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krista225 's review for:
Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void
by Tim Lebbon
I like to call myself a fan of the Star Wars series but this is the first book set in the Star Wars universe that I have ever read. It was so much better than I expected it to be! I was so afraid that the writing would be terrible and the storytelling rudimentary. Luckily, the author wove an interesting story with intriguing characters and surprising world building.
In the movies, which you'll remember is my only claim to familiarity with the Star Wars universe, there is the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force. Our heroes and villains are easily identifiable. Jedi wield mostly green or blue sabers, while their dark counterparts use menacingly red sabers. The Good Guys and Gals tend to be the embodiment of the common man or woman, while those serving the evil empire are uniformed. Attitudes toward life and order are also blatant giveaways.
Things are not so diametrically opposed in this book. The lines tend to blur. Given that this story is set 25,000+ years before Episode IV, it should come as no surprise that things are very different. The Force users are not Jedi or Dark Jedi, two separate and opposing forces. Instead, the Je'daii seem an amalgamation of the two, accepting that the Force is both Dark and Light and it is the user's will that keeps the balance. The Je'daii embrace both sides of their nature as circumstances require, but the struggle is always toward maintaining a healthy balance and never letting either side of the Force dominate.
The representation of the Force might have been interesting enough, but there is more that sets this apart from the universe I know and love in the movies. In this story, hyperspace travel does not exist and is feared. Lightsabers have not yet been invented; Lanoree uses a sword. The Sith are just an alien species and not yet synonymous with Dark Jedi.
I found all of this fascinating and would absolutely read more stories set in this era. I'd like to see more of the training, more of the interventions for those lost in the Dark and Light side of the force...can one be too far gone into the Light? Is that even possible? What would that look like?
So...the worldbuilding gets an A+.
How about the plot and characters, though? What are my thoughts there?
Well, Lanoree is interesting enough. She remains fairly well balanced throughout the book, but she definitely dips easily into the Dark side of the Force and could be easily led astray by her own ego. I'm thinking here of her special talent, which is revealed near the end of the book.
Lanoree's brother Dal is underdeveloped, in my opinion. As someone whom I would deem Force-resistant, he was too easily cast as the Bad Guy and treated somewhat as a one dimensional character. He may not respect Force users and may want to seek his destiny elsewhere and thus endanger the solar system, but I'd like to have seen him have a few more human moments, especially as they related to his sister and parents.
Tre is the most prevalent secondary character and he's definitely interesting. I'd like to learn more about his past and future, so there's that.
The Je'daii Masters were mostly a jumble of names. The only exception to this was Dam-Powl, Lanoree's favored teacher and most trusted mentor. She is the one who offers aid and gives advice after Lanoree is tasked with stopping her brother's mad schemes.
As for the plot, I'm conflicted. I think had Dal been more dynamic, it really could have packed a heavy emotional punch. Instead, it was more of an action-packed chase across planets and deep space that kept me highly entertained.
In the movies, which you'll remember is my only claim to familiarity with the Star Wars universe, there is the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force. Our heroes and villains are easily identifiable. Jedi wield mostly green or blue sabers, while their dark counterparts use menacingly red sabers. The Good Guys and Gals tend to be the embodiment of the common man or woman, while those serving the evil empire are uniformed. Attitudes toward life and order are also blatant giveaways.
Things are not so diametrically opposed in this book. The lines tend to blur. Given that this story is set 25,000+ years before Episode IV, it should come as no surprise that things are very different. The Force users are not Jedi or Dark Jedi, two separate and opposing forces. Instead, the Je'daii seem an amalgamation of the two, accepting that the Force is both Dark and Light and it is the user's will that keeps the balance. The Je'daii embrace both sides of their nature as circumstances require, but the struggle is always toward maintaining a healthy balance and never letting either side of the Force dominate.
The representation of the Force might have been interesting enough, but there is more that sets this apart from the universe I know and love in the movies. In this story, hyperspace travel does not exist and is feared. Lightsabers have not yet been invented; Lanoree uses a sword. The Sith are just an alien species and not yet synonymous with Dark Jedi.
I found all of this fascinating and would absolutely read more stories set in this era. I'd like to see more of the training, more of the interventions for those lost in the Dark and Light side of the force...can one be too far gone into the Light? Is that even possible? What would that look like?
So...the worldbuilding gets an A+.
How about the plot and characters, though? What are my thoughts there?
Well, Lanoree is interesting enough. She remains fairly well balanced throughout the book, but she definitely dips easily into the Dark side of the Force and could be easily led astray by her own ego. I'm thinking here of her special talent, which is revealed near the end of the book.
Lanoree's brother Dal is underdeveloped, in my opinion. As someone whom I would deem Force-resistant, he was too easily cast as the Bad Guy and treated somewhat as a one dimensional character. He may not respect Force users and may want to seek his destiny elsewhere and thus endanger the solar system, but I'd like to have seen him have a few more human moments, especially as they related to his sister and parents.
Tre is the most prevalent secondary character and he's definitely interesting. I'd like to learn more about his past and future, so there's that.
The Je'daii Masters were mostly a jumble of names. The only exception to this was Dam-Powl, Lanoree's favored teacher and most trusted mentor. She is the one who offers aid and gives advice after Lanoree is tasked with stopping her brother's mad schemes.
As for the plot, I'm conflicted. I think had Dal been more dynamic, it really could have packed a heavy emotional punch. Instead, it was more of an action-packed chase across planets and deep space that kept me highly entertained.