The tenth book in the New Jedi Order series.  This book follows on immediately after the loss of Coruscant (in Troy Denning's 'Star By Star') and focuses on Jaina Solo.  This focus on Jaina proves to be the book's undoing since, now she's fallen to the dark side, she is completely insufferable.  Worse than simply having a bad main character, the way the other characters react to Jaina is equally damaging.  I mean, she's a complete bitch and yet this book still has four guys vying for her affections.  The romantic overtones are something else I disliked about this book, as they seem out of place at this juncture in the series.  It's not all bad, of course.  The political manoeuvring of the Hapans is as interesting and ruthless as ever and leads to a brilliant new bit of development for the character of Tenel Ka.  Also, Kyp Durron finally stops being an irritating git and sees the error of his ways.  The build-up towards the confrontation between the Vong and the Hapans is very good, but at the last minute Cunningham steals away the pay-off by not featuring the battle.  It's not a dreadful read, but I didn't think it was the right book to continue after 'Star By Star's devastating conclusion and it is, to my mind, the worst of the NJO books overall.

3 out of 5

'A sunrise corona limned one edge of the planet Myrkr, setting its vast northern forests alight with a verdant glow.'

Then read more about Hapan politics in 'The Courtship Of Princess Leia' by Dave Wolverton.

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