[.ca] Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Balance Point (ISBN 0345428587)

Who are these characters?:
Reading through many other reviews, there seems to be a mix of opinions as to Ms. Tyers' talents and writing style. Not having read "The Truce at Bakura," this was my first experience with her as an author. However, after reading more than 200 pages of this novel, I don't feel very compelled to also read "Truce." I loved the way the book opened, basically with a summary of all that has happened in the world of NJO in the first 5 books. Having read those books over several months, it's easy to forget a few details, so that was a welcome addition to this novel. The story got off to a very dramatic start with a dogfight. I've noticed that such action sequences have been pretty limited since the opening chapter. We're left not knowing what happened to Jaina. (I hope not to give away too many spoilers, so skip this part if you haven't read the book. I mostly mean to make arguments about what disappointed me and point to specific portions of the book that support my assertions.) The deeper I got into the book, the more I wondered why these characters seemed so different from the ones I've grown to love (in the case of those from the movie trilogy) and many who weren't created by Tyers seemed to fall victim to mischaracterization. One scene that's been pointed out by many other reviews is the Han/Leia "reconciliation." I was antcipating much more, after the huge build up of alleged verbal fights that had happened between those two after the conclusion of Agents of Chaos and before the beginning of Balance Point. Furthermore, Jaina's anger at her mother completely caught me off guard. To this point, Jaina has seemed like she wanted to be in the military (maybe exhibiting some of Han's wrecklessness) despite her parents' reservations. She has one serious accident, and suddenly, "You weren't there for me mom!" Oh, boo hoo! The irony is how Jaina and Leia were indeed on the same planet and never knew until later in the book. Some attention is paid to Luke and Mara once again, which was very welcome. However, I found Tyers' style in terms of writing dialogue highly distracting. You will be trying to follow the actual words, and descriptions keep getting thrown in the middle. Now I'm trying to picture someone pursing their lips or lifting an eyebrow, rather than concentrating on what's being said. With Mara, aren't we talking about the Emperor's former assassin? And she's paranoid about a disease that's gone into remission? When she does find out what's going on with her body, rather than the natural instinct to become protective, she's more than ready to put her life on the line again. Strangely enough, that is the real Mara. How about the Vong? They are personified as sadistic killing machines who embrace pain and don't fear death. Why is there a scene in this book where one actually runs from a fight? I truly hope Tyers does her homework when writing future books in the SW expanded universe. The book does have its strong points, but also some glaring weaknesses, and just doesn't seem to flow well with the books that came before it. I wonder how certain details are vital to the plot. Kathy must have some fascination with hair or concentration camps. The strange part is, we're talking about refugees who've already been diplaced, on the run and humiliated beyond reason for months or maybe years. What did that plot twist do for them, other than destroy their already suffering morale? I am mainly reading the rest of this book so I'll know what's going on in the Edge of Victory duology. Maybe the cliffhanger that's been mentioned as happening at the end will redeem the book a bit for me.

Light, dark...what's the difference?:
Up until now, the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series has been cosmic in scope, with characters moments taking place on a backdrop of world after world falling to the villainous Yuuzhan Vong. With Balance Point, Kathy Tyers gives us a bit of a break from that. Sure, the Vong are still ravaging every planet in sight, but the events of the book are limited to one planet with all of the characters involved being there. It's a bit more intimate in scope in one other way, too: the main point of the story is young Jacen Solo's quest to discover just what his place in the Force is. It's a nice change of pace, but the presentation is a little boring and the characters sort of lie there on the page. I have to admire Tyers' attempt to do a Star Wars novel with very little starship combat, though there is a fair share of juking and jinking to be done. However, what we're left with flies off the page like a Tie Fighter with one solar panel missing. It's sad because this is a novel that sets up a lot of the books to come (or appears to, anyway). Coruscant is threatened, Han and Leia may be back together and Han is acting more like himself after what happened in the last few books. Jacen comes to a crossroads and appears to make the correct decision, and there's plenty of personal action. Yet for some reason, none of this stuff seems to move. Droma gets very little characterization, and what there is of it is carried over from Luceno's novels (Hero's Trial and Jedi Eclipse). He is clearly not taking Chewbacca's place, but I can't tell if that's because he's not supposed to or because he's just characterized badly. The regulars are decent, but bland. The reunion between Han and Leia should be electrifying, but it just limps along (granted, they are in decontamination, but still...). It's nice to see them working together and caring about each other, but it would have been nice to have better dialogue for them. Jacen's relationship with his sister, Jaina, takes a nosedive as Jacen reveals that he won't use the Force, even to rescue their mother. Thankfully, Jacen realizes that not using the Force but relying on others to use it is kind of hypocritical, but then he never does anything with that realization. When Jacen makes his final decision about his destiny, it all comes about in a fairly clichéd way, with a loved character being in danger forcing him to decide. The answer is, of course, predictable. We are introduced to Warmaster Tsavong Lah, a Vong who appears to be an ongoing character in this one, as well as meeting Nom Anor yet again. Anor is actually getting a bit irritating, so one can only hope that he will soon be vaped accidentally by one of his own troops. He's a spy, infiltrating the New Republic in various guises, showing up in book after book in another role, serving the Vong god of Tricks rather then the god of Violence. While it looks like this dynamic could be interesting in future books, Anor as a character has never achieved anything more then reader annoyance in my book. As I said before, the plot is a lot more intimate and less star-spanning then previous books, which does make for a tighter book. I really liked the way the book didn't jump all over the known galaxy and stayed in one place pretty much. Of course, it's a stretch that they all end up in the same place yet again, but it's a given with the Star Wars books, so I should probably stop complaining about it. I also really liked the relationship between Mara and Anakin, and to a lesser extent, Luke. A momentous event in Luke and Mara's relationship occurs in this book, and I hope it leads to even more interesting things. In the meantime, though, Mara and Anakin make a wonderful pair. Mara's the experienced one and Anakin is eager to learn at her feet. He learns a bit about espionage as well as more about using the Force. He's also shown to be a bit of a hot shot, and I hope this leads to a lesson in future books. All in all, Balance Point is a perfectly acceptable Star Wars novel. It has some excitement and some good character moments. I just wish there had been more of them. If you're reading the series, it's not really one you can skip (though hopefully future books that rely on it will tell you enough about it if you do decide to pass it by). It's also good enough to get through if you have to. But if you're picking and choosing, give this one a miss. David Roy

