Andrew's Review of Children of the Jedi

1/5 Rancors - Barbara Hambly's Children of the Jedi kicks off a sequence of stories unofficially known as the "Callista Trilogy." First published in the spring of 1995, this novel is representative of a period of time when Bantam Spectra was struggling to find its footing with its successful Star Wars license. Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy had met with massive success and acclaim, and subsequently Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy also saw significant sales, although less fan acceptance. These two trilogies set out many key elements of the Expanded Universe that would ripple through all the stories to come, including Han and Leia's children, Luke's attempts to revive the Jedi Order, the shape of the New Republic, and more.

One element common to more than a few of the Bantam novels was something Anderson picked up from the Death Stars in the films, and that is superweapons. Hambly keys in on this plot device and introduces a new one of her own: the immense Dreadnaught Eye of Palpatine, an automated ship built in secret and designed to wipe out an enclave of Jedi on the planet Belsavis. Why Palpatine would need such a gigantic ship to destroy these Jedi is never made entirely clear, nor is the convoluted plan to pick up hidden caches of troops and supplies secured at remote locations across the galaxy. The ship is controlled by an artificial intelligence simply known as the Will, and Luke must deal with the Will's machinations and find a way to save Belsavis, where coincidentally enough Han and Leia are researching a related mystery.

The good news for Luke is that decades earlier, a Jedi Knight named Callista managed to transfer her consciousness into the Eye of Palpatine's computer and has lived there as an intangible presence battling the Will ever since. As they interact and try to stop the ship in its horrible mission, they quickly fall deeply in love. This romance storyline is shallow and impossible to buy in to. There is no believable reason given that the relationship between Luke and this voice he's hearing would progress so fast - we're simply told that it has and that's that. There's no spark between these two, and not helping is the fact that every other page dwells on how weak and sick Luke is. It simply is tedious watching him painfully claw his way through the story and having to simultaneously suffer through these ridiculous "romantic" sequences. Not to spoil the ending, but since this is the Callista Trilogy, you can infer that Callista becomes more than a voice in a machine. The means by which this happens is even harder to accept than the initial premise, as is Luke's casual brushing aside of the extremely weird method by which he gets to physically be with Callista.

The novel rotates between Luke's adventures on the Eye of Palpatine and Han and Leia's investigations of strange occurrences on Belsavis. The planet itself is a welcome addition to the huge roster of Star Wars locations, an interesting mix of a verdant tropical zone in a covered rift valley surrounding by an inhospitable glacial wasteland. The mystery of Plett's Well is engaging at first as well, but starts to be dragged down by the large amounts of exposition wedged between any significant story points. I did find Hambly's vision of Leia's upbringing as a member of Alderaan's royalty interesting and something most authors seem to ignore.

At its core, Children of the Jedi simply doesn't have a solid enough story to justify its length. Luke and Callista is a relationship I don't buy into, and I'm very thankful that eventually the far more interesting Mara Jade re-entered the EU picture. The events of this tale don't warrant its length, and I found myself putting the book down frequently and growing increasingly reluctant to return to it.

David's Review of Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows

4/5 Rancors - Street of Shadows is the second book in the excellent Coruscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves. We are still in the lower levels of Coruscant. Jax Pavan, one of the few remaining Jedi after Order 66, is managing to survive by avoiding Darth Vader’s attempts to capture him and by spending his time helping people escape Imperial Center through Whiplash, a system of routes and safe places established by the remnants of the Rebellion.

Jax has an unusual band of individuals to help him in his efforts. Den Dhur, the Sullustan ex-reporter, is still around as is the unique droid I-5YQ, one of my favorite characters in the entire Expanded Universe. Haninum Tyk Rhinann was once an aide to Vader and is now part of Jax’s group. Laranth Tarak is a female Twi’lek and a Gray Paladin, basically a Jedi who prefers to use blasters instead of a lightsaber. She still uses the Force and is an invaluable member of the team. An important new introduction is Dejah Duare, a female Zeltron who comes to Jax asking for help.

Two main stories wind through the book. Dejah is a partner of the famed light sculptor Ves Volette, and things get complicated for everybody when Volette meets with an untimely demise. Jax and his crew are involved with finding the murderer. We also get to welcome back an old friend, Captain Typho of Naboo. He is determined to find out the truth about Padme Amidala’s death and avenge her if at all possible. His efforts lead him into a confrontation with the famed bounty hunter and Jedi killer Aurra Sing. She is on Coruscant on assignment from Vader to bring in Jax Pavan.

Mr. Reaves ties all of this together very nicely and leaves us wanting more. Bring on Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force.

David's Review of Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight

4/5 Rancors - Jedi Twilight is the first book in the Coruscant Nights series by Michael Reaves, and it gets us off to a good start. The timeframe is the period after Order 66. Most of the Jedi have been wiped out, and Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are cracking down on the galaxy. We obviously know that a few Jedi survived the slaughter because they appear later on in the films and books. However, those particular Jedi are not the ones we follow in this book.

