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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
This was a disappointment.
I picked this book out as the next one to read because I was hot off a roll of X-Wing novels, and really wanted to read more about Rogue Squadron and co., but I've run out of that series (apart from the last one, which is set 30 years further on in the timeline, leaving a lot of blanks to be filled in before I get there!). I figured it's Corran Horn - bit of a Mary Sue, not a particularly interesting character, but hey, it's got Rogue Squadron, Wedge Antilles, Luke Skywalker, Jedi.... how bad can it be, right?
Well, it's not good. This book can be broken into three parts; the shortest is the first chapter or so, which reads very much like one of the X-wing novels, with Corran being all smug pilot shooting-up hostile pilots from some rogue warlord. pretty standard stuff apart from the first person perspective the whole book's written in.
Then Mirax (Corran's wife) is kidnapped, which shortly begins the second section, and the most awkward to read. Corran goes off to become a Jedi (under the assumed name of Kieran Halcyon), in order to find/save Mirax. And he goes to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy to do this. Which is fine... except that his time there is while the whole Jedi Academy/Kyp Durron/Suncrusher saga is taking place. That's a whole trilogy of books already telling the story of what happened there at that time. Without any mention of Corran Horn, Smug Correllian Extraordinaire.
It makes the whole thing feel very contrived, with Corran shoe-horned into events but always conspicuously absent when anything important (read as "anything written in the Jedi Academy book") is happening. He manages to have all these super-important conversations with the primary characters, whilst not actually taking any part in the main story line. It feels really awkward and unnecessary. And then suddenly Corran pulls some previously unknown Jedi power out of his nether, alternates between being the most powerful Jedi ever and the most useless, tells Luke he sucks, and flits off in a fighter that he managed to repair himself (presumably using the force, lumps of stone and vines, because he's no mechanic/engineer, and has previously stated how little they had by way of supplies beyond essentials - certainly not parts for a 30 year old starfighter cockpit...). We see the birth of SuperHorn, the Smug CorSecJediStarfighterAce who can do everything, slowed only by some oh-so-convenient character flaws that he effortlessly overcomes in the nick of time.
And thus starts the third novel in this novel, which reads a bit like one of the Wraith Squadron novels, with added Jedi stuff and SuperHorn in full flow. After spending months learning to be a Jedi, he spends more months infiltrating a pirate gang, basically taking charge, then single-handedly takes out three other pirate gangs...all whilst flirting with the most generic Sexy Villian in the known universe.
There's some nonsense with a Jedi offshoot cult which Corran manages to bring into the fold by the close of the book, and the final reunion with his wife (the whole reason this book even exists, ostensibly) is a brief paragraph before she slips back into the background as more window dressing so SuperHorn can get back to saving the day.
Despite all this, there are some positives; the characterisations of some of the other known characters (notably Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu) are pretty good, particularly the males - the females tend to become window dressing, or damsels for SuperHorn to save in some way - and some of the locations are interesting and clearly have had some real thought applied to them (Corellia for instance). In fact, if the author had taken a step back from Corran and made him actually believable, this could have been a good book. Assuming of course you ignore the fact that there's no real reason given for Mirax being kidnapped in the first place rather than just killed/chased-off (beyond a hasty *something-something* destiny *something* Corran Horn/Kieran halcyon legacy *something* plot device), the fact that he wasted the best part of a year gallivanting around before he actually got around to the business of saving his wife, and the conflicts with the later material (Clone Wars era, even before the Mouse got his paws on the franchise).
All in all, unless you really love Corran Horn (if so, what is WRONG with you?), or like me you're a Star Wars completionist, I'd skip this one.
I picked this book out as the next one to read because I was hot off a roll of X-Wing novels, and really wanted to read more about Rogue Squadron and co., but I've run out of that series (apart from the last one, which is set 30 years further on in the timeline, leaving a lot of blanks to be filled in before I get there!). I figured it's Corran Horn - bit of a Mary Sue, not a particularly interesting character, but hey, it's got Rogue Squadron, Wedge Antilles, Luke Skywalker, Jedi.... how bad can it be, right?
Well, it's not good. This book can be broken into three parts; the shortest is the first chapter or so, which reads very much like one of the X-wing novels, with Corran being all smug pilot shooting-up hostile pilots from some rogue warlord. pretty standard stuff apart from the first person perspective the whole book's written in.
