Anakin Skywalker Books

Rebirth is the eighth volume in the massive New Jedi Order saga, and the second book in author Greg Keyes' Edge of Victory duology. Unlike the first book (Edge of Victory I: Conquest (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 7)), which was primarily focused on Anakin Solo, Rebirth reads more like a classic Star Wars adventure, with different groups of characters off on separate quests yet working towards the same goal.

Rebirth follows Han, Leia, and Jacen Solo as they embark on a campaign against the Yuuzhan Vong's Peace Brigade collaborators. At the same time, Anakin Solo, Tahiri, and Corran Horn infiltrate a Yuuzhan Vong invasion force to try and stop the next planetary conquest. Jaina Solo teams up with Kyp Durron and Rogue Squadron to take out what can only be the Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of the Death Star. As these conflicts occur, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker must battle for the very existence of their unborn son. Rebirth also marks the return of the mysterious Vergere to the NJO storyline.

Despite the numerous subplots, Keyes weaves them all together quite skillfully, showing both a real understanding of what makes this diverse cast of characters tick as well as the ability to tell a great story. He also continues to give readers a better understanding of the Yuuzhan Vong invaders, further developing characters like Nom Anor (don't you just love to hate this guy?), Nen Yim, and introducing (finally) Supreme Overlord Shimmra.

This is the second of two exceptional books by Greg Keyes. I think Conquest was a better book overall, but Rebirth is as good if not better than any other book (so far) in the NJO series.

Greg Keyes' Edge of Victory II: Rebirth is one of, if not the,best of the New Jedi Order novels. It featured strong writing, a good storyline, a wider focus than its predecessor and was also very important to the storyline.

First, I want to discuss the quality of the Greg Keyes' writing. One of the greatest flaws with the massive collection of Star Wars novels on the shelf today is that the writing is inferior. The novels tend to rely on famous and popular characters and, with some exceptions such as Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, tend to push quality writing aside. Star Wars novels may be written well enough for children but the actual merit of the writing will disappoint most adult readers. However, Greg Keyes' novels are a huge exception to this rule. He writes extremely well. His narration is top notch and his dialog is snappy and realistic. His writing is intelligent and engaging and pretty out of the norm for Star Wars novels.

Although Rebirth focuses heavily on Anakin Solo as its predecessor Conquest did, Rebirth widens its focus to include more of the galactic war. Keyes managed to make me like Anakin, even though the young Jedi was still portrayed as a way-too strong and intelligent young Jedi. I have always thought that Anakin was one of the weakest parts of the New Jedi Order series. He was too powerful, too-smart, he learned too quickly and adapted way too well. Aside from youthful overconfidence, he was an utterly perfect character, which lends an air of unrealism to the series. But Keyes works hard to make Anakin more human, even if he does not make any strides towards limiting Anakin's power.

The plot is rather typical of the New Jedi Order. Luke, Leia, Han and Mara are trying to rally the Jedi who are becoming more divided as pressure from the New Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong cause them to reach their breaking point. Despite the many redeeming qualities of this book, it is not a particularly important one, from the point of plot-advancement. However, it offers excellent character development and a solid build up for the next novel in the New Jedi Order series, Star by Star, which is probably the most important in the series.

I loved this book. Thought it was better than Conquest. I really did not like Mara's birth being felt by half the family. That is my only issue with it.

Greg keyes did a good book he finally gave luke his son,Anakin is growing stronger and the battle with the yuuzhan vong continues,and thanks to mara's baby she is saved ,Han and leia were not mentioned much in this book and the Jacen Danni relation ship was over though it would have been good to become fruitful overall this is a great book read it and read the whole njo installment it's really good

