Children of the Jedi

One of the often disliked novels I found Children of The Jedi to be quite interesting and well written. Slower in pace, and delving into the Force a bit more. What I liked. Calista. There I did it. They did the whole Force Bond. Like Revan and Bastilla. Or later Luke and Mara. So it introduced a fascinating power. And Calista’s hippy Jedi view was always fun. (Especially in the Clone Wars. No Prisoners is prerequisite for this now. It makes it soooo much better. God bless the Clone Wars.) Ok. What I didn’t like. Another superweapon. The Eye of Palpatine while unique and created a very cool plot devise that’s all it was...I never felt Luke or the New Republic was in any danger. At least from the Eye. The business on Plett is creepy and good. I enjoyed the entire storyline. I get chills thinking about the children. So. Yeah. I like Children of the Jedi. It does have its flaws. But all (well most) do. 8/10

I'm not sure why this wonderful book has been so harshly reviewed. It is certainly the best Star Wars novel I have read; it has more of the emphasis on character and spiritual issues and less of the "military" focus of the (also excellent) Zahn books. Many reviewers focus on the perceived flaw of "too much description." Perhaps the issue here is that many Star Wars readers really want a movie and not a book. And many Star Wars novels attempt to satisfy this desire. So, don't pick this up unless you enjoy books as literature. The descriptions are beautiful and really carry the reader to truly alien places. The subplots about what it means to be authentically who you are weave together without feeling like they were constructed to do so. The characters of Cray and Nichos are well-drawn and their dilemma creates both existential and romantic angst. The vanished Jedi children, visible as "ghosts" to Leia, in their happiness and freedom, contrast with the terrible, pitiable " creatures" in the tunnels. Luke's "mission impossible" aboard the asteroid spaceship, and the humor and horror of the mind-altered aliens aboard, is exciting and memorable. The characterization of classic Star Wars alien races like Jawas, Sand People, and Gamorreans is very good. Overall, the dreamy and often depressing style which put so many other reviewers off is remarkably effective and does not make the book any less Star Wars-like.For me, one of the big flaws of the Expanded Universe has been that many of the adventures seem like mere trivial episodes which don't have lasting implications, don't show us anything new about the characters, aren't truly thought-provoking, and just don't need to have happened. Children of the Jedi feels like a series of really significant events in the lives of the characters. I feel I know more about even C3PO and R2D2.I'll close this review with a debate topic for Star Wars novel fans. Was it a good idea to link all the novels into one universe, so that each author was required to take into account the events of all the other books? While it's nice to have a continuity to follow and see new characters like Mara Jade pop up, it also seems to hamstring the authors, limiting what their imaginations can show us. No big changes can occur because the drawing board has to be left open for other writers. What if, instead, there had been no imposed continuity? Then each author would be beholden only to the movies, and could do whatever they wanted without fear of contradicting other authors or changing the universe to much for future authors. The the readers would truly not know what to expect- Luke could die, Vader could turn out to be alive, Earth could be discovered, and so on. Then when the book ended those ideas wouldn't ruin future novels.Perhaps even if the large continuity was maintained, there could have been "imaginary" stories, the way the old DC comics used to do - stories where Superman and Lois got married or Batman died, that were outside the continuity.

You know the Dark Empire comics where the Emperor is still alive, Luke Skywalker goes over to the Dark Side, and they developed the most useless gun (a hyperspace gun, where a hyperspace capable missle would work just as well). Yeah, this book doesn't quite achieve that level of ridiculousness, but it comes close. Luke's force abilities are vastly restricted compared to previous stories, there are countless times when a little work with his lightsaber would solve all his problems. The Han and Leia plot is convoluted and difficult to follow, the descriptions pin the places they were are difficult to follow. For some reason the author chose to include Jawas and Sandpeople on a starship (for what Luke Skywalker defined as the furthest planet from the bright center of the galaxy, a lot seems to happen on and dealing with Tatooine in the Star Wars universe). The writing was not compelling, I found it very difficult to make it through.

Many of the Expanded Universe novels reused the same story tropes, quickly transforming them into cliches. In Children of the Jedi, author Barbara Hambly thankfully avoids using a kidnapping of Han and Leia's children as the central plot (Luke actually forbids their tagging along on the adventure). Although Hambly does use forgotten Imperial agents as the central villains, there is at least an attempt on her part to turn the villains into fully realized characters. As for the Star Wars staple of deadly superweapons, Hambly does utilize that well-worn plotline; however, the automated battleship Eye of Palpatine, staffed by all manner of bizarre alien creatures and controlled by a malevolent A.I. called the Will, provides a unique take on the superweapon trope, and I found myself genuinely enjoying the adventures of Luke and his Jedi students Cray and Nichos (both of whom could have used greater characterization, especially considering their actions at the novel's conclusion) in attempting to stop the ship from completing its mission. Also introduced in Children of the Jedi is Callista, a Jedi from the era of the Old Republic who has survived as a ghost aboard the ship and is Luke's love interest; Callista is another intriguing character whose potential is perhaps not fully realized in this novel. However, the author does show a gift for depicting the characters we all love from the movies; there's plenty of soul-searching and ruminations on the past from both Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and while Hambly's Han Solo is a bit weakly characterized, she is also able to make C-3PO vital to the plot. Despite the use of too much technobabble in the early chapters of the novel, I found Children of the Jedi to be a fast-paced and entertaining read, and a much better Star Wars "love story" than The Courtship of Princess Leia. It's not The Thrawn Trilogy, and Hambly is second to Timothy Zahn when it comes to getting inside these characters' heads, but it is light years ahead of most of the other Expanded Universe novels.

ALERT: SOME SPOILERSI don't normally write such a snarky review, but this one is just meh.I'll say this for it. It's traditional Star Wars, with the romanticized plot and no major charactors biting the dust in idiotic ways. On the whole the book is enjoyable if you can get past some of the more ridiculous plot devices, the repetitious Luke in mortal peril/falling in love(read getting horny), and the flowery prose. For explanations see below.Plot devices: Think Deathstar prototype 000. They say men who build big ships ar compensating for something, and in Palpatine's case . . . I think it's the teensy tiny size of his grey matter, because Eye of Palpatine was at best a hare brained idea.Then you've got Luke, who gets injured -- yet again, and falls in love with the female force sensitive protag -- yet again. Oh, did I mention his female protagoist is the literal "ghost in the machine"? Weird in the sense of Nightmare on Elm Street and Phantasm.Then you've got Tuskins? And Gammoreans? And Jawas, oh my. A zoo of hapless and somewhat intelligent creatures in varying degrees of helpful, harmful, or just plain apathetic.And lets not forget Leia and Han, who are absolutely clueless through most of the book, and the cameo appearance of Mara Jade. *eyerolls*Writing Style: This is the part of the book that gets me the grumpiest. Hambly attempts a rather flowery poetic prose style that leaves me wondering half the time what she's trying to say, and the other half of the time trying to figure out if she was huffing permanent markers while writing. Then again, this was her first StarWars book, so I can't be too hard on her. She was fumbling in the dark, and made an attempt that at least resembled successful.