Heir To The Jedi - Review in Progress!

I actually considered the action in Heir to the Jedi to be the *most* like the movies. They were fun adventures, and not personal safaris with emotional overtones. Just my opinion, obviously.

Of course, I liked A New Dawn and consider it the best of the new canon novels so far. So what do I know?

 

Good to hear you're dipping into the new stuff, but I'm sorry to hear it's not going too well!

I wouldn't say HTTJ's aimed at a younger audience at all (there are a few fairly gritty scenes, for example), but I think it reads like it is due to the narrative being stuck in a still fairly immature Luke Skywalker's head (he was pretty whiny in ANH too). I would say it starts off slow, but the final showdown made it all worth it for me and Nakari and Drusil are two fairly well written characters.

I'm sorry to hear AND was such a painful experience for you! Admittedly, this is my least favourite installment so far, but there are a few redeeming qualities such as Count Vidian and the setting on Gorse/Cynda. I think it was a shaky start to the new canon, but I can see why they did it for the sake of tying in with Rebels.

James Luceno's Tarkin is, in my opinion, the greatest of the new canon and really boasts a great story, interesting characters, captivating action and dialogue and just a perfect blend for a Star Wars book for me, so I would definitely recommend giving that a shot soon. Kemp's Lords of the Sith was good, but I was distracted by the numerous editorial blunders (which should be sorted by now - my copy's a preorder) and I didn't find it quite as captivating as the likes of Tarkin. The dynamic between Vader and Sheev is pretty well executed though and the insight into the Free Ryloth Movement is smashing.

Dark Disciple's out next month too, which (from the preview at the end of LotS) looks like it's going to be pretty dark and sounds like a goodun so far!

 

We failed!

 

It would appear so, but getting anyone to read Tarkin is a success!

I'd definitely return to HTTJ at some point! There are some great points to it and some aspects that supposedly feed into TFA. That said, Tarkin may feed your appetite for it somewhat!

 

I have read all the new canon novels, and would consider HTTJ the weakest of the lot, and Tarkin is by far the best.

 

What earth slang did you pick up on? I remember noticing it a couple of times, but can't remember what it was exactly!

Regarding Tarkin, you're missing out, my friend!

 

That's interesting. I had the exact opposite feeling about his baby-steps with the Force.

 

Well, you have to practice it, right? And how else would a guy do it who has hardly any formal training and no teacher? I don't know... I thought it was "down to Earth," to use an inappropriate phrase.

 

I'm inclined to disagree for the most part! In ANH you see a Luke that has everything stripped from him in a matter of 24 hours and he doesn't really have a moment to process it. Before that, you have a Luke that was constantly impatient and looking to leave Tatooine by any means possible and that is when I would consider him being whiny. Look at his exchange with Owen for example!

Particularly regarding other extensions of the new canon, like the comics, they're developing the idea that Luke's somewhat lost after Yavin. He lost his guardians, his best friend and his mentor in a very short space of time and, although this fuelled him against the empire, we never really saw the aftermath for him on a personal level and I feel this novel deals with it very well.

Regarding the force use, I think it was done in a really great way! We saw Luke use the force to grab his sabre in ESB, but we never knew how he knew that was possible or how he'd honed that ability. I think the noodle was a brilliant way of doing this and it solidified the relationship he was building with Nakari.

I am in complete agreement here! As we see in ESB, Luke doubts his ability to lift the x-wing from the swamp, so this kind of builds on that element of disbelief. He's still truly working out what he can do and doesn't trust in the force completely.