irmão gêmeo, a sede de vingança e o lado sombrio da força.
Enquanto isso, Hapes tá o cabaré puro depois de todo o rolê com a perda da frota por conta de Centerpoint Station, a rainha praticamente de cama e a sogra tentando arranjar o casamento do marido dela com uma menina da idade da filha dela. Falando na rainha... Socorro, que mulherzinha odiável. Personagem incrível, mas bem nojenta. As conversas dela com a Leia são simplesmente incríveis.
Isolder é um bananão mas que pelo menos se rende um pouco no final , já a presença do Jag é meio aleatória no livro. Gostei do pequeno vislumbre do ponto de vista do pai dele (nunca imaginei sentir compaixão por Soontir Fel mas aconteceu) mas a justificativa para a presença dele em Hapes é bem rasa. A presença do Zekk não faz muita diferença mas ele está lá, pra povoar os pensamentos da Jaina também (como se não já tivesse homem demais atrás dela).
Enfim, Jaina tentando bancar a política e flertando com o lado sombrio da força não é lá essas coisas mas entretêm e abre várias portas para os livros futuros.
October 30, 2009
This is the worst of the New Jedi Order books. It covers Jaina Solo as she tries to undermine the Yuuzhan Vong's attempts to capture her while also struggling against the lure of the Dark Side.
Cunningham really tries to stress the possibility of Jaina going to the Dark Side in this book, but doesn't do it very well. She just sort of throws in a lot of hand waiving and allusions to Jaina doing immoral things but doesn't really explain or explore any of it. It sort of makes that entire subplot feel tacked on and rushed. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be the main driving force behind the story.
Most of Cunningham's writing style is like this, it seems. Kyp Durron is put in as sort of a side antagonist, but the only reasoning behind it seems to be that people just don't like him. Similarly, Jaina has to deal with political dealings that are obviously there solely to tell the reader that Jaina can handle political intrigue, because of who her mother is, even though in the actual story she basically does nothing and it works itself out, thereby invalidating its inclusion in the plot.
Jaina's fast moving relationships in the book are handled in the same way. They don't exist because they have a reason to, Cunningham simply states how things are and tells the reader that there is tension happening.
Basically, at no point in this story did I feel like it had anything meaningful to show me or have any impact on the larger story as a whole. You could probably safely skip this book and be better off.
Cunningham really tries to stress the possibility of Jaina going to the Dark Side in this book, but doesn't do it very well. She just sort of throws in a lot of hand waiving and allusions to Jaina doing immoral things but doesn't really explain or explore any of it. It sort of makes that entire subplot feel tacked on and rushed. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be the main driving force behind the story.
Most of Cunningham's writing style is like this, it seems. Kyp Durron is put in as sort of a side antagonist, but the only reasoning behind it seems to be that people just don't like him. Similarly, Jaina has to deal with political dealings that are obviously there solely to tell the reader that Jaina can handle political intrigue, because of who her mother is, even though in the actual story she basically does nothing and it works itself out, thereby invalidating its inclusion in the plot.
Jaina's fast moving relationships in the book are handled in the same way. They don't exist because they have a reason to, Cunningham simply states how things are and tells the reader that there is tension happening.
Basically, at no point in this story did I feel like it had anything meaningful to show me or have any impact on the larger story as a whole. You could probably safely skip this book and be better off.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2024
After a traumatic end to Anakin Solo, and a crushing blow to the New Republic, the reader is just gripped to this series.
What will happen to the New Republic? What are the Jedi going to do?
After Jaina uses the dark side, summoning force lightning in a fit of rage, you are also left wondering what she will do next? How far will she go? And what repercussions will there be for her actions and how she treats people?
The answer, of course, is a sort of political espionage story, focused entirely on Hapes, where Jaina delves further and further into the dark side, becomes Kyp’s apprentice, and comes round at the end for almost no reason whatsoever, and faces zero consequences, still resolute in her decision to now train under Kyp, not even mentioning Mara.
Or is it Kip? I have no idea how that spelling mistake made it!
If you can’t tell already, to me, this was the worst book of the series.
It should come as no surprise that a book that does almost nothing to advance upon the last book which I loved, but decides to focus on every single most boring, insignificant, and uninteresting plot from Agents of Chaos II ended up as a book I really didn’t like.
But it impressed me more by digging up the Kyp/Jaina stuff yet again, and making Jaina seriously become his apprentice, seemingly forgetting for this novel that her master is Mara. At least last time, they mentioned it.
The plots setup by ‘Star By Star’, apart from Jaina’s descent into the dark side, are completely ignored. The New Republic is put on a complete pause, and while present, Luke, Leia, Mara, and Han do absolutely nothing throughout the entire story, except that Han gets in a fight at some point.
I actually loved Jaina turning to the dark side in ‘Star By Star’. I adore the concept that after all of this time with her building up walls to conceal her emotions around others, Jaina finally breaks, and it is too much for her.
But not only does she go so far to the dark side I am baffled she could just say, “yeah, you know what. Nah.” She also gets absolutely zero repercussions, and has zero trouble dropping the dark side at the end.
The dark side is often described as a drug, an all-consuming thing, often only redeemable with great effort, like Kyp, the love of a son, like Vader, or a mind wipe, like Revan. There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the force.
Jaina treats everybody like shit in this novel. Again, that’s fine. It’s a good story. But this doesn’t get resolved, meaning that other authors are either gonna have to resolve the story for Elaine Cunningham, or it’ll be ignored.
She begins flirting with Jagged Fel, a romance I was completely invested in almost immediately, only to treat him like absolute shit for the rest of the novel, to not come to anything. She is horrible to Lowbacca a few times. That ends up nowhere. She is pretty terrible to all of her Jedi friends who went on the mission with her, and has given up entirely on Jacen and Anakin it seems, and takes great offence from anybody talking about them.
I was prepared for Jaina to go really dark, and have a brilliant redemption story. I was not in for Jaina being terrible to absolutely everybody, and to have it treated like it was okay.
Jaina suggests that now because of her actions, going to the dark side and back to the light, that Kyp may be the only one who understands her. Are we forgetting her Uncle Luke? The man who, in this continuity, fell to the dark side and also came back, but needing almost an entire decade to realise the extent of his wrongs once Mara set him straight in ‘Vision of the Future’.
My main question is: why does it have to be Kyp?
So let’s get onto Kyp.
I was a Kyp fan before the New Jedi Order. Then, I loved how he was used as a good opposite to Luke, to create dissent and good discussion in the Jedi. What has repeatedly frustrated me, is the idea that Kyp has not matured at all since the Jedi Academy trilogy.
It goes beyond wanting to take action in the war, he commits several terrible acts, definitely dark side in my opinion, and continuously gets away with it, rarely gets a scolding from Luke, and some writers (especially Elaine) seem to worship him.
That’s my major critique with this book. I’m not sure if this is true, but it seems like Elaine absolutely loves Kyp, and he is written to be pretty perfect in this novel. Sure, he’s incredibly flawed, but he’s never shown to be wrong, in fact, he is framed as right in this novel again and again, when every other novel has pretty much been forced to fundamentally disagree with him. It just felt wrong to read.
I have been waiting, waiting for Kyp to face some sort of consequence. Again and again, he throws countless lives away, and he does so again in this book. But he brushes it off as necessary, and it is never brought up again. It is like he is constantly justified for being an absolutely terrible person, and continuously he faces zero repercussions.
And that is becoming the only major flaw with the entire New Jedi Order series for me. Is Kyp ever going to get what is coming to him? Some blow that will shake him straight? Or is he going to continue to be a brat for the entire series, with not a single moment of him taking any responsibility?
I honestly cannot believe he is still a Jedi.
Overall, I have pretty much nothing positive to say about this novel.
The last novel ends with a lot left to be wrapped up, and this book decides to ignore it, almost putting the actual story of the books on hold, for so long it almost feels ridiculous.
No response to the Coruscant invasion for as long as there is feels absolutely stupid, and to delegate the entire book to a bunch of absolute nonsense and literally put the actual plot on pause just felt insane to me.
There is a distinct lack of action, and almost the entire three hundred pages are talking, the only action being distinctly boring fighter action and two times Jaina and Kyp almost duel where Jaina quits the fight halfway through.
I will stand by this and include this in my critique of every single novel until they are no longer Master and Apprentice (I am praying it isn’t a permanent decision), I think Jaina and Kyp are a horrible duo, they bring out the worst in each other, and don’t even work in a storytelling sense, as Jaina has much more interesting stories when with her family.
I’m sorry to give you all another negative review, but unfortunately, I really, really didn’t like this one.
3/10
What will happen to the New Republic? What are the Jedi going to do?
