R. A. Salvatore’s Vector Prime is the first book in the New Jedi Order series, introducing a new villain, the Yuuzhan Vong. It is also the first Star Wars book to generate death threats for its author. Why? Because Salvatore does what so few Star Wars authors are given the chance to do. He kills off a main character. This book will not be remembered for the way it introduced the Vong to readers, or the way it revealed the Solo kids as they are growing up, but it will forever be known as the book in which a moon fell on Chewbacca.
That’s right, Chewie, the lovable eight-foot-tall Wookiee, dies trying to save other people from a moon that is falling in on its planet. Han Solo, sadly, has to watch the Wookiee perish as his son Anakin flies everyone to safety, having to leave Chewbacca behind. Han falls into a depression that will last for several books.
The new enemy, the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong, shows signs of promise as enemies go. They don’t have the limitations that the Empire had, and they are certainly far more brutal and vicious than Palpatine or Vader ever were.
Otherwise, Salvatore’s writing is very sound, but a little slow in places. He’s more a fantasy than sci-fi writer, and it shows. The early parts of the book, with Nom Anor controlling the Rhamomool-Osarian conflict and slowly poisoning Mara Jade feel like a swamp that the reader has to push through to get to the actual action.
The New Jedi Order series spans 19 novels and 13 authors. As opening books for a series go, this one does a good job of setting the tone. Finally, it seems, the heroes are no longer invincible.
Re-readability: 8.9
Final Grade: B+
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