Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: KNIGHT ERRANT (spoilers)

Average score: 440.7/49 = 8.99

 

JJM honestly and truly gets what Star Wars should be. I read this book after a marathon read through KOTOR and while it's not the best story he's told, it's easily the best SW novel I've read since Mindor.

9/10

 

Average score: 449.7/50 = 8.99

 

I had a long, detailed review written up about this book, but I seem to have misplaced it. The short: Loved this book! Loved Kerra, loved Rusher, loved the interaction between the two of them, loved all of the various Sith planets and the unraveling mystery of what was wrong with each of them. Loved the revelations about how the Sith Lords in the area of space are all (literally) related, loved the Bothan Sith spy, loved the incompetent Duros. There's action, there's humor, there's fleshed out, complex characters, there's a new era with its own quirks that still fits so well in Star Wars.

My only problem is that I had trouble following some of what was going on, especially at the end on Arkadia's planet (what a great name, though. Arkadia Calimondra. I just love saying it)

I was honestly kind of back and forth on the first comic arc, but this book brings it all to another level and makes me really excited to see where Kerra's future brings her in her one-woman war against the Sith. 8.5/10

 

Average score: 458.2/51 = 8.98

 

JJM is a comic book writer and it shows, in ways both good and bad. His writing is really very simple, only slightly above the level of KJA and Drew K. He does a lot of telling, his dialogue feels like something from a comic book, full of one liners and short summaries of whatever he's trying to portray atm. He even uses comic book sound effects in his writing, like the KA-POW! from the old 60s Batman show. It's like reading a comic book without the art. There was a lot of exposition that I actually thought was character dialogue, but I couldn't find quotations anywhere. All of his characters are extremely simplistic, but amusingly so, while some of his characters' actions are more developed than they are.

The structure of the book is very solid, it's basically newly Knighted Jedi Kerra Holt hopping from planet to planet, discovering an oppressed population and facing more and more cunning Sith, like Bruce Lee defeating a different martial arts style as he climbs the pagoda in Game of Death. Each tier of Sith Lord gets their own act, and each act is better than the last, each Sith more subtle and insidious.

CHARACTERS:

Kerra Holt: She's basically an audience surrogate, saying and doing whatever the audience would do in the moment if they were a Jedi Knight that could kick ass. She's an everyman, a John McClain. She kicks ass, but she's not too powerful. Her thought process is incredibly simple and close-minded, she just kept using the label "SITH" as an argument, like the villagers in Monty Python and the Holy Grail exclaiming "SHE'S A WITCH! BURN HER!" The character works as a simple action star.

Rusher: He's Han Solo. Like Han Solo, he says he's not a nice guy, but he is. All the time. He keeps insisting he's this tough mercenary, but doesn't have his shoot first moment. In one painfully meta example of dialogue near the end, he actually says something like "You think I'm some scoundrel with a heart of gold?" The scoundrel archetype defined by Han isn't really a bad thing, but he's nowhere near as charming or as complicated as Han. The character failed with me.

Daiman: Vanity taken to its most amusing extreme. The statues and holos were a layup, but having his servants address him with "As my lord knows" and literally rewriting history was brilliant. Daiman is the creator, an outrageous version of a combination of Vishnu and Brahma. Love him.

Odion: If Daiman is Vishnu/Brahma the creator, then Odion is Shiva, the destroyer of worlds. He's not as developed as Daiman, he has a death cult but it mostly just gets a mention. One thing I did like was his petty, bitter hatred and jealousy toward Daiman, even referring to him as a "little snot". Fitting for an antagonistic older brother.

Quillan/Dromika: The first appearance of conjoined twins in Star Wars? They're not conjoined physically, but through the Force, but I think it still counts. I'm not really qualified to diagnose them, but they also seem to have some sort of mental disorder, they're disconnected from reality and have almost no functionality on their own. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could swear I knew these characters from some comic book. I know it's not accurate, but I want to some them up by saying they have REALITY WARPING POWERS, like Jamie Braddock or Franklin Richards from Marvel. Their powers are more about controlling others through the Force, but they're treated as having the scary potential of a Level Five mutant. Enjoyed the creepy wizard mind control they had going on.

Arkadia: Her character is more about her actions than her personality. The dark side can be subtle and appealing, and Arkadia actually manages to trick Kerra (and thus, the reader) into believing that she is truly a benevolent Sith, that her subjects are better off (and she's not really wrong), before she reveals her true colors. Loved how convincing her whole setup was.

Vilia: This book only has a little taste of her, but it's clear she's the wolf in sheep's clothing, puppetmaster pulling the strings, aka Palpatine.