After Jaina uses the dark side, summoning force lightning in a fit of rage, you are also left wondering what she will do next? How far will she go? And what repercussions will there be for her actions and how she treats people?
The answer, of course, is a sort of political espionage story, focused entirely on Hapes, where Jaina delves further and further into the dark side, becomes Kyp’s apprentice, and comes round at the end for almost no reason whatsoever, and faces zero consequences, still resolute in her decision to now train under Kyp, not even mentioning Mara.
Or is it Kip? I have no idea how that spelling mistake made it!
If you can’t tell already, to me, this was the worst book of the series.
It should come as no surprise that a book that does almost nothing to advance upon the last book which I loved, but decides to focus on every single most boring, insignificant, and uninteresting plot from Agents of Chaos II ended up as a book I really didn’t like.
But it impressed me more by digging up the Kyp/Jaina stuff yet again, and making Jaina seriously become his apprentice, seemingly forgetting for this novel that her master is Mara. At least last time, they mentioned it.
The plots setup by ‘Star By Star’, apart from Jaina’s descent into the dark side, are completely ignored. The New Republic is put on a complete pause, and while present, Luke, Leia, Mara, and Han do absolutely nothing throughout the entire story, except that Han gets in a fight at some point.
I actually loved Jaina turning to the dark side in ‘Star By Star’. I adore the concept that after all of this time with her building up walls to conceal her emotions around others, Jaina finally breaks, and it is too much for her.
But not only does she go so far to the dark side I am baffled she could just say, “yeah, you know what. Nah.” She also gets absolutely zero repercussions, and has zero trouble dropping the dark side at the end.
The dark side is often described as a drug, an all-consuming thing, often only redeemable with great effort, like Kyp, the love of a son, like Vader, or a mind wipe, like Revan. There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the force.
Jaina treats everybody like shit in this novel. Again, that’s fine. It’s a good story. But this doesn’t get resolved, meaning that other authors are either gonna have to resolve the story for Elaine Cunningham, or it’ll be ignored.
She begins flirting with Jagged Fel, a romance I was completely invested in almost immediately, only to treat him like absolute shit for the rest of the novel, to not come to anything. She is horrible to Lowbacca a few times. That ends up nowhere. She is pretty terrible to all of her Jedi friends who went on the mission with her, and has given up entirely on Jacen and Anakin it seems, and takes great offence from anybody talking about them.
I was prepared for Jaina to go really dark, and have a brilliant redemption story. I was not in for Jaina being terrible to absolutely everybody, and to have it treated like it was okay.
Jaina suggests that now because of her actions, going to the dark side and back to the light, that Kyp may be the only one who understands her. Are we forgetting her Uncle Luke? The man who, in this continuity, fell to the dark side and also came back, but needing almost an entire decade to realise the extent of his wrongs once Mara set him straight in ‘Vision of the Future’.
My main question is: why does it have to be Kyp?
So let’s get onto Kyp.
I was a Kyp fan before the New Jedi Order. Then, I loved how he was used as a good opposite to Luke, to create dissent and good discussion in the Jedi. What has repeatedly frustrated me, is the idea that Kyp has not matured at all since the Jedi Academy trilogy.
It goes beyond wanting to take action in the war, he commits several terrible acts, definitely dark side in my opinion, and continuously gets away with it, rarely gets a scolding from Luke, and some writers (especially Elaine) seem to worship him.
That’s my major critique with this book. I’m not sure if this is true, but it seems like Elaine absolutely loves Kyp, and he is written to be pretty perfect in this novel. Sure, he’s incredibly flawed, but he’s never shown to be wrong, in fact, he is framed as right in this novel again and again, when every other novel has pretty much been forced to fundamentally disagree with him. It just felt wrong to read.
I have been waiting, waiting for Kyp to face some sort of consequence. Again and again, he throws countless lives away, and he does so again in this book. But he brushes it off as necessary, and it is never brought up again. It is like he is constantly justified for being an absolutely terrible person, and continuously he faces zero repercussions.
And that is becoming the only major flaw with the entire New Jedi Order series for me. Is Kyp ever going to get what is coming to him? Some blow that will shake him straight? Or is he going to continue to be a brat for the entire series, with not a single moment of him taking any responsibility?
I honestly cannot believe he is still a Jedi.
Overall, I have pretty much nothing positive to say about this novel.
The last novel ends with a lot left to be wrapped up, and this book decides to ignore it, almost putting the actual story of the books on hold, for so long it almost feels ridiculous.
No response to the Coruscant invasion for as long as there is feels absolutely stupid, and to delegate the entire book to a bunch of absolute nonsense and literally put the actual plot on pause just felt insane to me.
There is a distinct lack of action, and almost the entire three hundred pages are talking, the only action being distinctly boring fighter action and two times Jaina and Kyp almost duel where Jaina quits the fight halfway through.
I will stand by this and include this in my critique of every single novel until they are no longer Master and Apprentice (I am praying it isn’t a permanent decision), I think Jaina and Kyp are a horrible duo, they bring out the worst in each other, and don’t even work in a storytelling sense, as Jaina has much more interesting stories when with her family.
I’m sorry to give you all another negative review, but unfortunately, I really, really didn’t like this one.
3/10
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2016
I specifically picked this book because it sounded so promising. Female author and protagonist, Leia and Han, etc. I wanted it to be good so badly. But dear me what a piece of work this was. The only reason why this got two stars instead of one was that I saw the potential and liked the idea of the Hapan court intrigue. Those were the chapters that sort of worked. But even they were choppy.
I realise that starting a series with a middle book is foolish. I never fully grasped the Yuuzhan Vong science. But all the other things were down to bad construction and odd choices. For instance; why introduce two(!) large sets of characters only to have one disappear off planet and most od the other be shot down within a handful of chapters? Jaina just plain annoyed me from the beginning with her snobby arrogance and attitude. I went fron reading about the Old Jedi Order to New Jedi Order, so the non-chalant use of lightning and mind control horrified me. I get that it should be an inner struggle, but why so readily discard ALL the old teachings??
Jag and Jaina could have been a cool storyline, if Jaina hadn't constantly been unreasonably irritable and annoying. Her relationship with EVERYONE is ambivalent and it's very frustrating to follow her thoughts on people.
Bottom line; I really didn't like this.
I realise that starting a series with a middle book is foolish. I never fully grasped the Yuuzhan Vong science. But all the other things were down to bad construction and odd choices. For instance; why introduce two(!) large sets of characters only to have one disappear off planet and most od the other be shot down within a handful of chapters? Jaina just plain annoyed me from the beginning with her snobby arrogance and attitude. I went fron reading about the Old Jedi Order to New Jedi Order, so the non-chalant use of lightning and mind control horrified me. I get that it should be an inner struggle, but why so readily discard ALL the old teachings??
Jag and Jaina could have been a cool storyline, if Jaina hadn't constantly been unreasonably irritable and annoying. Her relationship with EVERYONE is ambivalent and it's very frustrating to follow her thoughts on people.
Bottom line; I really didn't like this.
January 9, 2018
OK, I really didn't read it, but read the summary's on different sites along with reviews and it sounds like it wasn't very good. It was supposed to be at the library, but someone lost the book and I am not buying it to read.
Anakin dies, but that doesn't seem to faze Jaina, Leia or Han...ok..
The whole Hapan plotline and princess/queen thing.
Anakin dies, but that doesn't seem to faze Jaina, Leia or Han...ok..
The whole Hapan plotline and princess/queen thing.
August 19, 2020
The book that stopped me reading Star Wars for a while. I gave up with the NJO, and waited until something new happened. Not sure what was really happening, but none of the characters felt the same here.
December 15, 2021
For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, two eBook novellas, three short stories, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.
This week’s focus: a Jaina-centric novel: Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham
SOME HISTORY:
What was it about New Jedi Order authors and the Dungeon and Dragons campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms? Like R.A. Salvatore and Troy Denning, Elaine Cunningham was most known as a fantasy writer, having penned ten novels set within...you guessed it, the Forgotten Realms of D&D. Dark Journey made it to number eleven on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of February 17, 2002, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remember getting super frustrated with Hapan parts of this novel, but that was it--a general feeling of frustration, but not any memories of the actual plot events.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Hanging about the Hapan court, Jaina wears several gowns loaned to her from Ta’a Chume. Regarding the first dress, a lowcut scarlet number, Kyp Durron says the following: “You couldn’t channel the Force wearing that dress. There isn’t enough room in there for it to squeeze through.”