I wasn't impressed:
I wasn't impressed with this novel. I felt like it was missing something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but the book felt empty. I will say that of the two women authors in the series Kathy Tyers beats Elain Cunningham by a long shot. But still...it could use some tweaking.

Balance between Greatness and Crapish:
This book has a reasonably simple plot which is quite easy to understand. In the complicated political world of Star Wars, this was a much welcomed breather. Basically, the entire Star Wars family ends up taking many paths to Duro, which is the Yuzzhan Vong's next target in their push toward Coruscant. The true heart of the story comes in character development, such as relationships between Han and Leia, Han and Droma, Jacen and EVERYONE, etc. These developments are also a great break from previous NJO books. Overall, in these aspects, the book is like the author's other Star Wars novel, Truce at Bakura. However, the book falls short of being great in the same way as TB, just not as much. Because of the simple plot in the novel, the action scenes (which are very short), can be confusing at times. One example which comes to mind is when Jacen and Jaina are flying through the orbital city in a vehicle. Fast readers might have problems understanding what is going on, so slowing down the pace is needed at times. Also, the character development goes to far and makes the plot predictable. The focus is Anakin deciding to stop use the Force. In the end, he must decide whether he should continuing using the force in order to save a loved of his. These sort of things become predictable, and the plot begins to fizzle at the end. Overall, the most memorable impressions I had were that of the recurring secondary characters. The scenes with Randa the Hutt, Nom Anor, & Droma were done particularly well, saving the novel from becoming pointless. I recommend this book, but not highly.

A Vast Improvement Over James Luceno:
Book six of the New Jedi Order series, Balance Point, could not be better. Kathy Tyers (author of the excellent Truce at Bakura) returns to the Star Wars Universe to write an extremely satisfying novel. Like James Luceno's Jedi Eclipse, Tyers' book has a vast number of stories to follow, but unlike Luceno, Tyers does it well. The extra storylines have a reasonable purpose, unlike Luceno's, and everything is well-told and suspensful. Leia is still working to help refugees and Jacen and Han (no longer whiny and moping constantly) go to help, aswell. The two do not realize that Leia is close to them and, indeed, whether she is even alive. Jaina is severely injured, and recuperating, battered, scarred and blind, after having to go ev (extravehicular) during a battle. Anakin is, as he has been in the New Jedi Order, annoyingly competent. Tyers also examines Luke and Mara's relationship, which hasnt really been done since the Hand of Thrawn duology by Timothy Zahn. All of the characters show development, but none more then Jacen, who is still struggling to come to grips with his role in the force. At what point does fighting become of the dark side? While Jacen does not answer that question, or most of his many others, in Balance Point, he does finally realize that sometimes one must fight to protect their loved ones, even if that means violence. Overall, Tyers puts together an excellent story, and a refreshing change from James Luceno and his subpar duology. Maybe it's just coincidence, but the New Jedi Order authors with prior Star Wars experience seem to write the more enjoyable novels, or at least up to this point in the series.