Star Wars: New Jedi Order: Star by Star

Book 9

By: Troy Denning

Narrated by: Alexander Adams

It is a solemn time for the New Republic, as the merciless Yuuzhan Vong continue their campaign of destruction. The brutal enemy has unleashed a savage creature capable of finding and killing Jedi Knights. And now Leia Organa Solo faces a terrible ultimatum. If the location of the secret Jedi base is not revealed within one week, the Yuuzhan Vong will blast millions of refugee ships into oblivion.

As the battered but still unbroken Jedi scramble to deal with the newest onslaught, Leia's son, Anakin, lays out a daring plan. He will lead a Jedi strike force into the heart of enemy territory in order to sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong's deadliest weapons. There, with his brother and sister at his side, he will come face-to-face with his destiny - as the forces of the New Republic, still fighting the good fight, will come face-to-face with theirs.

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Wish it wasn’t abridged

One of the best Star Wars stories ever written. It is such a shame that this book is butchered by being an abridged version. A 600 page book should have an audio version longer than 3 hours.

we didn't deserve Anakin Solo

I would love to hear this book unabridged, but I thought they did a decent job of leaving this great Star Wars novel intact.

Better than the movies

Wish they had used this story for my movies. It would have been so much better

The book is huge so a few key battles were cut.

sometimes hard to follow if you haven't read the book. Great stand alone book.

Favorite Star Wars book ever written

Out of all of the Star Wars books publishes, Star By Star is by far my favorite and most emotional of them all. Such a powerful story with so many of my favorite characters from so many other book series, especially the Young Jedi Knights books. I guarantee by the end you will have tears in your eyes.

Great story, too much cut out

What made the experience of listening to Star Wars the most enjoyable?

The Star Wars audio books are always an enjoyment for me to listen to. This particular story is a rather poignant one since some major EU characters is killed off in this story, which makes it sad, yet heroic, as it occurs to defeat overwhelming enemy forces.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the heavy use of EU characters, including the younger ones introduced in the "Young Jedi Knights" series, which for some incomprehensible reason, has not been made into audio books.

Which scene was your favorite?

A favorite? That's a tough one - there are many cool scenes in this book. Unfortunately, a lot of them were cut out for this abridgement. This was a HUGE novel, and the editor took a paring knife to it to force fit it into a small window of time. This was the major flaw of the older Star Wars audios - many of them were too abridged, and it hurt the story. In particular, I refer to "Darksaber", "The Crystal Star", the Jedi Academy trilogy, and the Hand of Thrawn duology, which is being rereleased this September & October, reread and UNabridged!

One cool scene was where the Jedi rescue some Dark Jedi in enemy captivity, only to be betrayed by them. How? Listen to the story!

Another is the death of the team's leader, and it's a sad ending for him, though heroic. The book definitely leaves you wanting to see what happens next!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, I admit that I did weep a bit when the aforementioned character died, since through the books, we've seen him grow from a baby into a model Jedi. He was cut down too soon. The first time I read the book, I got so heavily into it that I was depressed for a few days after I finished.

Any additional comments?

In short, this is an excellent book. If you don't mind sacrificing quality for a time budget, this will do fine. If you really want the whole story, then read the book or petition Random House Audio to re-do this one, unabridged. In fact, I'd have them re-do the whole New Jedi Order, but that's just me.

While the later books (the Dark Nest Trilogy and Legacy of the Force) were also abridged, they were far less so than these older ones. After the 13th book of the New Jedi Order line, they started to wake up to this with "Destiny's Way" being far longer than usual. Then they made the mistake of similiarly abridging the Force Heretic trilogy and "The Final Prophecy". The finale, "The Unifying Force" was given a similar treatment to "Destiny's Way", and then Random House began making longer, though still edited, releases.

IMHO, the Dark Nest trilogy suffered for this, with my favorite parts in that trilogy being left out!

Similarly so with this abridgement. If you've read the book, you can fill in the gaps with your memory, so it's easier to listen to.

Either way, it's a fast-paced story, and Star Wars fans should enjoy it. I do.

Another great book in the series

Once I got started I couldn't stop listening until it was done. Lost another character to the dreaded Uivon.

needs a re-read

it needs Mark Thompson. The story is great but the reader does not do voices

Outstanding book

Love these books to bad Disney killed them all. I don’t like any of the new stuff

The Mission to Mryykr plot line.

I have to give them credit for making this even enjoyable. The novel is 800+ pages. This should have been a trilogy or unabridged. However it’s the only audiobook we have. Maybe someday we’ll get the full thing. Disney you like money. Why not put out unabridged Legends novels? There is $$$$ to be made.