Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey

After the death of one brother and the capture of the other, Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron, along with what’s left of a Jedi strike team that was sent to take out the Voxyn nest on the planet Myrkr are looking for a safe port to regroup. They settle on the Hapes system, the main planet that just happens to be where the mother of one of the Jedi, Tenel Ka, rules as queen. You would think that would be a good thing but the Jedi land right in the middle of a battle for succession to the throne of Hapes. Tenel Ka’s mom is relatively young but seems to be afflicted with a disease that has left her in almost a Alzheimer’s like state. She doesn’t really understand anything you say to her, hardly recognizes anyone and just sits around or lays in bed all day. One of her last acts was to let refugees from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Coruscant to take shelter on her planet. The Vong make a point of attacking planets where refugees hide out so the Hapens are waiting for the other shoe to fall. Tenel Ka’s grandmother, who was the former queen, is very active behind the scenes trying to get rid of her own daughter and marry her son to a younger bride….maybe even Jaina!

I am a little over halfway through this 19 book series and one thing I like about such a long series is that you have enough books to focus on different characters. Everyone gets their time in the spotlight. Other books have focused on Jacen and Leia, Anakin, or Han Solo or others, but Jaina takes front and center here.

The book is titled Dark Journey because Jaina is seriously flirting if not outright going over to the Dark Side most of the book. The death of Anakin and the unknown fate of Jacen has created two very strong Dark Side factories within her. She wants to take revenge on the Vong for Anakin and she is willing to do whatever she has to do to rescue Jacen. She frequently screws around with the memories of strangers and even her best friend and fellow Jedi, Lowbacca, to make them forget or uses the Force to manipulate their minds. She even asks to become Kyp’s apprentice, knowing full well, that he has also been accused or in actuality uses the Dark Side. Jaina has even used Force Lightning, which I thought was only a Sith Power.

I liked Jaina’s battle with the Dark Side. Her and her two brothers have been fleshed out a lot, Jacen and Anakin in earlier installments, and now Jaina as well. It hasn’t been an easy road for them. The authors involved in The New Jedi Order could have easily made the Solo kids White Hats that were completely good and always do everything right. Instead, they are all too human and fallible. Sometimes they do have a tendency to believe their own myths and that’s when things usually go bad for them and they learn from it.

The aspect that made this book unique was that Jaina and crew land into what feels like the filming of Game of Thrones. Tenel Ka’s grandma is a lethal combo of Cersei Lannister and Olenna Tyrrell, the Queen of Thorns. Even though she is past her prime in age and is no longer queen, she still retains all the power behind the scenes and is willing to assassinate and deceive and manipulate in order to keep her family in power, along with who will make the best queen.

I have two complaints about Dark Journey. The real widescreen moments are not handled well. I mean, in this book the Vong invade and decimate the capital of the Republic, Coruscant, but I think the author devoted less than a page to that event. To me, the battle for Coruscant would be a CLIMATIC event, not a throwaway moment in which we just see a few main characters escaping. It wasn’t even a battle! It was more like “OMG, the Yuzzhan Vong are here, peace out!”. Not a word about its defense or any huge space battles. Just a panicked fleeing.

It’s not the only time Cunningham comes up short. Jaina is using her brains and science to construct a secret weapon to battle the Vong with. When it comes to actually revealing that weapon, she uses it in a minor skirmish in which the Vong lose only a few ships.

It just seems like there is a LOT of buildup to what you think are going to be big space opera scenes but they are just glossed over. I get it, maybe this is meant to be a more personal journey. But even there, Jaina’s Dark Side leanings manifest in her immature brat behavior and moments more like Mean Girls rather than true evil. I was like “oh, that was wrong” instead of “omg, that is evil!”

One thing that I have found disappointing about the series is that Luke has not really had his own book yet. It seems like everyone else has. But from what I read on the blurb about Book 11: Rebel Dreams, he finally will get the main stage by returning to Vong occupied Coruscant by himself! I am looking forward to that.

I liked Dark Journey probably more than it deserved mainly because the last book, Star By Star, was to me the lowpoint of The New Jedi Order series so far. It seemed to go on and on forever and it was a shame because what happened to Anakin and Jacen were such big moments. It could have been shortened by about 100 pages.

This series has not been GREAT, but it is much better than the corrupt, disrespectful, deceitful and woke Disney Star Wars sequel movies.

Critics of this installment speak mainly of the lack of action.

I am grateful for the calm AFTER the storm. My heart needed to recover from Star By Star. As good as SBS was, the pace and heartbreak were brutal. I was beyond exhausted.

Im actually surprised that the number of significant storylines that began to take shape in this installment went unappreciated by some people. After all, this is where the Jag and Jaina story kicks in, Tenel Ka steps into her bigger role, and many key mysteries are left to simmer and build. It struck a perfect balance, and gives readers necessary plot developments on the ground AND a few suspenseful moments in space.

I always find it hard to remain blissfully immersed in the suspension of disbelief when SW writers get a tad too technical. There were a few of those moments in this book, and I wonder if having a degree in biochemical engineering might be needed. I simply take these pages at face value and figure Ill get it when it moves from the technical jargon to actual use. As always, patience paid off. I suppose they have to talk about whats under the hood to give the ideas credibility and keep the really smart folks engaged, while the rest of us are satisfied just to go along for the ride.

“Dark Journey” is Jaina’s story all the way. She, Lowbacca, Kyp, and Tenel steal a Yuuzhan Vong ship and seek shelter in the Hapes Cluster. She studies the ship, meets with Ta’a Chume, and discovers some options that would help defeat the enemy. The question is how far is she willing to go?

Much time is spent on Hapes, with both Ta’a Chume and Jaina planning each planning their own schemes. The biggest weakness of the story is the author’s reluctance to let the reader in behind the scenes. It’s obvious something big will happen, that they are entertaining their own hidden agendas. An event will occur which will provoke a thought. The two will have a conversation the reader is not privy to, as if whispered in our presence. I could tolerate it on occasion, even savor it, but to have it happen throughout most of the book is to create a very slow moving story through which we are constantly left wondering. When all is revealed, things pick up, but it’s too little too late.

Jag and Jaina is sexual tension trying to happen, but not enough care is taken to nurture it. This is a romance that could rival that of Wedge and Iella or Corran and Mirax. Right now, it needs more work.

I couldn’t help reading “Dark Journey” without a sense of detachment. That’s too bad. Jaina’s story needed to be told, could have been told . . . it just wasn’t.

The book was fairly well written, but I’m getting real tired of the Yuuzhan Vong storyline. It just keeps going on and on and on. There is always some new animal or virus or SOMETHING that the Vong keeps coming up with, that only the Jedi can defeat and yet everyone it seems, is blaming the Jedi for all their problems. This storyline needs to end!!!

A good continuation of the story but I felt like the “dark journey” part of it ended kind of abruptly. *shrug* still a good book.