Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: HEIR TO THE JEDI (spoilers)

I know I'm a newbie, but I quite enjoy Lit's past review threads. So, since we don't have one yet, here's one for Heir to the Jedi, by Kevin Hearne.

Rules, as copy&pasted from old threads: rate Heir to the Jedi on a scale of 1 to 10, supplementing your rating with a review, if you want to (It's not necessary but is highly encouraged). However, please do not rate or review the book until after you've read the whole thing.

Have at it!

 

I guess I'll start off the festivities with a 7 for HTTJ. It's lightweight and self-contained, almost too lightweight at times. Excellent character development for Luke, though, even if the first person narration didn't feel just right now and then. It benefits a lot from having the first three issues of the Marvel comic occur immediately afterward - seeing Luke resolve to become a Jedi in HTTJ and then seeing how easily that resolve gets crushed right off the bat in the Marvel series adds unexpected depth to both stories. All in all, it's not awful and not great, but there's definitely more to like than to dislike.

 

Duly noted!

I'm going with 6/10. The book is mostly inconsequential, which was sometimes good and sometimes bad. It was good when the plot was fun and exciting, and bad when it was boring. I've soldiered through some dull Star Wars novels, but then I was buoyed by the knowledge that the plot would have far-reaching effects. This didn't have that benefit.

My thoughts about Nakari Kelen are a mess, and my opinion of the way her death was handled veers toward the negative. I didn't like it. I understand it narratively, I see how it furthers Luke's emotional development, but it bums me out that the book's second main character is essentially a plot device. If Nakari had had some development of her own, if she had been a three dimensional character, I'd have been less bothered. The way she died would have bugged me if it was a male or female friend instead of a love interest (which it could have been; Nakari was ultimately replaceable), and the fact that it was a woman and a love interest sours it further.

I'd honestly have been less disappointed if it had been Drusil who died, as much as I would have missed her character (she was one of the best parts of the book, especially with the insight into Givin psychology and culture). Mostly because Drusil was better-developed than Nakari, and her death would have been more than a means to get Luke's psyche from Point A to Point B.

I like Hearne's writing. It's got more flow to it than some of the recent SW novels on offer. It's quick and snappy and I appreciate that. The 1st person works in places and feels awkward in others.

I'd also like to see Hearne try again, with a story with more importance. I think he was hamstrung by the nature of the project.

 

it really is incredible inconsequential, though whilst it has its moments, the killing of Lukes love interest is just in bad tradition and the book does have long stretches of nothing happening. But then it is at least it is not trying to actually insult me with stuff this book could have been about instead like Tarkin was, so 5 of 10 from me.

 

Current average: 22/40 = 5.5/10

 

I'm going with 3. So inconsequential to a fault, mostly mischaracterizes Luke IMO, unfairly fridges the love interest, and worst of all it's mostly pretty boring.

 

8/10

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/review-star-wars-heir-jedi-blog-entry-1.2126039

 

I can't say that I was a big fan of this work. It just seemed that every chapter was kind of a "mission of the day". I thought it would have been better as a comic miniseries. Each mini adventure/mission could have been an issue. Also, I believe this book was originally planned to be released as part of the of EU. I wonder how much the book was modified (if at all) for this new canon release. There were a few times where I thought "Hey, this really sounds and feels like Luke Skywalker" and other times it was "Who is this guy?" Overall, I can't give this book more than a 6/10. 3 books in an I'm not all that thrilled with this new canon of books. A New Dawn was enjoyable enough, especially if you like Rebels. Tarkin was solid, but a missed opportunity in my opinion (too short sighted in the goals and scope of the book), and Heir to the Jedi was the weakest yet. I'm looking forward to Lords of the Sith. I just hope that the lesbian character discussion doesn't overshadow the story elements and the book's impact on the overall story of Star Wars.

