Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Universe)

After having my interest piqued by the synopsis online, I purchased the first 3 books of the Star Wars novel series, The New Jedi Order. Now, I have read a few Star Wars novels before, including the excellent Jedi Academy trilogy. But, I'm not intimately familiar with the SW: EU mythos. In short, what do I need to know before reading these novels--if anything crucial? And, any opinions on the series?

I also picked up the comic series, Star Wars Infinities. From what I have read, those sound awesome.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Well the actual plot/villains are entirely new. But the cast of heroes all come from previous novels, which was pretty confusing for me the first time I read NJO. The entire group of young Jedi, who share the spotlight just as much as the movie characters if not more so, all come from the young adult series Young Jedi Knights which I have never read. They'll also bring back the characters from the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy and Truce at Bakura later in the series.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Vector Prime does a great job of introducing everything for someone who's never read the books before (as someone who's read the books, I almost think it goes too far in that direction, but that's probably better for you ). Later books in the series draw more heavily from earlier EU books, but not in a way that should cause you issues.

Great idea, good writing most of the way, but the last third or so of the last book was--I thought--a disappointment. Still worth the journey, though.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I've also just joined the party. I read the thrawn trilogy and have just read the first 3 books of the New Jedi Order. I'm enjoying it a lot so far and I thought the ending...quarter of the third book was sadder than the end of the first book.

I managed to pick it up who the characters were pretty easily and anything I wasnt sure about I just googled .

I hate BORSK!!!

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Borsk may be a politically-savvy cold-hearted SOB, but his heart's in the right place.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Ah, I'd almost forgotten him. Suffice it to say I was satisfied with his eventual role in the story.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I've tried several times now to endure the NJO, couldn't stick with it (Allston's duology being the furthest I made it) and haven't been back to the EU since.

Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy and the X-Wing series remain my favourite entries in the EU.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I'm surprised. Usually Edge of Victory is the tipping point beyond which you're gotten past the new aliens and alien tech terms, finally gotten the various alien characters straight, and things suddenly get more interesting.

Besides, Allstons's Enemy Lines duology is most of the way through anyway.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

The Zahn books (minus Outbound flight which isn't relevant but still interesting)
X-Wing Series
I, Jedi AND/OR The Jedi Academy Trilogy

Provides an excellent foundation. The rest of the NJO's content you can either gather from explanations or isn't really all that relevant to enjoy the series.

As for the NJO itself I absolutely loved it aside from the last book which I felt was a large disappointment. The Post NJO books are also very good.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

As for the quality of NJO, it's a mixed bag. It's nice to have one epic WWII style story with heavy continuity and major deaths/changes. Unfortunately the villains are evil sadistic torture-happy bastards and it's just too much. It's too dark. Also, the series runs too long and the first half of the series is terribly repetitive. But the middle books (Star By Star, Traitor, Enemy Lines 1-2) are excellent, and I found the ending to be satisfying. I would also complain that the Jedi don't do enough particularly Luke; I look to the Jedi action hero generals of the Clone Wars and I weep!

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

To a point, but there's also not really any of them that can be skipped in terms of their contributions to the series' metaplot.

Spoiler: the NJO

That's the difference between when the Jedi are public heroes and when the Jedi are being persecuted.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

iInfinities is non-canon. Just fyi.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

• the problem was that after many years, the Expanded Universe stories were getting stale and repetitive, like a bad period in a comics' run. It was endlessly "lets fight more holdout Imperial warlords!" and "find a holdover doomsday weapon from the Emperor!" etc.
• There was a running joke that "only Timothy Zahn can fix this" (he wrote the Thrawn Trilogy)
• then.....ironically, he came in and actually fixed it with the "Thrawn Duology"
• ***The Galactic Civil War ended. The Imperial Remnant fought their way out from the Deep Core to the more resource-rich worlds on the fringe out the Outer Rim, but they only controlled a tiny patch of sectors. Pellaeon, who was Thrawn's second in command and a long-time Fleet veteran officer, was not a cackling warlord with a doomsday machine, but a hardcore military professional officer of above average intellgence, who knew when to cut his losses and was playing not like a supervillain, but like someone on the losing side in a game of Risk who is still smart enough to make the right combat choices.
• The result was the remaining Imperials realized they simply could not win, even though thanks to Palleaon they were in a period of relative strength (compared to the past decade or so). So they agreed to a peace treaty (they DIDN'T surrender to the Republic). The idea was that they would hold a plebicite in all the Imperial starsystems on which ones wanted to leave and go back to the Republic or which would stay. The idea was that the Republic's legitimate claim for attacking the Imperial worlds was that they were being ruled against their will; even though the plebicite drastically reduced their territory, it mean the Republic would leave the remaining Imperial fragment alone.
• Peace reigns for a few years, Luke Skywalker marries Mara Jade, then the Vong start invading
• They're bio-technology based religious fundamentalist masochists from beyond the galaxy. They're really arrogant (they essentially are galactic nomads who show up to this new galaxy they've never been to then insist that we "stole" it from them and its rightfully theirs) and just plain creepy. Frankly, the Vong should have been slaughtered down the the last child.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I don't usually badmouth Star Wars, but the NJO was just too damned long. And depressing. Well, okay, grim. 19 books was too much. 9 or even 6 would have been better. It was the first time it ever took me three years to get through a book series.

I'm almost afraid to touch Legacy of the Force because of it.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Legacy of the Force has issues, but length isn't one of them. I could have believed Jacen's transformation more if it had been more gradual, even.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I'd have believed it more if it was more gradual, but frankly I think that there wasn't enough plot to even sustain it for the nine books that we got. For LOTF, that story could've been told in three or four books. NJO, on the other hand... I can't think of could be cut. Balance Point, Dark Journey, and maybe parts of Force Heretic... but that's still a good 15 books.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I loved the NJO. You can kind of go into it fresh and then go back if a character/plot piques your interest.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

Slow beginning, awesome middle, ridiculous end.

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

It needed another villain, I think. The Confederation or whatever they called themselves just were not much of a threat. At the very least another major storyline weaving through and driving the whole thing.....

 

Re: Questions About New Jedi Order Series (Star Wars: Expanded Univers

I thought LOTF was the perfect length, and that something important happened in almost every novel, and the evolution of Jacen was handled excellently (better than Anakin in the Prequels).

NJO, all the books before "Star By Star" felt really repetitive and unnecessary. How many times do we need to see 'Vong conquer planet heroes can only flee'?

The Dark Tide two parter was fun, but I felt the Agents Chaos two parter, Balance Point, and the Edge Victory two parter were all repetitive. At the very least they should have cut Chaos and Edge into single books and eliminated Balance Point altogether. I just recently reread these books and I don't really get the point of this book aside from a little character turn for Jacen that could have happened elsewhere. I'm currently on-and-off rereading the Force Heretic trilogy because I can't get into it, it just feels unnecessary and strung out and boring.