Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: JEDI TRIAL (spoilers)

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. - Leonardo da Vinci

I'll see your da Vinci and raise you a Nietzsche:

"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!"

 

Well I got it and read it.

Negatives out of the way first, the book is a little short and there is slightly more focus on Odie & Erk than seemed necessary, plus the whole love thing between them seemed rushed and out of place, not sure it made any sense considering we didnt get enough characterisation out of them.
And Asajj Ventress...on the cover but not involved in the novel, pity but maybe its a blessing in disguise.

Positives. Anakin...oh boy...I have to congratulate Sherman and Cragg...they got him...they nailed the kid, from the fierce determination to his most fragile sensitivities.
And although his first battle plan failed, his strategy as a Commander....is excellent, and its no surprise to me that he's called "...a one man army."
And if this is as close as the authors could get to the Anakin we're only 6 months away from seeing in ROTS....I think I'm gonna be angry when he makes that leap from hero to villain...this guy is a great guy, he's grown so much since AOTC its unbelievable. I saw little if any darkside forshadowing and he's written with the right kind of emotion and strength to make me believe this is a maturer guy than from AOTC.
"He was the greatest Starpilot in the galaxy..." and once again like with the CW cartoons I believe Obi-Wan's words, reckless and arrogant he maybe but his skill as a pilot shone through in this book, and as I expected to see him be.
His frustration with the Council and Obi-Wan is written perfectly, I think its obvious now that its not them holding him back that'll become the problem but something far more subtle and even more interesting. Its just a shame it took Nejaa Halcyon to believe in him and put him in the position to show his worth. Yet he didnt let Nejaa down (and I believe he surprised his superiors).

Nejaa, a very interesting character overall, didnt me remind of Qui-Gon as others have noted but he was a different mould of Jedi lets put it that way. I'm not quite comfortable with him being a Jedi who married and had children (ruins the film concept in Anakin's breaking of his Jedi vows) but having him be a Jedi in Anakin's position in this book, it did work.

Other characters like Grudo & Slayke, although little characterisation, did help our Jedi heroes (especially Anakin) along certainly with making them stronger and more aware of how war is so brutal. Reija, although again brief in terms of characterisation, did bring a certain amount of emotional weight and its a shame she died, how she related to Anakin and her reaction to Anakin coming to her rescue... it made sense that Anakin's reaction would be as it was and her bravery in protecting Anakin from the battledroid blast showed her depth of gratitude towards him.
Pors Tonith, at first I did think he was overrated and a bit too over the top but I think its good to see a non Force User prove to be such a good military mind even if he had let himself down with some tactic errors in a few cases (Anakin's final assault capitalising on one such error).

The battles, although not as thorough as I expected from Sherman & Cragg, were written in just the right way to show what was happening and how it swung for each side. I have to say the final result was slightly unexpected (in terms of how it was carried out) but it worked all the same.

The one reason I wanted this book made it the best book I've read in a while, especially SW wise. Ok so its not like Shatterpoint but its significance far outweighs Cestus Deception and with the Anakin characterisation working, it helped the story itself work.

Its a strong 8/10 for me.

 

Counting 12 reviews: 89.35/12 = 7.45

 

Anyone else read it yet?

 

I did and so far it is my fav prequel book. A 10 in my book.

 

I just finished and, well... I was... entertained... barely. The book had decent action and all that, but something just seemed off. I honestly can't put my finger on it, so let's just say this wasn't what I was looking for out of this book. I can't put it any clearer than that, I'm afraid.

5.5/10

Above average, but not by much.

 

Well, it's obvious when you read this book that it is written by military men. Lots of vivid descriptions of battle formations and troop movements. However, I usually find those boring, so it gets marked down for that. I really liked Nejaa's character, it's nice to see a less uptight Jedi for once, and Anakin was written quite well here. Too much time was spent on the Odie/Erk story, but that is forgivable. Not a bad book, "good" is the perfect word to describe it. 7/10

 

Counting 15 reviews: 111.85/15 = 7.46

 

Sloppy writing, thin plot, shallow characters. The only redeeming point is that Anakin's characterisation is pretty solid.
4.9/10, and that's almost too nice.