 

Going to start this off by pointing out I happen to enjoy several books that most people here do not, namely The Approaching Storm and Jedi Trail. So about HTTF: I liked the fact that its 1st Person because we get to read Luke learning about the force in "his own words". It probably wouldn't have been as interesting if written in 3rd. Also for once someone wrote a pre-ESB Luke without having him come off as an ignorant hick. Yes hes not too worldly (or should I say galacticly?) but hes not stupid either. Really enjoyed how he didn't notice Nakari's flirtations, i'm sure many of us here have been through similar situations. Many have disliked that nothing of galactic importance happens but that was one aspect I liked. We have enough stories where THE FATE OF THE GALAXY IS AT STAKE!!!!! but theres a whole three years between ANH and ESB. Can't stop some threat that big every day, thats reserved for the movies. Call it boring but I enjoyed see the kind of "day in the life of Luke Skywalker" angle.

Dislikes-Length. Only reason I paid for hardcover was Walmart had it on sale. Still, considering the page count I paid almost 10 cents a page. Doesn't sound like much and I know length doesn't equal quality but the whole thing would've been better if more fleshed out. It has been a while since I finished it but I thought there were exciting sounding scenes that just got skimmed over while other mundane parts were drawn out. Maybe if it was at least 300 pages of actual content I wouldn't feel so ripped off.

Summation, enjoyable but not amazing. I recommended it to the few EU fans I know, saying if they want to get it from library or wait for paperback its still worth reading.

7/10

 

This was a really solid Luke character study, and I really enjoyed it. My favorite New EU book so far, but, really, the stories don't seem any different from old EU stories. Meet the new boss--same as the old boss.

Been considering why so many don't like this, and here's my working hypothesis: Star Wars is extremely plot-heavy, and character is in service to plot. Character-driven stories don't feel "right" to most Star Wars book readers.

8.75/10

 

Current average: 54.75/90 = 6.08/10

 

5/10

On balance I liked Hearne's writing and agree maybe he was a bit hamstrung by the nature of the project but he definitely seems to 'get' the universe and enjoy it so I'd hope we get to see another book from him at some point. The first person perspective was good when we were seeing Luke try and process alien worlds, smells and in showing us the scrapes he ended up with. As others have said it was at its best when he was trying to use the force and his interactions with Nakari and Drusil whilst he attempted to move things with it.

I got the feeling of several mini-missions that Oaknut mentioned and some seemed to get a fair amount of setup (e.g. Jedi tomb on Rodia) that the rest of the story didn't really follow through with. The only constant was Nakari and both the predictability of her death and the way it was handled 'off screen' severely diminished the books impact for me. Whilst nothing huge happened in terms of events in the book we'd have had two new characters to be potentially used elsewhere in future in Drusil and especially Nakari. I see what he was trying to do in terms of Luke expressing grief and that part was even fairly well written. I just don't feel that was worth wiping out a brand new character for. As it is, Luke flies around, does stuff, moves noodles and a Givin escapes the empire. Other than that there isn't really much to recommend unless you want a self-contained Luke book with minimal to no impact on anything else story wise.

Oh and he loves nerf nuggets but doesn't like the idea of Rancor sauce, but then who would?

 

I really liked it, actually. It was no A New Dawn, that's for sure (and until further notice, AND will be my standard for judging other canon books), but it's about my favorite character in the Star Wars universe, and it's from his 1st person POV, so that's great. I think Hearne does "get" SW, and he did a great job of showing Luke's interactions with other characters.

The humor's great. My favorite part was "Math math something math with math something math." That was just hilarious and perhaps the best use of the 1st person POV in the book. Another great one was "Derlin's legendary mustache." The one scene where Luke and Leia giggled at an accidental double entendre Leia made was a bit odd, but as they are nineteen years old at this time it really actually makes sense–I'm 19, and though I am typically a bit of a "straight man" when it comes to things like that, I have enough friends to know that what Leia said would get a laugh in real life.

Nakari? She was a great character, I really like her. I think her death was an unfortunate result of the fact that this book was planned before the Great Legends Announcement. Before all that, the books all still had to line up with one another, so Luke ended up with Mara, thus his love interest was more likely to die. It just makes sense. It's unfortunate that it was used for the sole purpose of Luke's character development, but for then, it makes sense. If this had been written post-Legends announcement, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Nakari survived (even if she was reassigned, or something, so Luke wouldn't see her again).

