briefly on the NJO, I think the only book in the series that got it right was Destiny's Way. I feel the direction they took with the Force with Jacen Solo was amazing, innovative and truly a very original concept for the Star Wars series as a whole. I was really excited to read the rest of the NJO series after Destiny's Way but upon seeing the Star Wars universe returning to traditional themes of the Good Republic and its heroes and the Evil Empire/Yuuzhan Vong I became so jaded I couldn't finish reading the rest of the series and consequently have not read any Star Wars fiction since I don't know. I always liked the Empire. I felt they got some things wrong but it seems to me (perhaps I'm biased) that the entire Star Wars mythos just took the concept of a perpetually evil Empire and ran with it not allowing it to change or evolve. Resurgences with Thrawn, Daala, Clone Emperor Palpatine just felt like more of the same: They're the enemy. We're the good ones. The NJO had such a great opportunity to change that fact. To make the Empire a different culture instead of a few thousand parsecs full of idiots, war mongers and pugilists I don't know. I love Star Wars. It holds such a deep place in my heart, truly. But at the same time the EU makes it just feels worn out and leaves me coming back to the canon of the movies (another post for another time, sigh)