After getting bogged down in Kathy Tyers’ meandering BALANCE POINT, I wasn’t sure if I would make it through the rest of the New Jedi Order series. I was tired of wimpy, indecisive Jedi; Han and Leia’s marital troubles; and the difficulties of dealing with refugees from destroyed planets. Thankfully, Greg Keyes kicks the saga back into high gear. With STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – EDGE OF VICTORY I: CONQUEST, he pulls off the difficult feat of delivering an exciting novel that not only advances the larger storyline, but delves deep into characters that haven’t been given much attention.

The focus here is on Anakin Solo. I know earlier pre-New Jedi Order books have dealt with the character, but he’s been given short shrift until now. In Keye’s hands, he becomes a very compelling character that is just as interesting as the characters you know from the movies. Whereas his brother Jacen has spent the last several books philosophizing about the Force, Anakin throws himself into the war in full-on original trilogy, Luke Skywalker-style.

The book opens with the Jedi still split and conflicted about what to do with the Yuuzhan Vong. Renegade Kyp Durron wants to aggressively take the battle to them, but Luke Skywalker is worried that will lead to the dark size. Anakin is torn on the issue, but soon feels via the force that the Jedi Academy is in danger. Anakin is still fresh from the Academy on Yavin 4 and has lots of friends there. He goes undercover and takes off to investigate.

It turns out that the Yuuzhan Vong have indeed learned about the Academy and are on their way to capture the younglings to use as sacrifices. Anakin arrives just in time to help the students escape, but this leads to a huge melee and the capture of his close friend (with girlfriend potential) Tahiri. Anakin is determined to stay on Yavin 4 and rescue Tahiri no matter what the cost. Through the force, he can feel her anguish. The Vong aren’t just torturing her – they’re experimenting on her to turn her into one of them.

Even though this is just the first part of a two-book series, Keyes wraps the story up nicely. Along the way, he develops Anakin into a very cool character. He also fleshes out the culture of the Yuuzhan Vong as Anakin is taken into slavery and discovers a very intriguing link between the aliens and the crystals that power the Jedi light sabers. CONQUEST gets a big thumbs-up from me. Keyes has brought me back on board … big time. –Chris Sharpe

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – AGENTS OF CHAOS I: HERO’S TRIAL by James Luceno
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – AGENTS OF CHAOS II: JEDI ECLIPSE by James Luceno
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – BALANCE POINT by Kathy Tyers
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – DARK TIDE 1: ONSLAUGHT by Michael A. Stackpole
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – DARK TIDE II: RUIN by Michael A. Stackpole
• STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER – VECTOR PRIME by R.A. Salvatore