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Though the Jedi strike team completed their mission to Myrkr, not everyone made it out alive. With the enemy in hot pursuit, Jaina Solo and the survivors are forced to seek haven in the unfriendly Hapes Cluster, where the Jedi are held responsible for a past tragedy, the former Queen Mother has grim plans for her Jedi guest, and the Yuuzhan Vong are desperate to capture Jaina...
THE CHARACTERS:
Of all the Solo kids thus far, Jaina has received the least character development, so I was pretty excited to read a book that spotlighted her character--especially as she has a ton to process after the events of Star by Star. After Anakin’s death, Jaina did not continue the mission to kill the voxyn queen; instead, she took off to retrieve Anakin’s body, stole a ship, crashed it, stole another ship, rescued all the strike team survivors but had to leave Jacen behind. And she gave into her anger and grief against the Yuuzhan Vong, most notably in using Force lightning--something that we’ve only seen Dark Side users utilize at this point. By the time she arrives in the Hapes Cluster, she’s taken risks and begun to alienate her closest friends.
Dark Journey features a push and pull between Jaina’s desire for vengeance and how far she’s willing to go to achieve her goals. Jaina makes some ethically queasy decisions, and starts to treat people as disposable pawns. (It’s a sign that you’ve gone too far when even Kyp Durron is questioning your decisions!) And this was my favorite part of the book: Jaina working through her guilt from the mission to Myrkr, making a lot of bad decisions, and by the end taking a step back and evaluating the path she’s headed down.
I wish that more of the book had dealt with Jaina’s feelings about Anakin’s death and Jacen’s presumed death, though. There’s a good scene part way through where Jaina attends Anakin’s funeral on Hapes: Jedi gather to share their remembrances of him, and then they light his funeral pyre. Jaina deals with her grief a little bit, but I would have liked her to examine her feelings even more.
Kyp Durron reappears here, with maybe the first time we’ve been inside his head since Vector Prime? Like Jaina, he has alienated everyone around him (in this case, all the other members of Kyp’s Dozen). Interacting with Jaina does him a lot of good, because it shows him that taking aggressive action against the Vong can be a step too close to the Dark Side. The weird bit was some retconning concerning Edge of Victory II: Rebirth: we learn that Kyp was outright manipulating Jaina with the Force to get her and the NR military behind the attack on the Sernpidal shipwomb. And 1), we haven’t seen Kyp do anything like that since the Jedi Academy trilogy, when he was actively under the sway of Exar Kun. And 2) if Kyp did mess with the mind of a strong-willed Jedi, why is everyone still associating with him??
Jagged Fel and his Chiss subordinate Shawnkyr are sent out of the Unknown Regions to scout out the state of the galaxy. They go to Ithor, then head to the Hapan Cluster because...everyone else is headed there? (Look, this is definitely reaching here--it doesn’t make any sense that Jag arrives, other than to rekindle the romantic tension between him and Jaina.)
Of the Jedi strike team survivors, only Tenel Ka and Lowbacca remain on Hapes after Anakin’s funeral--the rest return to the secret Jedi base, I guess? (More on that later.) Tenel Ka is confronted with how drastically the situation on Hapes and her mother’s health have deteriorated, and eventually learns that Ta’a Chume has begun scheming again for Ta’a Chume’s own benefit. Tenel Ka is also one of the friends that Jaina alienates (mainly due to Jaina’s unwitting role in Ta’a Chume’s schemes), but they make things up by the end. Lowbacca is the only friend still loyal to Jaina, and she unfortunately takes advantage of his friendship.
Han & Leia and Luke & Mara are there briefly, primarily so that Jaina can make the wrong assumptions about the purpose behind Ta’a Chume’s shenanigans.
In the Hapan court, the current Queen Mother Teneniel Djo is currently incapacitated and incapable of ruling. And with the power void, former Queen Mother Ta’a Chume begins scheming to put a young, impressionable woman on the throne of Hapes that Ta’a Chume can manipulate at will. And she decides that woman is Jaina?!? (We’ll get into that.) Ta’a Chume’s sisters and nieces are also angling for power, and Isolder just sits there and lets everything happen.
On the Yuuzhan Vong front, we have the priest Harrar (first seen in Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial and last seen in Star by Star) and the Warmaster’s son Khalee Lah working together to capture Jaina Solo. The significance of twins is apparently well-known now within the galaxy (even Isolder mentions it!), but what I find most surprising is how our concept of Yuuzhan Vong mythology continues to change. We now learn that Yun-Harla the goddess of deceit and Yun-Yammka the god of war are considered the Twin Gods, when back in the Edge of Victory duology we learned about another set of “twin gods,” the Lover Gods of Yun-Txiin & Yun-Q'aah.
We’re also introduced to an additional Yuuzhan Vong heresy: the association of Jaina with Yun-Harla, which Jaina outright encourages by naming her ship the Trickster and appropriating Yun-Harla’s symbol. Khalee Lah is a less interesting character than Harrar, mainly because he’s set in his ways and resistant to change (and that directly leads to his downfall). Harrar’s ideas are more fluid, as befits a priest of the Trickster Goddess, and I think we’ll see more of him to come.
ISSUES:
In an interview with StarWars.com back in 2002, Cunningham complained that Dark Journey was not a romance novel, in spite of the “female protagonist, female author, and pink and green cover.” But I think that response was a bit disingenuous. There’s no blatant romance in this book, yet Jaina arrives on Hapes only to process her feelings towards a disparate group of men. Jagged Fel returns from the Imperial Remnant; Zekk clearly has feelings about her; she’s still confused about Kyp Durron; and Ta’a Chume tries (and fails) to push her into marriage with her son. Jaina’s dealing with a lot of emotional trauma and backlash from the previous book, and a big bundle of eligible bachelors just muddies the plot.
A little confused about the beginning--wasn’t Kyp’s Dozen down to eight pilots and their X-Wings trashed due to both the fungus and the bombing of Eclipse in Star by Star? How is he back in a X-Wing in the beginning of Dark Journey, with twelve other pilots? Likewise, I thought that the secret Jedi base on Eclipse was abandoned after the Yuuzhan Vong discovered its location, but Luke & Mara and Han & Leia return there from Hapes?
I liked Jaina’s emotional arc and her first ploys as the Trickster, but I was less crazy about the Hapan court intrigue. I know that Jaina is not as politically adept as her mother, but she displayed a shocking level of naivety in her dealings with Ta’a Chume. And for that matter, why is Ta’a Chume promoting Jaina Solo as the next Queen Mother? She tried to have Leia assassinated back during The Courtship of Princess Leia; she has never liked Teneniel Djo, herself a Force-sensitive witch of Dathomir. Why would she think that a young Jedi Knight would be any different?
Remember back in my review of Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, when I said that I wish it had featured a lot more of Teneniel Djo? Dark Journey is why! We’re told that offscreen Teneniel has miscarried a pregnancy (due to the tragedy at the Battle of Fondor) and sunk into a catatonic state. In Chapter Seventeen, Tenel Ka describes her mother as “[looking] disturbingly like a winter-starved bird, too dazed by cold and wind to take flight.” And it annoys me that we never get to see the strong, confident Teneniel Djo--who was looking forward to the challenge that Hapes offered--and only see her at the end, when she’s a shell of her former self.
I’m both saddened and proud that Tenel Ka took up her mother’s mantle in the end, but I wish that the Solos hadn’t been involved in any of that drama, because it also drew focus away from Tenel Ka herself. Tenel Ka dresses like a Dathomiri, attended the Jedi Academy against her grandmother’s wishes, and has previously spurned the throne of Hapes in favor of the Jedi Order. I wanted to see even more of her coming to terms with everything she’ll have to give up, but instead Ta’a Chume schemes about Jaina for most of the book. (Also, Isolder: grow some gumption, dang it!)
IN CONCLUSION:
I’m glad that Jaina finally got a book to herself! I think the strongest aspect of Dark Journey is Jaina’s emotional arc, and the development of her Trickster role. But unfortunately Cunningham also added loads of Hapan court intrigue to the novel. So we have Ta’a Chume actively scheming (none of which I wanted here!); and while I love Tenel Ka, this should have been primarily Jaina’s story.
Next up: The Apprentice, a short story by Elaine Cunningham set during Dark Journey.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/GCCEQ-h3wlc
Elaine Cunningham - Flirting with the Dark Side - March 1, 2002: https://web.archive.org/web/200908170...
Q & A with Star Wars Authors - August 12, 2002: https://web.archive.org/web/200502050...
