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A review by blancwene
Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson
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: Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson.
SOME HISTORY:
Bantam continued to bang out Star Wars books at record speed. Champions of the Force was released in October of 1994, making it the fourth of five books that Bantam would release that year. It made it to number four on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of October 2, 1994, and it was ultimately on the NYT list for 8 weeks. The end of the Jedi Academy trilogy was not the end of Anderson’s foray into the Star Wars universe; he went on to write [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] and co-write the Young Jedi Knight books with his wife, and edit three themed collections of short stories.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered the huge plot points, but not a lot of the smaller details. I had also forgotten how weirdly this book builds to multiple climaxes of different subplots, over and over again.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Yeah, I got nothing. She’s certainly present in the book, we just get no insight into her (doubtless) extensive wardrobe.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Luke Skywalker lies comatose, and his pupils are forced to face the evil spirit of Exar Kun on their own. Han heads off in the Millenium Falcon to dissuade Kyp Durron from his destructive path of vengeance. And Wedge Antilles and Chewbacca head to the Maw Installation to liberate the Wookiee slaves and neutralize its threat.
THE CHARACTERS:
Luke proved himself a poor teacher in [b:Dark Apprentice|760111|Dark Apprentice (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717545l/760111._SY75_.jpg|501181], but he’s even less useful in this book. He spends the first half as a Force ghost of sorts, only able to communicate with his toddler niece and nephew. (In one memorably horrific scene, he possesses? assists? his toddler nephew in wielding his lightsaber to kill some Sith alchemical monsters.) Once returned to his actual body, he promptly forgives Kyp Durron, and then is merely along for the ride as they dispose of the Sun Crusher. I hate to say it, but he’s so boring in this book.
Leia, meanwhile, returns to her bystander role from book 1 and just tags along on things. You could remove her from many of her scenes, especially the foiled kidnapping attempt on baby Anakin, and you wouldn’t lose anything. Mon Mothma steps down as Chief of State and hands the role off to Leia, and other than coercing the Senate into letting Kyp get rid of the Sun Crusher, we don’t see much of her job duties. Poor Leia.
Han has things to do in the first half of the book--he’s the only person that Kyp Durron will listen to, and is able to talk him (very quickly) down from his revenge plot. Unfortunately, that means that Han is now useless for the second half, and ends up tagging along to the Kessel & Maw Installation subplot merely because Lando needed a ride.
Lando is still flirting with Mara Jade. I’m also confused about how Lando’s million credits from Umgul are apparently enough to take over the Kessel mines. I would think you would need a lot more than one million credits to revamp all that? And that’s not even getting into the question of who exactly would be your market for an addictive drug that gives you telepathic power. How is the glitterstim market legal?
I am confused by the emphasis on Jaina and Jacen as “the Jedi twins,” and Anakin as “the Jedi baby.” Surely there are other Force sensitive children out there in the galaxy? Why all the focus on Han and Leia’s offspring? (Nepotism. The answer is nepotism.) And while I loved [b:The Last Command|216422|The Last Command (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451092026l/216422._SY75_.jpg|397139], I am now blaming Zahn for all these Solo children kidnapping plotlines. Ambassador Furgan tries to kidnap baby (!) Anakin so they can have a new Emperor. Insert that Gru meme here...
The Jedi-in-training continue to be amorphous, two-dimensional creations. We can identify them by their archetype--Cilghal is the healer, Tionne is the bard--but otherwise they’re not remotely fleshed out. They manage to defeat Exar Kun with light and teamwork! It’s strangely anticlimatic.
Moruth Doule dies in the mines, consumed by spiders. Cheating death in the Cauldron Nebula, Admiral Daala returns to the Maw Installation to cause mayhew. She then has ANOTHER fakeout death. I would say that I’m surprised that she is this stupid and yet has survived this long, but Daala is pretty much the cockroach of the GFFA so this is par for the course.
ISSUES:
Crystal Starr Light mentions in her review that Champions of the Force is a jumble of plotlines and conclusions, and I agree. The book is weirdly paced, in that we’ll be hurtling towards a climax, get a brief denouement, and then start hurtling towards the climax of a totally different plotline. Kyp Durron destroys Carida in the first chapter; the Jedi pupils defeat Exar Kun AND Han stops Kyp at almost exactly the halfway point. There’s very little sustained action, just constant lurching from one *pivotal scene* to another, and it’s difficult to read.