this is one of the best books of the first 8.a lot is going on in this one for such a short book.the republic want the jedis in exile.luke is on the run so as not to be arrested.his "unsactioned military actions" were acryaly the rescue and relocation of thousands of slaves.luke decides the jedi,being wothout friends,should band together like in the long long ago.the bounty hinyers going after the jedi are gargantuan so they randomly jump through hyperspace without rhyme or reason to avoid capture.mara jade skywalker finaly lets luke help her fight off the disease that is killing her to better save thier unborn child.jaona solo struggles with her place in rogue sqaudrin as it is hard on her.mara jade and lukes method works and she has a baby boy they named ben after obee who called himself ben while in exile.the peace brigade kill a jedi named kelbis nu.however anakan and tahiri chase them off before they can kill more jedi.anakan and tahoti are arrested as local police think they did it.jacens older brother and father could barely take down one gammorrean.[anakan once took 4 on alone].han,jacen and leia take the millenium falcon up and chase down the peace brigade and a big battle ensues.jacen decides to use thr force freely again after a important character from the movies gets thier legs hacked up and he needed it.jacen gets a crush on a 40 year old twi'lek[blue chick with tentacles for hair].anakan,the always busy builds remote droids that fight like the vong to pracrice against.although he has visions of tahiri going evil he treats her no different.anakan saved corrans life[a master jedi].soon enough they are in the space battle too.bad news for the vong as their world ships are getting old.a story is told of the reckless kyp durron once blowing up a planet a week after becoming a jedi.wedge antilles comes out of retirement and into the space fight too.kyp and jaina flirt a lot despite shes nor even legal at 17 and hes like 40.she is almost killed but not scared.however by books end she tells kyp "of you were dying of dehydration on tatoonie i wouldnt spit on you".so either thier courting is off or she really likes him.the vong sacrifice thousands of people a day to thier gods.dissention finaly breaks in the high levels of the vong.since they embrace death they use kamikaze type methods to fight with sometimes.a new vong female gets into the fray at the end who us some sort of seer.she sees the 8th vortex which only 4 people ever have seen,2 of which were gods and one was told by one of those gods.she predicts"now my shaping truly begins and the universe shall tremble at what i create".anakan challenges and kills a vong war captain-just another feather in his cap.he and tahiri share loves 1st make out errrrrrr kisses i mean.this was one of the best books of the series.it ties up a lot of unanswered questions and is really incredible from a sci fi fans point of view.everything youd want in a sci fi novel.

I LOVED this book. For anyone who wants to read about Darth Vader's [or you could say Anakin's] life at 9 years of age, then this is the book for you!

This was decent, but really, I was expecting to learn more about Anakin's history, like why he has to wear the suit, what happened between him and Obi Wan before Obi Wan crushed him, it should've been longer, but knowing Anakin's emotions is a good thing. So, unless you want the story re-told from just half of the events, don't buy this. Look's like we'll have to wait a few years before the parts of Annie's future only Georgie knows is released. (Sigh...)

It is an interesting book focusing mainly on Anakin's emotions. It also gives additional details from Anakin's perspective.It is a good book but has a few flaws as some details which should have been there are excluded. The descriptions given by Anakin is similar to what any nine year old would think if they had the same experience.It is told in the first person as it's a journal and Anakin narrates his story to the reader. However it can be confusing at times and a few scenes from the movie are left out.Over all it is an enjoyable book and I recommend that you get a copy soon as possible if you have an appetite for science fiction or a fan of Star Wars who is not too hardcore.

The book I read was Star Wars Episode 1 Journal, by Todd Strasser. This book is about a boy named Anakin Skywalker who was a slave on a planet called Tatooine. One day a warrior called a Jedi appeared and told him he was to be a Jedi too. Before Anakin could be trained to be a Jedi he must prove himself first. Anakin proves himself and is set free from slavery for training to be a Jedi.
My favorite part in the book was the thirteenth chapter called "The Battle." It was about how Anakin had hid in a starfighter, but accidentaly engaged himself in a war. Anakin was just looking for a safe place to hide during the battle and accidentaly took off into nother battle in space. Anakin had no idea what he was doing. Unaware of what he was doing, he faught off most fighter and distroyed the enemy's control base.
I enjoyed this book alot. It was very discriptive and had a great story line. I chose this book when I was a Star Wars fan, but I never took the time to read it until now. I am glad I read this book and I think you shoud read it too if you like Star Wars.

