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geekwayne's review
2.0
In a time about 37,000 years before the events in Star Wars, we get a tale from before the Old Republic of the Je'Daii (precursors to the Jedi). Xesh is a force hound who is toying with the dark side. For that reason (among others), he is forced to live on the prison planet Bogan. These events take place before this book, and the story picks up here.
We learn some of Xesh's troubled past, and why he wants to be the master of his own destiny. We meet the friends and teachers he has betrayed. We meet Lok, a fellow prisoner, who has his own plans for the power that Xesh has, and we meet Trill, Xesh's broodmate, who is hunting him down for her own reasons.
As a casual Star Wars fan, the story seems so far removed from what I know that, while it's interesting, it seems quite distant. Some of the characters have strange markings on their faces, and this just seemed distracting to me. I like the art by Jan Duursema, but so many of the poses were so overdramatic, that I kept wondering if people in this world ever just stand around and have a conversation, or if they need to crouch and swing a weapon over their head at the same time. That's probably a preference in the series that I'm not aware of. It wasn't bad, but just not to my particular liking.
I got this as a galley from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley!
We learn some of Xesh's troubled past, and why he wants to be the master of his own destiny. We meet the friends and teachers he has betrayed. We meet Lok, a fellow prisoner, who has his own plans for the power that Xesh has, and we meet Trill, Xesh's broodmate, who is hunting him down for her own reasons.
As a casual Star Wars fan, the story seems so far removed from what I know that, while it's interesting, it seems quite distant. Some of the characters have strange markings on their faces, and this just seemed distracting to me. I like the art by Jan Duursema, but so many of the poses were so overdramatic, that I kept wondering if people in this world ever just stand around and have a conversation, or if they need to crouch and swing a weapon over their head at the same time. That's probably a preference in the series that I'm not aware of. It wasn't bad, but just not to my particular liking.
I got this as a galley from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley!
arf88's review
3.0
I enjoyed the plot of this volume, it was much more engaging than the previous one. However, the writing itself is just bad and it made it a chore to pick up and actually read. The art continues to convey what's happening well, but I really, really don't like the style.
zare_i's review
4.0
Second story arc of Dawn of the Jedi starts with Xesh getting sent out to Bogan in order to meditate on the balance of the Force. While he slowly starts to understand the point of Force balance he gets involved in years long conflict between the Daegen Lok, mystic and general exiled to Bogan because of his inner pitch black darkness and Masters of Tython.
Unwillingly Xesh becomes an ace in the hole for Lok - this starts the series of events that threaten with newly ignited system war. Driven crazy by the visions in which he saw Xesh-like warriors destroying the Tython system Lok aims to raise his own army and rule the Tython system in order to fortify it and defeat the incoming threat.
And in all of this chase around Rakatan's finally managed o infiltrate Tython system. Gaining access to Tython Jedi, Rakatan spy manages to home in their armada.
Art as always is great, everything I said for volume 1 is true for this issue too. Story itself is still highly action oriented with battles in truly fantastic environments. Finally we start to know more about the Despot War and how it affected the Tython Jedi's and the way they look at use of the Force in the conflict. I have to admit I truly like their pragmatic approach to use of martial arts and art of war. So like SWKOTOR era and so unlike their descendants that became extremely tied up in red tape they could not save themselves.
Good story arc, highly recommended to fans of action adventure and SWKOTOR-like stories.
Unwillingly Xesh becomes an ace in the hole for Lok - this starts the series of events that threaten with newly ignited system war. Driven crazy by the visions in which he saw Xesh-like warriors destroying the Tython system Lok aims to raise his own army and rule the Tython system in order to fortify it and defeat the incoming threat.
And in all of this chase around Rakatan's finally managed o infiltrate Tython system. Gaining access to Tython Jedi, Rakatan spy manages to home in their armada.
Art as always is great, everything I said for volume 1 is true for this issue too. Story itself is still highly action oriented with battles in truly fantastic environments. Finally we start to know more about the Despot War and how it affected the Tython Jedi's and the way they look at use of the Force in the conflict. I have to admit I truly like their pragmatic approach to use of martial arts and art of war. So like SWKOTOR era and so unlike their descendants that became extremely tied up in red tape they could not save themselves.
