Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime
By R.A. Salvatore
Published by Del Rey, 1999
Ebook Price: $7.99

I remember when this series first came out and hearing the hullabaloo about an unmentionable event that happens to one of the characters and the outrage and controversy that ensued. At that time I really had no interest in reading it. Fast forward to my state of mind almost 20 years later and I was PRIMED to try this series. Why? Because after seeing The Last Jedi in December I have no interest in the current films or any other forthcoming project based on the Star Wars canon that Kathleen Kennedy, Disney, and Rian Johnson are creating. Disney has no interest in respecting the characters or universe that George Lucas created. Lucas said it himself. He had story treatments for episodes 7-9 and Disney threw them out. I have been a lifelong Star Wars fan since I saw Episode 4 in the theaters when I was a child. Rian Johnson turned the latest episode into a cross between a Marx Brothers comedy and a Shakespearean tragedy, and I don't mean either comparison as a compliment. I wanted an alternative to the Johnson narrative. One in which everything about the original trio of heroes isn't painted in dark colors of death and destruction. I had remembered the New Jedi Order as set 20 years after Return of the Jedi and also knew there are books set even further in the timeline, almost when the new film episodes are happening. So I decided to give these books a shot and boy, I'm glad I did!

In the universe of the New Jedi Order, the beloved cast members from the original film trilogy are all alive and well. Luke Skywalker is married to Mara Jade, who once worked for the Emperor, and they are happily in love. The only negative in the relationship is that Mara is suffering from a mysterious terminal disease that only her force powers are keeping in check. Luke is also struggling with the thought of creating a new Jedi Council because currently Jedi are pretty much roaming vigilantes wandering the galaxy righting whatever they think are wrongs with no command structure in place. And yes, you read right, Luke isn't the pouty sad last jedi in this book. There are some Jedi scattered across the universe, but very few of them are considered "masters" or close to Luke's skill level.

Han Solo and Princess Leia are married and active in the New Republic and have three teenage kids who are all training to become jedi! Of course, there is no Han without his brother in arms Chewie! And yes, Lando is around too, running an asteroid mining operation.

The remnants of the Empire haven't coalesced into anything like the First Order in the new movies. The threat in this book comes from OUTSIDE the galaxy. An alien race, known as the Yuuzhan Vong have infiltrated planets of the New Republic and are stirring up unrest to make the republic ripe for conquest, which seems to be the Vong's only goal.

The Yuuzhan Vong reminded me of a cross between the Klingons of Star Trek and the Engineers from Ridley Scott's Prometheus movies. The Vong are great warriors and can fight one on one against Jedi even though they have no Force abilities. In fact, they are Force RESISTANT. The Prometheus connection is that all the "tech" the Vong use is organic and alive. Their starfighters are pieces of living coral and are sentient. They even use creatures to shapeshift to look more like humans. They also have technology that causes the shields of starships to fail.

The Vong don’t really have to try very hard to cause chaos and division in the New Republic because its corrupt bureaucrats are already doing that. I wouldn’t say that the government is quite as bad as when Palpatine seized power but its getting close.

I’ve been depressed about Star Wars ever since I saw The Last Jedi back in December and was hoping these “Legends” would somehow give me an alternative to hating and abandoning the franchise. Thankfully, it has. The new movies are just about killing off the old cast and sending “progressive” messages about society, sex, and race. Star Wars was always about good vs. evil, at least to me. Not about black vs. white, rich vs. poor, gay vs. straight, etc. It was about oppression vs freedom. Now with the arrival of Kathleen Kennedy, the original idea of Star Wars no longer matters.

At least these books were written with the approval of Lucas and maybe portended where HE wanted the series to go, along with the original Timothy Zahn books. Lucas didn’t envisage Luke as a bitter old man no longer even interested in his friends and family! You don’t have to turn people into walking basket cases to make them human. In this book, Luke feels fear, he even thinks about yelling and arguing with his wife! He feels doubt. He’s not an all knowing Jedi master with god-like abilities. He doesn’t even know if making a new Jedi Council is the right move to make. You don’t have to turn him into a murderous fearful Gollum like Rian did.

We also get a lot of scenes with Luke, Leia, and Han together. That’s something that will never happen in the new movies. What a squandered opportunity by JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, moreso than Rian Johnson. You KNOW if George Lucas had written Episode 7, he wouldn’t have felt intimidated or felt afraid to write scenes with the original trio. I think that was the major problem with the new movies. They weren’t written by talented or imaginative people. Luke was originally going to be in Episode 7 a lot more but he kept on taking over the movie from the new cast….that’s really a good indicator of how weak the new cast is.

Another thing I loved about this book was Han and Leia’s kids, who are all around 15 years old and are training to be Jedi under Luke and Mara. Jacen is the oldest and perhaps the most Kylo Rennish. Not that he’s shown any evil or dark tendencies. But he believes that the Jedi are smarter than normal people and should be in charge and be allowed to do whatever they want in pursuit of justice. Maybe he’s more young Anakin from Attack of the Clones than Kylo. And yes, the youngest son is actually NAMED Anakin and he’s cocky, confident, and idealistic. More like Luke from A New Hope. And then there’s Jaina, who’s the best pilot of the siblings. The kids are great. I really enjoyed their scenes. They are just as important as the old cast, but not at the EXPENSE of the old cast.

From what I understand there are 19 novels in this series, which is followed by other series set further on in time in this Star Wars universe. So I should have plenty to read instead of going to see any new Star Wars movies. I’d rather live in a fantasy world of noncanoncity than accept the swill Kennedy and Johnson concocted, along with Abrams. If you hated The Last Jedi and would like to see Han, Luke, and Leia not become losers, you should definitely try reading Vector Prime. And don’t worry about it if you haven’t read any of the other Star Wars Legends books. I’ve only read a couple myself and had no problem understanding anything. This book was WRITTEN to be a jumping on point for new readers.

Next up on my reading list is the novelization of The Last Jedi. I’m still trying to make sense of that awful movie. A lost cause, I think.

My Grade: A