The Crystal Star

While this is easily the best of a bestselling series (the five earlier books all made the New York Times bestseller list), its flaws are still obvious. The problem rises from the Star Wars film tradition in which banter was stronger than logic, an arrangement that suffers in print. Leia, former princess, now Chief of State of the New Republic, attempts to rescue her children, who have been kidnapped by Lord Hethrir, leader of the evil organization, the Empire Reborn. Coincidence piles upon improbability at warp speed as scenes shift from Leia to the children to Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, who have left on vacation with See-Threepio. At Crseih Station, located in a system with a double star, one of which is a black hole, the threesome encounter a mysterious being called Waru and the even more enigmatic Xaverri. McIntyre (Transition) draws her characters with skill, especially Han and Leia's daughter Jaina, but she weaves a plot full of holes, suggesting that the world she writes of may be alien to her in more ways than one. (Nov.)