Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74861 in Books
• Published on: 1920-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
With the hard-won peace and prestige of the New Republic threatened by a mysterious new enemy and his genocidal intentions, Jedi knight Luke Skywalker journeys to his mother's homeworld in a desperate quest to find her people.

From the Back Cover
In the blockbuster bestselling tradition of Heir to the Empire comes this thrilling addition to the Star Wars saga, as peace gives way to a dire new threat...

BEFORE THE STORM

It is a time of tranquillity for the New Republic. The remnants of the Empire now lie in complete disarray, and the re-emergence of the Jedi Knights has brought power and prestige to the fledgling government on Coruscant. Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against Imperial tyranny seemed united in savoring the fruits of peace.

But the peace is short-lived. A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people. An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission. And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down the ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic...and threaten its very survival.

Customer Reviews

Any relations to star wars is purely accidental
I hate to say it, but I did wait until I read all three books, and they just are a massive screwup. The author has managed to completely change the characters we know and love, the technology they use, and the plot(s) are barely reasonable. Luke is searching around aimlessly for his mother (this is pre-TPM so we'll forgive the author) but has no interaction with other characters we know, and doesn't act like himself. His personality is non-existent and he is completely non-assertive. Leia is hesitant and weak, unlike the strong leader we saw from the movies. She doesn't confront anything (if she had that attitude in Episode VI she would be getting opinions on going to Endor instead of firing at stormtroopers. The universe has been changed completely. It's great to see an enemy that isn't ex-Imperial warlord #848, and they come with their own ships, but the Republic bears no resemblance to what it normally is. The battle fleet has none of our regular main line ships (such as Calamari Cruisers or assault frigates) and the starfightes which everyone else views as great (including the x-wing which in the New Rebellion has been upgraded to keep it top-notch) is inferior in this book. No longer do we fire proton torpedoes, rather we fire slugs and flechettes. The e-wing and k-wing aren't really stated why they are so great, we just have to take the author's word that they are. Personally, if it ain't broke, why is the New Republic replacing it? And as for plot(s)- they are terrible. Lando, a psychiatric Lobot (who really should be left at Cloud City), and two suddenly hostile droids are wandering around the universe blindly (and completely unconnected to the story). Luke is lost, looking for his mother (and unconnected to everything else). While battle is possible (except for technology screw-ups) and is the underlying plot, is written a little too vaguely. Everything's happening one way- then POOF!- it's going the other, but the reader doesn't know why or how. In summary, what we have here is a Star Wars universe that bears little resemblance to the movies and other books, with poor characters, and is poorly written. It contributes very little to other stories (pretty much every other author has decided to ignore it) and adds no new dimensions. If you are a die-hard Star Wars fan determined to read every piece about SW, go for it. But if you are trying to decide how to spend $20, ignore this and go read something else.

Unorthodox concepts but not bad as a stand alone trilogy.
I’ve read quite a few reviews for the black fleet trilogy and most seem to slate it a lot. Initially at the first read I didn’t really rate this book as the plots didn’t seem to advance anything in the star wars universe (except the storyline with Leia). But after reading it through a few times I started to appreciate it.

There are 3 separate storylines which eventually converge at the end. It starts with Luke becoming a hermit like Obi Wan and Yoda (the explanation of which is plausible and a good start) but later he goes off with a woman called Akanah to look for his mother. It turns out that his mother and Akanah are of the Fallanassi, a group like the Jedi but who use the so-called White Current instead of the Force. This is one aspect of the books I don’t like. The introduction of this new Force-like concept is un-needed and as far as I know is never mentioned ever again in any Star Wars books ever (a slight mention of the Fallanassi in the New Jedi Order series is all I could find). Instead the Fallanassi could have a different understanding of the force to the Jedi (maybe they don’t distinguish between light and dark sides etc). The culmination of this plot is also anticlimatic and a little pointless I think as it has no reprecussions in the wider universe.

The other storyline involves Lando and Lobot trying to commandeer a mysterious organic ship called the Vagabond. While this story is okay-ish it doesn’t result in a typical star wars outcome. If anything the outcome smacks more of Star Trek then Star Wars which is a little odd. However, the introduction of Admiral Drayson and the super-secret Alpha-Blue intelligence agency is a nice side to this plot line.

The third and most interesting plot involves Leia in trying to negotiate with a species called the Yevetha. The Yevetha are a brilliant addition to the Star Wars universe as they’re not the classic dark-side/Empire villain which seeks to rule the galaxy. Instead they’re more into purging they’re territory of “vermin”. In essence they’ve combined xenophobia with genocide to produce a Nazi-like regime. The way they manipulate Leia and the New Republic is brilliant as well. Additionally the explanation of how they attained their military might is well done especially the side plot where the New Republic tries to catalogue all their ships to account for the missing Imperial “Black Fleet”.

The battle scenes are generally good I think, though the introduction of new technology like K-wings is a little strange. The E-wing I can understand (its mentioned in other books as well) but the K-wing seems totally new and not needed I think (what happened to B-wings?).

Overall as a standalone this book is a decent (though not brilliant) read. The main problem is that none of what happens here makes any difference to the star wars universe. For example the Thrawn trilogy has produced characters like Thrawn, the Noghri, Admiral Pellaeon and the Imperial Remnant, the Jedi Academy trilogy has produced the Yavin Academy, several jedi, Admiral Daala, the Maw Installation, and the retirement of Mon Mothma. The black fleet trilogy provides nothing like this and in the end does not resonate like any of the great trilogies.

Waste of Time
This is the beginning of a three book series which moves...very...slowly. Basically there are some nasty aliens, Leia worries a lot, and Luke is off with some girl. And Leia worries a lot. Then, Leia worries a lot. And, for some variety, Leia worries a lot.