With Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, Greg Keyes continues his salvation of the New Jedi Order series of Star Wars books. Keyes manages to create situations and characters that entice the reader to keep moving, to plow through his books as if there were nothing else in the world you could possibly conceive of doing. While Rebirth isn't quite as good as Conquest, it more than holds its own with the other books in the series. Unfortunately, Keyes bites off just a little too much and, with the limited page count, the book feels a little cramped.

Anakin Solo's best friend, Tahiri, is recovering from what the Yuuzhan Vong did to her in Conquest, and Anakin remains determined to stay be her side while she does so. Still, he starts going a little stir crazy, confined to the Star Destroyer as he is right now. So he and Tahiri accompany Corran Horn on a supply run. Now, wanted for murder by the Peace Brigade and others, the three Jedi stumble upon a Vong plan to begin their offensive again, right to the heart of the New Republic. Meanwhile, Mara Skywalker is in danger of losing her baby if she continues taking the drug that prevents the Vong disease that she was infected with from spreading, so she goes off of the drug. With only a month or so left until her due date, will she survive long enough, with Luke's help? And will Han and Leia be able to reconcile their differences with their son Jacen long enough to set up a path in order to get fugitive Jedi away from the Vong?

I have just one word to say about the ending of Rebirth. Hallelujah!!! While I do have some issues with how many separate plots Keyes jammed into this 290 page book, I am very pleased to say that he avoids having them all end up in one place! He avoided it last book, too, but that was mainly because there was only one main plot. This time, there are several, and Keyes avoids the coincidence. On the other hand, because there are so few pages, the book is kind of hindered by them ending separately, as they feel a little diffuse. Still, I was thrilled to see it.

Surprisingly, even none of the plot lines feel like their neglected too badly, other than the Luke/Mara one. Keyes mainly avoids this by having the assault on the Vong world ship not take up too much room in the narrative. As much as other authors would use this as a high point, with a lot of space ship action, juking and jinking, explosions, and the like, Keyes makes this more about the relationship between Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo, as well as his relationship with the rest of the Jedi. There is still plenty of action, but there aren't a hundred pages of it, which was refreshing. As for the rest of the threads, Keyes is the master of making a small amount of space go a long way, making each thread feel like it's taking up more space than it actually is.

Even with all of this going on, we get a lot of wonderful characterization. There's the return of the old Han and Leia, with the banter between them back to the sarcasm hiding deep affection that characterized their relationship for so long before Chewbacca. They're still a little unsure of each other, and the hurts between them have not disappeared, but both realize that they love each other and they are stronger together than apart. They even have some bonding time with their son, Jacen. The scenes between all of them are wonderful, especially the one between Jacen and his mother in the docking bay, where she's wondering if he's going to leave them. There are deep philosophical differences between the two male Solos, but both are able to put them aside to do what they know they have to do.

It was also nice to see the return of Corran Horn, even if Michael Stackpole wasn't writing him. I've wondered about him since Ruin and I was hoping we'd see him again. He does a great job of mentoring Anakin, trying to curb some of his impulses. Anakin appears to have learned some from his experience on Yavin 4 (in Conquest), but he's still liable to go off half-cocked. The relationship between Anakin and Tahiri also takes an interesting turn, and with her feeling like a Vong at times, this should be fascinating to watch develop. I have my ideas on where this might go, but I'm probably wrong. The interaction between the three of them was almost perfect. As for the rest of the characters, I can't go on forever, but again there is not a hint of mischaracterization anywhere in this book. Greg Keyes, I bow down to you.

On the other hand, there were a couple of faults in this one, bringing it down from the stellar heights of Conquest. First, I am getting a bit tired of our heroes stumbling upon Vong plans. The attack on the world ship is perfect, because the information comes from intelligence gathered by Kyp. However, Corran and the others just randomly find the Vong attack on Yag'Dhul in a desperate hyperspace jump. So while Keyes avoids the coincidental ending, there's still just a bit too much happenstance for my book.

Secondly, the Luke/Mara plot is very truncated and almost deserved its own book. The birth of a Skywalker child, especially with all of the things happening to Mara, should have developed more. Luke and Mara do have some scenes, but they mainly consist of Mara denying she needs help or finally allowing Luke to help her, and then WHAM! The baby's born. Keyes could have made an entire book (or at least half of one) about Luke and Mara running from the New Republic government, which has just put an order out for their arrest, having the situation worsen in stages as Mara gets sicker, and then go on from there. What we got was fine, but it didn't seem to be enough. At the very least, the book could have used a few more pages to do something more interesting with these two.

That being said, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth is yet another standout Star Wars book. The series really seems to be moving into high gear, with authors like Keyes. With Keyes having written the penultimate book in the series, I feel a lot better about James Luceno writing the finale.

Other New Jedi Order books
Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore
Dark Tide I: Onslaught by Michael Stackpole
Dark Tide II: Ruin by Michael Stackpole
Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial by James Luceno
Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse by James Luceno
Balance Point by Kathy Tyers
Edge of Victory I: Conquest by Greg Keyes
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth by Greg Keyes
Star by Star by Troy Denning
Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream by Aaron Allston
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand by Aaron Allston
Traitor by Matthew Stover
Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams

Other Star Wars books
Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning
Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn
Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn
Allegiance by Timothy Zahn
Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
Death Star by Michael Reaves & Steve Perry

Recommended: Yes