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crowmaster's review against another edition
2.0
This was a mess of a plot. If it was not part of the star wars eu I would have stopped reading this book. Only good parts are far and between.
jediprincess's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This was a mess of bad writing, bad dialogue, and poorly put together plot lines. I was expecting much more from this.
juicepouch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
rhubarb1608's review against another edition
4.0
Apparently anywhere from six months to a year may have gone by since Jedi Search. (Within the first few chapters, Luke observes that it's been 11 years since the Battle of Yavin, while book 1 was 7 years + 3 years since Yavin.) Han Solo has been getting young Kyp Durron a taste of freedom after the ravages of the Kessel spice mines; he and Leia are still adapting to actually raising their two-year-old twins while Leia takes on increasing responsibility under a withdrawn Mon Mothma's leadership. Luke Skywalker has added to the number of Jedi trainees, having assembled quite a number of them at his Jedi "praxeum" on Yavin IV. Although Gantoris becomes increasingly creepy, no one notices anything untoward until it is too late . . . Also running amok, the crazed Admiral Daala, who has spent ten years in isolation at the secret Imperial base hidden in the Maw black hole cluster. She and her small fleet of Star Destroyers are determined to cause as much trouble as possible for the rebellion, while the present head of the Imperial faction -- a warlord in charge of the Imperial training planet on Carida -- is desperately seeking out Vader's youngest grandson, Anakin Solo. Whew! When I took this book out of storage, opened it up, and took a deep sniff, I was so transported to being twelve in the Champaign County Public Library. Back then, my method of finding new Star Wars stuff was to walk briskly through the stacks at CCL -- this tiny library has never separated things by genre, only hardback vs paperback -- and look for the Star Wars stamp on a spine. It was January 3, 1998, and I wrote in my diary, "Kari drove Dad & I to pick up Heather. We stopped at the library and I got 'Dark Apprentice'." Heather was my ten-year-old niece. Mostly what I remember is ignoring her the entire night in favor of reading. I sat next to my closet door, slightly cracked, to read by the fluorescent light with my knees up to my chest. Heather's adenoidal snoring hummed in the background as I turned pages, breathless with shock as Luke fell into a coma and the vengeful spirit of Exar Kun seduced Ganatos and Kyp Durron to the dark side and destruction. Nevertheless, it was three days for me to finish the 300-page book. On January 6, I wrote, "Today was good, I finished Dark Apprintace, Dad checked out Champions of the Force for me. [...] Almost done with Champions of the Force. I’m discovering all kinds of interesting info. I have to watch Jedi." CCL didn't own the first book, just the last two in paperback, and I literally cried the day I came in to check out Dark Apprentice and found they had discarded the faded paperback. The scent of the book doesn't change. I had never really considered just how much fantastic stuff my imagination culled form this trilogy, including the mysterious Massassi structures of Yavin IV, the power of holocrons, the disembodied and disgruntled spirit of Exar Kun -- the dark and terrifying spice mines of Kessel, the intrigue of Maw Installation -- but there is plenty to love. And, yes, even though this the fifth time I've read this book over a period of 16 years, I gasped out loud when Lando challenged Han to another round of sabacc to determine ownership of the Falcon.
This book was responsible for me thinking Kevin J. Anderson was my favorite author for a long time. Now, I find his portrayal of female characters (specifically Daala, a cliche "strong female character" who got her position by sleeping with a nasty old man and who checks herself out in the mirror thinking about her hair a lot) pretty cringe-worthy, but putting that aside . . . I love this book!
This book was responsible for me thinking Kevin J. Anderson was my favorite author for a long time. Now, I find his portrayal of female characters (specifically Daala, a cliche "strong female character" who got her position by sleeping with a nasty old man and who checks herself out in the mirror thinking about her hair a lot) pretty cringe-worthy, but putting that aside . . . I love this book!
urbino's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
blancwene's review against another edition
1.0
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: Dark Apprentice by Kevin J. Anderson.
SOME HISTORY:
A mere two months after [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845] was released in hardcover, Bantam dropped the second volume of the Jedi Academy trilogy in June 1994. Dark Apprentice simultaneously did better and worse than [b:Jedi Search|760110|Jedi Search (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327958212l/760110._SY75_.jpg|863900]. It made it to number two on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of June 26, 1994, and ultimately stayed on the NYT list for 6 weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I mistakenly thought that...more...happened in this book. Luke’s academy is definitely a highlights-only reel; I guess I assumed that we saw more of how everything functioned before it fell apart, but actually we didn’t! At least Leia had something to do this time around.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Other than the futuristic organic tech wetsuit that she wore on Calamari, we once again have a book with few descriptions of her costumes. However, Han goes skiing, and gives Kyp a rad black cloak!