Other reviews have mentioned Anderson’s flubbing of basic sci-fi elements like black holes, but I was most bothered by the incorrect military ranks! We find out 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] that Wedge Antilles is now a General. Previously, Wedge was a starfighter pilot and then a starfighter commander; I would assume that he’s part of the New Republic naval forces. However, a general is usually an army officer (think Han being in charge of the ground mission on the forest moon of Endor). General Wedge is overseeing construction, then serves as the personal bodyguard to Qwi Xux, then heads up the Maw Installation mission. Why isn’t he an Admiral? And why is he doing all these jobs that seem totally outside of his purview?
My main issue, though, concerns how Kyp Durron atones for the destruction of multiple planets and millions (maybe billions) of people.
THE ATONEMENT OF KYP DURRON:
I liked Anderson’s treatment of Kyp’s debacle on Carida. He shows up, demanding that they give him info about his brother, and fires a missile when he hears that Zeth is dead. Of course, the Imperials lied to him; and of course, he’s not able to save his brother before the star goes supernova. He heads off, destroys another solar system, and then Han reaches out to him at exactly the moment that Exar Kun is defeated. Kyp gives in, and he’s sent before the Senate for sentencing.
Mon Mothma orders that only Luke Skywalker can decide what to do with him. Luke sends Kyp to face something like the cave on Dagobah, and Kyp doesn’t use his weapon. Hurrah! He’s a Jedi now!
WHAT.
I’m not saying that Kyp Durron deserved a prison sentence, or the death penalty, or anything, but he murdered millions. Sure, they were Imperial worlds, but there were probably more people like Zeth, who had not chosen to align themselves with the Empire but were forced into it.
Morality issues in Star Wars can get a little iffy when you look at them too closely, and this is a classic example. Kyp never fully atones for what he’s done, and so Luke’s immediate reacceptance of him feels off putting and not properly attained.
IN CONCLUSION:
I can’t stress enough--the Jedi Academy trilogy is pivotal to the 90s era Star Wars books. It introduces a lot of characters and concepts that we will see again! But Champions of the Force in particular is weirdly paced, weirdly plotted, and handles both the OG characters as well as the newer ones so haphazardly that it’s not even close to an enjoyable read.
Next up: another doozy, [b:The Crystal Star|263012|The Crystal Star (Star Wars)|Vonda N. McIntyre|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327875096l/263012._SY75_.jpg|254951] by Vonda N. McIntyre.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/0Wmnp8TD_aI
This week’s focus: Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson.
SOME HISTORY:
Bantam continued to bang out Star Wars books at record speed. Champions of the Force was released in October of 1994, making it the fourth of five books that Bantam would release that year. It made it to number four on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of October 2, 1994, and it was ultimately on the NYT list for 8 weeks. The end of the Jedi Academy trilogy was not the end of Anderson’s foray into the Star Wars universe; he went on to write [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] and co-write the Young Jedi Knight books with his wife, and edit three themed collections of short stories.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I remembered the huge plot points, but not a lot of the smaller details. I had also forgotten how weirdly this book builds to multiple climaxes of different subplots, over and over again.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Yeah, I got nothing. She’s certainly present in the book, we just get no insight into her (doubtless) extensive wardrobe.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Luke Skywalker lies comatose, and his pupils are forced to face the evil spirit of Exar Kun on their own. Han heads off in the Millenium Falcon to dissuade Kyp Durron from his destructive path of vengeance. And Wedge Antilles and Chewbacca head to the Maw Installation to liberate the Wookiee slaves and neutralize its threat.
THE CHARACTERS:
Luke proved himself a poor teacher in [b:Dark Apprentice|760111|Dark Apprentice (Star Wars The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717545l/760111._SY75_.jpg|501181], but he’s even less useful in this book. He spends the first half as a Force ghost of sorts, only able to communicate with his toddler niece and nephew. (In one memorably horrific scene, he possesses? assists? his toddler nephew in wielding his lightsaber to kill some Sith alchemical monsters.) Once returned to his actual body, he promptly forgives Kyp Durron, and then is merely along for the ride as they dispose of the Sun Crusher. I hate to say it, but he’s so boring in this book.
Leia, meanwhile, returns to her bystander role from book 1 and just tags along on things. You could remove her from many of her scenes, especially the foiled kidnapping attempt on baby Anakin, and you wouldn’t lose anything. Mon Mothma steps down as Chief of State and hands the role off to Leia, and other than coercing the Senate into letting Kyp get rid of the Sun Crusher, we don’t see much of her job duties. Poor Leia.
Han has things to do in the first half of the book--he’s the only person that Kyp Durron will listen to, and is able to talk him (very quickly) down from his revenge plot. Unfortunately, that means that Han is now useless for the second half, and ends up tagging along to the Kessel & Maw Installation subplot merely because Lando needed a ride.
