Product Description

The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo’s shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Darth Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order’s influence within the Galactic Alliance.

Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen’s fall to the dark side–and to learn what’s turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent dementia that infected her brother, Valin, Jedi Knight Jysella Horn faces an equally grim fate after her capture by Natasi Daala’s police. And when Han and Leia Solo narrowly foil another deranged Jedi bent on deadly destruction, even acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner appears willing to bow to Daala’s iron will–at the expense of the Jedi Order.

But an even greater threat is looming. Millennia in the past, a Sith starship crashed on an unknown low-tech planet, leaving the survivors stranded. Over the generations, their numbers have grown, the ways of the dark side have been nurtured, and the time is fast approaching when this lost tribe of Sith will once more take to the stars to reclaim their legendary destiny as rulers of the galaxy. Only one thing stands in their way, a name whispered to them through the Force: Skywalker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2545 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-23
• Released on: 2009-06-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345509123
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
Golden, an author new to the multiple Star Wars series, is likely familiar to readers from her long tenure as a Star Trek author. As the second in the projected nine book series, Omen is slower paced than the first volume, Outcast (2009), and more devoted to developing the series arc. Han and Leia are at home on Coruscant, as more Jedi go crazy, government pressure on the Jedi increases, and the media swarm the Temple. Ben and Luke continue their quest to uncover Jacen’s secrets as each of the crazed Jedi was in contact with him and is exhibiting powers previously only displayed by Jacen. They travel deep into the Rift to encounter a mysterious group of beings with a strange relationship with the Force, using it to power their ships and see the future. A new complication is introduced with a secret lost planet full of Sith (who have recently regained space travel), and Jacen’s trail appears to be leading Luke and Ben into their midst. Series fans will enjoy this entry and the continued exploration of the huge and mysterious Star Wars galaxy. Demand makes this an essential purchase for all science-fiction collections. --Jessica Moyer

About the Author
Christie Golden is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her media tie-in works include launching the Ravenloft line in 1991 with Vampire of the Mists, more than a dozen Star Trek novels, and the Warcraft novel Lord of the Clans.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Kesh
Two Years Earlier


The ocean sighed as it rushed forward and receded in a rhythm even more ancient than what was unfolding on its lavender- sand shores. While the sun was bright and warm, a breeze came from the sea to cool the heated faces of the two figures standing there. 

 They faced each other, as still as if they were carved from stone, the only motion around them that of their hair and heavy black robes as the wind toyed with them. 

 Then, as if by some unheard signal, one of them moved. The soft sound of the ocean was punctuated by a sharp snap- hiss. The almost perfectly symmetrical, light purple features of Vestara Khai’s adversary were abruptly cast into sickly green relief. Vestara activated her own weapon with a fluid motion, saluted her opponent with it, settled into position, and waited to see who would make the first move. She balanced lightly on the balls of her booted feet, ready to leap left, right, or straight up. Still her opponent did not move.  

The sun was at its height and its light was harsh, beating down on them like something physical. Their heavy dark robes were stifling hot, but Vestara would no sooner abandon her robes than she would abandon her weapon or her heritage. The robes were traditional, ancient, a deep and valued part of who she was, and she would endure the encumbrance. The Tribe valued strength as much as it valued beauty; rewarded patience as much as initiative. The wise being was the one who knew when which was called for.  

Vestara sprang.  

Not at her opponent, but to the left and past him, leaping upward, turning in the air, and slashing outward with the blade. She felt the blade impact and heard its distinctive sizzle. He gasped as she landed, flipped, and crouched back into a defensive position. The sandy surface was treacherous, and her foot slipped. She righted herself almost instantly, but that moment was all he needed to come at her.  

He hammered her with blows that were more of strength than grace, his lithe body all lean muscle. She parried each strike, the blades clashing and sizzling, and ducked underneath the final one. Lightness and agility were her allies, and she used them freely.  

Her long, light brown hair had come loose from its quickly twisted braid, and the tendrils were a distraction. She blew upward to clear her vision just in time to block another one of the strong blows.  

ÒBlast,Ó she muttered, leaping back and switching the blade to her other hand. She was completely ambidextrous. ÒYou’re getting good, Ahri.Ó 

 Ahri Raas, apprentice, member of the native– and conquered– species of Keshiri and Vestara Khai’s close friend, offered her a smile. ÒI’d say the same about you, Ves, except for the fact that that sand- jump messes you up every single ti–Ó  

She interrupted him with a sudden upward leap, landing on his shoulders, balancing there lightly with the use of the Force, and plunged the lightsaber straight downward, aiming for his back between his shoulder blades. He dived forward, Force- pushing her off, but not before she had touched the tip of the glowing red blade to his robes. Ahri arched, his dive thrown off as his body twisted from the pain; even the training lightsabers inflicted a powerful shock.  