This week’s focus: a Jaina-centric novel: Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham
SOME HISTORY:
What was it about New Jedi Order authors and the Dungeon and Dragons campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms? Like R.A. Salvatore and Troy Denning, Elaine Cunningham was most known as a fantasy writer, having penned ten novels set within...you guessed it, the Forgotten Realms of D&D. Dark Journey made it to number eleven on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of February 17, 2002, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remember getting super frustrated with Hapan parts of this novel, but that was it--a general feeling of frustration, but not any memories of the actual plot events.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME COUNT:
Hanging about the Hapan court, Jaina wears several gowns loaned to her from Ta’a Chume. Regarding the first dress, a lowcut scarlet number, Kyp Durron says the following: “You couldn’t channel the Force wearing that dress. There isn’t enough room in there for it to squeeze through.”
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Though the Jedi strike team completed their mission to Myrkr, not everyone made it out alive. With the enemy in hot pursuit, Jaina Solo and the survivors are forced to seek haven in the unfriendly Hapes Cluster, where the Jedi are held responsible for a past tragedy, the former Queen Mother has grim plans for her Jedi guest, and the Yuuzhan Vong are desperate to capture Jaina...
THE CHARACTERS:
Of all the Solo kids thus far, Jaina has received the least character development, so I was pretty excited to read a book that spotlighted her character--especially as she has a ton to process after the events of Star by Star. After Anakin’s death, Jaina did not continue the mission to kill the voxyn queen; instead, she took off to retrieve Anakin’s body, stole a ship, crashed it, stole another ship, rescued all the strike team survivors but had to leave Jacen behind. And she gave into her anger and grief against the Yuuzhan Vong, most notably in using Force lightning--something that we’ve only seen Dark Side users utilize at this point. By the time she arrives in the Hapes Cluster, she’s taken risks and begun to alienate her closest friends.
Dark Journey features a push and pull between Jaina’s desire for vengeance and how far she’s willing to go to achieve her goals. Jaina makes some ethically queasy decisions, and starts to treat people as disposable pawns. (It’s a sign that you’ve gone too far when even Kyp Durron is questioning your decisions!) And this was my favorite part of the book: Jaina working through her guilt from the mission to Myrkr, making a lot of bad decisions, and by the end taking a step back and evaluating the path she’s headed down.
I wish that more of the book had dealt with Jaina’s feelings about Anakin’s death and Jacen’s presumed death, though. There’s a good scene part way through where Jaina attends Anakin’s funeral on Hapes: Jedi gather to share their remembrances of him, and then they light his funeral pyre. Jaina deals with her grief a little bit, but I would have liked her to examine her feelings even more.
Kyp Durron reappears here, with maybe the first time we’ve been inside his head since Vector Prime? Like Jaina, he has alienated everyone around him (in this case, all the other members of Kyp’s Dozen). Interacting with Jaina does him a lot of good, because it shows him that taking aggressive action against the Vong can be a step too close to the Dark Side. The weird bit was some retconning concerning Edge of Victory II: Rebirth: we learn that Kyp was outright manipulating Jaina with the Force to get her and the NR military behind the attack on the Sernpidal shipwomb. And 1), we haven’t seen Kyp do anything like that since the Jedi Academy trilogy, when he was actively under the sway of Exar Kun. And 2) if Kyp did mess with the mind of a strong-willed Jedi, why is everyone still associating with him??
Jagged Fel and his Chiss subordinate Shawnkyr are sent out of the Unknown Regions to scout out the state of the galaxy. They go to Ithor, then head to the Hapan Cluster because...everyone else is headed there? (Look, this is definitely reaching here--it doesn’t make any sense that Jag arrives, other than to rekindle the romantic tension between him and Jaina.)
Of the Jedi strike team survivors, only Tenel Ka and Lowbacca remain on Hapes after Anakin’s funeral--the rest return to the secret Jedi base, I guess? (More on that later.) Tenel Ka is confronted with how drastically the situation on Hapes and her mother’s health have deteriorated, and eventually learns that Ta’a Chume has begun scheming again for Ta’a Chume’s own benefit. Tenel Ka is also one of the friends that Jaina alienates (mainly due to Jaina’s unwitting role in Ta’a Chume’s schemes), but they make things up by the end. Lowbacca is the only friend still loyal to Jaina, and she unfortunately takes advantage of his friendship.
Han & Leia and Luke & Mara are there briefly, primarily so that Jaina can make the wrong assumptions about the purpose behind Ta’a Chume’s shenanigans.
In the Hapan court, the current Queen Mother Teneniel Djo is currently incapacitated and incapable of ruling. And with the power void, former Queen Mother Ta’a Chume begins scheming to put a young, impressionable woman on the throne of Hapes that Ta’a Chume can manipulate at will. And she decides that woman is Jaina?!? (We’ll get into that.) Ta’a Chume’s sisters and nieces are also angling for power, and Isolder just sits there and lets everything happen.
On the Yuuzhan Vong front, we have the priest Harrar (first seen in Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial and last seen in Star by Star) and the Warmaster’s son Khalee Lah working together to capture Jaina Solo. The significance of twins is apparently well-known now within the galaxy (even Isolder mentions it!), but what I find most surprising is how our concept of Yuuzhan Vong mythology continues to change. We now learn that Yun-Harla the goddess of deceit and Yun-Yammka the god of war are considered the Twin Gods, when back in the Edge of Victory duology we learned about another set of “twin gods,” the Lover Gods of Yun-Txiin & Yun-Q'aah.
We’re also introduced to an additional Yuuzhan Vong heresy: the association of Jaina with Yun-Harla, which Jaina outright encourages by naming her ship the Trickster and appropriating Yun-Harla’s symbol. Khalee Lah is a less interesting character than Harrar, mainly because he’s set in his ways and resistant to change (and that directly leads to his downfall). Harrar’s ideas are more fluid, as befits a priest of the Trickster Goddess, and I think we’ll see more of him to come.
ISSUES:
In an interview with StarWars.com back in 2002, Cunningham complained that Dark Journey was not a romance novel, in spite of the “female protagonist, female author, and pink and green cover.” But I think that response was a bit disingenuous. There’s no blatant romance in this book, yet Jaina arrives on Hapes only to process her feelings towards a disparate group of men. Jagged Fel returns from the Imperial Remnant; Zekk clearly has feelings about her; she’s still confused about Kyp Durron; and Ta’a Chume tries (and fails) to push her into marriage with her son. Jaina’s dealing with a lot of emotional trauma and backlash from the previous book, and a big bundle of eligible bachelors just muddies the plot.
A little confused about the beginning--wasn’t Kyp’s Dozen down to eight pilots and their X-Wings trashed due to both the fungus and the bombing of Eclipse in Star by Star? How is he back in a X-Wing in the beginning of Dark Journey, with twelve other pilots? Likewise, I thought that the secret Jedi base on Eclipse was abandoned after the Yuuzhan Vong discovered its location, but Luke & Mara and Han & Leia return there from Hapes?
I liked Jaina’s emotional arc and her first ploys as the Trickster, but I was less crazy about the Hapan court intrigue. I know that Jaina is not as politically adept as her mother, but she displayed a shocking level of naivety in her dealings with Ta’a Chume. And for that matter, why is Ta’a Chume promoting Jaina Solo as the next Queen Mother? She tried to have Leia assassinated back during The Courtship of Princess Leia; she has never liked Teneniel Djo, herself a Force-sensitive witch of Dathomir. Why would she think that a young Jedi Knight would be any different?
Remember back in my review of Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, when I said that I wish it had featured a lot more of Teneniel Djo? Dark Journey is why! We’re told that offscreen Teneniel has miscarried a pregnancy (due to the tragedy at the Battle of Fondor) and sunk into a catatonic state. In Chapter Seventeen, Tenel Ka describes her mother as “[looking] disturbingly like a winter-starved bird, too dazed by cold and wind to take flight.” And it annoys me that we never get to see the strong, confident Teneniel Djo--who was looking forward to the challenge that Hapes offered--and only see her at the end, when she’s a shell of her former self.
I’m both saddened and proud that Tenel Ka took up her mother’s mantle in the end, but I wish that the Solos hadn’t been involved in any of that drama, because it also drew focus away from Tenel Ka herself. Tenel Ka dresses like a Dathomiri, attended the Jedi Academy against her grandmother’s wishes, and has previously spurned the throne of Hapes in favor of the Jedi Order. I wanted to see even more of her coming to terms with everything she’ll have to give up, but instead Ta’a Chume schemes about Jaina for most of the book. (Also, Isolder: grow some gumption, dang it!)
IN CONCLUSION:
I’m glad that Jaina finally got a book to herself! I think the strongest aspect of Dark Journey is Jaina’s emotional arc, and the development of her Trickster role. But unfortunately Cunningham also added loads of Hapan court intrigue to the novel. So we have Ta’a Chume actively scheming (none of which I wanted here!); and while I love Tenel Ka, this should have been primarily Jaina’s story.
