by Walter Jon Williams
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Product Description
The time of reckoning is close at hand. Events in the New York Times bestselling Star Wars The New Jedi Order series take a decisive turn, as the heroes of the New Republic prepare for their most volatile clash yet with the enemy—from without and within.
In the war against the ruthless Yuuzhan Vong, the fall of Coruscant leaves the New Republic divided by internal strife, and on the verge of bowing to conquest. But those who steadfastly refuse to consider surrender—Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and their children and comrades-in-arms—are determined to seize victory against overwhelming odds. And now, finally, there are signs that the tide may be turning in the New Republic’s favor.
After capturing crucial Yuuzhan Vong intelligence, Jedi fighter-pilot Jaina Solo prepares to lead a daring surprise strike against an enemy flagship. Meanwhile, Jaina’s brother Jacen—liberated from the hands of the enemy and newly schooled in an even greater mastery of the Force by the Jedi Knight Vergere—is eagerly poised to bring his unique skills to bear against the invaders. And on Mon Calamari, the New Republic’s provisional capital, the retired, ailing hero Admiral Ackbar has conceived a major tactical plan that could spell the beginning of a swift end for the Yuuzhan Vong.
Yet even as opposing squadrons face off in the depths of space, intrigue runs rampant: in the heated political race for Chief of State . . . in the shadows where Yuuzhan Vong spies plot assassinations . . . and in the inscrutable creature Vergere, a Jedi Knight whose allegiance is impossible to predict. And as Luke Skywalker sets about reestablishing the Jedi Council, the growing faction opposed to the ways of the Force unveil a terrifying weapon designed to annihilate the Yuuzhan Vong species. But in doing so, they may be dooming the New Republic to becoming the very thing it has sworn to fight against—and unleashing the power of the dark side.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Did incredible damage to the series, 2007-12-05
Destiny's Way essentially killed the New Jedi Order series. In addition to being one of the only Star Wars books I have read that is actually poorly written, it essentially destroyed all the character development that had been gaining over the past several books, most especially in "Traitor". The most horrible example of this is Jacen Solo, who is reverted back to the whiny, self-absorbed fool he was at the beginning of the series with no explanation. This book marks the beginning of New Jedi Order's death throes, and, with a little help from the disappointing "Unifying Force", tarnishes what could have otherwise been an amazing book series.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The end of Tsavong Lah (The Warmaster) ! A must read!!, 2006-12-15
For the past three years the Yuuzhan Vong have laid waste to the galaxy. Mighty heroes have fallen, planets have burned, and Coruscant, the illustrious seat of government for millenia, is no more. The ruins of the great city planet have given birth to Yuuzhan'tar, the legendary homeworld of the Yuuzhan Vong. All hope seems lost for the New Republic as darkness sweeps the galaxy. But from that darkness emerges a beacon of light, a lost hero, a lost son - Jacen Solo.
"It is the turning point."
This phrase echoes throughout Destiny's Way, and it proves true. Walter Jon Williams leads us on a journey that chronicles the restructuring of the New Republic, the rebirth of the Jedi Council, and the return of a lost hero - all leading up to a clash of titanic proportions. At the Battle of Ebaq a conglomeration of Yuuzhan Vong battlegroups rivaling that of Battle Plan Coruscant is wiped out to the last living ship. By novel's end Warmaster Tsavong Lah is dead and the Yuuzhan Vong... well, if there were any Yuuzhan Vong survivors they would be licking their wounds.
Williams must have delved into the layers of EU material when penning Destiny's Way. The book is filled with subtle references to more-obscure content, such as the classic X-Wing PC game. Keyan Farlander, now a Jedi and a general, returns at the helm of a New Republic fleet. We also get to see a variety of ship types instead of the standard fare: Lancer-class frigates, Corellian gunships, and the classic MC80 Mon Calamari cruiser. At the end of the novel we learn what became of the other Super Star Destroyer the New Republic's been hiding - the Guardian.
The book has a variety of battles. Williams gives us small skirmishes and dogfights, grand space battles, lightsaber duels, and even the rare underwater conflict. The submarine battle is awesome, and seems like something straight out of the pages of The Hunt for Red October, but the Battle of Ebaq takes the cake for my favorite scene (even though it's a good chunk of the book).
