The Joiner King, by Troy Denning

The Good: It's Star Wars. It's Star Wars after the NJO. It's Star Wars after the NJO with some of the loose ends from both the prequel trilogy and the NJO series beginning to be tied up. There are moments of great humor, some moments that feel almost OT-ish for pure fun between Han and Leia, and completely new developments. There are moments that could be completely innocent or foreshadow the next great evil to strike the galaxy. And the newest member of the Skywalker clan has a twist on his personality that is completely out of left field.

The Bad: Like every EU Star Wars novel, the tale is slightly fanficcish, if only because the author cannot help but let his or own feelings about certain characters, conventions, and relationships be known. In addition, there is technobabble at at least one point that reminded me of bad Star Trek it was so blatant.

The Ugly: There is some weird shit, particularly towards the end of the book, even if it does lend itself to some funny moments. Also, one moment was straight out of Kill Bill, vol. 1.

The Verdict: A strange but promising beginning to the latest Star Wars tale. Plus, it's softcover.