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"I, Jedi," by Michael A. Stackpole [Bantam, 1998]

Discussion in 'Archive: Literature Review Forum' started by dp4m, Jun 10, 2003.

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"I, Jedi," by Michael A. Stackpole [Bantam, 1998]

Poll closed Mar 25, 2012.
  1. 10 (Excellent)

    62.4%
  2. 9

    11.9%
  3. 8

    11.4%
  4. 7

    3.3%
  5. 6 (Average)

    3.3%
  6. 5 (Average)

    1.4%
  7. 4

    1.4%
  8. 3

    1.4%
  9. 2

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. 1 (Poor)

    3.3%
Thread Status:
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  1. Sniper_Wolf

    Sniper_Wolf Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2002
    (reads original review and pukes)
    I've finished a reread of it. I give it 6 out of 10.

    (goes into review)

    This books can basically be cut in half. The first half being the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy from Corran's POV. It was the best part of the novel, but all Stackpole was doing is inserting Corran in trilogy that was three years old when I,Jedi came out. I also found Corran to be very irritating at times, and too Gary Sue like, especially when talking to Luke about his training methods. However, it did have a good Star Wars feel, and I was able to get through it.

    The second half. This is when Stackpole is finally doing original work. With the exception of the last 100 pages, this felt like a X-Wing novel. I didn't like reading another boring X-Wing fest. Corran also came to close to cheating on his wife, and he deserved to have something bad happen to him. The last 100 pages made up a little.

    Another major thing I had is the fact Corran is still a rehash of Nolan from Talion: Revenant. I would love to see Stackpole do a novel without a Nolan rehash for once.

    Overall, you have an average first half, a horrid middle section, and a medicore last 100 pages. The only other thing to it's credit is it's a lot better than his X-Wing novels, which isn't that hard, but suffers from the fact you have to read X-Wing to get this novel. So only read if you have time to waste, but it's not worth slugging through at least four X-Wing novels to get.
     
  2. Koohii

    Koohii Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 30, 2003
    My gripe with this book is that it spent too much time overlapping with Kevin J Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy. Why overlap your good novel with novels that suck?
    Anderson can write a good description of a scene, but that's it. His ability to tell a story is negligable.

    Stackpole, on the otherhand, does a great job. I'm glad this book got a hardcover first release: it deserved it.
     
  3. khallandra

    khallandra Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Nov 16, 2004
    I really enjoyed this novel and it is one of the few SW books I found the time to read twice. Corran is just one of the best characters and I love the way it ties in with the Jedi Apprentice series so nicely.

    And the cover art is really good too :)
     
  4. Susimetsa

    Susimetsa Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2004
    8.

    A nice book and comes right after Zahn's work in my favourites listing.

    I did not like the concurrence with the Jedi Academy trilogy, but I admit that it gave Stackpole a brilliant chance to dash Anderson's writing and less than logical plot points. Still, it might have been better to just ignore some of Anderson's worst moments (e.g. a super Jedi who kills millions of people only to be forgiven immediately afterwards) and just concentrate on Corran's own story.
     
  5. EwokStromboli

    EwokStromboli Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2004
    A 10. A beautiful, perfect 10.

    Corran Horn is one of the most fascinating characters of the EU, in part because he is a real character (or, at least, he seems real while being filtered through the GFFA). He's not perfect, and he's often tempted---but deep down, he's not a bad guy and he's not a super-Jedi; he's simply a good guy at heart who has some specialized talents.

    I enjoyed every page of this book; I'll concede I read it before I read the last 2/3 of the JA trilogy, but that doesn't necessarily matter to me, since: [1] this, IMHO, is a superior work to the JAT, and [2] Kevin Anderson uses the phrase "the other trainees" dozens of times in the JAT, leaving plenty of room for a re-telling from another perspective(s).