Next up: The Apprentice, a short story by Elaine Cunningham set during Dark Journey.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/GCCEQ-h3wlc
Elaine Cunningham - Flirting with the Dark Side - March 1, 2002: https://web.archive.org/web/200908170...
Q & A with Star Wars Authors - August 12, 2002: https://web.archive.org/web/200502050...
February 11, 2024
With her brothers either dead or captured, Jaina Solo gets to stand in the spotlight for her own story. But Dark Journey deals with more than just Jaina; Kyp Durron also plays a vital role as he considers his place as a Jedi, and the Hapes Cluster ponders its place in the war while it is still recovering from the devastating Battle of Fondor. Indeed, Elaine Cunningham tells a story filled with action, political intrigue, and even some romance, and she makes the reader wonder just what it means to be loyal and independent, or even if the two can intermingle.
I liked the focus on Jaina for a change. Even the Big Three take a back seat to the story here, allowing a focus on the younger generation and the problems they face. Though, when they do show up Han and Leia are characterized pretty well. The real high point of the book is the plot on Hapes. It gives us a nice chance to see the war from the view of a culture that is not featured very often. The Hapans were in Jedi Eclipse, yes, but only peripherally to the main story of that book. Here they are the main story, and everyone interacts with them in different ways. Jaina is going through a rough time, but unlike Han she is quicker at striking out against those who get in her way, whether that means the Yuuzhan Vong or even her friends. Not surprisingly the Jedi that relates to her the best is Kyp, whose renegade actions have alienated himself from the rest of the Order, even the remnants of his Dozen. But even Kyp can't seen to reign Jaina in, and she even takes advantage of him, similar to how he abused her trust in Rebirth. The two do affect each other positively, though. They seem to learn from the other's mistakes, and each one becomes less headstrong, to an extent at least. Among all the chaos Jaina is experiencing enters the enigmatic Jag Fel, whom Jaina seems to swoon over, even though she doesn't even realize it. The two seem perfect for each other, but neither can figure the other out! Lol. Jag is pretty cool most of the time. He's easily as mature as someone twice his age, but his world experience is somewhat lacking. It's also good to see Lowbacca continue to play a fairly significant role.
The intrigue among the Hapan court was, well, intriguing. Though Ta'a Chume wanted Jaina to be Queen Mother, it was evident through Jaina's thoughts that she would never consider the notion, not even counting the fact that Isolder is her friend- of-the-same-age's father. Speaking of Tenel Ka, she does not get as much attention as Jaina, but when she does it is clear that she is in a transitory period in her life. Her loyalty is to the Jedi and she is proud of her warrior heritage, but seeing her mother in such a helpless state makes her realize that she needs to do something to assure that Hapes makes it through this current crises in one piece. In the end, it seems she decides to balance her life as a Jedi with her duty as Queen. It is a role she easily falls into, one that Jaina never could. She needs to be out there making a difference in the galaxy at large, and Hapes is not the place to do that. She does make some technical advances while in the Cluster, but now she needs to return to the greater war effort where she's really needed.
Overall this book was pretty good. It took a while to get to Hapes, but the characterizations of Jaina, Kyp, Jag and Tenel Ka were really good, and those depictions needed the time to be developed, so the time spent in space is justified. Even Ta'a Chume was great as a chessmaster-wannabe. There was some good humor, mostly situational through the various character's interactions with each other. A lot of other humor arose through Jaina's interactions with the Vong, constantly mocking them and throwing them into a frenzy through her "blasphemous" acts. Once more, though, doubting the Vong religion creeps into the story as the priest Harrar wonders if their gods are really as great as they thought.
I give this 3/5 stars for a nice little entry in the NJO series, with a cool look into life on Hapes in this current war, as well as greatly expanding Jaina's characterization, something sorely lacking in this series for the most part.
I liked the focus on Jaina for a change. Even the Big Three take a back seat to the story here, allowing a focus on the younger generation and the problems they face. Though, when they do show up Han and Leia are characterized pretty well. The real high point of the book is the plot on Hapes. It gives us a nice chance to see the war from the view of a culture that is not featured very often. The Hapans were in Jedi Eclipse, yes, but only peripherally to the main story of that book. Here they are the main story, and everyone interacts with them in different ways. Jaina is going through a rough time, but unlike Han she is quicker at striking out against those who get in her way, whether that means the Yuuzhan Vong or even her friends. Not surprisingly the Jedi that relates to her the best is Kyp, whose renegade actions have alienated himself from the rest of the Order, even the remnants of his Dozen. But even Kyp can't seen to reign Jaina in, and she even takes advantage of him, similar to how he abused her trust in Rebirth. The two do affect each other positively, though. They seem to learn from the other's mistakes, and each one becomes less headstrong, to an extent at least. Among all the chaos Jaina is experiencing enters the enigmatic Jag Fel, whom Jaina seems to swoon over, even though she doesn't even realize it. The two seem perfect for each other, but neither can figure the other out! Lol. Jag is pretty cool most of the time. He's easily as mature as someone twice his age, but his world experience is somewhat lacking. It's also good to see Lowbacca continue to play a fairly significant role.
The intrigue among the Hapan court was, well, intriguing. Though Ta'a Chume wanted Jaina to be Queen Mother, it was evident through Jaina's thoughts that she would never consider the notion, not even counting the fact that Isolder is her friend- of-the-same-age's father. Speaking of Tenel Ka, she does not get as much attention as Jaina, but when she does it is clear that she is in a transitory period in her life. Her loyalty is to the Jedi and she is proud of her warrior heritage, but seeing her mother in such a helpless state makes her realize that she needs to do something to assure that Hapes makes it through this current crises in one piece. In the end, it seems she decides to balance her life as a Jedi with her duty as Queen. It is a role she easily falls into, one that Jaina never could. She needs to be out there making a difference in the galaxy at large, and Hapes is not the place to do that. She does make some technical advances while in the Cluster, but now she needs to return to the greater war effort where she's really needed.
Overall this book was pretty good. It took a while to get to Hapes, but the characterizations of Jaina, Kyp, Jag and Tenel Ka were really good, and those depictions needed the time to be developed, so the time spent in space is justified. Even Ta'a Chume was great as a chessmaster-wannabe. There was some good humor, mostly situational through the various character's interactions with each other. A lot of other humor arose through Jaina's interactions with the Vong, constantly mocking them and throwing them into a frenzy through her "blasphemous" acts. Once more, though, doubting the Vong religion creeps into the story as the priest Harrar wonders if their gods are really as great as they thought.
I give this 3/5 stars for a nice little entry in the NJO series, with a cool look into life on Hapes in this current war, as well as greatly expanding Jaina's characterization, something sorely lacking in this series for the most part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2023
(NOTE: At the time of this review, this is the fourteenth "STAR WARS Legends" book I have read that takes place post-Return of the Jedi, with the others being the "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, "Darksaber" and the nine books that introduce the Yuuzhan Vong, "The New Jedi Order". This review will only focus on this book; should I complete the series, the final review of the overarching series will be found in the nineteenth book.)
"The story continues: After the harrowing events on Myrkr, the Yuuzhan Vong pursue the remaining survivors on a stolen Vong vessel in order to capture the twin Jaina Solo, who manages to get away.
But though she leaves her enemies behind, a new enemy is slowly rising to power, one that will change the young Solo forever....Jaina herself.
The dark side's pull is a temptation too hard to resist, the call for revenge is strong...and it forms the perfect opportunity for nefarious plans of the royal family of Hapes to be realized..."
This book was okay to read. You can learn about Jaina and how she attempts to contribute to the war.
However, I do not like her role when she gets on Hapes. That falls to Tenel Ka, who becomes more interesting as her Jedi ways cross paths with her royal roots.
In a way, I could almost wish this book was more about Tenel Ka than Jaina....
OVERALL, I think I'll give it a 3/10;
While it does dive into Jaina's character development and her relationships with people, some of it just felt pressured to have things happen so they could happen.
———SPOILERS———
Despite the fact it carried a segment of an epilogue for "Star By Star" in it's beginning, this book felt more like an intended Jaina Solo spin-off story that was really about Tenel Ka. I'm not necessarily complaining about that, but not much happens; it might as well have been a .5 novel (truth is, at the time of writing this review, even with my notes, I remembered very little of it anyway).
The escape from Myrkr should have been in the previous book as an epilogue; it would have at least made "Star By Star" feel complete, even if we weren't aware of Jacen's fate.
I loved the concept of Jaina becoming a symbol of blasphemy against the Yuuzhan Vong, essentially "embodying" the goddess Yun-Harla.
