Here are some customer reviews of
Shatterpoint (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel)
: I actually didn't expect much of this book, but bought it anyway to have something to read. Boy, was I surprised. The book has all the usual action, but what makes it so good is that it has Jedi actually losing fights, getting injured, and best of all going deep within to question their ethics and way of life. There are a number of memorable quotes that I actually marked in the book to refer to afterward. Do yourself a favor and read this one. It will give you insight into the Jedi mind and ironic and painful views into the dark directions of the Star Wars universe to come.
 I haven't read many Star Wars books, so I wasn't expecting much, but this was a really good read. The action is fast-paced, the internal logic of the problem at hand made sense, and the characters were well conceived. I like too how the author made Mace's failures reasonable without dumbing or weakening him down. Mace is supposed to be a bad-boy, and he is, just sometimes the universe throws you more than you can handle.
My only problem with this book is the practically unending climax. This seems to be the thing to do these days, but the authors always lose me. Basically, if the climactic scene or set of scenes is so long I have to go to sleep and finish it the next day, I start skimming. Very little of actual import happens in the last hundred pages...endless dodging explosions and ducking blaster fire, and just a few easy plot twists you can pick up skimming at 4 pages a minute. Too bad, otherwise I would have given 5 stars.
For a worse book overall, but a better handling of pacing, try The Cestus Deception.
This book is not only a marvel as a piece of literature but reaches you on a high emotional level. Many Star Wars books are enjoyable merely on the pretense that they are about the universe that is beloved by all who read them, this book makes you think about every action you take and how you look at the world around you. I not only recommend this book to Star Wars fans but anyone who enjoys a good insightful book.
Jedi Master Mace Windu is one of the most intriguing characters of the new Star Wars prequel trilogy, and so I jumped at the chance of reading a novel focusing upon him. I was pleased with the treatment he receives in "Shatterpoint" and I recommend this book to Star Wars fans.
Matthew Stover is a solid author, and I am glad he has joined the group of authors writing for the Star Wars Expanded Universe. He clearly understands the Star Wars galaxy (unlike some authors) but at the same time does not act like a groupie or kid in the candy store like other (like other authors). His writing is good and I look forward to seeing more from him. (And if you had not noticed, the book has an awesome cover.)
While I won't offer any spoilers, this novel is full of action-including lightsaber combat, which is almost a prerequisite for a solid Star Wars story, as far as I am concerned. The story can be characterized as dark and intense, as well as violent. After all, the primary setting for the story is in the wild on a planet undergoing a civil war. As a result, little is done to further the overall story about the Clone Wars (it is, after all "A Clone Wars Novel"), but the novel stands on its own and makes for great reading.
With plenty of new creatures, ships, fighting and insight into the powerful Master Windu, Stover succeeds in writing an awesome Star Wars novel. A cool character deserves a cool book. (As a bonus, the paperback edition includes a short story plus a special introduction by George Lucas.)
This book clearly belongs in the upper tier of Star Wars novels that have been published to date, and is well worth the read if you dig Star Wars.
After years of waiting, I've found a Star Wars writer that I like, and much of it because the author is a martial artist who injects an authentic understanding of martial training to the character and background of Mace Windu, a character I disliked from the movies but now embrace in Stover's book.
Just like the original Star Wars movie, Stover's Shatterpoint draws in the reader into a world that seems as real and authentic as our own, reflecting a universe that is complicated, confused, and often gray and illogical in its morality. (The story is partially modeled on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.) You have to try to understand many of the details and put them in context, yet the story is continually developing and evolving to an convincing and unexpected ending. The essence of a good story. And there's plenty of action (including clone troopers) to boot.
Having written a book about the Jedi, I've been very critical of the way the Jedi have been portrayed in many novels as errant knights seeking the some "holy grail" of Jedi antiquity instead of accomplished fighters who change the direction of the universe, but Stover succeeds in crafting a story that justifies (indeed makes necessary) the Jedi in the Star Wars universe. And, in the whole scheme of things Star Wars, isn't that the whole point!
Nick Jamilla, author of Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting.
|
