Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

[BadSamaritan]

Ok, I am only 150 pages into this book, and so far, have never been so confused by any Star Wars novel.

 

Without giving anything away to those who have yet to start reading, Denning has opened a whole new can of worms in this book with his use of Jedi powers alone.

 

Add in the fact it takes a few tries to understand what the author is trying to convey is some pages, and his rather unique writing style, this book has been a rather difficult read.

 

Am I among many who are having difficulties, or do I need to lay off the use of illegal substances while I try to read the novel?

 

SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! Black text baby!

 

Ok, for those of you that dont have the book yet, and want to knwo what the hell I am talking about, here is what has happned thus far.

 

Jacen, Jaina, and all the other survivng members of the Myrkyr mission have been called to help the Nest in an apparent war againt the Chiss. Han, Leia, Mara, Han, and a few others decide to chase after them.

 

The leader of the Nest is the always disliked Raynar, the spoiled jedi brat that was hijacked by the Dark jedi. They crash landed on the apparent homeworld of the Nest, and only Raynar survived. he used the force to convince the bugs to help him, and eventually, became part of their hive mind. He also taught them how to make themselves prosperous, much to the apparent annoyance of the Chiss.

 

Apparenlty, the Killiks are not the Nest, but rather seem to be a higher power. They have already admitted to building Centerpoint Station, and it seems that only Force sensitive beings can see them. Or maybe beings outside of the hive mind. I dunno. Either way, they tried to kill Han, Leai, and co., but Raynar honestly knew nothing of it.

 

Raynar, now he seems to have grown a lot since he vanshed. His force powers have exploded, so much that even Luke has problems fending off his will. Although it seems that the entire Nest, and everyone who joins it, has an enourmouse amoutn of willpower.

 

Also, the survivng members of the Myrkyr mission have joined sides with the Nest, and are helping them fend off the Chiss, which seem to want to exterminate them at all costs. But it seems that are slowly becoming part of the hive mind, much like Raynar did.

 

As for Denning going wild with force powers, Jacen has now mastered several aspects of the force, and had a decent understanding of the Current, and can seeming talk through time. Which could lead to the possibility that the Jedi can time travel.

 

Does anyone else sence a problem with all this?

 

 

And Im off to read some more. Along with some Asprinâ„¢. Yech.

[BadSamaritan]

Oh, it makes the brain melt..... make it stop....... PLEASE!!!!

 

Note to all aspiring SW novelists: For the love of the sith, under no circumstances should any aspect of time be messed with! Even talking backwards in hyperspace is to far!! ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

[DarthTofu]

Okay, this may be hard for you to comprehend (Deep breath) but not all Star Wars Authors are created equally. As a matter of fact, some of them are so increadibally bad that they don't get Lucas to let them publish their books. So they bribe people in Lucas film and make the book anyway. They then implant secret bad-writing-subliminal-mind-messaging. You see, these terrible authors want you to commit suicide to help with the world's population levels. Thus, as you read, you should get an almost overwhelming desire to slit your wrists. It's a lot to take in- give it some time, eventually you shall come to accept the painful truth. That or just call me an idiot.

[DarthTex]

I've pretty much read all of the Star Wars novels (about 95+%). I still have to catch a few of those earlier novels (Han & Lando series, plus a few odd ball ones). Is this a "post" Vong/NJO story? I guess I'm lucky in a way for not keeping up on the new releases. Thanks for the warning in advance. I'll save my time and energy and skip that one for sure. Hopefully that "storyline" won't spin off more LDS tripped stories (and yes I know, it's really "LSD". Remember some of your Star Trek IV).

[Krytos]

Is this a "post" Vong/NJO story?

 

Yeah, it's something like 5-7 years after the NJO series.

 

Well, after reading your post BS, I had a look at some reviews etc. about the book (including some extremely revealing reviews). And well, even the reviewers were confused with some aspects of the book, and some of the new character traits and . . . ah, force powers.

Still, there seems to be some good twists and a lot of openings for a great trilogy.

I've also found Denning's books quiet enjoyable and will probably read the series . . . once I get some time . . . which looks like the end of the year at the moment

[BadSamaritan]

Ok, Now that I have finished the book twice, I am completely confused. this book ends as if it is a stand alone book, not part of what will become a larger series. They tie up almost everything in the book by the final chapter, except for a few minor loose ends that all SW books seem to have.

 

But anyways, aren;t there supposed to be several books after the NJO, that eventually usher in a new era of Star Wars?

[Trejiuvanat]

I read a summary of this book on another board. It's the messageboard from njoe.com It's more elaborate than BadSams so it might drive some of the confusion away. They also have some interesting threads to read about 'Legacy' and other Post-NJO.

