Dark Journey

Nothing really happens in this book.

Jaina, Jaina, Jaina! That's all anyone ever talks about is Jaina! And that's more or less what Dark Journey is all about: Jaina Solo. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Let me begin by saying that if you've yet to read Star by Star, you should most certainly pick it up before reading Dark Journey. While I actually found Dark Journey to be a better novel than Star by Star, events in the latter absolutely rely on the former novel.

The book picks up literally right where Star by Star left off. I won't go into details here in part one, for you people who haven't read the book yet; part two will delve more deeply into the plot. Overall, this book was much better than I had anticipated. All things considered, I believe that Elaine Cunningham did an excellent job forwarding the New Jedi Order.

This book was a nice change of pace from some of the previous in the series, as events unfold slowly, and do not spread all over the galaxy. In fact, there are very few events of consequence take place. The story dwells mostly on the characters, and has a good balance, but with just a bit too much Jaina. Overall though, Cunningham did a great job frolicking in the Star Wars universe.

I can't really give a rough description of events, since it would reveal way too much of the plot, which really has to be read through without spoilers. I can say that many of the scenes are quite touching, emotionally, and one gut-wrenching scene comes to mind. The novel is full of many memorable quotes, some bringing back the flavor of the original trilogy. I will say that Jag Fel makes his reappearance, and gets a tad more character depth, though not enough to please this fan. I would have liked to see a little more into his mind, but I guess I'll have to wait until further installments come out. Oh well. One possibly major event that occurs will either outrage, or entice fans to keep reading. The item in question is written in very well, and will make even the most casual fan take notice. But be aware when you read: not everything is as it seems; don't go jumping to conclusions.

Cunningham does a wonderful job of expanding lightly on some events that occurred in Star by Star, and heavily on others. Jaina's character development was interesting in the least, and seeing how people around her reacted showed a lot about her in general.

As with all books, there are always a few minor points that should be addressed. The first half of this book was quite good; certainly better than the second half. I noticed very few repeating phrases, and the wording seldom became annoying. Strangely enough, I don't remember reading a single “this one” (if you've read my comments in the 2001 Year in Review, you'll know what I'm talking about). Overall, the only word I grew tired of was when people thought in ‘accord'. There was also one minor point where a message was supposed to be relayed and never was, at least not in the events outlined in this novel. The only reason it bothered me was that the message was a very powerful one, and I felt its missing presence when I closed the book after reading the final page.

I would certainly recommend this book to any reader of the New Jedi Order, though without reading Star by Star, many of the events and emotions will not register properly. But this is a worthy addition to e series which has captivated Expanded Universe fans for over two years, and will set the stage for some more interesting novels. Readers should be pleased and hopefully thoughtful after finishing this book.

I grew more fond of this over time with greater understanding and appreciation of what the book does for Jaina Solo's character.