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Luke Skywalker opens his Jedi praxeum on Yavin IV and begins to instruct the next generation of Jedi, but an evil shadow lurks nearby. Admiral Ackbar quits after his personal involvement in a deadly accident. And Admiral Daala starts her one-woman guerilla campaign against the New Republic.
THE CHARACTERS:
I did not like Anderson’s portrayal of Luke in the first book, and I really didn’t like how he built on that here. Luke is remarkably ineffective and indecisive as the Master of this new Academy. Gantoris constructs a lightsaber and challenges him to a duel, and Luke barely intervenes. Gantoris then apparently self-combusts and Luke doesn’t contact any one?? Kyp Durron is giving off loads of warning signs but Luke also does pretty much nothing. He’s also very reliant on the Jedi Holocron, another carryover from the [b:Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy|8287494|Star Wars Dark Empire Trilogy|Tom Veitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403200157l/8287494._SX50_.jpg|14421180], and we get few examples of him actually teaching. He seems to mostly just set around and let his students instruct themselves. By the end of the book, he’s barely alive, and after all his idiocy it’s a little hard to sympathize with his fate.
After having very little to do in [b:Jedi Search|760110|Jedi Search (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327958212l/760110._SY75_.jpg|863900], Leia actually has an interesting plotline in this book! Leia is a direct witness to Ackbar’s accident—which we as the reader know was a setup, but no one else does—and is feeling especially stressed by all the responsibilities Mon Mothma is offloading on her. Once she learns about Mothma’s illness, though, she heads to Ackbar’s home world to beg for his return; and in turn, she becomes a bystander during Daala’s attack. I think I prefer when Leia can mix diplomacy with action, so I enjoyed her scenes here.
Remember how I praised Anderson’s portrayal of Han in the previous book? Unfortunately, that didn’t continue into this book. Han gets irrationally annoyed at Lando in the beginning of Dark Apprentice, which leads to them playing sabacc THREE times to decide who owns the Falcon. It’s particularly pointless because the only reason that Han has the Falcon in the end is because Lando wanted to impress Mara Jade with his generosity.
Lando once again has little to do, other than gamble with Han and flirt with Mara Jade. Mara, in turn, is less nuanced than Zahn’s depiction of her, and I feel like this is the first appearance of “sexy Mara,” a characterization we will unfortunately see other authors adopt as well.
Of Luke’s potential Jedi: Gantoris clearly chose poorly in the end. Kyp’s fall to the Dark Side is so abbreviated that it’s hard for me to buy it. Luke has a dozen students, but Anderson only gives us the names of half of them, which will be very useful when Michael A. Stackpole decides to retcon Corran Horn into the Jedi Academy.
Leia and Han’s twins run away from a zoo and wander the lower levels of Coruscant. I hate this! They’re two and a half! Why is Anderson devoting time to this subplot?
Admiral Daala started off this trilogy with four Star Destroyers. She lost one at Kessel, and then loses two more in this book. Would she have ever made Admiral were it not for some weird romantic form of nepotism? And why does she continue to be a presence in later books? (I’m looking at you [b:Darksaber|513210|Darksaber (Star Wars The Callista Trilogy, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326718683l/513210._SY75_.jpg|1178996]!) She’s a strategic moron.
Exar Kun is a shadowy presence in more ways than one. His goal is evil dominance, I guess. But his evil is restricted to Yavin IV. Why he didn’t show up while the Rebellion was based there, and why Luke didn’t remove his students at the first sign of trouble is anyone’s guess.
ISSUES:
Not an issue, but an actual praise: I like how Anderson developed Calamari! It’s interesting and alien and felt new. I also like Ackbar’s accident on Vortex, and the aftermath.
On the whole, though, Anderson’s writing style is just aggressively clunky. It’s almost like he knew the main points he needed to hit, and then just never bothered to sufficiently flesh them out. Things don’t flow, more lurch from subplot to subplot.
Take Kyp’s descent into darkness: we get one scene of him on Yavin IV, pushing himself to learn more than anyone else. Then immediately afterwards he’s listening to Exar Kun and learning hidden knowledge (which is 100% hidden to the reader too). There’s no time to build or for his impatience to grow, because Anderson makes him go from 0 to 60 in one chapter.