 

Okay, after reading Republic Commando, I think I was a little too generous. Mas, can you change my score to a 7?

 

I hated this book.

I loved this book.

I both hated and loved this book. Let me do the bad points first.

Bad:
Odie and the other fellow. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, terrible, God awful characters. Their dialogue had me cringing at every page. It was... really bad. Fork in the eye bad.

The prose was boring and often short and choppy. Little to no humor. The action scenes were not as exciting as they should've been.

How the hell did Anakin destroy the flagship in a starfighter? That part irked me quite a bit.

Good:
Anakin and Neeja were two characters I enjoyed reading about. I thought Anakin was well characterized and Neeja was interesting enough that I wouldn't mind reading another book by him. Grudo I loved, too, he gave the book a little bit of (much needed)zest.

This book actually dealt with the Clone Wars. Unlike The Cestus Deception there were interesting politics and good villians. Even, gasp, action.

I also liked that Reija reminded Anakin of his mother. Nice bit there.

All in all a 7.8/10

Not offensive like Cestus Deception but it doesn't even touch Hard Contact.

 

I picked up the book a while ago, but I haven't been here in ages.

I'll give the book a 9 out of 10. I really enjoyed the politics, which was alittle slow at times, but the battles really made the book. It's everything that everyone wanted, save for a little better writing...

 

Counting 18 reviews: 131.05/18 = 7.28

 

Well, I guess Ill be echoing those who said that they were dissapointed with this one.

I thought that Jedi Trial was a book with unlimited potential but for the most part the authors really dropped the ball. The writing was pretty trite and although Ive read worse, this book read more like a YA book than anything else. The overall plot was very generic (as were many of the characters) and we simply didnt get enough of either Anakin or Halcyon. Erk and Odie (BTW, worst female SW name EVER) were two total wastes of time and shouldnt've even been in this book, and their rushed courtship was just plain ridiculous. They knew each other for what, a couple of weeks and their getting married ?

The only real saving grace in this book was the authors' vast knowledge of military procedure and tactics. Its obvious that these guys know their stuff and I definitely enjoyed the strategy sessions and battle scenes the most. I also really liked Anakin taking firm control of his armies and especially when he became the Avenger (although, just like GL in AotC, I dont think that the authors went nearly far enough with Anakin's flirtation with the Dark Side). The last quarter of the book was pretty good and really saved it in my eyes, otherwise my review would have been even lower than it is.


6 / 10

 

I'll keep this real short...

Bad Stuff:

Odie and her little friend seemed to be just filler to get the size of the book up to Hard Cover size, but added nothing to the story at all.

The title and cover art fooled me in to thinking that this might have a saber fit between CoverArt characters.

The small space battle at the end seemed very forced into the story line, just to remind us that Anikin is a great pilot.

Good Stuff:

A CloneWars novel that has action I alway imagined as a child when I heard the words "Clone Wars"... Big battles on a very large scale that would affect the out come of the War.

Anikin is writen quite well I thought. Very good growth from an action starved junkie to a respected Leader. Very well done.

OverAll:

It was a fun read but not the best writen thing I have read this year. but it was short so I didn't feel like it was a waist of time. I did think this was better than The Cestus Deception or MedStar so I will give it 7 out of 10

 

I can't believe how many negative-class reviews this is getting . . . and this was the book you guys were Rybet hopping for all year, I remember.

And at hardcover price for what the majority are saying was only average reading, wouldn't it be easier to buy a paperback and get disappointed at half the expense?

 

The money wasnt a problem for me, Excellence, at least not this time. I got a gift card for Barnes and Noble for my BDay a few weeks ago so I used to buy JT. Otherwise I wouldve been a little ticked off that I spent so much money on a book that was mediocre at best.

