If Troy Denning had only written Recovery, Star by Star, and Tatooine Ghost, he would safely be in my Top Five Star Wars authors. But instead, he shifted to churning out books like this, where basically nothing happens in 300 pages, and the character all act like immature idiots. The New Jedi Order was nearly brought down by internal squabbling during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and here they're even worse. Like, what was the point of the resolutions of the end of that series if I have to read page after page of out-of-character Jedi characters arguing with one another over nonsense? Give me bad-ass Jedi who fly around the galaxy fixing wrongs. That's what I want out of a Star Wars story. There are a couple good points here (Denning always does a good Han/Leia escapade), but so much of this book is dull meandering to set things up for Dark Nest III. I had fond memories of this series, but ten years later, I have no idea why!

The premise: ganked from BN.com: The epic Star Wars odyssey enters a new frontier as the heroes of the New Jedi Order confront a monstrous evil–insidious, unseen, and insatiable. . . .

Despite being given new worlds to populate, the insectoid Killiks have not found peace. An unknown enemy has been attacking the new nests–and the Killiks hold the Jedi responsible. Traveling back to the Unknown Regions to unravel the mystery, the Skywalkers and Solos discover an evil far more familiar than they ever expected . . . and even more terrifying. Why does the Dark Nest want to kill Mara? Will Jacen’s apocalyptic vision trigger another galactic war or prevent one? And perhaps most ominous of all, what deadly secret are the Killiks hiding?

To find out, Luke, Mara, Han, and Leia must embark on a perilous journey into the uncharted void between right and wrong. The ferocious Unknown Terrors are only the beginning of the awesome challenges that lie ahead in their quest to fathom the unfathomable. For an obscure dispute is about to explode into chaos, pitting Jedi against Jedi–and threatening the very galaxy itself.

My Rating: Worth Reading, with Reservations

Now that I've got The Joiner King under my belt and I've re-familiarized myself with these characters I hadn't read about in nearly seven years, The Unseen Queen proved to be a fast read. I liked seeing Leia's development as an actual Jedi, but I was disturbed by the direction Jacen is moving towards, despite the delightful surprise to his storyline. I can't say that the Killiks are my favorite story arc, because they and the Gorog create some really frustrating moments in the book, but I'll be reading the third and final installment, as I look forward to seeing how this story arc resolves.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. And I also want to point out: there will be spoilers, at any given moment, for the entire run of Star Wars books up until the date the current book was published. So if the Star Wars are something you want to get into, stop now and read THIS instead. I don't recommend anyone reading the full review unless they've read the book I'm reviewing now, due to aforementioned spoilers, so stop now or -- if you have read the book -- carry on!

Comments and discussion are always welcome, so if you're interested in the full review and all of its spoilery glory, feel free to read it at my blog. The link below will take you to the full review.

REVIEW: Troy Denning's STAR WARS: DARK NEST III: THE UNSEEN QUEEN

Happy Reading! ( )