My favorite parts of the novel, aside from the sprawling Battle of Ebaq, were those involving the Yuuzhan Vong. Shimrra is a veritable monster, and Williams does an excellent job showing us many facets of the Supreme Overlord. We finally get a glimpse into the inner workings of the highest-level of the Yuuzhan Vong government. The Shaper Lord Ch'Gang Hool, High Priest Jakan, Warmaster Tsavong Lah, High Prefect Yoog Skell, and of course, Onimi, who is destined to be a crowd pleaser with his antics and clever rhymes. Also sure to please fans: in Destiny's Way the veil of mystery surrounding what really took place on Zonama Sekot is lifted.
Destiny's Way offers more of my favorite character - the executor everyone loves to hate, Nom Anor. Having escaped the warmaster's wrath after the events of Traitor, Nom Anor finds himself in the court of the Supreme Overlord, where he undergoes a vigorous 'mind-rape' at Shimrra's hands. It is here that Nom Anor learns of the heresy among Shamed Ones and members of the worker caste. He infiltrates a small group of heretics and decides that they need a leader - a Prophet. Later, when events turn sour and Nom Anor unadvertently leads the Yuuzhan Vong to their greatest defeat, the executor abandons his position and goes into hiding amongst the heretics. I don't think we've seen the last of him just yet.
"What are you doing, Executor?"
"Giving Shimrra an itch."
Traitor left me fearing for the executor's life, and Destiny's Way is no exception. By the end of the novel Nom Anor is a marked individual, and Shimrra will stop at nothing to have his head. How long can one run from death before it finally catches up? Hopefully forever.
I applaud Williams for not falling into a common trap - what I like to call 'fan popularity bias'. Too often we see the main characters being forced into situations, often because of their popularity among the fanbase. For example, the majority of fans were counting on a rematch between Jacen and Tsavong Lah. Instead Jaina was the one to put an end to the warmaster's reign of terror. Instead of populating the Jedi Council with all the fan-favorites he included Kenth Hamner and Tresina Lobi, two Jedi with very little prior exposure. Not only does this add to the element of surprise and believability (the main characters can't do everything), it also gives us the opportunity to learn more about second and third-tier characters.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A cool book, 2006-11-15
As OVERrated as Traitor was, Destiny's Way is UNDERrated. Williams has a nice smooth flowing writing style that made it an easy read and, unlike Traitor, advanced the plot on a galatic scale. I'd like to address some of the statements made by previous reviewers.
I'm not sure how Williams `ruined' Palleaon. Sure, he wasn't as cordial with Han & Leia as he'd been in the past nor should he have been. It was business. The Empire wanted something from the Republic for their aid as they should. And I'm not sure why reviewers made such a big deal about his garden either. Geez, it was in 2 or 3 paragraphs. I don't get their gripe about the election either. Luke & Mara did NOT sabatoge it. Lando & Karrde did - and RIGHTFULLY so. They needed a Jedi friendly leader & got one.
The formation of The Jedi Council was one of the coolest scenes in the whole NJO. Jaina's title of `Sword Of The Jedi' was befitting in the context it was given. Vergere was FINALLY killed off so there won't be any more of her special brand of `help'. Her character could've been handled so much better. My only grip was the fight between Jaina & Tsavong Lah. It was over way too fast & should've been done better.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 book 14, 2006-09-25
in this one the author ties up loose ends mostly.he also ignores some of the cooker stuff happening from previous books from the series.anyhow,lando has created mouse droids to weed out vong secret agents.luke skywalker begins the new jedi council and his wife[and lets not forget former sith] is the 1st on it.princess leia goes to the empire for help vs the vong.i didnt see that one coming!jaina solo gets promoted to major.she also makes jedi knight,despite the fact she turned bad a few books ago.do the authors of these read the old ones ?i wonder!vergere is taken prisoner by the jedis.id like to see her killed off.she is so obnoxious!5 more ppl make the jedi council only one of whom was really in any of the previous books.the ever controversial kyp durron!2 books ago in the series they introduced a sith lord called lord nyax.what happened to him?why are we keeping all the dorks and killing or not using all the really cool people?there is a major thing i cant say going on with the vong.the bothans declare a state of "ak'rai" which means like genocide on the vong.a few more folks make jedi knights also.among them the heart broken tahiri,jacen solo-who was on the dark side a book or so ago.......................and lowbacca-a jedi wookie.i still prefer chewie.the vong structure is coming apart at the seams.jaina is promoted to lt colonel after a major feat.once again im not allowed to spill the beans.this book is interesting but really has little to do with previous books in the series.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Things are starting to look up for the Republic!, 2006-05-09
After the extremely personal events of Traitor, the New Jedi Order series gets back to galactic adventure in Destiny's Way, by noted science fiction author Walter Jon Williams. Things are reaching a turning point as the Yuuzhan Vong are stretched almost to their limits, but the New Republic is too, and both sides are delivering weaker and weaker blows. Williams does a good job with this, though the politics in the book slow things down quite a bit. Also, some of the characterization seems off, though not to a huge degree. Still, it's another winner in this series, and with five books to go, things are starting to move toward a conclusion.