Narsk: What I assume will become the archetype for the Bothan spy.


PLOT:

The plot really is that of a Knight Errant, even if the character doesn't live up to the name. Kerra goes from planet to planet, seeking to help the oppressed masses, playing the hero to a little girl and taking on black knights and scary dragons. There's even the Charge Matrica, a game, a Sith version of courtly intrigue between related nobles seeking power. There was a nice bit of mystery, JJM had me guessing the details behind Byllura and Syned, how exactly Arkadia was corrupt and who Narsk's employer was.

PROSE:

As I said at the top, it's incredibly simple. There's little intellectual or emotional content. Visually it's a mixed bag, with Daiman's holos and hilarious attire and Syned's ice environment very distinct, but the backgrounds of Byllura, Gazzari and Darkknell not only lacking detail, but the few details given are kinda hard to decipher. The action is fast and simple, sometimes getting skipped over in favor of short summaries rather than actual descriptions. The dialogue is consistently poor, stilted short sentences thrown in with exposition that I swear might have been meant as dialogue. JJM also has a bit of rhythm which can be a bit a strange, and he even had a tendency to rhyme at times. Not that the rhyming was bad...just unusual.

SETTING:

It's perfect. The Outer Rim divided up between Sith Lords matches the European landscape of the Knight Errant, and the Charge Matrica is the European courtly intrigue. Each planet's populace is oppressed in its own way, befitting their lord(s).

SCORE:

It's so hard for me to score this one, because I think at times the writing is really bad, as I said on KJA and Drew K's level. Like KJA and Drew K, it's simplistic but amusingly so. Maybe I'm being a little too hard, because unlike KJA and Drew K the simplicity was obviously intentional and served the story very well, plus there were a few intricacies that the likes of KJA and Drew K would never include. So, like I said, a notch above them, similar to them, but better than them on their best day. The characters are amusing, the plot is fast, simple but thrilling, the setting wonderful. Overall, it was a joyous breeze to read, I absolutely blew through this book and wanted to read it again as soon as I was done.

It was so hard calculating a score for this:

8.8/10

Makes me want to go get the comics.

 

Average score: 467/52 = 8.98

 

Overall score = 9.5/10

Knight Errant is a very fun book with all the makings of a classic Star Wars tale, but in a unique era. This era has literally never been explored before–John Jackson Miller himself says that Kaan would be "in high school" at this point so this takes place at least 30+ years before Darth Bane. Kerra Holt is a fun protagonist and it's nice to see a female Jedi take the lead for once; this seems to be a trend more and more in the past three to five years, between Kerra, Ahsoka, Ania Solo, and I'd argue even Allana.

Jarrow Rusher was a fun side character who was not just a classic Han Solo. He was definitely a scoundrel, but he didn't have a heart of gold like Han–and unlike Han he wasn't technically an outlaw. Everything he did was perfectly legal. The fact that he's the commander of an artillery battalion is even more fun–this is the first time artillery has ever been focused on in the Star Wars universe. I also loved that he was a history buff.

The villains were all very fun–Daiman, Odion, Arkadia, Saaj Calician, Narsk, and even Quillan and Dromika. Each of these is very distinct from the other; I think I most enjoyed Arkadia as she was the closest to "classic" Sith out of all of them; except Odion, of course, but I think Odion wishes he could be a Nihilus-Malgus-Malak combo, based on his look.

One thing I also loved was Beadle Lubboon. I think it was said before, but he's Jar Jar done right. He's actually funny in his antics, unlike Jar Jar, who often leaves people less than amused. I was constantly laughing at his antics. I also loved the little Sullustan girl, Tan Tengo.

The only detraction from this book, which is a minor quibble for me, is a continuity error. In the first introduction of the Dyarchy, Quillan is described as sandy-haired, yet when Kerra enters their sanctuary, she notes that he is bald. It kind of annoyed me. Other than that, wonderful.

 

Average score: 476.5/53 = 8.99

 

It literally took me years to finish this book. Not because it was bad, but because I kept getting distracted and did not actually want it to end, since you are having a blast reading it. Not really much to add as on why, since most of the others have made rather good points on why it is great and a perfect lead in for the comic series.


9 of 10 insane and related Sith Lords

 

Average score: 485.5/54 = 8.99

 

Hard to score, the characters were good, Holt and the bothan spy were great. The Sith factions were detailed and inventive with great promise. I just couldn't understand the storyline enough to really enjoy it. The drive of Holt in Sith space threw me off.
6.5 /10

 

Maybe he looks like Da Vinci - lots of hair, surrounding a bit bald spot.

 

Average score: 492/55 = 8.95