But may I just say that her dark side tendencies and the implications behind that were overshadowed by the evils of Ta'a Chume...which, quite frankly, was more like evil rubbing of hands while quietly chuckling while the actual evils happened off the page.
Now, as far as the Hapes plot, the consequences of what happened in "Jedi Eclipse" (book 5) are mentioned here, and it seems like it would have been conflicting enough without Ta'a Chume's plotting. A potential civil war where the Hapes are stuck between helping the Jedi or betraying them?
Sign me up!
But what happens instead is a cliche "well, the mother didn't do this for me, but the daughter will" ploy.
I should mention here, I have never read "The Courtship of Princess Leia", but I was aware enough of it to know what happened. Even so, whether you knew what happened or not, it felt so....so....empty as a threat.
For starters, Jaina is much younger than Isoldur, so it seemed unbelievable as a likeliness to happen (regardless of whether Luke kissed his sister...).
Next, it felt so weird to see Jaina, who was basically close to swearing an oath to the dark side because of the death of her brother, standing around at balls and dinner parties. I get it, she is royalty, but the setting was so off-putting that it almost made her seem like she had leapt into a Star Wars book that was based on "Pride and Prejudice" (another book I have not read), especially once Jag and Kyp began to be unsaid "competitors" in a misunderstood "love" triangle.
Also, Chume's thugs beating Han while also leaving him alive and not kidnapping him being a message to Jaina is the dumbest thing Chume could have done.
The funeral for fallen Jedi was nice.
There was only one moment where I was so baffled, I giggled and vented within the same moments. I am going to type it out:
" Jaina drew her lightsaber. "Outside," she snarled.
Kyp gave her a mockingly courtly bow and motioned for her to go first. She shook her head. He shrugged and walked down the ramp, Jaina close behind him. As his feet touched the dock, she leapt into a backward flip and landed in the doorway. She shut off her lightsaber and took a step back. The living portal slammed shut behind her.
"Stang," Kyp muttered as he watched the alien ship rise swiftly into the air."
1) Jaina did a backward flip, and took a step back, but the portal slammed shut BEHIND her. Which would mean she was on the outside.
2) As much as I don't like Kyp Durron, his actions here are beyond stupid.
He knows Jaina is trying to get into the air.
He knows she's being reckless and impulsive. And yet, he falls for the dumbest fake-out.
Her final battle lasts roughly about 3 pages, and feels like she got involved, did some maneuvers, then got knocked out. It felt anti-climactic....
Enough about Jaina though.
Tenel Ka should have been the star of this book. In fact, to me, it would make more sense if this book tried to use the Hapes dilemma as a way to progress Tenel Ka's character.
Consider this as a potential story:
In order to escape the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi survivors of Mrykr need to seperate: if they are all captured onboard their vessel, the Vong could have potential Jedi warriors if they were captured and shaped like Tahiri. Of course, since she has lost her brothers and since she is unaware that she is wanted alive for a sacrifice, Jaina volunteers to continue flying the ship as a distraction while the other Jedi are jettisoned in the Vong-version of escape pods to a system that is yet to fall under Vong domain.
It would be difficult, but when one of the pursuers tells them why they want Jaina alive, Tahiri stays with Jaina while the other Jedi are jettisoned, though there wasn't enough time for Jaina to mention the destination due to desperation. Or maybe they already escaped, but their air supply is running low...
Anyway, Tahiri and Jaina eventually escape the Vong in an attempt to get help, and are tracked down by Kyp, Jag, and remnants (this would take several chapters, and we can see the struggles of the two for the loss of Anakin and Jacen).
Meanwhile, the other Jedi learn that they were sent to Hapes. Since the loss of Jacen, Tenel Ka begins struggling with the dark side. This sets her up perfectly for the conflict among her own people, the pulls between responsibility and revenge, and the manipulations of Ta'a Chume; rather than try to force a marriage, Chume will attempt to use Tenel Ka as a way to regain power, even if she herself does not sit on the throne (think Wormtongue and Theoden).
So when Teneniel Djo is murdered, Tenel Ka will decide between revenge, justice, and mercy as well as learn about the different ways of peace and war.
Add the fact that some among her own people will be anti-Jedi, and it adds more conflict.
To me, all of those things ring true, and while Jaina can be mentioned as struggling so much so she nearly falls to the dark side, that should be addressed in a book focused on the Vong war as a whole, not a side battle amongst a more or less neutral party.
It also would avoid a repeat of Leia's earlier story with Jaina as a recycled insert.
Again, it was fine as a read, but felt largely disconnected. Aside from the escape from Myrkr, Tenel Ka becoming Queen of Hapes, and Harrarr, not much else to say that felt important...
MY NOTES:
- Jaina threatens Zekk (pg 16)
- Kyp Durron uses dark side? (review page 36)
- Han and Leia angry [at Kyp] (pg 45)
- Anakin [Skywalker] had talked to Leia (pg 49)
- Khalee Mah, "Kali Ma" (pg 64)
- Vong military monitoring Vong ships (pg 66)
- Leia and Han go to Hapes...the second chapter after Jaina decided to go (Tenel Ka: how does Leia know?)
- Tenal Ka (Ni'Korish)
- Alema (vacation) (pg 122)
- Kyp wasn't serious about Jaina being his apprentice? (pg 129)
- Jaina, Han, Leia (pg 146)
- black [Force] lightning (pg 152)
- Tenel Ka guesses Ta Chumes' purposes
- Fel and Jaina
- Anakin lookalike from SBS (pg 176)
- Different coral slaves explained (pg 209)
- Trisdan died? (pg 217)
- "The Courtship of Princess Leia" AGAIN? (pg 217)
- Jaina sent pilots to die? (pg 256)
- Speedrun of plan (Lowbacca, etc)
- "Not for Darth Vader's granddaughter."
- Mara "fielded" a question? (pg 277)
- Jaina realizes she loves Jag?
- "Stang" ([scene] written terribly) (pg 293)
- Battle over before it began.
"The story continues: After the harrowing events on Myrkr, the Yuuzhan Vong pursue the remaining survivors on a stolen Vong vessel in order to capture the twin Jaina Solo, who manages to get away.
But though she leaves her enemies behind, a new enemy is slowly rising to power, one that will change the young Solo forever....Jaina herself.
The dark side's pull is a temptation too hard to resist, the call for revenge is strong...and it forms the perfect opportunity for nefarious plans of the royal family of Hapes to be realized..."
This book was okay to read. You can learn about Jaina and how she attempts to contribute to the war.
However, I do not like her role when she gets on Hapes. That falls to Tenel Ka, who becomes more interesting as her Jedi ways cross paths with her royal roots.
In a way, I could almost wish this book was more about Tenel Ka than Jaina....
OVERALL, I think I'll give it a 3/10;
While it does dive into Jaina's character development and her relationships with people, some of it just felt pressured to have things happen so they could happen.
———SPOILERS———
Despite the fact it carried a segment of an epilogue for "Star By Star" in it's beginning, this book felt more like an intended Jaina Solo spin-off story that was really about Tenel Ka. I'm not necessarily complaining about that, but not much happens; it might as well have been a .5 novel (truth is, at the time of writing this review, even with my notes, I remembered very little of it anyway).
The escape from Myrkr should have been in the previous book as an epilogue; it would have at least made "Star By Star" feel complete, even if we weren't aware of Jacen's fate.
I loved the concept of Jaina becoming a symbol of blasphemy against the Yuuzhan Vong, essentially "embodying" the goddess Yun-Harla.
But may I just say that her dark side tendencies and the implications behind that were overshadowed by the evils of Ta'a Chume...which, quite frankly, was more like evil rubbing of hands while quietly chuckling while the actual evils happened off the page.
Now, as far as the Hapes plot, the consequences of what happened in "Jedi Eclipse" (book 5) are mentioned here, and it seems like it would have been conflicting enough without Ta'a Chume's plotting. A potential civil war where the Hapes are stuck between helping the Jedi or betraying them?
Sign me up!
But what happens instead is a cliche "well, the mother didn't do this for me, but the daughter will" ploy.
I should mention here, I have never read "The Courtship of Princess Leia", but I was aware enough of it to know what happened. Even so, whether you knew what happened or not, it felt so....so....empty as a threat.
For starters, Jaina is much younger than Isoldur, so it seemed unbelievable as a likeliness to happen (regardless of whether Luke kissed his sister...).
Next, it felt so weird to see Jaina, who was basically close to swearing an oath to the dark side because of the death of her brother, standing around at balls and dinner parties. I get it, she is royalty, but the setting was so off-putting that it almost made her seem like she had leapt into a Star Wars book that was based on "Pride and Prejudice" (another book I have not read), especially once Jag and Kyp began to be unsaid "competitors" in a misunderstood "love" triangle.