Overall, this was definitely nothing earth-shaking, and Nakari's death brings it down for me a bit because there was no good reason for her to die. But the plot, while small-scale, was good, the characterization and interactions were superb, and the action (particularly the space battle with the Interdictor) was solid.

Overall: 8/10

 

Current average: 67.75/110 = 6.16/10

 

3/10. Pretty boring, seemed like it would have been better as a comic book mini series, or it would have worked better as a short story. Maybe have the Nakari character around for a bit before offing her, build her up just a little. Just didn't feel like it was as big a deal as I was meant to feel by her loss for Luke.

They're sure peppering the new canon with a lot of every day words too, it seems to me, I guess to make it more appealing to the average person/new people on board? I always found it neat that the EU had "Star Wars words" and you kinda learned along or could figure out what things like "transparisteel" or "refresher" meant by the use of them in context, for example-not that Star Wars universe words have been dropped at all.

So far these books for the new canon are turning me off, I think I'll just stick to the comic books, or until I hear enough recommendations/hype for other Star Wars books. I found Tarkin disappointing/a little on the boring side, but better than Heir to the Jedi, and A New Dawn was OK. I don't need super weapons on the constant, or a new sith/big threat all the time, but these stories just didn't add anything special or extra.

Reading the Wookiepedia entries for these stories would have been just as fine.

 

4/10. It had moments I enjoyed, but overall I wasn't a fan. By far my least favorite of the new books so far. Probably won't ever read this one again. This and Honor Among Thieves are probably my two least favorite SW books I've read so far. Kinda sad that the EU had to die on a low note like that.

I wouldn't be opposed to Hearne writing another SW novel though. I think his writing is good, but the story was just boring and unimportant for the most part. I'd definitely be willing to give him another chance though with another book.

 

I was just listening to Rebel Force Radio and Jimmy Mac read an extract from the the book about the political song "Vader's Many Prosthetic Parts"!!!

Apart from the daft concept of it all, the entire scene sounded incredibly badly written.

Is the whole book the same?

 

Huh. How did I miss this thread before? I wrote a review and everything. Anyway,


Heir to the Jedi Review

HttJ is pretty good. It isn't magnificent, it isn't horrible, it has its own quirks and foibles. But overall, it's pretty good. That's the short of it.

The long of it is, Heir to the Jedi is a novel about Luke Skywalker that takes place between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and is narrated entirely in first-person from Luke's point of view. The prose narrative itself is a bit iffy, mostly because Luke's own internal dialogue sounds nothing like himself. Even his own dialogue within the story sounds more like Luke than Luke's ostensible inner thoughts do. The dialogue is fine, but everything else is a bit rocky, with patches of rough descriptors and awkward metaphors that no one would ever use, especially not Luke Skywalker.

That aside, there's nothing about this book that's truly bad, and there's quite a lot that's quite good, not the least of which is some superb characterization of not only Luke and Artoo, but a trio of important original characters, as well: Nakri Kelen, her father Fayet Kelen, and Drusil Bephorin, the Givin cryptographer whose protection an escort to a neutral planet becomes Luke's mission. From a continuity standpoint, there's a good amount of sourcing from things both from the movies (Major Bren Derlin and his mustache make a cameo) and from the EU (Moff Abran Balfour is brought up, though never appears in person), though much of the book's inevitable Wookieepedia “Appearances” table is wholly new as well.

Nakari joins the ranks of memorable new female characters introduced in the loose Empire & Rebellion book trio (even though this book technically isn't part of that now-Legends duo, the similarities remain), the pilot of the sleek and fast Desert Jewel and a skilled sniper who joins Luke on his mission when he borrows her ship at the behest of the Alliance. She's a strong character who isn't stereotypical as a rich man's daughter, a daring and driven person aiding the rebellion however she can. She's fun, she charismatic, she's willing to poke fun and have fun poked in turn, and she befriends Luke with a casual ease that makes Leia (and me, in my initial reading) distrust her for fear of her being an Imperial spy.

