Thursday, June 25, 2015

Star Wars Heir to the Jedi

Heir to the Jedi

Star Wars Heir to the Jedi is a book set in the time between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and told from the perspective of Luke Skywalker. The first Death Star has been destroyed, and Luke is sent on a mission to retrieve a cryptologist from Imperial clutches, as she wishes to join the Rebellion. At the same time Luke is coming to terms with the loss of his mentor, Obi- Wan Kenobi, and trying to figure out how the Force works and how to become a Jedi, with no one to train him. He teams up with Nakari Kelen, an attractive pilot who accompanies him on the mission, and they buzz around the galaxy on some side missions before going after the cryptographer.

The action starts quickly with Luke and Artoo heading out to secure supply lines (read smuggling) for the Alliance. I liked how it was stated that the Alliance couldn't survive without smuggling. The story careens from planet to planet as Luke and Nakari make their way into the Core Worlds, conduct their operation, and then get her to safety. Along the way they run into TIE fighters, Imperial cruisers and pirates- and also have to bargain for repairs on a windswept planet.

"She's a wanted ship now," I reminded her, but Leia shrugged it off. 
"The Millennium Falcon is wanted everywhere. We just change the transponder codes and it's fine." 

I haven't read a lot of Star Wars books, but this one was a blast. I like the first person perspective of Luke. His transformation from farmboy to the last Jedi was of course the whole point of the story. So to see him here in the early days of the saga, trying to find his way without Ben, was a treat. He doesn't have a clue how to the Force, something that  hasn't really been examined before in much detail.

The only real issue I have is it did seem a little unrealistic that Luke would go around using his real name , and no one sold him to the Empire. But other than that, I really enjoyed this story, the narrative voice felt like Luke and it was fun to gallivant around the galaxy. There's some nice humor in this one as well.

8 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I still need to read it and Lords of the Sith, but if you liked it then I definitely recommend A New Dawn. It focuses on the Kanan and Hera from the animated show Star Wars Rebels, but it was so much fun. It got me back into reading SW books after the reset. And if you ever want to listen to audiobooks the Star Wars books are epic. They have sound effects, voice actors, and background music.

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  2. Books for die hard fans of Star Wars no doubt..lol. I have never been a huge fan though I must admit I want to see the new movie coming out...lol. Great review! :)

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  3. I loved the Star Wars movies, but I've never been able to get myself interested in reading the books. Glad you enjoyed it, though.

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  4. I am a big star wars fan, but haven't read any of the books yet, I always felt a bit overwhelmed by them and not sure where to start. I am currently watching the clone wars animated series with my boyfriend, I am a big Annakin Skywalker fan and he get's a lot of screen time in that series.

    I think I have this book on my kindle app, I think I got it for free once on amazon. So I will read this eventually. I also have bought a book that takes place before the star wars rebels animated series. I am glad to hear it felt like a star wars story! Great review!

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  5. I am a massive fan of Star Wars but have never ever read any of the books, I really should as it is such a massive universe! Thanks for sharing your review will need to give this a read!

    Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings

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  6. Love star wars and I love that it plays out in your head, did you have all the sound effect too? :) Great Review, Greg! I need to see about maybe at least reading one of these books :)

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  7. I haven't read Star Wars books, that I can recall anyway, but I do like the movies. This one is tempting since it's written by Hearne (I love his UF series) and it's from Luke's perspective. I'm glad the story worked and was enjoyable.

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  8. I've only read a couple of Star Wars books so far, and was excited when I saw Kevin Hearne was writing one, since I love his Iron Druid series. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it since I had seen some bad reviews that made me wonder. I'll probably be giving this one a try!

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