4/5 Rancors - Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson is Volume 3 of The Jedi Academy Trilogy. I found the story to be an excellent follow-up to the first two books. Mr. Anderson weaves a good tale with our favorite heroes involved in all kinds of dire situations all through the galaxy. Luke, of course, is running his Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 and has to rely on the skills and force powers of his trainees (plus Han and Leia’s children) to bring him out of the trouble he was left in at the end of Volume 2. Kyp Durron, having been won over to the dark side by the spirit of Exar Kun, is off in the Sun Crusher bringing death and destruction to the Empire, although doing it in a Sith fashion instead of by Jedi methods. Wedge ends up back at the Maw Installation trying to see what can be salvaged. Leia is appointed to run the New Republic as Mon Mothma’s health fails. She also has to make a desperate trip to the planet where baby Anakin is hidden to save him from a kidnap attempt by the bad guys. Han, Lando, Chewie, and Mara Jade are off on other adventures. The action is pretty much nonstop, and Mr. Anderson does a good job of weaving the stories together. On top of all that, Admiral Daala turns out to be alive with one remaining Imperial Star Destroyer, and a functioning prototype of the Death Star also enters the picture. Whew! All good stuff.
I only have a couple of real reservations about the three books in the trilogy. The author seems to feel obligated in each book to lessen the mood by including attempts at humor. In Jedi Search, we have the Umgullian blob races, i.e., blobs racing around an obstacle course. In Dark Apprentice, we have the ownership of the Millennium Falcon going back and forth between Han and Lando based on the whims of sabacc games. This is really hard to accept. In Champions of the Force, we have the ultimate bureaucrat trying to command the Death Star by having meetings, establishing priorities, and turning to procedure manuals to handle any situations. This slam at methods of corporate management was slightly clever at first but wore thin with repeated usage.
My other reservation deals with the approach taken to Luke, We keep waiting for Luke to take over and assert himself as a true Jedi Master, but he is presented as indecisive and extremely unsure of himself. Several times I found myself wondering where the real Luke Skywalker was. I miss him. Still, this third book and the entire trilogy are fun to read.
I only have a couple of real reservations about the three books in the trilogy. The author seems to feel obligated in each book to lessen the mood by including attempts at humor. In Jedi Search, we have the Umgullian blob races, i.e., blobs racing around an obstacle course. In Dark Apprentice, we have the ownership of the Millennium Falcon going back and forth between Han and Lando based on the whims of sabacc games. This is really hard to accept. In Champions of the Force, we have the ultimate bureaucrat trying to command the Death Star by having meetings, establishing priorities, and turning to procedure manuals to handle any situations. This slam at methods of corporate management was slightly clever at first but wore thin with repeated usage.My other reservation deals with the approach taken to Luke, We keep waiting for Luke to take over and assert himself as a true Jedi Master, but he is presented as indecisive and extremely unsure of himself. Several times I found myself wondering where the real Luke Skywalker was. I miss him. Still, this third book and the entire trilogy are fun to read.
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