Her father, Fayet, is terrific fun, a scientist and businessman who balances over-the-top shouting with genuine tenderness and emotion, bawling out his minions (even calling them such) with one breath before praising them and asking how their children are doing in school with the next. Fayet is eccentric and entertaining, but still a loving father to Nakari, even if he doesn't show it in traditional ways. He only appears in two scenes, but his influence is felt through most of the novel, and he's highly memorable when he does show up.

Drusil, the Givin, is one of if not the most in-depth representations of her species in any Star Wars media I've encountered, with a knowledge of mathematics that flows naturally and has the right balance of alienness and familiarity, with customs and an ideology that make sense within her species' general abilities. The Givin are an underutilized species both in canon sources and in Legends, and it's good to see one with such a large role. Despite her love of mathematics, which in another book might be interpreted into making her cold or impersonal, she's actually a loving mother who, above all, wants her family to be safe, and is willing to work with the Alliance if they can provide that, which sets the main events of the book in motion.

The plot is rather ho-hum, unfortunately, even taking its more small-scale nature into account. Luke is sent on a variety of missions across the galaxy for the Rebellion, starting with forming contacts in the black market and ending with a frantic race to stay one step ahead of an Imperial dragnet with a fugitive in tow. There's action, drama, some spy work that never really turns to suspense, and a dash of self-aware silliness that keeps the proceedings somewhat light and fun. None of it is galaxy-shaking, but none of it is outstandingly intricate or involved, either. It's straightforward and simple, barring a couple of curves here and there.

The novel bounces us from planet to planet, from the frozen hiding place of the Rebel fleet Ord Plutonia and the swampy and corruption-ridden Rodia to a newly discovered (and highly dangerous) moon Fex, to the Denon ecumenopolis and to Kupoh, a planet with high winds and a race who unfortunately aren't Final Fantasy's moogles, ending on the dangerous water world of Omereth. It's classic Star Wars in the old-school traditions, a la the early EU, exploring new and fascinating planets and interacting with wild and outlandish characters and species. The Kupohans, like their planet, are a new addition, adept spies and businessbeings with no love for the Empire, but no special fondness for the Rebellion if not properly compensated for their trouble. Fex gives us the extremely dangerous (and rather disturbing) Fexian skullborers that, well, let's just say they live up to their name.

The crux of the book, where it lives or dies, is in Luke's characterization. And Kevin Hearne does a good job with it. Luke is somewhere between the naive farmboy of ANH and the confident squad leader and Jedi adept of ESB, with a growing knowledge not only of the Rebellion's ins and outs, but also of politics, subterfuge, of leading a mission and making judgment calls in the field. Luke learns fast, and this book captures a few key moments of his inter-movie development: his confidence in his own skills beyond the whirlwind events of Yavin, and a growing connection to the Force, taking a few more steps into the larger world Obi-Wan told him about, but never had time to fully explain.

Luke teaches himself some of the basic ideas about the Force often taken for granted in more Jedi populated eras, like the ability of the Force to manipulate the world around him directly rather than just influencing his actions and affecting the weak-minded. Between Obi-Wan's death and his reappearance on Hoth (and introducing him to Yoda) Luke has to forge his own path, using the insights of the people around him and whatever few things he can discover about the Jedi to guide him. He also does the Kung Fu Panda thing and learns via noodles.

Of course, with so many new characters introduced it's almost a foregone conclusion that at least one of them meets their end within the story's scope. It's unfortunate who they picked, and I thought the way it was handled wasn't all that great (the word refrigerator comes to mind) but at least it gave Luke a worthwhile character moment that didn't feel too forced, showing just how different he is from his father, even without knowing it. Unlike Anakin, Luke knows that he can't save everyone, nor should he be able to, Jedi or not. He rests in the memories and warmth left behind at a person's passing, be it his aunt and uncle, Obi-Wan, Biggs, or this story's victim, using that to propel him forward to greater things in the future.

Heir to the Jedi isn't a masterpiece, but it is a very solid character study that gets inside one of the most iconic heroes of our most beloved franchise. While its plot doesn't have too many surprises, the character work and planetary and cultural exploration keeps things from dragging or boring. The first-person narrative is a bit jarring at time, but it does allow a great view inside of Luke's head at a critical juncture in his development as an officer of the Rebellion, and as a Jedi with a great destiny before him.