    As for the 1st person POV, I think it worked here, in part because Corran strikes me as a thinker. You obviously can't do this with a shallower character, but Stackpole has a sufficiently full character here.
     
  6. PsychoInfiltrator

    PsychoInfiltrator Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2004
    I, Jedi Rocks. Anyone (in my opinion)who throws it aside is a flippin' blasted idiot. Anyone who dislikes Corran needs a psychanalyisis, and could easily be described with untypable words. The top two authors in the EU univers are Zahn and Stackpole. If you don't agree that those two are best, nominate somebody else and I'll laugh at you.

    PS: Luke is a wuss, always has been, and will be chronologically until he finally sides with Kyp in NJO. PPS: George Lucas's films made Star Wars, but anything he touched in EU is usually TRASH! Sorry about the off-topic.
     
  7. Zebra3

    Zebra3 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 28, 2004
    10

    I really enjoyed this novel. It was the first Star Wars book that I said to myself that I'd like to read it again when I was finished. And I have read it several times since then. Reading the novel from first person was an interesting approach and I liked the shift from the traditional focus on many characters. An excellent read.
     
  8. Prequel_Dreamer

    Prequel_Dreamer Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2004
    Just awful. Self righteous moralizing espousing a moral cowards philosophy on life. One of the first train wrecks suggesting that there is no dark side just a gray side. A total load. Only for fans of bad writing.
     
  9. Jedi_Horn

    Jedi_Horn Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Bad writing? I know that is your opinion, and you are entitled to that, but I honestly don't understand how you can think that. Stackpole is one of the best EU writers, right up there next to Zahn. The way he writes and describes, he is a fantasic writer and in my opinion one of the best.
     
  10. LordDarthXavier

    LordDarthXavier Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Dec 25, 2004
    You either have to like Corran Horn or not. If you do, then you will like this book, but if you find him to be too cocky for a human, and arrogant, then you will probably not like this novel. I grew to like Corran as he developed and grew on me in future books, and when I read I Jedi again, it was much better and I had a better appreciation for the charchter.

     
  11. master_organa

    master_organa Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 5, 2004
    Ten of course. Amazingly good.
     
  12. Ashandarei

    Ashandarei Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 21, 2004
    I would give this book an 8, maybe a 9. Stackpole is definitely my second favorite SW writer, and the book is certainly up there. I only have two problems with this book:
    1) Luke is made to look like an incompetent wuss, while Corran is apparently omniscient. At the end of the book, this changed, but for most of "I, Jedi", Luke was portrayed as totally bewildered and stupid, and Corran was the smart one.
    2) Corran learns how to be Super-Jedi in 8 weeks. 8 frickin weeks. He's not as good as Luke at the end, but he's still good enough to take on hordes of baddies, and to lightsaber duel a woman who has trained HER ENTIRE LIFE to fight Jedi. The sarai-kaar (don't have the book with me, that might be spelled wrong) should have completely destroyed him; instead she barely wins, and he tricks her w/ the Force. This should not have been possible.
    Aside from those two things, I liked this book a lot, perhaps my favorite SW story that isn't from the main characters' perspectives.
     
  13. Analise

    Analise Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Gave it an 8.

    I love Stackpole, but...I don't love Corran. Though it was I,Jedi that got me to like him more. I liked seeing his perspective on the Jedi Academy (especially since I couldn't finish that particular group of books).

    I also liked seeing to what lengths he'd go through for Mirax but...it just seemed to me he took .) and the weirdness factor of first person keep me from rating it higher.
     
  14. ReconSEAL

    ReconSEAL Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2003
    Excellent book. It is actually one of my favorites because it gives a fresh new point of view to the Universe. Also, it makes Corran seem more human.
     
  15. maryaminx

    maryaminx Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 24, 2005
    I loved this book except for the showdown with Exar Kun. I mean, KJA managed to tie it up quite nicely without Corran. Also, the entire "I'll go distract the Sith Lord" idea is ridiculous. Some of the philisophical stuff got annoying, but overall I give this book an 8.
     
