Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Shatterpoint

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you like the implacable enemy, bloody violence and lots of it, Jedi are weak saps that can barely escape the "dark side", this is the book for you. Not that Stover does not have talent, but I am sick of the excessive violent (NC-17 if on the screen) claptrap that Star Wars books have been marked by since "New Jedi Order". I know that "Clone Wars" is about the disintegration of the Republic and murder of the Jedi, but do all the books have to be written by authors from the DARK SIDE?

I bought the novel because it dealt with one of my favorite characters. But it has quite disappointed myself... it reminded me so much of "Splinters of a minds eye" which centered on Luke's second encounter with Vader face to face but you had to read 300 pages of boring pages until you got to the interesting part.

In this book you learn of Mace's journey back to his home planet in his search of his missing Padawan: Depa. Depa had been on a mission to make the local Guerrilla join the Republic and fight the planetary forces which had joined the Separatists.
You will see how Mace finds out by himself how has his ability to control the force diminished and lost many of his capabilities.

But I was mentioning before that you the good thing was in the last pages. It's true. You have to endure boring chapters and chapters of Mace's adventures in the jungle until you find interesting stuff. This almost made me leave the book but somehow managed to keep on reading.

The story is not bad, but it could have shortened to a 200 page book, and you would have gotten the same...

After "Attack of the Clones", this is the first novel to be set during the Clone Wars. With the war between the Republic and the Separatists raging all over the galaxy, the Republic has sent out the Jedi to create insurgency on various planets to fight against the Separatists. The Republic is not used to full scale war and has only a scant clone army compared to the countless droid army of the Separatists. The Jedi, while powerful, are not soldiers and walk a fine line between the path of the Jedi and that of the Dark Side. The Jedi Council sent Council member Depa Billiba to Haruun Kal (the birthplanet of Mace Windu) to aid in the battle against the Separatists.

Something goes wrong. The Council receives a message that shows a massacre of civilians (women and children) that is purportedly orchestrated by Depa herself. This should be unthinkable for a Jedi. Against the judgment of Chancellor Palpatine, Mace Windu decides to return to his birthplanet and investigate. You see, Depa Billiba is more than just a Jedi; she was once Mace Windu's Padawan apprentice. Palpatine wonders if Mace would be able to strike down Depa if the situation calls for it.

Mace journeys alone through the jungles of Haruun Kal in search of Depa. The war that is taking place is one that has been going on for generations (it is, ultimately, a civil war), but with the Clone Wars having begun and the Separatists having interfered, there is a new level of brutality and genocide taking place. It is into this horror that Windu arrives.

"Shatterpoint" is unlike any Star Wars novel that I have read. It is much darker (which fits the jungle theme), and it is a violent novel. It is also a much better written novel than what one might assume with the Star Wars name attached to it. No matter what universe this story takes place in, "Shatterpoint" is a very good novel. It just happens to be Star Wars. I appreciated the switching of viewpoints between the typical third person storytelling to excerpts of "the private journals of Mace Windu". Between the two perspectives, Matthew Stover did an excellent job of storytelling, and both felt appropriate. While in the movies, Windu has a very limited role (even being a Senior member of the Jedi Council), but "Shatterpoint" gives Mace Windu a voice and a personality and we get an excellent idea of what sort of man Windu is and what drives him. We see his strengths and his flaws and he in one novel he is a stronger character than I had possibly imagined him to be. No longer is Mace the Jedi who is interesting only because he is played in the movies by Samuel Jackson. He is a character who was given a dark, gritty novel. "Shatterpoint" brings the Clone Wars into perspective and shows how it impacts individual planets, what it is going to bring to the Jedi and why, and the difficulty the Republic will have in possibly winning the war. We even see what it might take and all of this is told in a story about one little planet and a fallen Jedi. I can only hope that "Shatterpoint" will be indicative of the quality of the Star Wars novels (past and future), because this is a very good one.