Lando is still flirting with Mara Jade. I’m also confused about how Lando’s million credits from Umgul are apparently enough to take over the Kessel mines. I would think you would need a lot more than one million credits to revamp all that? And that’s not even getting into the question of who exactly would be your market for an addictive drug that gives you telepathic power. How is the glitterstim market legal?
I am confused by the emphasis on Jaina and Jacen as “the Jedi twins,” and Anakin as “the Jedi baby.” Surely there are other Force sensitive children out there in the galaxy? Why all the focus on Han and Leia’s offspring? (Nepotism. The answer is nepotism.) And while I loved [b:The Last Command|216422|The Last Command (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451092026l/216422._SY75_.jpg|397139], I am now blaming Zahn for all these Solo children kidnapping plotlines. Ambassador Furgan tries to kidnap baby (!) Anakin so they can have a new Emperor. Insert that Gru meme here...
The Jedi-in-training continue to be amorphous, two-dimensional creations. We can identify them by their archetype--Cilghal is the healer, Tionne is the bard--but otherwise they’re not remotely fleshed out. They manage to defeat Exar Kun with light and teamwork! It’s strangely anticlimatic.
Moruth Doule dies in the mines, consumed by spiders. Cheating death in the Cauldron Nebula, Admiral Daala returns to the Maw Installation to cause mayhew. She then has ANOTHER fakeout death. I would say that I’m surprised that she is this stupid and yet has survived this long, but Daala is pretty much the cockroach of the GFFA so this is par for the course.
ISSUES:
Crystal Starr Light mentions in her review that Champions of the Force is a jumble of plotlines and conclusions, and I agree. The book is weirdly paced, in that we’ll be hurtling towards a climax, get a brief denouement, and then start hurtling towards the climax of a totally different plotline. Kyp Durron destroys Carida in the first chapter; the Jedi pupils defeat Exar Kun AND Han stops Kyp at almost exactly the halfway point. There’s very little sustained action, just constant lurching from one *pivotal scene* to another, and it’s difficult to read.
Other reviews have mentioned Anderson’s flubbing of basic sci-fi elements like black holes, but I was most bothered by the incorrect military ranks! We find out 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] that Wedge Antilles is now a General. Previously, Wedge was a starfighter pilot and then a starfighter commander; I would assume that he’s part of the New Republic naval forces. However, a general is usually an army officer (think Han being in charge of the ground mission on the forest moon of Endor). General Wedge is overseeing construction, then serves as the personal bodyguard to Qwi Xux, then heads up the Maw Installation mission. Why isn’t he an Admiral? And why is he doing all these jobs that seem totally outside of his purview?
My main issue, though, concerns how Kyp Durron atones for the destruction of multiple planets and millions (maybe billions) of people.
THE ATONEMENT OF KYP DURRON:
I liked Anderson’s treatment of Kyp’s debacle on Carida. He shows up, demanding that they give him info about his brother, and fires a missile when he hears that Zeth is dead. Of course, the Imperials lied to him; and of course, he’s not able to save his brother before the star goes supernova. He heads off, destroys another solar system, and then Han reaches out to him at exactly the moment that Exar Kun is defeated. Kyp gives in, and he’s sent before the Senate for sentencing.
Mon Mothma orders that only Luke Skywalker can decide what to do with him. Luke sends Kyp to face something like the cave on Dagobah, and Kyp doesn’t use his weapon. Hurrah! He’s a Jedi now!
WHAT.
I’m not saying that Kyp Durron deserved a prison sentence, or the death penalty, or anything, but he murdered millions. Sure, they were Imperial worlds, but there were probably more people like Zeth, who had not chosen to align themselves with the Empire but were forced into it.
Morality issues in Star Wars can get a little iffy when you look at them too closely, and this is a classic example. Kyp never fully atones for what he’s done, and so Luke’s immediate reacceptance of him feels off putting and not properly attained.
IN CONCLUSION:
I can’t stress enough--the Jedi Academy trilogy is pivotal to the 90s era Star Wars books. It introduces a lot of characters and concepts that we will see again! But Champions of the Force in particular is weirdly paced, weirdly plotted, and handles both the OG characters as well as the newer ones so haphazardly that it’s not even close to an enjoyable read.
Next up: another doozy, [b:The Crystal Star|263012|The Crystal Star (Star Wars)|Vonda N. McIntyre|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327875096l/263012._SY75_.jpg|254951] by Vonda N. McIntyre.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/0Wmnp8TD_aI