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Star Wars: The New Jedi Order #10.5
The Apprentice
Jaina Solo struggles with the dark side of the Force as she apprentices herself to renegade Jedi Kyp Durron. Originally published in Star Wars Gamer 8.
10 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 21, 2001
3 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
Elaine Cunningham
153 books532 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 14, 2025
it was just ok. doesn't add hardly anything to the story, which must be why it was cut. it would have killed the pacing of dark journey. that said, I wish it had focused more on the actual testing itself instead of an odd path to get there
October 10, 2017
This is a quick read that doesn't add much to the overall arc. This shows an example of Jaina treading towards the dark side. I really just reviewed this so I can have a record that I did read it.
October 29, 2023
I’m pretty quick read that doesn’t add Mays to the overall story. But it was a nice addition.
July 18, 2021
For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, two eBook novellas, three short stories, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.
This week’s focus: “The Apprentice,” a short story by Elaine Cunningham.
SOME HISTORY:
In addition to writing Dark Journey, Elaine Cunningham also contributed three stories to the Star Wars Gamer magazine: two about Jaina Solo (The Crystal and The Apprentice), and one about Jagged Fel (Red Sky, Blue Flame). Two were prequels to the New Jedi Order series, and one was set concurrently with her novel. “The Apprentice” appeared in Star Wars Gamer #8 in January 2002.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE STORY:
This one felt vaguely familiar, but I’m not sure if that meant I read it before or instead that it wasn’t too divergent from what we already learned in Dark Journey.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Jaina Solo struggles with the dark side of the Force as she apprentices herself to renegade Jedi Kyp Durron.
Timeline Disclaimer:
“The Apprentice” takes place during Chapter 21 of Dark Journey. (Nitpicky details: Read Dark Journey up to Chapter 21, page 231, paragraph 3, then read the “The Apprentice,” then read Dark Journey from Chapter 21, page 232, last paragraph through to the end of the book. Or just read “The Apprentice” after Dark Journey, as I did.)
The Good:
—If you’ve read Dark Journey, you’re aware that Chapter 21 of the novel is a little confusing--Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Jaina, and Kyp Durron take a short jaunt to Gallinore, and Jaina and Kyp secretly bring a Peace Brigade prisoner to learn more about his coral implant. But Jaina and Kyp’s activities are only vaguely sketched out, so “The Apprentice” serves as a missing scene for the novel.
--There’s the requisite introductions to Tenel Ka and others, but this story primarily exists to fill in the gaps from Chapter 21. And that entire sequence makes a lot more sense now that I’ve read “The Apprentice.” Jaina and Kyp wake up their captive and sneak him into the scientific facility; he attempts to escape; they mess up and get drenched with coolant in a vent; they meet the Hapan scientist and learn that he has unexplained special skills of his own; and the story concludes with Jaina wiping Lowbacca’s memory of everything she just did.
The Meh:
—But this makes me question why this sequence was removed from Cunningham’s novel? It’s deeply dependent on everything that comes prior to Chapter 21, and I’m not sure if someone reading “The Apprentice” without the benefit of Dark Journey would pick up anything beyond “Jaina does some bad things.”
--Perhaps why this greater story was omitted from Dark Journey: Kyp and Jaina feel slightly out of character here. In the novel, Jaina only paddles in the kiddie pool of the Dark Side--but in “The Apprentice,” she does some very dark things, culminating in her wiping her friend’s memory. I also question whether Kyp Durron would have 1) wiped so many people’s memories and 2) taught Jaina to do likewise.
My Verdict:
“The Apprentice” replaces 14 paragraphs from Dark Journey with a 6600-word short story. It’s not necessary for an understanding of Jaina’s character, but merely fills in some of the gaps in Jaina and Kyp’s activities on Gallinore. If you were left with questions after Chapter 21, though, it’s worth checking out!
Next up: the first book in the Enemy Lines duology by Aaron Allston, Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/vWCVKlWUn3s
Scanned pdf of “The Apprentice”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzpR...
This week’s focus: “The Apprentice,” a short story by Elaine Cunningham.
SOME HISTORY:
In addition to writing Dark Journey, Elaine Cunningham also contributed three stories to the Star Wars Gamer magazine: two about Jaina Solo (The Crystal and The Apprentice), and one about Jagged Fel (Red Sky, Blue Flame). Two were prequels to the New Jedi Order series, and one was set concurrently with her novel. “The Apprentice” appeared in Star Wars Gamer #8 in January 2002.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE STORY:
This one felt vaguely familiar, but I’m not sure if that meant I read it before or instead that it wasn’t too divergent from what we already learned in Dark Journey.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Jaina Solo struggles with the dark side of the Force as she apprentices herself to renegade Jedi Kyp Durron.
Timeline Disclaimer:
“The Apprentice” takes place during Chapter 21 of Dark Journey. (Nitpicky details: Read Dark Journey up to Chapter 21, page 231, paragraph 3, then read the “The Apprentice,” then read Dark Journey from Chapter 21, page 232, last paragraph through to the end of the book. Or just read “The Apprentice” after Dark Journey, as I did.)
The Good:
—If you’ve read Dark Journey, you’re aware that Chapter 21 of the novel is a little confusing--Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Jaina, and Kyp Durron take a short jaunt to Gallinore, and Jaina and Kyp secretly bring a Peace Brigade prisoner to learn more about his coral implant. But Jaina and Kyp’s activities are only vaguely sketched out, so “The Apprentice” serves as a missing scene for the novel.
--There’s the requisite introductions to Tenel Ka and others, but this story primarily exists to fill in the gaps from Chapter 21. And that entire sequence makes a lot more sense now that I’ve read “The Apprentice.” Jaina and Kyp wake up their captive and sneak him into the scientific facility; he attempts to escape; they mess up and get drenched with coolant in a vent; they meet the Hapan scientist and learn that he has unexplained special skills of his own; and the story concludes with Jaina wiping Lowbacca’s memory of everything she just did.