Then Mirax (Corran's wife) is kidnapped, which shortly begins the second section, and the most awkward to read. Corran goes off to become a Jedi (under the assumed name of Kieran Halcyon), in order to find/save Mirax. And he goes to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy to do this. Which is fine... except that his time there is while the whole Jedi Academy/Kyp Durron/Suncrusher saga is taking place. That's a whole trilogy of books already telling the story of what happened there at that time. Without any mention of Corran Horn, Smug Correllian Extraordinaire.
It makes the whole thing feel very contrived, with Corran shoe-horned into events but always conspicuously absent when anything important (read as "anything written in the Jedi Academy book") is happening. He manages to have all these super-important conversations with the primary characters, whilst not actually taking any part in the main story line. It feels really awkward and unnecessary. And then suddenly Corran pulls some previously unknown Jedi power out of his nether, alternates between being the most powerful Jedi ever and the most useless, tells Luke he sucks, and flits off in a fighter that he managed to repair himself (presumably using the force, lumps of stone and vines, because he's no mechanic/engineer, and has previously stated how little they had by way of supplies beyond essentials - certainly not parts for a 30 year old starfighter cockpit...). We see the birth of SuperHorn, the Smug CorSecJediStarfighterAce who can do everything, slowed only by some oh-so-convenient character flaws that he effortlessly overcomes in the nick of time.
And thus starts the third novel in this novel, which reads a bit like one of the Wraith Squadron novels, with added Jedi stuff and SuperHorn in full flow. After spending months learning to be a Jedi, he spends more months infiltrating a pirate gang, basically taking charge, then single-handedly takes out three other pirate gangs...all whilst flirting with the most generic Sexy Villian in the known universe.
There's some nonsense with a Jedi offshoot cult which Corran manages to bring into the fold by the close of the book, and the final reunion with his wife (the whole reason this book even exists, ostensibly) is a brief paragraph before she slips back into the background as more window dressing so SuperHorn can get back to saving the day.
Despite all this, there are some positives; the characterisations of some of the other known characters (notably Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu) are pretty good, particularly the males - the females tend to become window dressing, or damsels for SuperHorn to save in some way - and some of the locations are interesting and clearly have had some real thought applied to them (Corellia for instance). In fact, if the author had taken a step back from Corran and made him actually believable, this could have been a good book. Assuming of course you ignore the fact that there's no real reason given for Mirax being kidnapped in the first place rather than just killed/chased-off (beyond a hasty *something-something* destiny *something* Corran Horn/Kieran halcyon legacy *something* plot device), the fact that he wasted the best part of a year gallivanting around before he actually got around to the business of saving his wife, and the conflicts with the later material (Clone Wars era, even before the Mouse got his paws on the franchise).
All in all, unless you really love Corran Horn (if so, what is WRONG with you?), or like me you're a Star Wars completionist, I'd skip this one.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There's a reaction to the effort to make more and stronger women characters in media; Mary Sue. It's when a woman can do everything with ease. Corran Horn reminded me of that. But he was a guy being written in the late 90s. The dude was new to the force and was showing up Luke Skywalker. It was just too much for me. And the fact that everything came easy to him robbed the story of any tension.
Speaking of stories, this could have been two novella; him learning in a Jedi Academy and him being undercover as a Tri-wing pilot for an Imperial Pirate group. There was also a lot, a lot of technical details; from the maneuvers in a dog fight to how to construct a lightsaber. the last of which has been ret-conned.
Speaking of stories, this could have been two novella; him learning in a Jedi Academy and him being undercover as a Tri-wing pilot for an Imperial Pirate group. There was also a lot, a lot of technical details; from the maneuvers in a dog fight to how to construct a lightsaber. the last of which has been ret-conned.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm just getting started in reading the Star Wars EU books. Aside from the movies, I have only read the original Thrawn trilogy and duology books. The duology got me interested in reading about Luke's failed Jedi academy, so I picked up this book at a used bookstore to fill in that gap. I'd heard that "I, Jedi" basically recounted the entire "Jedi Academy Trilogy" in its first 200 pages, then went on to an original storyline after that. Perfect! I've got too many books in my TBR as it is and just wanted to get the gist of the academy anyway.
For the most part, this strategy worked out beautifully. Michael Stackpole's writing style is very good and we stick with one character, Corran Horn, throughout the whole story. I like Corran quite a bit and dug the Jedi academy section. I was a little disappointed that What the hell, Stackpole! You couldn't have added an extra paragraph to tell us how that played out? I had to go to the Wookepedia and read Exar Kun's page to figure out what happened. Aside from that, the whole first half was great!