Vestara leapt as Ahri dived, using his Force push to her own advantage, turning twice in the air and landing surely, facing him. She smirked in satisfaction as she brushed her renegade locks out of the way. Ahri completed his dive and came to his feet, rolling in the sand. Vestara extended her arm with the grace of a dancer. Ahri’s lightsaber was snatched from his hand and flew into hers. She grasped it and dropped into the Jar’Kai stance, ready to come at him with both blades. Ahri looked up and sighed, dropping back into the sand.  

ÒAnd you get distracted far too easily. Focus, Ahri, focus,Ó she chided. She gestured casually, just a slight jerk of her chin, and a handful of sand flew toward Ahri’s face. Muttering, he lifted his empty hand and used the Force to deflect the grains.  

ÒIt’s just training, Ves,Ó he muttered, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.  

ÒIt’s never just training,Ó she shot back. She deactivated her training lightsaber, hooked it back on her belt, and tossed Ahri’s to him. The Keshiri youth caught it easily, still looking disgruntled. Vestara undid her hair and fluffed it for a minute, letting the air penetrate to the roots to cool her scalp. Her long fingers busily rebraided it, properly this time, as she continued to speak, while Ahri shook grains of purple sand out of his own white, shoulder- length hair.  

ÒHow often have I told you that? Say that in the presence of one of the Masters and you’ll never make it beyond a Tyro.Ó  

Ahri sighed and rose, nodding to acknowledge the truth of what she said. Neither of them had been formally chosen as an apprentice yet, although they had been training in classes under the tutelage of various Masters for years, their strengths and weaknesses in the Force noted and analyzed and pushed.  

Vestara knew that, at fourteen, it was still possible, even likely, that she would be chosen by a Master as his or her formal apprentice. But she chafed horribly at the delay. Some Tyros were chosen at much younger ages, and Vestara knew that she was strong in the Force.  

She reached out for a flask of now warm water and the canteen resting on the sand floated to her, the lid unfastening as it moved. Vestara gulped down the liquid thirstily. Sparring at the height of the sun was exhausting, and Ahri always muttered about it, but she knew it toughened her. Vestara handed the canteen to Ahri, who also drank. 

 She regarded him for a moment. He was a nearly perfect physical specimen of a species whose physical strength, agility, and harmony of features and form had become an ideal for her own people. He could easily pass for a member of her own species– he would make a striking human, but a human nonetheless– were it not for the pale purple cast to his skin. His eyes, too, were slightly larger than a human’s; large and expressive. His shoulders were broad, his hips narrow, and there was not an ounce of superfluous fat on his frame. His face, though, was flushed a darker purple than usual because he was overheated, and his hair had far too much sand in it.  

ÒThat’s two for two,Ó she said. ÒYou up for another round?Ó She gave him a wicked grin, which was exaggerated by the small scar at the corner of her mouth. 

The scar that the Tribe saw as a flaw. It was plain on her face, right out in the open–there was very little she could do to disguise it. Attempts had been made to heal it and to correct it with cosmetic surgery. Those attempts had been mostly successful and now, to be sure, it was not all that noticeable. But this was a world where any flaw, any scar or deformity, was a strike against one’s potential for advancement. 

 The scar added insult to injury, as far as Vestara was concerned– because of its location, the thin line almost always made her look like she was smiling, even when she wasn’t. She had hated that about it until Lady Rhea, one of the most respected of the Sith Lords, had told her that deception was actually a very useful thing indeed. 

 ÒIt mars your beauty,Ó Lady Rhea had said bluntly, pausing as she strolled down the line of potential apprentices after a formal ceremony. ÒA pity.Ó She, whose beauty was only slightly diminished by the cruel ravages of time, reached out a long finger and touched the scar. ÒBut this little scar– it can aid you. Make others think you are something you are not.Ó She tapped the scar lightly with each of the last four words, emphasizing her point. 

 That had made Vestara feel a bit better. All of a sudden, looking like she was smiling all the time, even when she wasn’t, seemed like a good thing to her.  

ÒI think I’ve sweated off at least two liters already,Ó Ahri replied. ÒCan’t we continue in the training courtyard at least? It’s cooler in the mountain shadows.Ó 

 At least he wasn’t refusing the offer of another round. Vestara dragged a black- draped arm across her own forehead. She had to admit, fighting in the cool shadows of the proud columns, beautiful statuary, and sheer mountain stone in which the Temple courtyard was nestled had a definite appeal right at the moment. While they were not yet formally apprenticed to any of the Sabers or the Masters, as Tyros they would be per- mitted to spar in the courtyard. That was as far as they were allowed to go, however. Neither of them had seen inside the Temple or, even more significant, inside the Ship of Destiny yet. The ship’s name was Omen, but the name ÒShip of DestinyÓ had fallen into common usage. For su...