The Meh:
—But this makes me question why this sequence was removed from Cunningham’s novel? It’s deeply dependent on everything that comes prior to Chapter 21, and I’m not sure if someone reading “The Apprentice” without the benefit of Dark Journey would pick up anything beyond “Jaina does some bad things.”
--Perhaps why this greater story was omitted from Dark Journey: Kyp and Jaina feel slightly out of character here. In the novel, Jaina only paddles in the kiddie pool of the Dark Side--but in “The Apprentice,” she does some very dark things, culminating in her wiping her friend’s memory. I also question whether Kyp Durron would have 1) wiped so many people’s memories and 2) taught Jaina to do likewise.
My Verdict:
“The Apprentice” replaces 14 paragraphs from Dark Journey with a 6600-word short story. It’s not necessary for an understanding of Jaina’s character, but merely fills in some of the gaps in Jaina and Kyp’s activities on Gallinore. If you were left with questions after Chapter 21, though, it’s worth checking out!
Next up: the first book in the Enemy Lines duology by Aaron Allston, Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/vWCVKlWUn3s
Scanned pdf of “The Apprentice”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzpR...
December 14, 2022
"What's the matter? Not the sort of lessons you had in mind?"
"An apprentice should learn from a master, not repeat his mistakes."
The third in a trio of Elaine Cunningham-penned NJO short stories, The Apprentice is perhaps my favorite of them...? The other two had great fanservice-y moments, but didn't do much to advance their respective protagonist's development. This one, set during chapter 21 of the Dark Journey novel, absolutely does serve as a continuation of what we've seen of her so far: on an apparent descent to the dark side, the young jedi knight does some really morally questionable stuff*. It isn't much beyond that, but getting to see just that little bit of development was great to witness.
All I have to wonder about, though, is why exactly this short story even exists on its own in the first place...? As I said, it's sandwiched between different paragraphs in Dark Journey, and I'm not sure why it wasn't just included in the story proper - DJ could have only benefitted from its inclusion, in my opinion. The way it is, we have this short story detailing exactly what happened at this point of the YV war, as well as a heavily abridged retelling of the events fit into two pages in Cunningham's novel proper. Ah well, it's entertaining fiction, so I don't mind.
*most surprising being a derisive conversation Jaina and Lowbacca have about a reportedly dead friend near the beginning. what a needlessly mean detour. jerks.
"An apprentice should learn from a master, not repeat his mistakes."
The third in a trio of Elaine Cunningham-penned NJO short stories, The Apprentice is perhaps my favorite of them...? The other two had great fanservice-y moments, but didn't do much to advance their respective protagonist's development. This one, set during chapter 21 of the Dark Journey novel, absolutely does serve as a continuation of what we've seen of her so far: on an apparent descent to the dark side, the young jedi knight does some really morally questionable stuff*. It isn't much beyond that, but getting to see just that little bit of development was great to witness.
All I have to wonder about, though, is why exactly this short story even exists on its own in the first place...? As I said, it's sandwiched between different paragraphs in Dark Journey, and I'm not sure why it wasn't just included in the story proper - DJ could have only benefitted from its inclusion, in my opinion. The way it is, we have this short story detailing exactly what happened at this point of the YV war, as well as a heavily abridged retelling of the events fit into two pages in Cunningham's novel proper. Ah well, it's entertaining fiction, so I don't mind.
*most surprising being a derisive conversation Jaina and Lowbacca have about a reportedly dead friend near the beginning. what a needlessly mean detour. jerks.
June 21, 2024
"I did not like it." - 1 out of 5 star rating.
This is definitely a 'Tier 4: Can Skip' Status "book."
First off, it is incredibly short. I am talking just a handful of pages and its over.
All we really get here is Jaina, Kyp, a Wookiee, and Tenel Ka coming up with a scheme against the Vong, with a little bit of a Dark Side twist.
It is also unnecessarily difficult to get a copy/access to read this as well.
There really is no reason whatsoever I can justify giving this any +stars in any way shape or form.
Onward to a real NJO book, coming up next.
This is definitely a 'Tier 4: Can Skip' Status "book."
First off, it is incredibly short. I am talking just a handful of pages and its over.
All we really get here is Jaina, Kyp, a Wookiee, and Tenel Ka coming up with a scheme against the Vong, with a little bit of a Dark Side twist.
It is also unnecessarily difficult to get a copy/access to read this as well.
There really is no reason whatsoever I can justify giving this any +stars in any way shape or form.
Onward to a real NJO book, coming up next.
January 24, 2024
I was intrigued to see a deleted scene from this book - which seemed to cut some crucial ones - and even moreso when I saw it was this part of the story. But I was disappointed. This story adds no plot or characters moments that feel in any way important, and at most adds one little tidbit that feels like it should be important but has no effect whatsoever on the rest of the story.
March 4, 2020
This didn't really add a ton to Dark Journey, it basically just gave us a few new examples of what Jaina was willing to do at this point in her quest for revenge and how close she was to a complete fall.
January 31, 2018
From Cunningham's novel Dark Journey, during which this short story take splace, I knew Jaina was courting and even using dark side powers but there were two haunting moments in this story that shocked even me. It was a fun quest to track down a copy of Star Wars Gamer #8 to read this story in print, the only place it has been published non-digitally. Thanks, eBay! But back to the story: short and sweet, and it shows the depths to which Jaina is willing to descend to do what she feels must be done. Kind of creepy, actually!
February 8, 2021
Review/thoughts on twitter
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/12...
(Spoilers)
https://twitter.com/serswjm/status/12...
(Spoilers)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews