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

I gave this a 7.

I thought it was a little bit boring towards the end and the Sith and Jedi teachings together thing annoyed me.

 

8. Corran Horn is a bit annoying figure, but the first person narrative was a freshing change to the usual third person narrative and this book saves the important parts of Exar Kun´s and Kyp Durron´s story from the wreckage of KJA´s trilogy. Corran´s own development is portrayed quite well, even if he tends to be too good to believe in everything he does. Among the 10 best SW novels I have read.

 

I thought it was a pretty good book so I gave it a 9.

I enjoyed the first person perspective from Corran and overall was a book that I can read again and enjoy.

 

I like the first person POV. It's really easy to bungle, but Stackpole pulled it off really well. I also liked the inside look into Luke's Jedi Academy.

 

9

Very good and interesting story. Stackpole up to his usual high standards. As has been mentioned, 1st person POV is not the easiest thing in the world to write, and this one was particulary good. Corran isn't my favorite character, but as he is well written I don't mind that.

Ironically, the 1st person POV is the one thing about the book that sometimes drove me up the wall. I found that I could only read it for a certain legnth of time before I had to stop, and I have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. This is because my reading style is very visual, and POV's are not easy to visualise. Hence 9 and not 10. Just me being picky.

 

I have to admit to being a bit disappointed. And this is coming from someone who got into the books BECAUSE of Michael Stackpole. I had read the Thrawn trilogy and SOTE, but I enjoyed them and moved on. It wasn't until I read Rogue Squadron the book that I became officially ADDICTED to the EU.

I think the I, Jedi was overlong. To be fair, I've been reading the EU chronologically, so the fact that the first half or so is a recap of sorts of the Jedi Academy Trilogy makes it seem a bit too redundant.

I do love Corran Horn, and I enjoy many aspects of the book, but I think I had it built up in my head prior to reading it, so that---combined with the fact that I just finished reading the Jedi Academy Trilogy---contributed to my not liking it as much as I expected to.

EnriqueH

 

Too Long, too boring, too Corran.

I gave it a three.

I didn't mind (I only read this and the X-wing books in the last couple of months) Corran in the X-wing books, maybe because they weren't 100% Corran. Reading I, Jedi I felt overwhelmed by Stackpoles love affair with Corran and how he's the greatest thing since lightsabers and hyperdrive.

However I did find the Corellian scenes to be the best parts of the book, and its saving grace for me.

 

4

Not Stack's best work and I'm a huge Corran fan. It was a unique perspective but it had too much cloak and dagger. Also the dark Jedi, or whatever they were, seemed poorly constructed and even more poorly written. I was very disappointed with the story behind Nejeaa Haylcon.

 

8
Amazing read, remembering its all first person. For somebody struggling with that technique quite a revelation.

Couldn't give it a ten though. Nice to know Corran's thinking so clearly and structured you can read it, but especially the introspection scenes were a little too... smooth. Just a bit of logical thinking and Corran comes out a better man. Um. Yeah.

I liked the part in the Academy a lot, though sometimes Corran was just too über on Luke. Luke in general seemed a little ooc, too doubtful, to hesitant. I got more Streen, which made me very happy, and I liked the new touch the character got.

The stroy was interesting. I was amazed, how well I liked the book, even though Corran does nothing but a trial-and-error rescue of his wife. Liked the cross-references a lot, too. I'm just a big softie for those...

 

I loved it, hands down one of my favorite books, and at the time one of the only first person SW stories.

 

10/10

My fav SW book, just re read it for the thrid time, and I know why I love this book so much, it has more of a SW book then all other EU stuff out there, don't get me wrong I love must EU books out there, but they are differnt then the movies, darker. I Jedi really brings back the humor in SW, i mean the part we he is naked and Elegos has to come save the (drunk man who has lost all of his speeder bike but the handle bar) one of the best moments in EU.

 

I'd have to agree, the story felt more like "star wars" then alot of books I've read.....


I sure did like the token jedi in it too...what were their name?

 

10...I liked Corran in this book, as well as the X-wing series.... but I don't like him in DN

 

Is it anything less than a 10 when you've re-read it so much you're on your 3rd copy?? *lol*

Seriously, though.....

 

I, Jedi is one of the best books in the trilogy, ranking alongside Timothy Zahn's work. The book's frist person narrative gives it a fresh twist, but the characterization is suberb.

Corran Horn, unlike other author's characters, is faced with tough choices and does fail occaisonally. Yes, he has a huge ego and it nearly gets him killed. He is tempted and desires to have an affair, but so do most married people. He gets to prove his quality by listening to good advice and acting on it. He also, though, has earned the right to be proud with his strong non-Jedi skills. He and Mara are the only Jedi (Batham) who have paramilitary skills. He was a sucessful cop before becoming a successful fighter pilot, and thus has a much better basis for his cockiness.

His criticisms of Luke are certainly justified. Only in SW would anyone think that a man raised with little company on an extremely backward planet would have the skills to run a successful school of any kind. He is correct in his belief that Kyp Durron's penitance should not replace punishment for his horrible crimes.

Some criticise the beginning for its slow development. Much time is spent figuring out what Corran should do since his wife has disappeared, but each piece has the purpose of forcing Corran to Yavin. On Yavin, Stackpole does retell the basics of the JAT, but Stackpole allows several peripheral characters to be more than the blond singer or the angry man. Stackpole's Exar Kun shows the sheer power of images, a recurring theme through the novel. Stackpole also gives Horn probably the most unique Jedi power--again the power of images. This would be nearly useless for anyone without Horn's detective abilities. The whole novel reads like a detective story, another first for SW.

The end redeems Luke by showing off his true talent: actual Jedi work. Corran eats another serving of humble pie as part of his character development. Sith are made multidimensional; rather than Sith being synonomous with the Dark Side, they are followers of an ancient tradition-some good, most horribly evil.

All in all, a wonderful book.

As an aside, this book has a much different feel to it since I got married. The struggles over starting a family and adultery are much more poignant. Perhaps it is disliked because it is a more adult book in a predominantly adolescent universe. (I don't mean this deroggatorily. By adolescent, I refer to the fact that the characters almost always manage to remain commintment free or their choices rarely cause consequences down the line. (Again, Batham universe, since I haven't read NJO))

 

10

M.A.S is one of my favortie authors, but I loved how he tied in the kyp/exar kun incident. I also liked how Corran can't use the force to move objects, but instead makes illusions

My favorite star wars book

 

Loved the first person perspective, love the character. I'm keeping a close eye on Corran throughout the New Jedi Order, sadly he's not in it all that much, though he plays a great role in the beginning.

I, Jedi has me thinking I should head back and take a look at the X-wing series which I passed over.

 

8. Some parts were good, others weren't.

 

10/10

I loved this book. A great change of pace from the galactic-scale drama & characters that are typical Star Wars, but it still felt as genuine as any of the rest of it. The first person POV of Corran Horn was interesting, the pirates were great and the space battles/ dogfights were as good as the X-wing series, but with the Jedi angle worked nicely into the story. Luke was portrayed very well at the end, and I really enjoyed and identified with most of the minor characters. Great stuff, especially if you read it after the X-wing books but before the Jedi Academy Trilogy. For some reason, that seemed to bring that whole portion of the timeline into order for me very well.

 

I love the 'guts' that Michael Stackpole, Lucasfilm and Bantam had in publishing this novel. It was the first hardcover to center around a non-movie character. It was the first novel (and sadly only to date) to experiment with a different storytelling style within the Star Wars universe; a first person perspective novel.

Loved the quest... a quest based on love. Enjoyed the mystery and intrigue, a great detective novel, laced with the style of noir.

A big thumbs up in my opinion!

 

Stackpole's a good writer, but I gave this book a slightly lower rating because from what I understand it is not a stand alone story. I hadn't read the books around it. And there didn't seem to be much action for a SW story. It's like he was counting on you getting your action from the other books.

 

I did a book report about this in 6th grade. Until the NJO and Hand of Thrawn, this was my favorite book. It still ranks in my top 5 though.

 

That's interesting. I actually completed the book for an assignment in 8th grade. Figured might as well report on something that interested me.

Personally, I gave I, Jedi a 10. I first read it when it came out, have probably read it 5 or 6 times since. In my mind it only got better as I got older. I do think it doesn't necessarily rank with a few of the x-wing series but I attribute that to Stackpole's restriction of writing parallel to another authors work. In X-wing he had a lot more freedom for plot and character development. That's not to critize the Jedi Academy Trilogy, another excellent series, but no author can fully release their creativity when restrained by set conventions. Moreover, upon re-reading the academy trilogy, I found its lack of other prominent EU characters irritating. Of course this could not be helped because it was , if memory serves me write the second published series before most EU characters were created. I think I also benefited because I had read the academy trilogy at least two to three years before I, Jedi came out, so it seem more or revisiting the work rather than redundant.

Additionally, the 1st person perspective was refreshing. It also helps explain many other readers complaints. Since it is written through Corran's perspective, everything is tinted, but unbarebly so. All characters are slightly off-cilter. Now this might irritate some, especially since Corran is rather critical about chief Star Wars characters, but lets face it. Most of these characterizations are proposed by many others in the EU but its in I, Jedi they come out full force. In my mind Luke has always been a blend of impulsiveness and indecisiveness, alternating in a reactionary cycle. Corran sees that and responds.

Overall, I think Stackpole is an amazing author, one of EU's best. He creates many memorable characters, most with strong principles and deep backgrounds. I for one am most please with his work as of date.

 

Since Corran is fairly common in certain circles of fanfics I was curious...so I picked this up...1st POV, was very cool 'cause it's rare. The first 240 pages were pretty good...then it crashed and burned. Corran's haughtiness and judgement of others not to mention his decieving his fellows exspecially my fave JAT character, Streen coupled with pinning the old one as hapless and weak was not only not nice...it made me stop reading. 4/10.

 

I absolutly loved this book !!! It had an excellent storyline and plot.