Also, Chume's thugs beating Han while also leaving him alive and not kidnapping him being a message to Jaina is the dumbest thing Chume could have done.
The funeral for fallen Jedi was nice.
There was only one moment where I was so baffled, I giggled and vented within the same moments. I am going to type it out:
" Jaina drew her lightsaber. "Outside," she snarled.
Kyp gave her a mockingly courtly bow and motioned for her to go first. She shook her head. He shrugged and walked down the ramp, Jaina close behind him. As his feet touched the dock, she leapt into a backward flip and landed in the doorway. She shut off her lightsaber and took a step back. The living portal slammed shut behind her.
"Stang," Kyp muttered as he watched the alien ship rise swiftly into the air."
1) Jaina did a backward flip, and took a step back, but the portal slammed shut BEHIND her. Which would mean she was on the outside.
2) As much as I don't like Kyp Durron, his actions here are beyond stupid.
He knows Jaina is trying to get into the air.
He knows she's being reckless and impulsive. And yet, he falls for the dumbest fake-out.
Her final battle lasts roughly about 3 pages, and feels like she got involved, did some maneuvers, then got knocked out. It felt anti-climactic....
Enough about Jaina though.
Tenel Ka should have been the star of this book. In fact, to me, it would make more sense if this book tried to use the Hapes dilemma as a way to progress Tenel Ka's character.
Consider this as a potential story:
In order to escape the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi survivors of Mrykr need to seperate: if they are all captured onboard their vessel, the Vong could have potential Jedi warriors if they were captured and shaped like Tahiri. Of course, since she has lost her brothers and since she is unaware that she is wanted alive for a sacrifice, Jaina volunteers to continue flying the ship as a distraction while the other Jedi are jettisoned in the Vong-version of escape pods to a system that is yet to fall under Vong domain.
It would be difficult, but when one of the pursuers tells them why they want Jaina alive, Tahiri stays with Jaina while the other Jedi are jettisoned, though there wasn't enough time for Jaina to mention the destination due to desperation. Or maybe they already escaped, but their air supply is running low...
Anyway, Tahiri and Jaina eventually escape the Vong in an attempt to get help, and are tracked down by Kyp, Jag, and remnants (this would take several chapters, and we can see the struggles of the two for the loss of Anakin and Jacen).
Meanwhile, the other Jedi learn that they were sent to Hapes. Since the loss of Jacen, Tenel Ka begins struggling with the dark side. This sets her up perfectly for the conflict among her own people, the pulls between responsibility and revenge, and the manipulations of Ta'a Chume; rather than try to force a marriage, Chume will attempt to use Tenel Ka as a way to regain power, even if she herself does not sit on the throne (think Wormtongue and Theoden).
So when Teneniel Djo is murdered, Tenel Ka will decide between revenge, justice, and mercy as well as learn about the different ways of peace and war.
Add the fact that some among her own people will be anti-Jedi, and it adds more conflict.
To me, all of those things ring true, and while Jaina can be mentioned as struggling so much so she nearly falls to the dark side, that should be addressed in a book focused on the Vong war as a whole, not a side battle amongst a more or less neutral party.
It also would avoid a repeat of Leia's earlier story with Jaina as a recycled insert.
Again, it was fine as a read, but felt largely disconnected. Aside from the escape from Myrkr, Tenel Ka becoming Queen of Hapes, and Harrarr, not much else to say that felt important...
MY NOTES:
- Jaina threatens Zekk (pg 16)
- Kyp Durron uses dark side? (review page 36)
- Han and Leia angry [at Kyp] (pg 45)
- Anakin [Skywalker] had talked to Leia (pg 49)
- Khalee Mah, "Kali Ma" (pg 64)
- Vong military monitoring Vong ships (pg 66)
- Leia and Han go to Hapes...the second chapter after Jaina decided to go (Tenel Ka: how does Leia know?)
- Tenal Ka (Ni'Korish)
- Alema (vacation) (pg 122)
- Kyp wasn't serious about Jaina being his apprentice? (pg 129)
- Jaina, Han, Leia (pg 146)
- black [Force] lightning (pg 152)
- Tenel Ka guesses Ta Chumes' purposes
- Fel and Jaina
- Anakin lookalike from SBS (pg 176)
- Different coral slaves explained (pg 209)
- Trisdan died? (pg 217)
- "The Courtship of Princess Leia" AGAIN? (pg 217)
- Jaina sent pilots to die? (pg 256)
- Speedrun of plan (Lowbacca, etc)
- "Not for Darth Vader's granddaughter."
- Mara "fielded" a question? (pg 277)
- Jaina realizes she loves Jag?
- "Stang" ([scene] written terribly) (pg 293)
- Battle over before it began.
August 9, 2024
1.75
Yikes! Even though this was an enjoyable and entertaining read from moment to moment, it is *deeply* flawed, to the point that it damages characters in an unintentional but irreversible way and completely flops in it's third act.
I'll talk about the flaws in a spoiler section because I have to use names but to summarize - one character is going through something and no one in their life who should care actually really tries to do anything. It bothered me the whole time and I hope a better author in the next few books can remedy this.
The plot started out as an excellent falling action of the events in Star by Star and then transitioned into an acceptable political maneuvering arc but then when there should have been a climax, there was nothing. It was all skipped. This is Star Wars man, you can't just not right the gigantic space battle you've been building too the whole time! Tomatoes for you Elaine Cunningham. (Thankfully this is her only star wars book)
The biggest issue is the lack of a reaction from any characters, ill break that down now:
Yikes! Even though this was an enjoyable and entertaining read from moment to moment, it is *deeply* flawed, to the point that it damages characters in an unintentional but irreversible way and completely flops in it's third act.
I'll talk about the flaws in a spoiler section because I have to use names but to summarize - one character is going through something and no one in their life who should care actually really tries to do anything. It bothered me the whole time and I hope a better author in the next few books can remedy this.
The plot started out as an excellent falling action of the events in Star by Star and then transitioned into an acceptable political maneuvering arc but then when there should have been a climax, there was nothing. It was all skipped. This is Star Wars man, you can't just not right the gigantic space battle you've been building too the whole time! Tomatoes for you Elaine Cunningham. (Thankfully this is her only star wars book)
The biggest issue is the lack of a reaction from any characters, ill break that down now:
November 24, 2017
Without a doubt this is one of the weaker entries in the New Jedi Order series. The characters are not depicted in a way that I found particularly believable or consistent with previous entries and the plot is overly convoluted.
The story follows Jaina and the other survivors of the Jedi raid on Myrkr as they travel back to Coruscant, which they find under attack, and then on to the Hapes Cluster, where they must now live as refugees. Using the stolen Yuzhaan Vong ship and Lowbacca's technical skills, Jaina devises a plan to confuse other enemy ships, thus gaining an advantage in battle. Having lost people close to her, she begins to see the merit in renegade Jedi Kyp Durron's suggestions to use any means necessary to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, the Queen Mother of Hapes, Ta'a Chume, recognizes that her daughter Teneniel Djo is weak and will not be able to help in the fight. She desires that Jaina, who she views as a strong warrior, marry Prince Isolder and become the next Queen. Jagged Fel of the Chiss fleet also comes to Hapes and discovers in Jaina a gifted pilot and a kindred spirit; but wrapped up in her grief and plans for vengeance, she won't give him the time of day and he is too aloof and arrogant to recognize that he is attracted to her.
I read somewhere that Dark Journey was an effort to create a Jane Austen novel in the Star Wars universe. If so, it was a misguided attempt. Trying to move the meta-plot of the Yuuzhan Vong war forward while also creating a sort of love triangle for Jaina just doesn't work. Both sides of the idea suffer in the attempt to do both. I believed her struggle to stay away from the Dark Side of the Force, but I didn't buy her sexual attraction to Fel or Ta'a Chume's machinations.
And on a simple mechanical level there is just too much plot in this book, much of which relies on the reader being able to remember what happened in earlier EU books - not just from the New Jedi Order series, but all the way back to The Courtship of Princess Leia. A brief summary of relevant earlier events and characters at the beginning of this volume would have been helpful.
This book marks the halfway point of the NJO series. I hope that it gets better from here on out, or it's going to be a long slog to the end.