-Joe Sherry

Shatterpoint is what Star Wars is all about. It is entertaining, immersive, and creative. But furthermore, it successfully uses the escapist sci-fi universe of SW as a vehicle from which to examine philosophical issues of life, morality, etc. Shatterpoint is the only star wars novel I have read, other than Timothy Zahn's work, that adds real depth to the star wars vision.

I think that the central theme of the story has to do with the conflict between the morality/compassion/order of civilized humanity (exemplified through the way of the Jedi) and the cold moral ambiguity of nature itself (which leads to the passion and cruelty of the dark side). The story explores the role of the Jedi as keepers of peace and guardians of moral civilization, and then challenges it by forcing the Jedi into a situation of chaotic and brutal war. In war, the only rules that apply are "survival of the fittest", and "kill or be killed". War occurs when the instruments of civilization fail to resolve conflict. Shatterpoint examines the struggle and dilemma of being morally good in a situation where the rules of civilized society no longer apply.

The issues and themes examined in this book are serious and mature. I would not recommend it to younger audiences. This book makes somewhat of a departure from the usual feel of a star wars story in that war and battle are not portrayed as thrilling adventure, but rather as brutal/painful/dark. there is more reality and maturity here than in the usual star wars fare. The book also does a good job of fleshing out the character of Mace Windu, making him much more human and fallible than the nondescript invincible Jedi master that we've seen in the films. At the same time, the Mace we see in this book does complement his onscreen portrayal very nicely. The personality brought to the character by Samuel L. Jackson does shine through in Shatterpoint. The entire story is pretty much Mace's show. Anyone wanting a story where all of the prequel's main characters are involved should look elsewhere. Yoda is present only briefly, Anakin and Obi-wan are only mentioned a couple times, and Padme is completely MIA. There are a couple appearances by Palpatine, and although they are brief, they emphasize just how successfully Palpatine has pulled the wool over the Jedi's eyes. Mace has nothing but respect and admiration for the future emperor, and both he and Yoda show absolutely no indication of suspecting Palpatine of being a villain. Their ability to see into the Force is clearly diminished, and the chaos and hopelessness faced by the Jedi in Shatterpoint is a fitting prelude to their coming defeat.

Like many, I felt that the NJO series began promising, but ultimately was just not UP to the standards the serious Star Wars reader is looking for. Sure, some of the authors made valliant efforts to reign in the growing mess that it had become, but it wasn't long before it was simply beyond help. Now we see a story that takes us back to the Clone Wars which we saw a minor glimpse of at the end of Episode II, and gives us an even deeper view into a truly great Star Wars character, Mace Windu.

Matthew Stover handles this particular Star Wars entry in fine form, as though he knew exactly what needed to be told for us readers who have been thirsting for a novel based in a Galaxy Far, Far Away that just doesn't suck -- which is ultimately what we want, a book that doesn't waste out time. 'Shatterpoint' DOESN'T suck at all. In fact, it is an above-average tale that (thanks to Episode I & II) helps us to better understand events we have already seen, and in part, to understand events yet-to-come in the later movies.

I wouldn't put Stover's writing on a level equal to Timothy Zahn, who is without a doubt the best living Star Wars author writing today, but Mr. Stover really IS good at what he does. Some have noted the grim darkness of this tale in other reviews, and I re-emphasize that there are some aspects of this novel which entirely took me by surprise -- mostly due to the graphic depiction of some of the scenes. NOT what you expect from your typical Star Wars story. I was (at times) even shocked that some was allowed in print -- and that isn't to mean it DOESN'T belong, but just more than I have seen in ANY previous novel (to date). Now that I have said this, let me also say that once you are past the more gruesome portions, you can relax and appreciate why they were included.

All in all, after some of the drivel of the NJO, despite the best of intentions by Del Rey and some well meaning authors, 'Shatterpoint' is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars Universe that deserves a very large audience and if Mr. Stover ever re-enters this particular Universe again, he can count on an instant best-seller based entirely upon the success of this story. Well done.

I find the Star Wars novels to be usually brain candy to read in-between other science fiction novels, but this one surprised me. It's rough, violent, and takes extreme chances. Damn, it's good, and not just as a Star Wars novel.