Jacen Solo is on his way back to the Republic, with new-found friend (possibly) and mentor Vergere coming with him. In Destiny's Way, Vergere reveals the truth about who she is and how she came to be with the Vong, and she also sows the seeds to what might end up being the solution to all of their problems. Meanwhile, the New Republic needs a leader, and Luke Skywalker wants to re-establish the Jedi Council, and he finds a good ally in Cal Omas. If Cal can win the support of the majority of the senators, he may be able to help Luke with his goals as well. Meanwhile, the Vong are discovering just how many resources they've expended in this relentless war, and they have to decide whether to regroup or go for a final assault. Admiral Akbar, retired military expert, comes up with a plan that may draw the Vong into a final assault that they cannot win, with hordes of Jedi (along with the most important ones, the Solo twins) as bait. Will things go off as planned, or will the Vong do something completely unpredictable and ruin everything?
Destiny's Way starts out with a bang, with Han and Leia facing off against a bunch of Vong coralskippers as they travel to the remnants of the Empire to ask for help. There, they discover that, while some help is better than none, the Empire may be waiting to see who wins. This, along with a mission proposed by Jaina Solo to decapitate the leadership of the Vong with one shot, gives the book a bit of excitement, as there isn't a lot of action after this (other than an assassination attempt and a another ship battle with Jaina) until near the end. Of course, any Star Wars fan loves spaceship battles with the Falcon, so Williams started out with the good stuff.
The problem is that it starts to bog down a little after that. Some of the conversation is interesting (I loved the scene on the Imperial Remnant, with both Leia and General Pellaeon dancing around diplomacy as they have dinner and visit with each other), but some of it wasn't so much. I found the politics around the new Republic head of state to be rather dull (assassins notwithstanding, as well as a cool Lando scene). The new Jedi Council has some interesting possibilities, but only two of them (Luke and one other) really grabbed my attention this time, even as they wrestled with some serious issues. Thankfully, Williams' writing always stands up, even when the plot isn't that intriguing. While the pace slowed, it never stopped, and that's down to his prose.
The other slight problem was the characterization of Jaina. Perhaps it's because of Jacen's return, but she seems to regress from the previous couple of books, and I thought she had come out of her dark shell more than Destiny's Way portrays. She was still gloomy, but this book has the return of her "I'm going to die anyway, so why should I care about anybody?" shtick. That was really the only characterization fault that I had. Jacen seems to have matured from his ordeals in Traitor, the changes in Luke's attitudes are clearly created by what's happened to him and what he discovers with Vergere (in fact, the scenes between the two of them are probably my favourite in the book), and everybody else is captured fairly well too.
The ending of the book is wonderful, though. Lots of action, reverses as things don't go quite as planned, heroics, and starships blasting each other out of the stars. There's a lot to like there, as everybody gets involved in one way or the other. It'll be interesting to see where the series goes from here, given what happens at the end. Williams' writing shines in these sequences, as he shows he can handle starship combat with the best of them. It's not quite as frenetic as Stackpole and Allston can be, but they are masters of the craft. I'm not familiar with Williams' writing (other than a couple of short stories, and The Courtship of Princess Leia, a book that didn't really contain too many ships), but he definitely has a clear way of handling it.
The New Jedi Order is entering its stretch run of books, and Destiny's Way is another high point. It's just not as high as some of the other books around it have been. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one, though I haven't heard the best things about them. Here's hoping that the quality keeps up.
David Roy
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