The story follows Jaina and the other survivors of the Jedi raid on Myrkr as they travel back to Coruscant, which they find under attack, and then on to the Hapes Cluster, where they must now live as refugees. Using the stolen Yuzhaan Vong ship and Lowbacca's technical skills, Jaina devises a plan to confuse other enemy ships, thus gaining an advantage in battle. Having lost people close to her, she begins to see the merit in renegade Jedi Kyp Durron's suggestions to use any means necessary to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, the Queen Mother of Hapes, Ta'a Chume, recognizes that her daughter Teneniel Djo is weak and will not be able to help in the fight. She desires that Jaina, who she views as a strong warrior, marry Prince Isolder and become the next Queen. Jagged Fel of the Chiss fleet also comes to Hapes and discovers in Jaina a gifted pilot and a kindred spirit; but wrapped up in her grief and plans for vengeance, she won't give him the time of day and he is too aloof and arrogant to recognize that he is attracted to her.
I read somewhere that Dark Journey was an effort to create a Jane Austen novel in the Star Wars universe. If so, it was a misguided attempt. Trying to move the meta-plot of the Yuuzhan Vong war forward while also creating a sort of love triangle for Jaina just doesn't work. Both sides of the idea suffer in the attempt to do both. I believed her struggle to stay away from the Dark Side of the Force, but I didn't buy her sexual attraction to Fel or Ta'a Chume's machinations.
And on a simple mechanical level there is just too much plot in this book, much of which relies on the reader being able to remember what happened in earlier EU books - not just from the New Jedi Order series, but all the way back to The Courtship of Princess Leia. A brief summary of relevant earlier events and characters at the beginning of this volume would have been helpful.
This book marks the halfway point of the NJO series. I hope that it gets better from here on out, or it's going to be a long slog to the end.
July 20, 2019
So we’re now 10 books (well, closer to 12 if you count the 2 short stories proceeding it) into the NJO series and instead of getting better or at least advancing this story somewhat, each consecutive novel has only gotten worse and prolonged a side plot that should have ended after only 5 books.
Dark Journey is written ok, but it’s just so damn boring that it’s hard to enjoy. Cunningham does add some minor ideas that are obviously foreshadowing of things to come in further novels, but, aside from being confusing and not very well explained (to me at least), those aha moments are few and far between, sandwiched between a political backstabbing plot and Jaina’s apparent flirtation with the dark side. Also exceedingly annoying are the various names of characters, often so similar that’s it’s hard to tell them apart. Worse, it was these characters from the planet Hapes that had that had an interesting political machination side plot, only to be ruined by the near identical names of everyone involved.
I’ll give a nod to Cunningham for trying to make this novel from Jaina’s POV. She is supposed to be the strongest of the Solo kids...or, at least the most likeable. Too bad that Cunningham turned her into a moody and manipulative bitch. I won’t give too many details but her excuse for “sacrificing” is pretty lame, especially considering she’s supposed to be a Jedi. Also, since we are giving praise here, Cunningham clearly understands Star Wars and the massive amounts of stories it took to get to this point. Her grasp of previous books and ideas is well done and melding her own plot and story together with other authors’ creations is done almost seamlessly.
Despite a few positive elements, overall, Dark Journey was just boring. And to be perfectly honest, I’m not even disappointed or remotely surprised,since, aside from Salvatore and the 2 novels by Keyes, the entire NJO series has been a dud.
Dark Journey is written ok, but it’s just so damn boring that it’s hard to enjoy. Cunningham does add some minor ideas that are obviously foreshadowing of things to come in further novels, but, aside from being confusing and not very well explained (to me at least), those aha moments are few and far between, sandwiched between a political backstabbing plot and Jaina’s apparent flirtation with the dark side. Also exceedingly annoying are the various names of characters, often so similar that’s it’s hard to tell them apart. Worse, it was these characters from the planet Hapes that had that had an interesting political machination side plot, only to be ruined by the near identical names of everyone involved.
I’ll give a nod to Cunningham for trying to make this novel from Jaina’s POV. She is supposed to be the strongest of the Solo kids...or, at least the most likeable. Too bad that Cunningham turned her into a moody and manipulative bitch. I won’t give too many details but her excuse for “sacrificing” is pretty lame, especially considering she’s supposed to be a Jedi. Also, since we are giving praise here, Cunningham clearly understands Star Wars and the massive amounts of stories it took to get to this point. Her grasp of previous books and ideas is well done and melding her own plot and story together with other authors’ creations is done almost seamlessly.
Despite a few positive elements, overall, Dark Journey was just boring. And to be perfectly honest, I’m not even disappointed or remotely surprised,since, aside from Salvatore and the 2 novels by Keyes, the entire NJO series has been a dud.
July 31, 2020
It was nice. Some spoilers here to help those who may have bought it, like I did, for 25 cents from a Babylon thrift store and jumped into the middle of the expanded universe: Leia and Han have Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo (whose face is on the front cover), and Anakin Solo. So when you see a bunch of passages about Leia mourning the death of her baby Anakin, it's not some weird role reversal where she envisions her father as her kid---she literally named her youngest child Anakin.
It reads like a canon Star Wars book commissioned by a fairly good author. There's only one problem I have with it---they keep mentioning Han Solo turning back and smirk/winking at the end of nearly every sentence he says to Leia, and we can all picture Harrison Ford doing that Han Solo smirk, but Ms. Cunningham has Han's character doing it so much that I began to wonder if Han was suffering from some debilitating disease where he couldn't end a sentence without turning and winking at Leia. It went from realism to absurdism with that one little point. The rest of it? I mean, it's cool. It's difficult to parse out what is Elaine Cunningham's mastery of prose, what is her editor, and what is just the beauty of the Star Wars cannon. I thought it was cool that Luke and Mara Jade are married, but that's not Elaine Cunningham's design, is it, and if I am to give praise to the author, I suppose merit should be attached to how well I thought she characterized these people---which was.....I felt it was a Star Wars book consistent with the franchise. There ya go!
It reads like a canon Star Wars book commissioned by a fairly good author. There's only one problem I have with it---they keep mentioning Han Solo turning back and smirk/winking at the end of nearly every sentence he says to Leia, and we can all picture Harrison Ford doing that Han Solo smirk, but Ms. Cunningham has Han's character doing it so much that I began to wonder if Han was suffering from some debilitating disease where he couldn't end a sentence without turning and winking at Leia. It went from realism to absurdism with that one little point. The rest of it? I mean, it's cool. It's difficult to parse out what is Elaine Cunningham's mastery of prose, what is her editor, and what is just the beauty of the Star Wars cannon. I thought it was cool that Luke and Mara Jade are married, but that's not Elaine Cunningham's design, is it, and if I am to give praise to the author, I suppose merit should be attached to how well I thought she characterized these people---which was.....I felt it was a Star Wars book consistent with the franchise. There ya go!
March 22, 2023
First prerequisite knowledge. If one can infer things, there is no knowledge needed. I feel there are clues that say that the Sith are bad guys, Jedi are good guys. Also clues that Darth Vader was a bad guy and father to Leia, Grandfather to Jaina. Knowledge of the Jedi, Sith, and Darth Vader would be useful. Also the concept of falling to the Dark Side of the Force is in the book, though not explicitly.
The main theme of the book is grief. Just before the book starts Anakin Solo is killed and Jaina Solo, Anakin's sister, is commanding the ship taking Anakin back to republic space. During the mission that brought back Anakin's body, Jacen Solo, Jaina's twin brother, was captured. At one point in the book the Jedi feel Jacen and then he disappears from their senses. Most Jedi in the book interpret this as Jacen's death, extra info - Jacen is not dead, but that is not revealed until a later book.
Jaina's grief over the loss of her brothers starts her down a path of revenge, this causes her to start falling to the "Dark Side" Before the book Jaina uses Force Lightning, the characters in the book are worried that this means that she is going to the "Dark Side". Truthfully, Jaina is on her way to the "Dark Side" and she travels down that path for the whole book. It isn't until the last chapter that she pulls from the path and starts back towards the "Light Side" This in my mind also brings in the theme of redemption, but it is not realized until the final pages.
The main theme of the book is grief. Just before the book starts Anakin Solo is killed and Jaina Solo, Anakin's sister, is commanding the ship taking Anakin back to republic space. During the mission that brought back Anakin's body, Jacen Solo, Jaina's twin brother, was captured. At one point in the book the Jedi feel Jacen and then he disappears from their senses. Most Jedi in the book interpret this as Jacen's death, extra info - Jacen is not dead, but that is not revealed until a later book.
Jaina's grief over the loss of her brothers starts her down a path of revenge, this causes her to start falling to the "Dark Side" Before the book Jaina uses Force Lightning, the characters in the book are worried that this means that she is going to the "Dark Side". Truthfully, Jaina is on her way to the "Dark Side" and she travels down that path for the whole book. It isn't until the last chapter that she pulls from the path and starts back towards the "Light Side" This in my mind also brings in the theme of redemption, but it is not realized until the final pages.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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