I hate number grades, but since this isn't Rotten Tomatoes, I'll stake it as a 6/10.

 

Current average: 80.75/140 = 5.77/10

 

Skimming the reviews, I'm seeing terms like "lightweight" and "inconsequential" and I really can't disagree with such sentiments. The book has a very small scale, one part of one single Rebel mission shortly after ANH, dealing almost entirely with four characters, one of which mostly communicates through beeps and whistles. The difference, though, is that that really worked for me. This book, formerly a part of the Empire and Rebellion trilogy before the Legends/new canon divide, is very much what I had expected from that series. Low key, self contained, with a close look at each one of the big 3. Razor's Edge fit that mold with its scale and Leia and Han characterizations, but much of that story didn't work for me. Honor Among Thieves was the best of three in my opinion, a rollicking adventure with, again, great characterizations, but its larger than expected plot was a little off putting, high quality but not exactly what I was looking for.

Heir to the Jedi struck a balance between the two that most fit my expectations, the size of Razor's Edge, the solid story of Honor, and the character exploration of both, getting into Luke's head as we never have before, at least not in the adult novels. I think Hearne gets Luke well, especially at this point in this life when he's accomplished something amazing but is still very much at the beginning of his journey. He's good hearted and naive, ready and willing to jump into action at a moment's notice and learning on the fly to handle a covert operation. He's still the hotshot pilot to destroyed the Death Star, abilities showcased in I thought the book's best action scene. There are times where the first person doesn't feel completely necessary and seeing the story from another character's perspective would have been welcome, but there's still a lot I liked getting such a narrow focus, whether it's the hope and uncertainty that plans Luke isn't directly witnessing are working out or having to wonder right alongside him about the motivations of the people he's dealing with.

Much of what makes it work are the book's other two major characters. Drusil is entertaining and idiosyncratic, with quirks that make for a refreshingly alien personality and enough mystery to wonder if she might be all she seems. She does come across once in a while as a Swiss Army Knife of skills that let our protagonists escape tight situations, but for the most part she works for me and easy to root for.

The real breakout, though, is Nakari. Capable, sharp, insightful, and with a quick wit, it doesn't take long for her to endear herself to Luke and me as the reader. The chemistry between her and Luke, adorably awkward as he is, sparkled and much of the enjoyment I got out of reading the book was the strong working and casual relationship they develop over its length. I've seen at least one review opine that she was somewhat idealized, and perhaps there's some truth to that, but she's given enough dimension and depth that I found her well realized and one of the strongest highlights of the book.

Where the book fails largely for me is the end. I don't necessarily feel that Nakari suffered from the fridged trope nor do I really object in general to the idea of the non-dramatic death for a major character. Done well, it can be an opportunity to emphasize the horrors of war or the indifference of death. There has to be a purpose, though, and to Hearne's credit, he does try to have one, having Luke mourn the losses of Owen, Beru, and Ben. But overall it's a weak ending, rushed and shallow. I also just disappointed we lost such an interesting character in Nakari, that like the early Clone Wars, we meet a likable individual and see them killed off after one appearance. It's frustrating.

In the end, it's a solid read, as much of the new canon has been. There isn't enough there to really elevate it to greatness and its flaws bring it down, but I'm glad we got it. I'll take more like it.

6.8/10

 

7/10

Luke is my fav character, so yeah.

 

5/10. To me this is one of the worst of the new novels, and that is saying something. It is cool to read Luke's pov, but it rarely feels like his real pov would be. Its an ok novel, but not what i wanted.

 

Current average: 99.55/170 = 5.86/10

 

6/10

Pretty much what all the users are saying, it's an inconsequential story.

LOVED the whole section set on fex with the skull borers, the whole concept was scary and at one point I actually jumped (at a book?! weird right).
Overall I think it would have helped the story to have a villain, a moff or someone who was chasing Luke from system to system.
Still the books readable