Customer Reviews

Odd but interesting
The other reviewers are all correct: the price/# of pages is way off (too short), the Aing-Tii section was really interesting but too brief (and too much like the Baran Do) and the Sith culture on Kesh was also too short (should be a book in itself). I enjoyed the book and will read the series but there is one thing I didn't read in the other reviews: whenever a character would reminisce of the past, it was always something from Episodes 4-6 (mostly 4). Some seemed relevant - memories of Dagobah (since they are looking for Force nexus points) but other seemed out of place, like Ms. Golden's knowledge of Star Wars history was limited to the movies. Maybe she'll have time to improve on that before her next book in the series.

I blame the editors
I mostly liked this book. It had a lot of interesting character moments, some decent action, and some interesting plot points.

That said, I have a few problems with this title, but only one of them can be placed at the feet of the author, Ms. Golden. I like her writing, she is great at characters (See Star Trek: Voyager Homecoming). Here is my one problem with Golden's writing. Several times during this book, Jedi ignite their lightsabers to cut through a door or wall. They've done this in the past, and they'll do it in the future. My problem is that each time, Golden goes on for several paragraphs about how difficult it actually is to cut through a wall with a lightsaber. Look, its a valid point, and something the other authors have ignored, but I got it after the first time. WE GET IT! ITS HARD TO CUT THROUGH A DOOR WITH A LIGHTSABER!

And I also would have liked to see some mention of the droids, and some of the other peripherial characters, but since other books do this to the expense of the big 3 (Han, Luke, Leia), its a minor complaint.

My other complaints with the title are more related to how it fits into the overall series and I believe these issues are the fault of the editors giving Golden strict guidelines.

-I love the father-son moments with Luke and Ben. Love them. I love the Father-Daughter moments with Han and Jaina. All of these scenes were great, but there were a lot of them. My problem here is that if you look at the first book in the series (Exile), you see almost none of it. This book felt very heavy on such moments, and light on important events. The editors need to encourage the writer's to balance this out more, to include a better balance in future books.

-Leia and Han getting their granddaughter a pet is NOT enough of a plot line to last the entire book. This is again the editor's fault, for telling Golden that Leia and Han must be in almost the exact same condition as they were before the book started. There are a plethora of crisis going on, and Leia (who has been instrumental in solving all crisis within the past 40 years) decides to go to a pet show? HUH?

-Acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner. Where do I begin? How about here: I can't remember him ever being introduced. We know almost nothing about him. The first mention of him that i can recall is in NJO: Edge of Victory Part 1 where he warns Luke and Mara that they are about to be arrested. Golden tried to get into his head, but the editors wouldn't let her create more of a backstory for him, and therefore, he still has almost none. And also, isn't he a JEDI MASTER? How can so many people lie to his face? I also can't remember him ever using the force.

-Also problematic is the visit with the Aing Tii. Many of the scenes here could have replaced "Aing Tii" with "Baron Do" and we never would have noticed the difference. The two visits were framed in very similiar manners.

-Also, editors: Amelia scenses something from the moon of Kessel in "Exile", tells Leia about it, and SHE DOESN'T INVESTIGATE!? Heh?

-And, lastly for now, my last complaint with the editors handling of the series: Why in the name of the force would Luke leave R2-D2 with Han and Leia? R2 is great with information and repairs, surprisingly good in a fight, doesn't take up that much space, and oh yeah HAS BEEN BY LUKE'S SIDE EVERY MINUTE FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS! Luke has risked his life multiple times to rescue R2, and now just dumps him on his sister like he's a nuisance? Now I haven't seen blueprints, but it seems to me like there's room on the Jade's Shadow for him.

All of this said, I loved the Sith on Kesh (even though it was obviously an afterthought), and Sylgal having an increased role is really cool. I am chomping at the bit for the next book. I just hope the editor's pay more attention.

Lather, rinse, repeat
Is LucasFilm Ltd. so hard up for money that it justifies charging $27 for a book that is essentially a repeat storyline of Allston's Outcast, and a short one-- fewer than 300 pages-- at that?

Two Jedi go insane, wreck havoc, are captured ; Luke and Ben go to the next stop on Darth Putz's scavenger hunt and learn... not much, just that there's another mystical destination ahead! Vestara was a mildly interesting new character, but the parts devoted to her especially read like a YA book. I have nothing against YA books, many of them are better written and more compelling than a lot of dreck aimed at the adult market. However, Omen was not one of these.

The most ridiculous element in the book was the subterfuge employed in order for Jag and Jaina to... go on a date. Honestly, I kept thinking there was going to be more to it, that all the fuss and bother and resources were going to lead to a covert mission. But no; it was just a silly, junior-high-esque caper so they could presumably hook up privately. It was so reminescent of a fanfic written by a squealing tween fangirl I expected to see in print "Jag & Jaina sneak off for a date!!! Chaos ensues!!!"

Save your money on this one and borrow it from your local library or spend an afternoon in a bookstore cafe reading it; it won't take that long. Sadly it seems to be an on-going trend with the franchise that the books' promise does not live up to the execution.

Oh, and Ben saying "Lubed" will never not be unintentionally hilarious.