Looking at the tail end of my previous
Star Wars review reminds me not just how excited I was to be free of
working at the Alzheimer home but of all the plans I had for my
immediate and long-term future. It may seem like this rambling has
nothing to do with a Star Wars review but this is honestly a short
hand version of today's book. A scatterbrained tale that makes
constant pit stops while the theme of personal development struggles
to hold the the plot together.
Kevin Hearne's Heir to the Jedi has a
unique history. It was originally intended as the final piece in a
trilogy project from the old expanded universe. That original series
has been about the individual adventures of the three main characters
between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Somewhere down the line
it was decided that this final installment would be allowed into new
continuity. This was probably an easy decision if the original
manuscript was anything like the finished project as this is very
much a contained story.
Similar to our last tale, Aftermath
this has so far been one of the less well received installments in
the new EU. The most common complaint is how the story feels like the
fetch quests of Luke Skywalker. To certain extent this is true. In
fact, I was reminded of the old game Yoda Stories, a randomly
generated adventure game where players controlled Luke as he
undertook a constant barrage of chores for different people in order
to get items he needed for a greater goal. The first third of this
novel in particular feels a lot like that old game.
When everything starts up, Luke has to
go broker a deal with some shady weapons traders for the Rebellion.
Along the way he intervenes in a dogfight saving a vessel. While on
Rodia, and working on making a deal he goes with a new quittance to
the tomb of her uncle, a former Jedi Knight and even gets to take the
guys lightsaber. Upon returning to the rebel fleet, Luke is
congratulated for saving that random vessel as it was actually
carrying important information about a top notch cryptographer in
Imperial custody. He's teamed up with a young woman named Nakari but
there ship isn't equipped for such a dangerous mission. They visit
the girls businessman father in order to seek out funds for upgrades
which results in him sending them to recover information from a
scouting crew he sent to a newly discovered moon. During this leg of
the journey the pair must contend with vicious, brain-eating
monsters....really. After that they continue on to have the ship
upgraded, gather information about their target, and only then do
they attempt the rescue mission which makes up the rest of the book
with pit stops of its own.
Sounds pretty scatterbrained, doesn't
it? Here's the thing, the primary theme of the book is Luke
attempting to increase his knowledge of the force while navigating
life as a war hero. Overall the author does a decent job of keeping
these elements in focus yet there are still portions like the trip to
Rodia that hardly provide anything of merit.
It's kind of a shame the storyline is
so lacking as the writing isn't half-bad. Reading Luke's growing
relationship with potential love-interest Nakari is charming. Not to
mention Drusil, the Givin cryptographer they was sent to rescue
provides some great interactions with the pair.
Still, the fun characters can't
completely save the book from poor pacing as it makes one side trip
after another. The portion with the brain-eating bug creatures comes
out of nowhere. Similarly much of the violence within this book is
way beyond the usual Star Wars laser blasts. Generally when someone
gets shot with a blaster, the result is them falling over with a
singe mark. Here, a blaster may well equal a cranial explosion.
What's most important though is whether
the book's any good. The answer is...sorta. It's definitely a lower
class of Star Wars tale, down there with Aftermath but it can still
make for fun reading. As I mentioned earlier the character
interactions are charming, plus there's the classic pulp adventure
feel to the entire story. On the downside there's the poor pacing
that holds back the primary goal of the story for far too long.
Basically it's not a total waste of your time if you choose to read
it but it's a far cry from being essential reading. Thanks to it's
tight focus on one hero and the more adventurous tone I am going to
rank it one spot higher than Aftermath. Let's look at the books so
far.
- Lost Star by Claudia Gray
- New Dawn by John Jackson Miller
- Tarken by James Luceno
- Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne
- Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Alright, my original intent was to
have this done and posted last night. That plan was quickly derailed
by the need to wake up early for one astoundingly odd day at work
counterbalanced by a quick shopping trip. Got some neat article
fodder while I was out. As you can probably guess from the photo at
the top of this post I've got some other Star Wars stuff to talk
about as well. Pretty much what I'm telling you is to keep an eye
peeled for new content cause I've got things planed for here and
other sites plus the Halloween season starts at the beginning of
September. Before you know it, kids will be back in school,
temperatures will start to chill, and the best months of the year
will be ours to enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment