Star Wars (Star Wars) (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order )

by R.A. Salvatore

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

The absolute first thing one needs to know when approaching The New Jedi Order series is that these books have been written over the course of the last ten-or-so years, and in now way reflect The Force Awakens or any of the modern generation of Star Wars. Think of it, if you will, as a parallel universe.

Once that is out of the way, each book of The New Jedi Order series must be approached as its own entity, because with any fandom-based storyline, each story is written by a different author. Vector Prime, written by R.A. Salvatore, falls short of his usual lyrical storytelling. It is, more or less, what you might expect from a sequel in print written by someone other than the author of the original story. There are, however, a few intrigues within the individual characters.

For me, the character that stands out is Jaina Solo (one of the three Solo children). She is a strong character written into the story at a time when Star Wars didn't have many strong female characters and she quickly outshines (in my opinion) her mother, the renown Leia Skywalker-Solo. She also stands head-to-head with her aunt Mara Jade, and characters like these make the story an interesting read, if not particularly exciting. Jana is certainly a breath of fresh air after going between her two brothers, each with their own interpretations about the Force that they'd really, really like to share. Over and over.

The plot, unfortunate, has been overused in science fiction and the story itself is flat, with too many characters doing too many things I simply cannot bring myself to care about.

I would recommend this story to science-fiction fans with an open mind (as these books are no longer considered canon) and a taste for Star Wars. I would also advise readers that if Vector Prime does not suit your fancy, other books in the series written by other authors settle a little better.