Junior and Young Jedi Knights

Are these two series considered good?

Better than Jedi Apprentice-Rebel Force?

Are these essential in the development of the solo kids plus tahiri?

If you're looking for reading recommendations, use the sticky.

 

I'm actually reading through the YJK right now. I'm only at the 5th book, but from what I've read so far, it seems to set up a lot of back story that gets touched on in the NJO. So far it has mainly been Jacen and Jaina Solo, Lowbacca and Tenel Ka. Zekk has been featured in the last few books, but the other four are the main characters.

I think if I was younger I would probably love these. I loved the Jedi Academy Trilogy when I was younger, and that is also by Kevin J. Anderson. As an adult, the books are tolerable, but there are parts that seem like a major chore. I have to put the books down every few chapters because I get tired of rolling my eyes. Story-wise the series isn't too bad, but it can be a little juvenile. And appropriately so, since they are written for a younger audience.

 

I thought YJK was pretty good - especially the Diversity Alliance arc where the bounty hunters appear. I didn't get into JJK though. I saw some of the books at Forbidden Planet and they were aimed at too young an audience.

 

When I was a kid, I really liked Junior Jedi Knights. Those just featured Anakin and Tahiri (among a few others, like Master Ikrit). They introduce some other characters that get used later too (like Uldir Lochett, who had a short-story series during NJO, Emissary of the Void).

I never got into Young Jedi Knights, mostly because my library didn't have m/any of them. It's hard for a small-town library to have a complete 14-book series. But I've been collecting them off eBay, to read them later (I got the hardbacks for The Rise of the Shadow Academy and The Fall of the Diversity Alliance, but Under Black Sun was just too expensive, so I'm buying those three books as paperbacks later.)

 

They're not bad for what they are. And what they are are books meant for kids, probably teenagers or younger for YJK, and even younger for JJK. By the time I got into Star Wars, I was too old for JJK, but I still remember YJK quite fondly. Plenty of problems, as it was by the JAT author, but quite a few good moments, in my opinion. And it was a different EU back then too, before the sequels and before book series meant mostly death and destruction. Some people on these boards still adore those series *cough*RK*cough. And those books referenced a good deal of the continuity of the time, if I remember right, from various authors (Tenel Ka for instance, whose origins came from a completely different author's book). It also laid the foundation for the Solo kids, even if most of that set-up has been wasted by now. Still mostly decent reading, though a bit short, but it is much more lighthearted than most of the stuff we get these days. I haven't read any of the Rebel Force or Jedi series, so can't really make a comparison. One thing that was somewhat unique about YJK was that at the time it was being published, it was the latest books, chronologically speaking, with how Jaina and Jacen were both in their teens and almost beyond, so it was almost like the future of Star Wars. Ah, those were optimistic days.

 

YJK was awesome!! Great stories, great backstory for the crucial characters now in SW EU, well written, exciting... just really, really good.

JJK, however, was a little too kiddie sounding so I didn't read it. I love Tahiri and Anakin Solo regardless and I found reading about the for the first time in the Keyes duology in NJO fascinating without knowing who they really were before that... well, more so Jedi Master Ikrit and Tahiri than Anakin Solo.

 

I would say generally yes. But they're written by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, so if you don't like his style then you're out of luck. I've only read the YJK books though. You've got your standard good vs. evil and good always wins plots. Unfortunately they suffer from TERRIBLE jokes (I'm looking at you Jacen) and lame catch phrases (that's you Jaina) that are all over the place. But they're mostly entertaining. They're definitely meant for the younger crowd.

I liked Jedi Apprentice A LOT more than the YJK books. I haven't picked up the Rebel Force books yet, however.

An interesting question. They establish the relationships between Jacen, Jaina, Lowie (even though he seems to have disappeared now), Tenel Ka, Zekk, Raynar Thul, Anakin and Tahiri. However, their characters saw a massive changes by the time Vector Point came out (especially Jacen), it was almost like reading about different characters with the same names.