Our main character in Jedi Twilight is Jax Pavan, one of the few Jedi to survive Order 66 but also a very inexperienced Jedi. Jax is the son of Lorn Pavan who we read about earlier in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. We also are reintroduced to reporter Den Dhur and the unique droid I-5YQ who steals scene after scene in the book and is actually one of my favorite characters in the entire Expanded Universe of Star Wars. Nick Rostu, who we met in Shatterpoint, plays a major role in the story, as does Price Xizor of Black Sun who is back again.

The action in Jedi Twilight takes place primarily in the lower levels of Coruscant or Imperial Center as it is now known. The whole concept of Coruscant is fascinating with the entire planet covered by buildings and populations living on various levels basically according to what they could afford. The true lower levels were not a place where most people would want to live. The emphasis there was entirely on survival, and conditions were grim and desperate. This type of setting creates a specific mood for the book and lends itself very well to the action.

Much of the story is based on a search for a missing protocol droid named 10-4TO. Everybody wants to find the droid because its databank contains valuable plans for the Resistance. Tie this in with efforts by Darth Vader to capture Jax Pavan plus devious dealings by Prince Xizor and other Black Sun leaders plus attempts to kill Pavan just because he is a Jedi and you get an interesting story.

My only complaint about Mr. Reaves’ writing style is that he tends to go overboard with explanations at times. It is as if he is showing us how much he knows about particular subjects. Some editing in these areas would have been helpful. Every once in a while I felt as if I were reading a textbook. However, this is just a minor quibble.

On the other hand, I give the author full credit for introducing a particularly memorable set of characters – feral droids. These droids have been left to their own devices in the Factory District of Coruscant, and the result is a kind of Lord of the Flies for droids. The droids have adapted their own systems, added weapons, changed their appearances, and have turned into killing machines. I found the concept of feral droids to be fascinating, and I hope they turn up again.

Jedi Twilight is well worth reading. I look forward to the next two books in the series.

Andrew's Review of I, Jedi

3/5 Rancors - A unique quality of Michael Stackpole's I, Jedi is it is the only novel in the Star Wars Expanded Universe to be written in first-person. This choice of perspective brings an immediacy and focus to the story often not found in the sprawling casts of his X-wing series. I, Jedi runs parallel to Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy, a series that has many important story points for the Star Wars universe but is a rather average read at best. Stackpole weaves Corran into the events of that trilogy and also takes Corran on a brand-new adventure around the midpoint of the book.

In essence, Corran Horn seems to be Stackpole's avatar in the galaxy far, far away. Despite the large number of characters he has created in the X-wing novels, there has always been a very strong focus on Corran, a character who spends a lot of time thinking about his flaws but generally comes out with the perfect answer to any situation he is put in. I enjoy getting to know one character so well, but at times I found myself resenting the placement of Corran on such a high pedestal, especially when building him up comes at the expense of a character as beloved as Luke Skywalker. However, this tendency of Stackpole's does get balanced out periodically with his exploration of Corran's flaws, especially in the temptation he feels around Leonia Tavira, the young, gorgeous Imperial adversary of this story.

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of this tale with the Jedi Academy Trilogy. Anderson writes in a brisk manner and it was intriguing to spend more time learning details about the early days of Luke's Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Stackpole also explicitly nods to events from the comic series Dark Empire. There is plenty of original story as well, once Corran departs the Academy and sets off across the galaxy looking for his missing wife Mirax. One thing that would challenge a new Star Wars reader is that Stackpole doesn't recap the full events of Anderson's stories. To understand what happens between Luke and Exar Kun, it is necessary to read those books as well.

Corran's Jedi heritage has been touched upon in the X-wing series but in I, Jedi we are given significantly more detail about his abilities and ancestry. This book was written right as The Phantom Menace was being released; for the most part it fits well with what we've learned of Jedi from the prequels. There is a focus on family that the prequel Jedi didn't have or agree with, but some of the differences can be attributed to the particular philosophies of Corellian Jedi. Stackpole illuminates interesting characteristics of the Halcyon (Corran's original last name) line's ability to interact with the Force. It seems all Jedi are not created equal, and try as they might, the line Corran comes from has never had any strength in telekinesis. They do have another ability to absorb and release energy to compensate. I like the notion that all Jedi are not equal, and sometimes they may not be able to do certain things regardless of their level of training or commitment.

I, Jedi is a worthy companion piece to Anderson's trilogy. I didn't find the story terribly memorable but it does shed new light on some aspects of Luke's Jedi Order. The first-person narrative also adds interest. Recommended, although it is best to be familiar with the Jedi Academy Trilogy first.

Rancors Update

Looks like my partner in crime has done all the Star Wars reading lately! I just finished I, Jedi and will be posting some musings on it soon. Interesting trivia: it's the only first-person Star Wars novel in existence. The last few weeks haven't had much time for literature, whether serious or pulpy. I did speed through Timothy Zahn's prequel to Terminator Salvation and enjoyed it very much. Light, breezy, but it does a good job of bridging the gap between Rise of the Machines and Salvation. Can't wait to see Christian Bale's performance as John Connor: as we all know now, he brought some serious intensity to the job!

David's Review of The Jedi Academy Trilogy Vol. 3: Champions of the Force

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.