 

Well, here is a brief review...

Good - Anakin and Neeja were well thought out characters who truly moved the story along. There was a consitant tenor to their conversations and they were able to relate on a different level than Obi-Wan and other Masters Anakin has known. They both had something to prove. I also liked Slayke and Grudo. Both were stong characters from a Military novel point of view, and certainly passed on the feel of the battle. Also Pors Tonith. I know some did not appreciate the over the top mentality, but it was almost Tarkin-like in its arrogance, and I appreciate those throw-backs from time to time. Battle scenes were well done, and grand in scope, and the desperation of the moment came through in various cases. Anakin's reaction to Reija and her death was also well done.

Bad - The book had potential to go much deeper, but this close to the events of ROTS, it makes sense that it wouldnt. Neeja seemed a little to loose at times, missing battle cues, and just not that great a military mind. I expected more out of his character after the buildup in the Corran Horn storylines in the EU. For a hardcover, I expected more....I dunno, just more. The Odi/Erk story was ok, but could have been shortened or at least given more depth, if they were to be so central to the book.

Ugly - Shot in the side of the head....ouch

Overall, not as disappointing as others said, but not Shatterpoint quality. Probably a 7/10.

 

If there is anyone out there still undecided about picking up Jedi Trial in hardcover or waiting for the paperback edition, I am here to tell you: WAIT.

The cover, premise and title of this book got me really excited to read it, but it was a huge disappointment.

I agree with everyone else that the Odie/Erk relationship was rushed, ridiculous and merely filler. They got more screen time than Anakin. And every time I read the name 'Odie' I couldn't help but think of the comic strip character. This annoyed me throughout.

The space battle ending was rushed and pointless; the book should have ended when Anakin stormed the command center.

Anakin and Nejaa both being married men was a great base for the authors to build a relationship between the two. But they 'bonded' BEFORE divulging this secret to one another.

This book was like the first draft of a great novel that could have been. The authors wrote temporary lines like "Anakin told Nejaa about Padme" and "Grudo told Anakin about the history between Slayke and Nejaa" or "Odie will later tell Erk how to control the gunnery station" and then forgot to go back and actually WRITE the scenes. They went into huge detail about troop movement and supplies but skimmed over great scenes that we have been waiting to see, giving them only throw away lines.

Ventress made two short appearances (by hologram) after being featured prominently on the cover. What's the deal? Dooku made more appearances in this novel than she. He should have been on the cover of this book and Ventress should have been on the cover of TCD.

Everyone who has been crying for more action and battles, this book is for you. However, don't go into it expecting a well-written novel, because these authors are not skilled enough to deliver one. There were a few places where the writing began to show promise, but it was mostly amatuer-level. Any experienced fan fiction writer could have coughed up a book like this in their sleep. There were too many missed opportunities and too much time spent on Odie and Erk.

I admire what the authors were trying to do with this book, but it fell on its face: 3/10

I only hope that we have now sloughed through the worst of the Clone Wars novels. I have high expectations for Dark Rendezvous (finally an entire book about Yoda) and I am confident that James Luceno will deliver a thrilling read with Labyrinth of Evil. And, of course, the EPIII novelization is in good hands with Matt Stover.

 

Counting 23 reviews: 159.05/23 = 6.92

 

although, just like GL in AotC, I dont think that the authors went nearly far enough with Anakin's flirtation with the Dark Side

Theres a reason for that...its called Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

 

I understand why it was done, but personally I would liked a bit more than a mere flirtation with the Dark Side. I think that Anakin killing Tonith in cold blood would've been the perfect way to get his emotions roiling and a great way to set-up RotS. But hey, that's me.

 

What was supposed to be the best Clone Wars novel probably has the lowest average rating of all.

 

Good Lord, the author of Hard Contact posts more than most lit regulars!

Smart lady!