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coolnameguy's review against another edition
4.0
This is definitely better than its predecessor. It starts off really slow, gets pretty good, and then the second half is ripe with drama, character building, and intrigue. I'm bad at doing these without any spoilers, but it's among the more interesting conflicts I've experienced in Star Wars. Even if the antagonist seemed at first to have been a bit rushed, he's been built up pretty well now.
cmoorebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
wesleyboy's review against another edition
4.0
MUCH better than the 1st volume. One of the advantages of adding new characters is Anderson doesn’t have to write poorly about established characters. Which was a glaring weak spot in the first book.
Much better action, story, and character development this time. Even though, a lot of the stakes are minimal because,c’mon, they’re not gonna kill off Luke Skywalker or anything. But still, I enjoyed this WAY more than the 1st book and am looking forward to finishing the story in the last volume.
Much better action, story, and character development this time. Even though, a lot of the stakes are minimal because,c’mon, they’re not gonna kill off Luke Skywalker or anything. But still, I enjoyed this WAY more than the 1st book and am looking forward to finishing the story in the last volume.
fantastiskfiktion's review against another edition
2.0
http://fantastiskfiktion.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/star-wars-iii-jedi-academy-trilogy/
artemisreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
had really high hopes for this series and so far it’s just very meh
twilliamson's review against another edition
1.0
Dark Apprentice, the sequel to Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Search, is as equally baffling as the first. Incoherent even in its best light, the book continues to struggle to do anything to develop the characters of the Star Wars established canon or even flesh out any of the new characters Anderson introduces to the worn drama of the series.
The book opens, for example, with a dramatic starship crash, then abruptly transitions to a scene with Han Solo skiing with Kyp, one of the new characters of this trilogy. There's no narrative reason for the skiing sequence except that it's a place to flex Anderson's sense of action (which overpromises and underdelivers every time). Narrative tension is lost again when Solo decides to play a game of sabacc with Lando Calrissian over the fate of the Millennium Falcon.
The narrative diversions sap away from any momentum or focus on what feels like should be the focal point of the novel, and the trilogy on a whole: Luke Skywalker's efforts at creating a new Jedi Order and training a new generation of Jedi Knights. With so much of the book oriented toward the expanding cast of the series, very little is done to add a sense of growth to any single one of the characters. Moreover, because so little is done to help flesh out character motivations, things seem to just happen for almost no reason entirely. What's the relevance, for example, of the Jedi children getting lost on Coruscant for a chapter? Did we really need any of the dumb museum sequence, or was that just an excuse to introduce yet another stupid minor character of no considerable weight or importance to the story and its characters?
Indeed, the only character who receives any significant arc or development is Kyp, whose change in attitude is not discovered over the course of the book but instead occurs abruptly within the span of only a handful of pages, and we're explicitly told why his attitude changes instead of being given the opportunity to experience his change through the actions of the narrative. Anderson's approach to character development is simply an exposition dump.
Dark Apprentice is not really the worst Star Wars novel I've read, but it is thoroughly inconsistent, incoherent, incohesive, and in desperate need of major revision. It is one of the most unfocused novels I've ever read, and not even being tie-in fiction can disguise how poorly written, poorly constructed, and poorly implemented the novel's story is.
Star Wars deserves better than this.
The book opens, for example, with a dramatic starship crash, then abruptly transitions to a scene with Han Solo skiing with Kyp, one of the new characters of this trilogy. There's no narrative reason for the skiing sequence except that it's a place to flex Anderson's sense of action (which overpromises and underdelivers every time). Narrative tension is lost again when Solo decides to play a game of sabacc with Lando Calrissian over the fate of the Millennium Falcon.
The narrative diversions sap away from any momentum or focus on what feels like should be the focal point of the novel, and the trilogy on a whole: Luke Skywalker's efforts at creating a new Jedi Order and training a new generation of Jedi Knights. With so much of the book oriented toward the expanding cast of the series, very little is done to add a sense of growth to any single one of the characters. Moreover, because so little is done to help flesh out character motivations, things seem to just happen for almost no reason entirely. What's the relevance, for example, of the Jedi children getting lost on Coruscant for a chapter? Did we really need any of the dumb museum sequence, or was that just an excuse to introduce yet another stupid minor character of no considerable weight or importance to the story and its characters?
Indeed, the only character who receives any significant arc or development is Kyp, whose change in attitude is not discovered over the course of the book but instead occurs abruptly within the span of only a handful of pages, and we're explicitly told why his attitude changes instead of being given the opportunity to experience his change through the actions of the narrative. Anderson's approach to character development is simply an exposition dump.
Dark Apprentice is not really the worst Star Wars novel I've read, but it is thoroughly inconsistent, incoherent, incohesive, and in desperate need of major revision. It is one of the most unfocused novels I've ever read, and not even being tie-in fiction can disguise how poorly written, poorly constructed, and poorly implemented the novel's story is.
Star Wars deserves better than this.
j_espere's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0
brye90's review against another edition
2.0
The first one was a lot of fun, unfortunately this one was a bit boring. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but I was hoping to be more entertained. Sure it’s a trilogy and ends on a cliff hanger, but some plot points seemed to be forgotten, picked up for a chapter, then never brought up again. Hope the 3rd one is better, might have skipped it if I didn’t buy all 3 at once.
ofclumsywords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While this was another great book in this trilogy, I found it a tiny bit predictable. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t incredibly enjoyable. All the characters, the good and the bad, were well written and could understand the decisions that they made. I am very excited for the third and final book in this trilogy as this book was a great set up for what I hope is a great conclusion.