Good story arc, highly recommended to fans of action adventure and SWKOTOR-like stories.
johnbreeden's review
4.0
I have begun slowly working through the Legends side of Star Wars books, short stories and comics. It amazes me how well these mesh together between the Dawn of the Jedi arc.
jaredkwheeler's review
2.0
Star Wars Legends Project #3
Background: Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan was released in five issues during the end of 2012/beginning of 2013. The trade paperback was released in July of 2013. It was written by [a:John Ostrander|18810|John Ostrander|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1263038842p2/18810.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Jan Duursema|20013|Jan Duursema|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg], the same team who produced the previous arc in the ongoing Dawn of the Jedi series: [b:Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Vol. 1 - Force Storm|15745903|Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi, Vol. 1 - Force Storm|John Ostrander|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1341962456s/15745903.jpg|21435916]. The first issue of the third arc, Force Wars will be released in November 2013.
The Prisoner of Bogan begins approximately two months after the conclusion of Force Storm (see my review here), approximately 25,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. Most of the characters featured in Force Storm return, a few minor characters get a more prominent role, and there are a few new heroes and one particularly notable new villain.
Summary: Xesh, former Force Hound of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, has lost much of his memory, but still retains his deep ties to the dark side of the Force. Hoping that he can find balance, and despite the objections of the three young Journeyers who have befriended him, the Je'daii masters exile him to Bogan, the dark moon of Tython, so he can meditate on the light embodied by its twin moon, Ashla. While his new friends and their masters work to unlock the secrets of the Forcesaber, a powerful new weapon, Xesh discovers that he is not alone. Daegen Lok, mad Je'daii and the only member of the order to be permanently banished to Bogan, sees in Xesh a chance to set long-dormant plans in motion. And none of them is aware that Xesh's Rakata masters have dispatched a deadly agent to learn his fate and lead them to the planet he sought.
Review: The Prisoner of Bogan basically takes all of the problems from the first arc in the series, and compounds them. There are several strong elements in this story, but it's working so very hard to set up what promises to be an epic conflict ahead, that it forgets to be compelling on its own. There is a lot of exposition and set-up in this conflict, and yes, consider me fully primed for Force War at this point, but that's no excuse for this to be a limp collection of loose threads.
The main trouble is, the comic gets sidetracked in a couple of different ways from what ought to be its core plot, built around the title character. Lok is a fascinating and almost sympathetic villain: one who is clearly insane, and clearly doing evil, but who has also clearly been wronged, and is not wrong about everything. His relationship with Hawk Ryo is one of the dramatic linch-pins of the whole thing, and it is extremely effective. His Force specialty is unique and scary.
But I never felt that I fully understood his plan. And yes, that's partially because he's crazy, but if he's crazy enough to have a plan that makes this little sense, I feel like his behavior in general ought to be more erratic and less calculated. And, after all of the work setting up and developing him as a character, I felt like he basically just fizzled out at the end, shunted unceremoniously aside to make way for the conflict they're really interested in getting to. It made him seem like filler, and he deserved better than that.
There's also a major subplot involving a holocron from an ancient alien race that just stuck out like a sore thumb. It brought to the fore how little sense the whole "origin of the Je'daii" flashback from the first arc really made, and it was a completely irrelevant distraction from everything else that happened in the story. The whole sequence couldn't have been more contrived than it was: Tasha Ryo, a mere journeyer is somehow randomly able to activate a holocron that a master has studied for ages with no success, just by touching it. And it handily contains a recording that can do a plot dump to bring the Je'daii conveniently up to speed in time for the Rakata invasion that is clearly coming up. Clumsy. (And it buried Tasha, one of the three main heroes from the last arc, completely out of the action.)
One other interesting character didn't get their full due in this comic was Trill, a minor character introduced only briefly in Force Storm. She gets a much richer background story this time around, and the whole comic seems to be building her up to a major confrontation and display of her obviously considerable powers, but then it just never happens. One more piece of actual good material that they're saving for the next arc.
Basically, while it definitely has its moments, and the art is a great as in the last comic, The Prisoner of Bogan feels like the laziest middle chapter ever, and is all the more frustrating when there are still several months to wait for the completion of the next series.
C-
Background: Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan was released in five issues during the end of 2012/beginning of 2013. The trade paperback was released in July of 2013. It was written by [a:John Ostrander|18810|John Ostrander|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1263038842p2/18810.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Jan Duursema|20013|Jan Duursema|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg], the same team who produced the previous arc in the ongoing Dawn of the Jedi series: [b:Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Vol. 1 - Force Storm|15745903|Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi, Vol. 1 - Force Storm|John Ostrander|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1341962456s/15745903.jpg|21435916]. The first issue of the third arc, Force Wars will be released in November 2013.