Once that was all wrapped up, Horn leaves the academy to pursue his wife's captors. But before he does that he goes to visit his grandfather on Corellia. Seems like a bit of a time-waster since she's been missing for over a month already but OK. There were some really good character moments between the two of them, so I can let this distraction go. But then his big plan is to. This takes several more months! Your wife is missing, dude, you need to get a move on!
During this section of the book there were also several more mentions of "Emperor Reborn". Luke talked about his decent to the dark side back at the academy, but it didn't bother me a whole lot. It served as a motivator for Luke's decisions at the academy. But the mentions of "Emperor Reborn" kept piling up in other contexts and I started feeling like I was missing something big. So I went back to Wookiepedia and learned about a comic book series, called "Dark Empire". I got the gist of that storyline and was able to move on with "I, Jedi" again. But now I really want to read that series. It looks very interesting.
The book wraps up well and doesn't leave a lot of loose ends. Overall it was a really good read for the Star Wars EU. I'd definitely be down to read more books about Corran from Stackpole :)
For the most part, this strategy worked out beautifully. Michael Stackpole's writing style is very good and we stick with one character, Corran Horn, throughout the whole story. I like Corran quite a bit and dug the Jedi academy section. I was a little disappointed that
Spoiler
Exar Kun's defeat didn't get any explanation at all, though. Corran created a distraction, was ultimately knocked out by Kun, then was woken up by Mara Jade. She just said, "they succeeded... Exar Kun is gone for good" (or something to that effect). That's it!Once that was all wrapped up, Horn leaves the academy to pursue his wife's captors. But before he does that he goes to visit his grandfather on Corellia. Seems like a bit of a time-waster since she's been missing for over a month already but OK. There were some really good character moments between the two of them, so I can let this distraction go. But then his big plan is to
Spoiler
infiltrate the Invids to find out where Tavira's ship is and have a big showdown with her Jedi helpersDuring this section of the book there were also several more mentions of "Emperor Reborn". Luke talked about his decent to the dark side back at the academy, but it didn't bother me a whole lot. It served as a motivator for Luke's decisions at the academy. But the mentions of "Emperor Reborn" kept piling up in other contexts and I started feeling like I was missing something big. So I went back to Wookiepedia and learned about a comic book series, called "Dark Empire". I got the gist of that storyline and was able to move on with "I, Jedi" again. But now I really want to read that series. It looks very interesting.
The book wraps up well and doesn't leave a lot of loose ends. Overall it was a really good read for the Star Wars EU. I'd definitely be down to read more books about Corran from Stackpole :)
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve always liked Corran Horn so having him as an MC was a treat. And the Jedi history was interesting. But then it just kept going on and on and on and on and on . . . . Really could have been about 100 pages shorter.
I'm not the biggest fan of retcons, but this made me like Corran Horn a lot more. I'm not too fond of how they tried to make him Diet Luke Skywalker, but I really liked how you dive deeper into the philosophy of what it means to be a Jedi, and how the bulk ideals are the same but the nuances changes from person to person.
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Entertaining. It did the Jedi academy books better than the jedi academy books, even with retconning a few things.
It does get goofy, he says booty a lot and also becomes naked in the street which was confusing. The writing style and the plot are a bit jarring, especially with the first person part. The major development of a character was also a bit jarring because it's star wars and there is none of that in this franchise. The 2nd plot was a bit confusing. It definitely should have been another novel too. 577 pages was way too much for one sw book.
It does get goofy, he says booty a lot and also becomes naked in the street which was confusing. The writing style and the plot are a bit jarring, especially with the first person part. The major development of a character was also a bit jarring because it's star wars and there is none of that in this franchise. The 2nd plot was a bit confusing. It definitely should have been another novel too. 577 pages was way too much for one sw book.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quite thrilling at times. The first person effect really is cool for this book. The first half of the book is Corran Horn's experience at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. This books takes simultaneously with the events in The Jedi Academy Trilogy, so I would highly recommend reading that first, then this. It will make for a very enjoyable reading experience. Now the second half is not as good in my opinion. They should have been two separate books (it was a whopping 577 pages). The second half takes a long time to get interesting, but it does eventually, it does get exciting and then moves onto a nice, slightly predictable ending. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this book for those who haven't read Anderson's 'The Jedi Academy Trilogy', and for those that have, I would highly recommend the book.