Stover comes highly recommended in the field because of his violent, "next-wave" style (read his novel "Heroes Die" for a really different brand of fantasy), and he doesn't disappoint in what must be the darkest, most brutal, tortured Star Wars novel I've read. Mace Windu takes center stage in a "Heart of Darkness" inspired tale on a war-torn planet (his birthplace) to find his vanished former padawan Depa Billaba, who might have gone insane from the hideousness of the conflict. The action comes almost non-stop, nearly reaching an overkill in the last third, but too much excitement is hardly a complaint, now is it?

But Stover also confronts the basic Jedi conflict of keepers of the peace facing the horrors of war where 'good' and 'bad' no longer have much meaning. At every turn, Stover emphasizes the bleakness of warfare and retreats from the usual Star Wars black-and-white dramatics. It's a refreshing shift of view that sheds light on the prequel movies. Great stuff! If you've never bothered to pick up a Star Wars novel because you think they're only for teenage boys, this volume will change your mind.

Apparently, Lucas Books was mighty impressed as well: they've signed Stover to write the novelization of "Episode III," putting him in the same class as R. A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks (who wrote the first two novelizations). It's an honor he certainly deserves.

- I thought this was going to be a mindless hack and slash Star Wars book. But it turned out to be much cleverer than I'd expected.
- Adds a good dose of grit into the otherwise clean Disney-like Star Wars universe.
- A very introspective book about the main character. It expertly weaves this even in the thick of a combat sequence.
- Concept of the Shatterpoint (the turning point or weakness in a tree of past and future events) works extremely well in the story- bringing elements from the beginning of the story to the end in a connected manner.
- Story poses points of view that would make you sympathize with both sides. And yet in the end you are still left wondering if the ultimate "answer" was really the "correct" one.
- Characters are engaging- even the minor ones.
- The language is a bit hard to follow at times and the final battle sequences got a bit confusing.
- Every bit of description about the world is necessary and serve as plot points for later.
- Final combat was very clever but I was pretty exhausted by the end of the book (probably more than Mace)- which I guess was the goal of the author.

I will definitely look forward to future SW books that Stover writes.

THE GOOD: This is a telling tale of Mace Windu. Yes, writen well for the older audience, (finally!). The Carectors are well drawn, and developed. The story is fast paced. The action sequences are overall well done. The thing this book acomplished the baest was to make the invincible action Hero, and jedi counsil member Mace Windu, much more human.

THE BAD: Continueing with the idea of the action. A lot of time there was too much deatail, and not enough explainaition. I felt like i lost track of what was going on, and somtimes i just felt it was time for the plot to go on. Finally,there wasn't as much dveoping of the clone war on a lager scale as i had hoped.

THE UGLY: This is a story of a genocidal war that has been going on for years. Be warned some scences are particularly grusome, not what you would expect from the PG rated Star Wars Universe.

---Don't get me wrong this was a wonderful read. I would recomend it to any Star Wars fan, even if you have never read any Star Wars fiction before!---

I stumbled across this book quite by accident - my 8 year old son (who is falling in love with Star Wars as much as his old man did) brought it home from the library.

he didn't read it - said it was "boring".

I read it.....and LOVED it! Finally - a star wars novel for someone older than 12!

Nice job on the writing, Matthew! Lots of literary references (including the horror of the heart of darkness). A small point, but i found some of the cultural anachronisms that crept into the dialog...........but this IS fantasy, after all.

I really appreciated the humor that the author put into the book.

This book would make a TERRIFIC movie, IMHO! I hope Hollywood picks up on this one......or else George Lucas should hire Matthew to write the screenplays for other star wars movies.

My first non-movie Star Wars experience.

This book drew me in and wouldn't let go, I had to know what was about to happen around each and every twist and turn.

Mathew Stover knows how to develop a character and tell a story (I bet he could win a story shootout with George Lucas --sorry George, he's got you beat)

This reminded me why people still read books.