The Prisoner of Bogan begins approximately two months after the conclusion of Force Storm (see my review here), approximately 25,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. Most of the characters featured in Force Storm return, a few minor characters get a more prominent role, and there are a few new heroes and one particularly notable new villain.
Summary: Xesh, former Force Hound of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, has lost much of his memory, but still retains his deep ties to the dark side of the Force. Hoping that he can find balance, and despite the objections of the three young Journeyers who have befriended him, the Je'daii masters exile him to Bogan, the dark moon of Tython, so he can meditate on the light embodied by its twin moon, Ashla. While his new friends and their masters work to unlock the secrets of the Forcesaber, a powerful new weapon, Xesh discovers that he is not alone. Daegen Lok, mad Je'daii and the only member of the order to be permanently banished to Bogan, sees in Xesh a chance to set long-dormant plans in motion. And none of them is aware that Xesh's Rakata masters have dispatched a deadly agent to learn his fate and lead them to the planet he sought.
Review: The Prisoner of Bogan basically takes all of the problems from the first arc in the series, and compounds them. There are several strong elements in this story, but it's working so very hard to set up what promises to be an epic conflict ahead, that it forgets to be compelling on its own. There is a lot of exposition and set-up in this conflict, and yes, consider me fully primed for Force War at this point, but that's no excuse for this to be a limp collection of loose threads.
The main trouble is, the comic gets sidetracked in a couple of different ways from what ought to be its core plot, built around the title character. Lok is a fascinating and almost sympathetic villain: one who is clearly insane, and clearly doing evil, but who has also clearly been wronged, and is not wrong about everything. His relationship with Hawk Ryo is one of the dramatic linch-pins of the whole thing, and it is extremely effective. His Force specialty is unique and scary.
But I never felt that I fully understood his plan. And yes, that's partially because he's crazy, but if he's crazy enough to have a plan that makes this little sense, I feel like his behavior in general ought to be more erratic and less calculated. And, after all of the work setting up and developing him as a character, I felt like he basically just fizzled out at the end, shunted unceremoniously aside to make way for the conflict they're really interested in getting to. It made him seem like filler, and he deserved better than that.
There's also a major subplot involving a holocron from an ancient alien race that just stuck out like a sore thumb. It brought to the fore how little sense the whole "origin of the Je'daii" flashback from the first arc really made, and it was a completely irrelevant distraction from everything else that happened in the story. The whole sequence couldn't have been more contrived than it was: Tasha Ryo, a mere journeyer is somehow randomly able to activate a holocron that a master has studied for ages with no success, just by touching it. And it handily contains a recording that can do a plot dump to bring the Je'daii conveniently up to speed in time for the Rakata invasion that is clearly coming up. Clumsy. (And it buried Tasha, one of the three main heroes from the last arc, completely out of the action.)
One other interesting character didn't get their full due in this comic was Trill, a minor character introduced only briefly in Force Storm. She gets a much richer background story this time around, and the whole comic seems to be building her up to a major confrontation and display of her obviously considerable powers, but then it just never happens. One more piece of actual good material that they're saving for the next arc.
Basically, while it definitely has its moments, and the art is a great as in the last comic, The Prisoner of Bogan feels like the laziest middle chapter ever, and is all the more frustrating when there are still several months to wait for the completion of the next series.
C-
rltinha's review
3.0
Demora a arrancar (embora isto seja parvo de se dizer quando não se leu o Vol. 1; porém este não foi lido atento o facto de não integrar condições qualitativas para fazer parte d'A Lista de Aquecimento para o Filme) mas, depois da 3.ª issue, é sempre a subir.
Espero que o 3.º vol. continue em nota ascendente.
Espero que o 3.º vol. continue em nota ascendente.
fandom4ever's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi - Prisoners of Bogan picks up where Force Storm left off. Xesh has been sentenced to time meditating his unbalance in the Force on Bogan. Here he meets Daegen Lok, a banished Je’daii who had received dark visions that foretold a great war with an unknown alien species.
It’s in this book that I’m beginning to see how the Jedi Order would eventually sever the balance and just use the light side. It’s obvious to see how the Force’s use all depends on the individual, rather than what the Order teaches. I mean the best thing to do with people lost in the Dark side or with maddening visions is to isolate them on a different planet, cut off from other people and tell them to meditate on what they’ve been doing wrong. Rather than helping them work through it and trying to understand how they may have come to this path.
