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A review by jaredkwheeler
Redemption by Kevin J. Anderson
5.0
Star Wars Legends Project #11
Background: Tales of the Jedi: Redemption was released in five issues from July through November 1998. The trade paperback didn't come out until July 2001. It was written by [a:Kevin J. Anderson|4845|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1215310030p2/4845.jpg] and pencilled (and mostly inked!) by [a:Christian Gossett|99762|Christian Gossett|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg], who returned for the series finale after having previously done both the first Ulic Qel-Droma story and [b:Dark Lords of the Sith|390086|Dark Lords of the Sith (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #5)|Tom Veitch|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174372740s/390086.jpg|2372028].
Redemption takes place 10 years after [b:The Sith War|390088|The Sith War (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #6)|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347608171s/390088.jpg|379701] (my review here), about 3,986 years before the Battle of Yavin. Recurring characters include Ulic Qel-Droma, Nomi and Vima Sunrider, Master Thon, Tott Doneeta, and Sylvar. Some brief action occurs on Yavin IV and on the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth, but most of the story is set in new locations. Pretty much all of the connections are to the rest of the Tales of the Jedi series.
Summary: A decade has passed since the destructive clash of the Sith War, and Ulic Qel-Droma, stripped of his connection with the Force and haunted by his terrible crimes, wanders the galaxy anonymously in search of peace. He believes he may finally have found it on the frozen world of Rhen Var, but as the Jedi Order continues to rebuild itself and the Republic, some Jedi are not content to simply leave him to his own devices. Meanwhile, Nomi Sunrider has become a great leader, taking on a prominent role in galactic affairs, but her duties have led her to neglect the Jedi training of her teenage daughter Vima, whose rebellious, impetuous nature threatens to land her in serious trouble if she doesn't get some guidance.
Review: Wow. So, this pretty much blew me away, which was obviously a surprise. I honestly didn't know what to expect from the story, other than that it would somehow involve . . . y'know . . . the redemption of Ulic Qel-Droma. And given the really lousy writing of his character in the past two arcs, I expected more of the same. Not so much. Redemption is a beautiful, surprisingly moving and emotional coda to the whole Tales of the Jedi saga that really ties everything together and brings the stories of its various characters to a fitting and satisfying end.
The art, too, was the best of the series by far. Dialogue and narration were fairly minimal compared to the previous stories, allowing the images to speak for themselves, and the style was completely different from what came before. There were many more full 2-page pieces and lots of completely wordless panels of characters just looking at each other, or at something else, expressions rendered with exquisite emotion. Really strong visual elements throughout, and I knew from the first page that the look was something special.
Vima Sunrider is another definite strength of this series. She's basically been an infant/toddler clinging silently to her mother throughout the entire rest of the series. It's fantastic to see them take all that time she spent in the background and really make it mean something by developing her character this way. She immediately became one of my favorite characters of the series, providing a kind of presence that had been sorely lacking from some of the other arcs.
The ending completely surprised me, both in how unexpected it was, and in how much I was affected by it. I didn't realize how much I cared about these characters. I'm not sure I did care that much about them. I think this comic alone did that. I don't really want to go into much more, because I don't want to spoil anything. This is just outstanding, and I highly recommend reading the entire Qel-Droma saga. The two "Age of the Sith" prequel arcs you can pretty much take or leave, but I'd say that the remainder of the Tales of the Jedi series is a worthwhile entry in the Star Wars saga. I approve.
A
Background: Tales of the Jedi: Redemption was released in five issues from July through November 1998. The trade paperback didn't come out until July 2001. It was written by [a:Kevin J. Anderson|4845|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1215310030p2/4845.jpg] and pencilled (and mostly inked!) by [a:Christian Gossett|99762|Christian Gossett|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg], who returned for the series finale after having previously done both the first Ulic Qel-Droma story and [b:Dark Lords of the Sith|390086|Dark Lords of the Sith (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #5)|Tom Veitch|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174372740s/390086.jpg|2372028].
Redemption takes place 10 years after [b:The Sith War|390088|The Sith War (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #6)|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347608171s/390088.jpg|379701] (my review here), about 3,986 years before the Battle of Yavin. Recurring characters include Ulic Qel-Droma, Nomi and Vima Sunrider, Master Thon, Tott Doneeta, and Sylvar. Some brief action occurs on Yavin IV and on the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth, but most of the story is set in new locations. Pretty much all of the connections are to the rest of the Tales of the Jedi series.
Summary: A decade has passed since the destructive clash of the Sith War, and Ulic Qel-Droma, stripped of his connection with the Force and haunted by his terrible crimes, wanders the galaxy anonymously in search of peace. He believes he may finally have found it on the frozen world of Rhen Var, but as the Jedi Order continues to rebuild itself and the Republic, some Jedi are not content to simply leave him to his own devices. Meanwhile, Nomi Sunrider has become a great leader, taking on a prominent role in galactic affairs, but her duties have led her to neglect the Jedi training of her teenage daughter Vima, whose rebellious, impetuous nature threatens to land her in serious trouble if she doesn't get some guidance.
Review: Wow. So, this pretty much blew me away, which was obviously a surprise. I honestly didn't know what to expect from the story, other than that it would somehow involve . . . y'know . . . the redemption of Ulic Qel-Droma. And given the really lousy writing of his character in the past two arcs, I expected more of the same. Not so much. Redemption is a beautiful, surprisingly moving and emotional coda to the whole Tales of the Jedi saga that really ties everything together and brings the stories of its various characters to a fitting and satisfying end.
The art, too, was the best of the series by far. Dialogue and narration were fairly minimal compared to the previous stories, allowing the images to speak for themselves, and the style was completely different from what came before. There were many more full 2-page pieces and lots of completely wordless panels of characters just looking at each other, or at something else, expressions rendered with exquisite emotion. Really strong visual elements throughout, and I knew from the first page that the look was something special.
Vima Sunrider is another definite strength of this series. She's basically been an infant/toddler clinging silently to her mother throughout the entire rest of the series. It's fantastic to see them take all that time she spent in the background and really make it mean something by developing her character this way. She immediately became one of my favorite characters of the series, providing a kind of presence that had been sorely lacking from some of the other arcs.
The ending completely surprised me, both in how unexpected it was, and in how much I was affected by it. I didn't realize how much I cared about these characters. I'm not sure I did care that much about them. I think this comic alone did that. I don't really want to go into much more, because I don't want to spoil anything. This is just outstanding, and I highly recommend reading the entire Qel-Droma saga. The two "Age of the Sith" prequel arcs you can pretty much take or leave, but I'd say that the remainder of the Tales of the Jedi series is a worthwhile entry in the Star Wars saga. I approve.
A