Well, out of all the Journal books I've read, (which is all of them except for Han's) I would say that while this one is not as gripping as Darth Maul's and not as heartfelt as Luke's, it is pretty decent. Especially since I was somewhat unimpressed with Episode 1 itself. Oh, but don't get me wrong, I liked it, it just seemed almost exclusively geared towards the twelve and under audience, and didn't have the 'something for everyone' quality that the previous ones had. I also didn't expect to like this journal because Anakin was probably my least favorite character in the movie, because he was just so goody-goody, and way too wooden and had no character development whatsoever. This book, however, completely changed my opinion of him. It went deep into his thoughts and feelings, all the while describing what went on around him, in a very realisticly done nine-year-old way. Some of the things he was thinking about were very compelling, such as how he missed his mother, and how he worried about Padme/Amidala. This made me like him more, overall, and even made me want to see the movie again so I could apply my new knowledge. I would definitly recommend this book to any Star Wars fan. Though it is written mainly from a fairly simple standpoint for the benefit of the averedge eleven year old reader, any Star Wars fan could read it as long as they don't expect an epic.

I think this is a good book and is cool because you get a Anakin Skywalker with it.I think everyone should have this.

All the reviews saying this is way overpriced should think again. Just how much did all the original Star Wars toys cost when the first three films were released by George Lucas? And now they're all collector's Items and go for hundreds of DDuetschmarks in collectors auctions. So these people should stop whining and be grateful for the great things George Lucas is releasing to allow us to interact with his huge Star Wars Universe more. I think this producta llowes us much greater interactivity, as we can touch and get our hands around George Lucas's "Anakin" and watch it turn into his "Darth Vader" as we touch and read. It helps if you read the book while holding it, then the transformation is much more pronounced, until George Lucas's dreaded huge trembling "Lord Vader" can be seen and experienced first-hand. This product allows us to do this in our own homes any time we like, never before have we been allowed to see George Lucas's dark side so intimately! A great buy for any true Star Wars fan, you'll never get tired of taking George's "Anakin" out and playing with him! MYTFBWY! (May the force be with you!)

The Book itself was very good even though I would of liked to of seen some stuff from before Anakin became Darth Vader but I guess that is being saved for the new movies. I thought that this product was DEFINATLY not worth the money you pay for it. It was very, very, very expensive for a figure and a book that had words on only half the page and not very good pictures. It's a nice collectible...but definatly not worth the money. And I agree with other reviewers...where's the lightsaber?

First, be warned. The official Amazon Editorial has it right: the story within doesn't have much to say about the Anakin Skywalker we now know from Episodes I and II. The book, co-authored by Lucasfilm exec and author of the Star Wars Encyclopedia Stephen J. Sansweet, was published several months before The Phantom Menace's release and "the early years" of Anakin's life are based on early story concepts, not from the outlines or scripts to the sequels.

That having been said, readers will come to understand that the central figure of the six-movie Star Wars saga is really Darth Vader, and that he is really George Lucas' favorite character. The fiction and non-fiction look at this tragic hero-turned-villain is insightful and very comprehensive, especially in the chapter that chronicles Darth Vader during the time span covered by the Classic Trilogy.

Like the other books in the Masterpiece Edition series, the cover price is pretty high, but I found this edition on the discount bin at Waldenbooks. It was the only one left and the cover had a tear, but that was the box cover and not the book.

The large figure of Anakin Skywalker (as seen in Return of the Jedi but in non-ghostly form) is really beautifully rendered, although it does not have a lightsaber (the small figure -- which is NOT included -- paradoxically does).

His belt has a hook for a lightsaber, and his hand is curved to hold a lightsaber, but he doesn't come with one! Since that lightsaber was the coolest one I've ever seen, I really wanted Anakin to be holding it or at least wearing the handle on his belt. But...sigh...

Greg Bear is supposedly an accomplished science fiction writer with such popular novels as "Eon" and "Darwin's Radio". However, I will never get a chance to find out. After reading Bear's foray into the Star Wars Universe with "Rogue Planet", I'm not inclined to try any of his other material.

I won't say the book was a total bomb like "Shield of Lies" or even a ponderous bore like the Barbra Hambly novels, but "Rogue Planet" clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding about the Star Wars Universe. More importantly, it shows a lack of understanding of the characters from this universe.

This book deals with an inter-prequel story (between Episodes I and II) where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have an adventure on the titular planet, Zonoma Sekot, and come in contact with Grand Moff Tarkin and New Jedi Order mainstay, Vergere. For how important a role Zonoma Sekot and Vergere played in the New Jedi Order, they are not very interesting characters in this book. The same holds true for the characterizations of Obi-Wan and Anakin. I couldn't be less interested in their story.