Anderson also introduces some interesting romantic pairings to the GFFA. We have Wedge Antilles and Qwi Xux, which...why? What do they see in each other? And while I can buy Lando trying to schmooze Mara Jade, I can’t quite see her reciprocating.
IN CONCLUSION:
Dark Apprentice is second book filler of the worst kind. Characters cycle in place, none more obviously than Han and Lando with their endless card games, and it ends on a cliffhanger—or rather, a pyramid-summit hanger. Hopefully there will be a little more action in the third book.
Next up: [b:Champions of the Force|513207|Champions of the Force (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #3)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008722l/513207._SY75_.jpg|501182], the conclusion to the Jedi Academy trilogy.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/CM2Aj-uz86c
This week’s focus: Dark Apprentice by Kevin J. Anderson.
SOME HISTORY:
A mere two months after [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845] was released in hardcover, Bantam dropped the second volume of the Jedi Academy trilogy in June 1994. Dark Apprentice simultaneously did better and worse than [b:Jedi Search|760110|Jedi Search (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327958212l/760110._SY75_.jpg|863900]. It made it to number two on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of June 26, 1994, and ultimately stayed on the NYT list for 6 weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I mistakenly thought that...more...happened in this book. Luke’s academy is definitely a highlights-only reel; I guess I assumed that we saw more of how everything functioned before it fell apart, but actually we didn’t! At least Leia had something to do this time around.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Other than the futuristic organic tech wetsuit that she wore on Calamari, we once again have a book with few descriptions of her costumes. However, Han goes skiing, and gives Kyp a rad black cloak!
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Luke Skywalker opens his Jedi praxeum on Yavin IV and begins to instruct the next generation of Jedi, but an evil shadow lurks nearby. Admiral Ackbar quits after his personal involvement in a deadly accident. And Admiral Daala starts her one-woman guerilla campaign against the New Republic.
THE CHARACTERS:
I did not like Anderson’s portrayal of Luke in the first book, and I really didn’t like how he built on that here. Luke is remarkably ineffective and indecisive as the Master of this new Academy. Gantoris constructs a lightsaber and challenges him to a duel, and Luke barely intervenes. Gantoris then apparently self-combusts and Luke doesn’t contact any one?? Kyp Durron is giving off loads of warning signs but Luke also does pretty much nothing. He’s also very reliant on the Jedi Holocron, another carryover from the [b:Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy|8287494|Star Wars Dark Empire Trilogy|Tom Veitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403200157l/8287494._SX50_.jpg|14421180], and we get few examples of him actually teaching. He seems to mostly just set around and let his students instruct themselves. By the end of the book, he’s barely alive, and after all his idiocy it’s a little hard to sympathize with his fate.
After having very little to do in [b:Jedi Search|760110|Jedi Search (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327958212l/760110._SY75_.jpg|863900], Leia actually has an interesting plotline in this book! Leia is a direct witness to Ackbar’s accident—which we as the reader know was a setup, but no one else does—and is feeling especially stressed by all the responsibilities Mon Mothma is offloading on her. Once she learns about Mothma’s illness, though, she heads to Ackbar’s home world to beg for his return; and in turn, she becomes a bystander during Daala’s attack. I think I prefer when Leia can mix diplomacy with action, so I enjoyed her scenes here.
Remember how I praised Anderson’s portrayal of Han in the previous book? Unfortunately, that didn’t continue into this book. Han gets irrationally annoyed at Lando in the beginning of Dark Apprentice, which leads to them playing sabacc THREE times to decide who owns the Falcon. It’s particularly pointless because the only reason that Han has the Falcon in the end is because Lando wanted to impress Mara Jade with his generosity.
Lando once again has little to do, other than gamble with Han and flirt with Mara Jade. Mara, in turn, is less nuanced than Zahn’s depiction of her, and I feel like this is the first appearance of “sexy Mara,” a characterization we will unfortunately see other authors adopt as well.
Of Luke’s potential Jedi: Gantoris clearly chose poorly in the end. Kyp’s fall to the Dark Side is so abbreviated that it’s hard for me to buy it. Luke has a dozen students, but Anderson only gives us the names of half of them, which will be very useful when Michael A. Stackpole decides to retcon Corran Horn into the Jedi Academy.
Leia and Han’s twins run away from a zoo and wander the lower levels of Coruscant. I hate this! They’re two and a half! Why is Anderson devoting time to this subplot?