  16. Xzilen20

    Xzilen20 Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2005
    Nearly perfect.
     
  17. Sand_Hill

    Sand_Hill Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2004
    I gave it an 8. I enjoyed the part that overlapped with JAT and the last part (starting with the lightsaber). I felt it was way too long and moved to slow in the other section. the first-person perspective was interesting, although I ultimately think its to blame for the slow pace of the book. I had tons of issues with Horn in the first part of the book, especially the way he interreacts with Skywalker, but at least he acknowledged some of my reservations at the end.
     
  18. JediMasterSeth

    JediMasterSeth Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 26, 2005
    This book was really really good. I liked how it was only from Corran's perspective. His many different trials were cool too. A funny thing about this book happened to me yesterday actually. I had laid down the Star Wars books for a while so I could read some others so when I came back to my book shelf months later I had forgotten that I had already read this book. And finding a book mark in it too didn't help spark my memory. So I start reading from the book mark, thinking that is where i left off. As soon as I start reading I realize hmmm I rememebr reading this part. So I skip ahead trying to find where i left off. It shocked me that I totally forgot about reading it with how good it was. Specially the last fourth of the book. But anyways that was a really wierd experience. Has that ever happened to any of you all?
     
  19. DarthShadus

    DarthShadus Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Mar 17, 2005
    10

    Why? Because Stackpole decided to do something different. A first person novel. It worked so well i wonder why it has not been done since. Horn's spin on everything was interseting as well. I really could not put the book down and i have read it 2 more times since i got the book one year ago. Great read
     
  20. benkenobi151

    benkenobi151 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 2005
    Perfect 10

    I consider the best Star Wars book I have read ecause you can really see the events of the Jedi Academy trilogy from a different perspective. I also like Corran Horn because he's an average guy that brings Jedi philosiphy down to a more manageable level. You can really see the hardship of the training through a regular person's eyes. I've read this book about four times. (I would read it more often, but I have to keep checking it out of the library because I can't find it in stores.)
     
  21. DurronFan

    DurronFan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 25, 2005
    9.5

    Very good, I must say. Like others have already said, you either like Corran or you don't. And that's ok. Corran's character is really what tips the scale for people on whether the hate this book or love it. To not like this book for its writing style or its plot and story would be hypocrisy, because they are the novel's strong suits. I think the main reason why some people just don't like the book is because it's 500 pages and they're used to reading 100 pages of Jude Watson. Seriously, people, be serious. In my opinion a book SHOULD be over 350 pages for it to have enough character development and plot. But enough said...

    I liked this book because

    1. It was in 1st person. Stackpole should be complemented for doing something no SW has ever done before. it gave a whole new perspective on things.

    2. As far as perspective goes, we got see some of the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy from another point of view. I actually read "I, Jedi" before the JA trilogy, so that was cool.

    the ending was a bit simple or predictable, which is why it didn't deserve a 10 in my opinion.
     
  22. -JediRevan-

    -JediRevan- Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2005
    i thought this book was overrated, i never really liked the character, and i dunno the book just wasnt that interesting
     
  23. Jedi_Jimbo

    Jedi_Jimbo Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2004
    I disagree, this book made me a big Corran fan.
    I thought the book was really well done.
     
  24. celestia

    celestia Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    I really enjoyed this. I love Stackpole's works to begin with and while it took me a little while to get used to the 1st person pov, I think it really worked quite well. It isn't my favorite book of all, not by a lot, but I enjoyed it quite enough to re-read it on occasion. I'll admit that I enjoy the character Corran Horn quite a bit and I'm sure that helped. But I gave it an 8.
     
  25. Qui-Gon-Matt

    Qui-Gon-Matt Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2005
    Stackpole always does a great job with everything he writes. I liked the first person point of view for a change. Corran does get a little irritating at times though.
     
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