Product Description

The second of a mass-market original trilogy charting the beginning of the galaxy's victory over the dreaded Yuuzhan Vong alien invaders. Under the leadership of Luke Skywalker and a combined Jedi-government council, the newly formed Galatic Federation of Free Alliances is doggedly fighting back--and winning. Luke is on a quest for a legend, in hope of bringing back the ultimate answer to the war. And a mysterious prophet has risen among the Yuuzhan Vong lower castes to turn Yuuzhan Vong culture on its ear. This adventure includes major storylines for favorite characters, both old and new.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #221834 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 358 pages

About the Author
Sean Williams and Shane Dix are the best-selling and award-winning co-authors of the Evergence series; their latest novel. Echoes of Earth was published in January 2002 (the sequel, Orphans of Earth is due in January 2003). Individually, both have numerous short story credits to their names, and Sean is a successful author in his own right. His novels include Metal Fatigue and The Resurrected Man; his fantasy series, The Books of Change, will conclude December 2002.

Customer Reviews

Missed opportunity
This book should have been a real cracker. the very sight of the Ssi-ruuk on the front cover attracted me from the start, as since the start of this series it seemed apparant to me that the New Republic should have looked to strike a deal with the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium to fight the Yuuzhan Vong.
What better to stave off the attackers than by stealing the life force of captives and making them spend the rest of their lives operating the machines they so despise?
Still, the route taken here is a convaluted and at times drawn out story of deception that often struggles to maintain the reader's interest. Han, Leia and Jaina dash off to inspect developments on Bakura, while Luke, Mara and Jacen head off to search for Zonama Sekot. All well and good, but things happen so slowly that you are left hankering to know what trouble is befalling the fledgling Galactic Alliance while all these pieces are put together.
Frankly the Jag Fel/Jaina love story is dull as dishwater as Tahiri's condition to to her earlier 'shaping' is rapidly becoming likewise.
What really holds this book together is the subplot chronicling the undercurrent of dissent emanating from the Vong shamed ones who, manipulated by Nom Anor, are showing early signs of revolution.
Anor is proving to be the series trump card. While earlier on in each book I was praying for someone to finally kill him he is now an intriguing character and I wouldn't be surprised to see him become some sort of hero later in the series.

Overall, some good moments, but what a wasted opportunity to show the entechment process so despised by the Republic coming to their aid.

annoying setting etc - but solid novel
good solid NJO novel. Well written and the characters are handled well. the book as a standalone is actually plotted better than most. the thing is that the story itself is really annoying - i hated Bakura and the ssiruuk the first time around in 'Truce' but this is them again in a convoluted tale of betrayal and deception. They are rubbish enemies and entechment is a crappy technology that doesnt really fit into star wars at all. so to have to go back there is just annoying. The story itself is fine - but the ending is messy - the small 3 page sections seem like in the wrong order sometimes. overall solid storytelling but a bit underwhelming and an annoying subject. (plus luke spends the entire book in a library!!)
8/10

Almost There
Sean Williams and Shane Dix bring fans closer to the finale of the, “New Jedi Order” series with, “Force Heretic II Refugee”. This story will close this fall and the publishers are already looking toward a new grouping of books that readers get a glimpse of at this books close. “Star Wars Shatterpoint”, featuring Mace Windu, is going to be the first of the, “Clone War Novels”.

“Force Heretic II”, is a busy work with many storylines continuing the battle for supremacy with the YuuzhanVong while at the same time taking readers back 25 years to the planet that was the setting for, “The Truce At Bakura”. Bakura originally took place just 4 years after, “Star Wars A New Hope”. In addition to all of the familiar species that are part of this series the authors have brought back the Ssi-ruu and their imperium as well as the P’w’eck and the science of entechment.

Entechment is the process of building a hybrid, a machine that combines the soul of a living creature, it is a bridge between the world of the Vong, which is completely organic, and the world of the traditional Stars Wars beings, which utilize machines built by organic life forms as well as the continually evolving concept of The Force. This book also continues the search for an entire planet that is believed to be sentient that is also able to transit the galaxy at light speed, the mythical planet Zonama Sekot.

This book has a measure of conflict but it also appears to be bringing in to focus the final solution to this conflict. The decision not to use a biological weapon that would have destroyed the Vong and all their creations has forced a much more difficult path to victory for what was once The New Republic. The decision not to fight as the Vong do, to not commit a form of Genocide has possibly made survival impossible.

Zonama Sekot greatly transforms the planets it comes in touch with; in at least one instance leaving a symbiotic life form in its wake where two existed prior to its visit. Tahiri continues to fight the second consciousness within her that was implanted by the Vong, entechment has changed but is still not trusted, and some species are not what they appear as they only appear when masqued.

If there is a continuous thread throughout this tale it is that nothing is as it may appear, and that beliefs made need to be amended. This idea is consistent with Jacen who has been questioning the meaning of The Force, which once appeared so easily divided between light and dark. The book does not even hint at how this series may end, but just as the New Republic did not entirely eliminate The Empire, The Vong may not be utterly destroyed either. Like Vergere who lived amongst the Vong, and the shamed ones who now view the “Jedaii” very differently, the end to this series may end in some grand compromise.

Not the strongest of books but one that will be welcomed by Star Wars fans.