Admiral Daala started off this trilogy with four Star Destroyers. She lost one at Kessel, and then loses two more in this book. Would she have ever made Admiral were it not for some weird romantic form of nepotism? And why does she continue to be a presence in later books? (I’m looking at you [b:Darksaber|513210|Darksaber (Star Wars The Callista Trilogy, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326718683l/513210._SY75_.jpg|1178996]!) She’s a strategic moron.
Exar Kun is a shadowy presence in more ways than one. His goal is evil dominance, I guess. But his evil is restricted to Yavin IV. Why he didn’t show up while the Rebellion was based there, and why Luke didn’t remove his students at the first sign of trouble is anyone’s guess.
ISSUES:
Not an issue, but an actual praise: I like how Anderson developed Calamari! It’s interesting and alien and felt new. I also like Ackbar’s accident on Vortex, and the aftermath.
On the whole, though, Anderson’s writing style is just aggressively clunky. It’s almost like he knew the main points he needed to hit, and then just never bothered to sufficiently flesh them out. Things don’t flow, more lurch from subplot to subplot.
Take Kyp’s descent into darkness: we get one scene of him on Yavin IV, pushing himself to learn more than anyone else. Then immediately afterwards he’s listening to Exar Kun and learning hidden knowledge (which is 100% hidden to the reader too). There’s no time to build or for his impatience to grow, because Anderson makes him go from 0 to 60 in one chapter.
Anderson also introduces some interesting romantic pairings to the GFFA. We have Wedge Antilles and Qwi Xux, which...why? What do they see in each other? And while I can buy Lando trying to schmooze Mara Jade, I can’t quite see her reciprocating.
IN CONCLUSION:
Dark Apprentice is second book filler of the worst kind. Characters cycle in place, none more obviously than Han and Lando with their endless card games, and it ends on a cliffhanger—or rather, a pyramid-summit hanger. Hopefully there will be a little more action in the third book.
Next up: [b:Champions of the Force|513207|Champions of the Force (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #3)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008722l/513207._SY75_.jpg|501182], the conclusion to the Jedi Academy trilogy.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/CM2Aj-uz86c
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ehsjaysaunders's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Some middle book problems, but still a fun exploration of the praxeum's early days.
3.5/5 I do like things about the Sun Crusher, but...nah. Kinda breaks things, even more than the Galaxy Gun.
3.5/5 I do like things about the Sun Crusher, but...nah. Kinda breaks things, even more than the Galaxy Gun.
verkisto's review against another edition
2.0
I can see why there are so many mixed reviews for this series. On the one hand, there are a lot of good ideas here in the story, and I can see fans of the EU eating that stuff up; on the other hand, the writing isn't that good. The dialogue in bad, the characterization is mixed (Luke comes across as milquetoast, which is a sure sign that Anderson doesn't get his character), and there are weird asides that don't do anything for the larger story. In Jedi Search, is was Lando's excursion to the glob races; here in Dark Apprentice, it's the twins getting lost in lower Coruscant. I don't understand their inclusion here at all.
Something else that bugs me about this trilogy is how Anderson writes "Artoo-Detoo" and "See-Threepio" instead of the droids' actual names. It's like he's only ever seen the Star Wars movies, and never bothered to find out how they actually spell their names. I get "Artoo" and "Threepio", since those are nicknames, but he always. Spells. Them out. It's annoying for some reason.
Something else that bugs me about this trilogy is how Anderson writes "Artoo-Detoo" and "See-Threepio" instead of the droids' actual names. It's like he's only ever seen the Star Wars movies, and never bothered to find out how they actually spell their names. I get "Artoo" and "Threepio", since those are nicknames, but he always. Spells. Them out. It's annoying for some reason.
griffinhoneycutt's review against another edition
3.0
There were some parts of this book that I didn't love, but I did find it a little bit better than Jedi Search. I was expecting more of a focus on the actual Jedi Training at the academy, but the book didn't go into much detail there, instead choosing to focus on pointless side plots like babysitting gone wrong or two side characters going on a date. I'm not a huge fan of what's been done with Kyp Durron. The premise of his turn is interesting but the execution just isn't there, and in the end it feels abrupt and unearned. His confrontation with Luke was a great scene, probably the best of the trilogy so far, but there were a lot of problems getting there. I'm left both very frustrated and still excited to read the conclusion of the trilogy, which I have a feeling will be just as mediocre as the rest of it.