The worst is how Bear portrays Grand Moff Tarkin. It's as if he never watched the first Star Wars movie. Tarkin comes off as an overt, scenery chewing despot, as opposed to his more nuanced menacing portrayal in the film.

Bottom line is that I could not get through this book fast enough, and it wasn't because it was so good. I just wanted to be able to move on to my next book.

I am in the process of reading it now and am enjoying it very much. I like the hard bound books. it came in very good shape.

I purchased the audio cassette because it was cheap. I listened to it and listened again and again. This book is one of the best in the Star Wars series. You wouldn't think it would be, but it is. It takes place on a living planet called Zonoma Sekot (which plays a huge role down the road in the Vong war). The description of the planet and the seeds that make the ships are awesome. Once you get past the oddities of it, it truly is genious. It is different and excellent. Not only do we see the very beginnings of Anakin's turn to the dark side, but we also get confusion and concern from Obi wan and an intro to the future Moff Tarkin and the designer of the first Death Star Seinar. There is even a reference to Darth Sidious. This book is exciting, original and entertaining. It can be had cheap right here on Amazon in any format (though the one penny CD might be your best value). If you love Star Wars, this is one to read or listen to right away

Generally reviews are on the mark as a whole. I should have followed the trend for this book because the negative leanings are there for a reason. Any Star Wars novel will be read with a critical eye and is certain to have flaws. The weaknesses of "Rogue Planet" are much more profound than the strengths.

While Star Wars novels are far from fine literature, I was immediately aggravated by the structure of the chapters. Many chapter are literally less than a page in length and add little to the story. The story would have flowed better if some of the shorter chapters were combined. In terms of the plot, I found it humorous that certain elements of the story seemed to be similar to other movies. A powerful leader ruling from behind a mask of deception reminded me of "The Wizard of Oz". A planet where everything is alive reminded me of an episode of Star Trek gone horribly wrong.

There are some positive aspects of the story. The theme of Anakin's struggle with fear and anger is developed. Also, the young Anakin character is not nearly as annoying as he is in the movies. "Rogue Planet" also furthers the theme of Qui-Gon Gin being a rebel Jedi and having a negative impact on young Anakin is brought to light.

This is the first Star Wars novel that I really did not like. At times, the pace made it painful to read. A better plot would have also helped to develop the Anakin character. The living planet theme seems terribly out of place as a vehicle for developing Anakin.

This novel has a little action in the beginning, a long boring middle, and a little more action at the end. The middle was mostly composed of great details about the process of growing a living starship. You read that right, living starships. Now, I'm sure Greg Bear is a great sci-fi author. But the problem here is that Star Wars is NOT sci-fi! It is space opera, a very different genre. I feel the whole premise of this story was way out of place in the Star Wars universe. This book also lacked that galactic feel as it concentrated on this one, starship-growing planet.

Another issue is that parts of this story were contradictory to things established in Episode II, like the fact that Jedi are forbidden to get married and have children. The Coda felt tacked on and was also proven untrue by Attack of the Clones anyway. Now we know the TRUE origin of the Death Star project (Geonosians). And Episode II implies that Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskan Camp is the first time he has killed in rage. (It definitely makes more sense that way.)

The only nice touch in this book is that Anakin talks to the spirit of a planet, reminiscent of an earth goddess.

If you like sci-fi, like the idea of growing living starships, don't mind a sci-fi Star Wars story and don't mind all the contradictions to the movies, then you might like this novel. But I think it sucked and I don't recommend this book. The only book worse than this is one is Crystal Star. Instead of this book, I highly recommend the following 5-star novels that are much more relevant to the film series:

Cloak of Deception (Star Wars)
Shadow Hunter (Star Wars: Darth Maul)
Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars, Episode III Prequel Novel)
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)

I found the calender boring, its a typical set of pictures, and the quality is less than average for a calender

This book tells all.It talks about why Anakin wears his mask.My favorite part is when it talks about him coming to the Empire,and why Ben hides his kids.If you like Star Wars you will love this book.

A pretty forgettable Star Wars novel. Han and Leia have three kids. Solo is getting a bit slack in his older-age generalship.

