Heir to the...Jedi?

I'm not really sure how I feel about Heir to the Jedi which is why its been almost a week since I finished the book and I'm just now getting the review up. There are some really strong and creative aspects of the book but overall the story is forgettable. Heir to the Jedi (HTTJ) is the newest adult novel in the new Star Wars canon (and by adult I don't mean nsfw but not intended for children or teens, although how much fun would that be right?), although just by publication date. It was originally announced before the old EU was rebranded as Legends but it happens to fit in the timeline of the new canon. HTTJ takes place in the months after the Battle of Yavin and falls in with the other new additions, namely the three Marvel Star Wars storylines that are currently under way: Star Wars, Darth Vader and Princess Leia. All of these are excellent and I can wholeheartedly recommend them. It focuses on Luke as he's getting over Obi-Wan's death and coming to terms with his connection to the Force. What makes HTTJ unique, and hard to love, is its first person narrative. The whole book is told from Luke's perspective which is hard to get used to both for the reader and, it seems. The effect is that the book doesn't really feel like a Star Wars story. That and the vocabulary is awkward and not very in-universe. For example, how does the kid who grew up on the dirt-poor desert planet of Tatooine know about ice cream? He doesn't/shouldn't. After so many years of the EU the Star Wars vocabulary is established; fresher for shower, chrono for watch, caf for coffee and the like. So far the other novels have kept up with this tradition but Kevin Hearne is new to the franchise and I would love to know whether it was a conscious decision by the author or the editor to break with tradition. Dear god I know its pedantic, but these are the things that bother me while reading.

HTTJ is not without redeeming factors. Luke is at his most likable in this book and Hearne really captures the feeling of young, slightly dorky "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to save you!" Luke rather than the dour Jedi master that we'd become so used to in the old EU. He feels like the Luke I fell in love with as a little girl. Luke's inner voice feels young and his infatuation with the other main character Nakari is sweet and endearing in sort of a puppy love way. He's also struggling to find his way and without Obi-Wan to guide him. He's coming off being the hero of the rebel alliance but its really done nothing to bolster his sense of self confidence. He's making little headway learning about the force and he's trying to grapple with his relationship with Darth Vader, the man he believes killed his father. He's trying to do what he can to help the rebellion but he feels like he's not as important as Leia. Luke and Nakari are tasked with retrieving an expert mathematician/hacker from Imperial custody and delivering her to a deserted planet to live in safety with her family. Along the way they are chased by imperial agents and get sold out by those they think they can trust. There is everything we hope for in a Star Wars novel but there is a greater focus on lesser known species and planets. 

Nakari is Luke's sidekick, love interest and biggest fan. She is an excellent character, and probably this book's brightest spot. She is a badass, confident, smart and creative. Their personal interactions are both awkward and endearing, although I personally could have done with a little more actual romance. Nakari is sort of a mentor to Luke and a cheerleader rather than a damsel in distress. 

The plot overall has some pacing issues, each battle scene is separated by and few pages of dialogue in a way that seems formulaic enough to be more at home in a video game than a novel. The entire book can be spit in tho three missions each with a different location. Perhaps this story my have been more effective told as a comic than a novel. The feeling of "what's at stake?" is largely missing. We can't argue that Luke and Nakari's mission is of vital importance to the success of the rebellion. 

The major problem with the book is also its biggest spoiler so here goes...

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Nakari dies at the end. For no reason other than to cause Luke pain and give him a chance not to give in to the dark side. It's ridiculous. He could have had another reason, maybe anger or fear. It's just really unfortunate to waste a dynamic female character just to cause a man some pain. We've seen a few women in Luke's life get killed off in the old canon, but it always felt like it was because he was supposed to end up with Mara, but now there is no Mara. I just feel like it was lazy storytelling and I was hoping for more in the new canon. It proves that Lucasfilm/Disney/DelRay aren't listening to female fans yet, and that is really unfortunate.

Overall, unless you're a huge fan of all things Luke Skywalker, I would give this one a miss.

Star Wars' New Era

Star Wars has been in the news a lot in the past week and it only felt right to me to talk about the new era in the Star Wars universe. Just like many fans, my world was rocked by the announcement that the old Expanded Universe (EU). I was sad that Jaina and Jacen Solo, Mara Jade, and the Republic Commandos would no longer be canon. With the announcement of Episode VII, I cherished the hope of seeing my favorites on the big screen. But Disney has big plans for the new Star Wars. 

Phase one begins with the animated series Star Wars: Rebels on DisneyXD accompanied by the first new EU novel A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. Having finished A New Dawn and seen a few episodes of Rebels I have to say I'm pretty excited. We haven't seen much about what happens in between Episodes III and IV and there's a lot of tantalizing nuggets in both stories. The strategy seems to be to show the universe from the bottom up. Both Gorse, the planet where A New Dawn takes place, and Lothal, the setting of Rebels, are on the outer rim, far away from the planets fans are familiar with. The people who live there are the little people who stand to sacrifice the most to the empire while reaping the least benefit from its rule. Even this early in the new era, its easy to see the roots of what would become the Rebel Alliance of the Original Trilogy (OT). What I especially like about Rebels is that they've made an effort to tie it into the OT. They've brought in characters that we know and love, sampled music from the original John Williams score and created backdrops taken directly from Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for the OT. 

The characters are both new and familiar at the same time. Kanan the one time Jedi padawan, is a Han Solo type swashbuckler, the lovable jerk. Hera is the brains of the operation, as adept as she is beautiful, reminiscent of Princess Leia. I have high hopes for Hera, I think there are a lot of places they could go with her character. I'm a little disappointed that Hera kind of got short shrift in A New Dawn as far as backstory and dimension go. She is mostly presented from Kanan's point of view as an object of desire and there is kind of a "will they or won't they" relationship between the two so far. Zeb is the muscle, who delights in cracking Stormtroopers' heads together and reminds me strongly of Jayne from Firefly fame. Sabine is a breath of fresh air. A teenage girl with a lot of artistic talent and a special appreciation for explosions, Sabine is sure to be a fan-favorite with little girls, a worthy successor to Ahsoka Tano. My not so secret hope for Sabine is that she will be an avenue to have more Mandalorians in the new canon. Lastly, there's Ezra, who is a force-sensitive street rat, adopted by the rest of the crew and poised to become Kanan's apprentice. The gang is frequently harassed by platoons of stormtroopers just as inept as they ever were and commanded by Agent Kallus and grasping imperial trying to wring the last assets out of the local people. Kallus reports to the shadowy Sith Inquisitor, whose purpose is to eradicate the last of the surviving Jedi. 

There are a few questions in particular that I'm still wondering how producer Dave Filoni (of Clone Wars and Avatar fame) will answer. One is what becomes of Kanan and Ezra if Luke, Obi-Wan and Yoda are the only surviving Jedi just 20 odd years later. The other is whether there will be any ties between this series and the Clone Wars. Could Ahsoka be back? How about the clones that enter the 501st? Its early days yet, but the new era for Star Wars is full of promise. 

For more on A New Dawn, check out my Goodreads review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1089174653?book_show_action=false