 

Personally, I am not much into this post-NJO stuff. I feel it's lost the Star Wars feeling, and with insectoid villians. They are always the worst, always plagued of the same stereotypes -hive mind-... Plus more characters from the Young Jedi brats books. Yuck!

[Guest JediIgor]

Hmm, no more Star Wars?

[Mad78]

We should get Stellar Magic to write a book based on the rapo0ra wars RPG. Now that would work.

[Stellar_Magic]

Somehow this book seems to have screwed up a lot of things...

 

What happened to Jag and Danni? Its not like the Solos just up and dump someone out of the blue...

 

I hope the Killik invasion is short, because I'm already working on a Star Wars Novel that will fulfill stated request...

 

Star Wars: The Waking Foe...

 

Get ready for the Rapora Wars!

[Defender_16]

Just finished reading the book. I thought it was... interesting. While the whole story line was ok people did have a tendancy to suddenly be there talking when they where in a building or vehicle hundreds of meters away seconds before.

 

Wth? I thought Luke was in a different building!? When did he get invited to this conversation? (That kind of thing)

 

*possible Spoilers after this*

 

The Jania/ Zeck thing... All I have to say is that it had better be split apart some how in one of the 2 upcoming books.

 

And you know, KNOW! the those newly found planets will have some kind of native lifeform that's going to fight them all for the region. lol

[Stellar_Magic]

I've just started reading and well... ugh is the best response I can give. This author just murdered the chiss, I mean his depiction is all wrong, and he doesn't use the correct clan names... (He writes Mitt where it should to Mitth, has the chiss carrying hidden weapons, and doesn't give them the politeness all other chiss have demonstrated, in short its just wrong.)

[DarthTofu]

Polite? The chiss never struck me as particularly polite. Granted, I've only read the Thrawn trilogy and "Dark Tide II: Ruin", but still, they always struck me as particularly ruthless and cold. At least for the warrior ones.

[Stellar_Magic]

Well Thrawn was always polite, and calculating but so far I can't recall one instance beside this book where a Chiss has yelled.

 

For more information on the Chiss and their nature please read Survivors Quest.

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

Well, I haven't finished this book yet, but I have to agree with SM. The Chiss are by far my favorite species in the Star Wars Galaxy, and this novel does not do them any justice.

 

The Chiss are, well, unique. They are not cold blooded, just very calculating. They follow a strict set of moral guidelines and laws. Based on these laws they decide what action to take. When dealing with outsiders they are polite, but a little blunt and very forward. They come off as cold, but they're just to-the-point.

 

If you really consider it the Chiss are the most well-documented alien species in the Galaxy. No other species has been described in such detail, no other has had its culture laid out so clearly. Sure, there are still many things we do not know, but what we do know is quite informative. Any mistakes relating to the Chiss are inexcusable.

[Stellar_Magic]

I agree that screwing up the chiss is inexcusable. Though screwing up the chiss is not an exclusive thing to this book, several of the authors in the NJO series made some problems but that was probably partially due to a lack of understanding of the dynamics between the Empire of the Hand and the Chiss Ascendancy.

 

This author however has screwed up in a rather royal way, he makes the chiss appear the aggressors which they are not allowed to be by their own moral constraints... argh.

 

Edit: Well the classic chiss error has appeared again, how many times do I have to say this. Chiss Clawcraft are not ships used by the Chiss Ascendancy, they're fighters made by the Empire of the Hand. Read Survivors Quest!

 

Edit:2 Okay the Author tried to reconcile this by saying the Empire of the Hand has disbanded and become incorporated into the Chiss Ascendancy.

[Stellar_Magic]

Okay I just finished the book and have decided that The Joiner King now tops the list of the worst Star Wars novels. There are enough continuality errors in the plot to make the story bleed... I'll now list some of them.

 

1: During the ending of the Yuuzhan Vong War its made quite clear that the Jedi Knights would be withdrawing from their role as Guardians of the GFFA and become more of a religious order then police force, Joiner King reverses this.

 

2: At the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War its equally clear that Jaina Solo retains her rank in the military and plans on pursuing a career as a fighter pilot.

 

3: The Jedi Knights are led by a High Council, half Jedi, half nonjedi. This arrangement has been replaced in the Joiner King by a Council of Masters, something which the High Council was created to avoid.

 

4: Where is Danni Quee? At the end of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion there is at the very least a close friendship between her and Jacen yet the author doesn't even mention her.

 

The book contains numerous other errors, omissions, and clear oversights...

 

Also portions of the text are written in a way that makes it quite uncertain as to what is actually happening. There is some question as to Jacen's relationship with Tenel Ka due to the way its written, is Jacen helping a friend keep suitors off her back, is it a romantic relationships, or a matter of mutual convience? We don't know from how its written.