So, of course, you end up with kids gone and them having to run around to try and get them back via the odd alien planet, that sort of thing.

Luke is still doing the look for jedi thing.

I read frantically through a number of books in anticipation of reading this one, only to be majorly disappointed. It truly is one of the worst entries in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and I'm hoping it's the last the authors collaborate on. Although their military knowledge is clear, it shows through in trite ways and generally detracts from rather than adds to the narrative.

The characters are recognizable in name only. The dialogue is so inappropriate for the characters it's almost laughable. Soldiers in the field say "bro" and Anakin becomes almost as whiny as his son. It's unreal how much the speech missed the mark.

The action never really picks up to a level worth reading, and although the scale of the battles are epic, you never get the feeling that more than a handful of people are fighting.

It's amazing how so many words can say so little, and at the same time detract so much from what should have been an excellent concept.

Beware of reading this book, as it may spoil your affection for the series for a while.

I couldn't finish this book. I've read other Star Wars novels that I wasn't particularly fond of, but this one I found to be particularly egregious. It was a whole lot of boring military strategy and bad characterizations. When Anakin started thinking that his shiny new mechanical arm was so nice that perhaps he should have his other arm replaced I stopped reading. I understand its my own personal taste, but I would prefer my Star Wars fiction to not read like a dramatization of historical battles. If I wanted that, I'd re-read Dune.

This book has no redeeming qualities about it, whatsoever. Character development was horrible, and not believable. Don't waste your time on this book, it is the worst SW novel I've ever read (I've read close to 30)

The battles were very cool but everything else could have been better. I was dying to see Anakin's Jedi Trial. To see what exactly a real Jedi trial is. But we don't get to see it even thought its all Anakin talks about. Obi Wan is sent on a mission without Anakin so Anakin gets a new master temporarily in Jedi Halcyon. I was very interested in seeing how this played out. Anakin having a master who wasn't Obi Wan and one who was a lot like him. Considered a maverick or wild card of the Jedi. They have a lot in common including having a love one even though its against of the Jedi Order. They would have made for an interesting team and yet they weren't. They were more boring then I ever could have thought.

The Black Fleet Crisis was bad. The Cestus Deception was not outstanding. I found Triple Zero lacking (especially compared to the exceptional Hard Contact). The Jedi Quest series took almost the entire series to make the journey worthwhile. But all these books pale in comparison to what I would call the worst Star Wars book (I have read almost all of them except for the newest ones).
First off, Nejaa Halcyon was the biggest reason I started reading this book. I read of him in I, Jedi and longed to know more. I should have made up my own story since the authors don't really do much with him. He could have been any Jedi; there was nothing that made him exceptional.
Next, the authors have a weird view of what people want. They seem to think that we, the audience, would love to read pages of insignificant, brainless, unimportant characters with terrible names, strategy, and the like and not detail important things like Anakin and Nejaa's marriages (the whole interchange, which could have lasted half a chapter with Michael Stackpole as the author, takes up half a page), lightsaber battles, and real character development.
Other pet peeves:
1. I was unimpressed with the juvenile writing style.
2. I could care less for the whole mercenary angle and the Rodian mercenary (both of whom did not stay consistent throughout the story). They felt like blank characters with not much depth.
3. Odi and Erk, Erk and Odi, them getting married...gag me! Please! I groaned when I read "And now by the powers vested in me..." at the end! How could anyone end a Star Wars novel in such a hokey marriage. I would have omitted their entire story from this novel and given that time to Anakin and Nejaa.
4. Asajj Ventress on the cover and not in the book (to my knowledge).
5. Super motherly woman who is about to die. And she reminds Anakin of Shmi. Do I sense a billboard or something?
6. Ponith, the scary banker with purple teeth from all that tea he drinks. And we are supposed to fear him why?
7. I never really believe the whole mission was important. If this station was so important to interstellar communications, how did this happen in the first place?
Just so I don't sound too negative, the end picked up a bit. The action was a bit better. Also, some inclusion of clone troopers (but nothing compared to Hard Contact).
7.99 is about 7.98 too much for this book. Buy used or borrow. In fact, don't bother. Just skip. Watch the Clone Wars animated shorts for Anakin's real trial. And spend the 7.99 on Hard Contact for a much better Clone Wars novel.