Following on from the Year 1 Overview, the second year of the NJO brought us only four books - an initial hardback, Balance Point, an e-book Recovery and a paperback duology Edge of Victory. There was also the six part short story Emissary of the Void which tied in with the Edge of Victory duology.

There was to have been an additional trilogy, known as the Knightfall trilogy, but this was cancelled.

Balance Point was written by Kathy Tyers (the author of Truce at Bakura) and was published in November 2000. The Prologue to this book was included in an article on sw.com here.

This book is being discussed in this thread in the BC&T forum, but again it is a thread that started well after the book was released, and even after I had read it.

Apparently there has been a lot of criticism of this book regarding the respective characteristions of Leia (overly negative) and Mara (overly positive).

Basically Leia is portrayed as putting her work before her family thereby not even knowing that Han (with Jacen who is refusing to use the force) was running a refugee camp and Jaina being on sick leave due to having her x-wing shot out from under her. In contrast it portrays Mara rather favourably in the build up to a worsening of her illness and conception of Ben.

However, IMO Leia's characterisation was not as negative as some would say and was consistent with the way she was presented in the movies. In light of the significant problems between her and Han in the earlier books it is understandable that there would be more difficulties before reconciliation, but the foundations for reconciliation are laid in a way that seemed entirely believable to me.

Mara does get a significant role in this book, but IMO it is not at the expense of any other character and is again presented in a way that is consistent with how the series has been developing.

Another common criticism of this (and later books) is that Jaina is a whiny adolescent who behaves dreadfully towards her mother - but again this was something I found to be quite believable given that she is only 17 years old, has had to face a number of traumatic situations beyond those to be expected by that age and has not always had her parents accessible for guidance. I think that this is something that builds up in the later books and is resolved quite well some way down the track.

Jacen's non use of the force seemed over the top the first time I read the book, which was before I had read Traitor (from the end of the third year of the series) but in retrospect it definitely fits in with the way it was intended that his character develop.

All in all this book was actually one of my favourites of the series - and certainly my favourite to this point of the NJO.

The ebook Recovery was actually a tie-in with the third Hardback in the series, Star by Star, both of which were written by Troy Denning. It was not actually released until December 2001 as announced in this article. It was reprinted at the beginning of the paperback edition of Star by Star.

Recovery begins soon after the end of Balance Point with Han doing what he can to get appropriate medical care for Leia, including taking her to Corellia where there are complications with his cousin Thracken Sal Solo.

In this ebook we were introduced to a number of characters who were not only significant in the future of the NJO but also in the subsequent Dark Nest series - such as Saba Sebatyne and her three Barabel apprentices, the members of the Wild Knightz Jedi squadron (none of whom had trained with Luke) and also to the concept of the jedi mind meld.

It was extremely well written and a great lead in to Star by Star - with its timeline running parallel to that of the Edge of Victory duology.

The Edge of Victory duology, starting with Conquest and concluding with Rebirth, was written by Greg Keyes. The first book was published in April 2001, with an interview with the author and an excerpt from the book being available here. The second book was published in July 2001 with an excerpt available here and reviews published here.

There is a small discussion thread in the BC&T forum here.

In Conquest we see Anakin Solo taking more responsibility and forging an unexpected link with the Yuuzhan Vong. We see Jedi Academy overrun and Tahiri taken prisoner. And we see them both developing a greater understanding of the YV and their biotechnology.

A short story by Greg Keyes, Emissary of the Void in 6 parts apparently slots in between and alongside these two books. The first three parts were published with general access on sw.com:
Emissary of the Void I: Battle on Bonadon
Emissary of the Void II: Dark Tidings
Emissary of the Void III: War on Wayland

The remaining three parts were published in Star Wars Gamer # 8-10 and Insider #62-64, but unfortunately these have yet to reach hyperspace.

The story follows Uldir Lochett, who we briefly met at the beginning of Edge of Victory I: Conquest, and his Jedi-rescue work that sees him cross paths with Jedi Klin-Fa Gi (who is actually later referred to in The Unifying Force), taking them on a mission to prevent the Yuuzhan Vong from implementing biological measures that have the potential to wipe out all species in the galaxy (in retrospect, a rather interesting parallel with what we will later see with alpha red).

in Rebirth we see Anakin and Tahiri, ostensibly out of action to give Tahiri time to heal, getting into the thick of things again, this time with Corran Horn caught up with them. We also see Han and Jacen working together because Jacen is still unsure of the force. And we see Luke struggling with factions within the Jedi Order. And of course, we see the birth of Ben.

This duology had its dark moments but came with a glimmer of hope for the future (although we have yet to descend to the lowest of lows).


Links to all of my reviews/overview blogs can be found in this blog.