There was more background information on the Rakatan species and how they became such a powerful and ruthless Empire. It also mentions more about how their ships are powered.
It had an unexpected twist at the end that I didn’t feel was earned, because I simply don’t understand when it could have taken place. Maybe it’ll be explained in Book 3 but as of right now it was not. Also, for some reason in this book, there were several instances when the speech bubbles were messed up. The words in them were crammed on top of each other making it hard to discern where each word began and ended. They also were sometimes coming out the sides of the bubbles, despite having plenty of white space in the bubble that they could have been put!
All in all, a great continuation of the Dawn of the Jedi series. I can’t wait to see what happens with the Rakatan!
It’s in this book that I’m beginning to see how the Jedi Order would eventually sever the balance and just use the light side. It’s obvious to see how the Force’s use all depends on the individual, rather than what the Order teaches. I mean the best thing to do with people lost in the Dark side or with maddening visions is to isolate them on a different planet, cut off from other people and tell them to meditate on what they’ve been doing wrong. Rather than helping them work through it and trying to understand how they may have come to this path.
There was more background information on the Rakatan species and how they became such a powerful and ruthless Empire. It also mentions more about how their ships are powered.
It had an unexpected twist at the end that I didn’t feel was earned, because I simply don’t understand when it could have taken place. Maybe it’ll be explained in Book 3 but as of right now it was not. Also, for some reason in this book, there were several instances when the speech bubbles were messed up. The words in them were crammed on top of each other making it hard to discern where each word began and ended. They also were sometimes coming out the sides of the bubbles, despite having plenty of white space in the bubble that they could have been put!
All in all, a great continuation of the Dawn of the Jedi series. I can’t wait to see what happens with the Rakatan!
wyrmbergmalcolm's review
5.0
This second instalment of this unique series chronologically based before any other Star Wars works deals with themes such as belonging and destiny. With foreknowledge of an approaching evil, Daegen Lok is compelled to do whatever necessary to help the Je’daii prepare, despite their inherent disinclination to believe him. This resulted in some very interesting differences of opinion, particularly as he wasn’t the only Je’daii who ad that vision.
The character of the Rakatan force hound Xesh (meaning ‘X’) also becomes far more interesting that just another Darth Vader rehash. He’s very much trying to find his place in the world and still coming to grips with the concept of freedom. His shared connection with the female Je’daii Shae Koda, something that did make itself known in Force Storm and is further developed here.
I also liked the development of the other force hound Trill (meaning ‘T’) as she ingratiates herself with the Je’daii. There are no doubts to her loyalty, but watching her play a part was brilliant.
The other thing that was noteworthy was the history behind Tython and the force beings that first settled there. Even at this early point chronologically, there’s stories about what happened even before that. Made me smile.
The artwork is once again top-notch thanks to Jan Duusema and Dan Parsons, be it character, creature, vehicle or location. This may be set in the pre-history of the Star Wars universe, but it feels fresh and vibrant.
A stellar continuation from a novel period in the Star Wars saga and I’m eager to see where it goes.
The character of the Rakatan force hound Xesh (meaning ‘X’) also becomes far more interesting that just another Darth Vader rehash. He’s very much trying to find his place in the world and still coming to grips with the concept of freedom. His shared connection with the female Je’daii Shae Koda, something that did make itself known in Force Storm and is further developed here.
I also liked the development of the other force hound Trill (meaning ‘T’) as she ingratiates herself with the Je’daii. There are no doubts to her loyalty, but watching her play a part was brilliant.
The other thing that was noteworthy was the history behind Tython and the force beings that first settled there. Even at this early point chronologically, there’s stories about what happened even before that. Made me smile.
The artwork is once again top-notch thanks to Jan Duusema and Dan Parsons, be it character, creature, vehicle or location. This may be set in the pre-history of the Star Wars universe, but it feels fresh and vibrant.
A stellar continuation from a novel period in the Star Wars saga and I’m eager to see where it goes.
bardinhell's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I liked this a bit better than the previous volume. Still a fun adventure and look forward to the conclusion.
bloodravenlib's review
3.0
I posted my review of this over on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian. Actually, I would have given it 3 and 1/2 stars, but as we know, 1/2 stars is not an option on GoodReads.
Link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2013/07/booknote-star-wars-dawn-of-jedi-vol-2.html
Link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2013/07/booknote-star-wars-dawn-of-jedi-vol-2.html