Dark Nest I: The Joiner King by: Troy Denning

Summary:   Luke Skywalker is worried: A handful of Jedi Knights, including his nephew and niece, Jaina and Jacen Solo, have disappeared into the Unkown Regions in response to a strange cry for help that only they could hear. Now the alien Chiss have angrily lodged a formal complaint, accusing the missing Jedi of meddling in a border dispute between the Chiss and an unidentified aggressor.   Luke has no choice but to head to the Unknown Regions for serious damage control. Han and Leia follow, intent on protecting their children from what could be grave danger. But none of them are prepared for what they find when they reach their destination.   A colony of mysterious aliens is expanding toward the edge of Chiss space. The leader of the alien nest is resolute. Adept in the Force, he is drawing old friends to his side, compelling them to join the colony and meld their Force-abilities with his, even if it leads to all out war. . . Review: Good:  I enjoyed this book very much. The first book in the NJO era I've read since the The Unifying Force. And I was glad to be back in this time period. As can be seen in the Dramatis Personae Raynar and Welk are alive. But injuries sustained when their ship crashed have made them quite different. And now we see the Killiks, a race only mentioned in passing in regards to a painting of Leia's called the Killik Twilight. And Jedi Joiners, what will become of them? Will Jaina and the others ever recover from the effects of the Killiks? Or remain as they are forever? It was hard to put the book down, I constantly wondered what would happen next. Jacen's character has certainly made some changes as well. He seems to have reverted a little to the Jacen from the Young Jedi Knights series. A little bit of humor in how he plays with the scanners checking his brain patterns. He has also learned some new tricks from 5 years of traveling to the different Force users in the galaxy and learning from them. And this new Jedi Order, the light and dark being one and only intent being bad. Definately a step further than what we saw in the NJO books. I wonder if this is how it will remain or if in the coming books the Jedi will find some balance in the Force. Find the line that they cannot cross. Bad:  I would have to say the new "view" of the Force. Seeing Luke using Force Lightning and becoming a step closer to being like Palpatine in how he tires himself out and the raw Force power deforming his features. It kind of disturbs me. SPOILERS: Alema going dark... interesting. Interesting indeed. I'm curious to see what happens from here. And WAS that Lomi that was in the room with Luke and Mara when Luke was fighting Welk? Is she the "Unseen Queen" of the next novel? And if so, who was the "Joiner King"? Raynar, or Welk? And what's this with Jacen and Tenel Ka? Might they get back together again? What about Danni? Could be interesting... Back to the New Jedi Order Era. Back to Star Wars Eras.