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Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Die Waffe eines Jedi: Ein Luke Skywalker-Abenteuer

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BEWÄHRUNGSPROBE FÜR EINEN JUNGEN JEDI Die Ereignisse in diesem brandneuen Abenteuer des frischgebackenen Rebellionshelden Luke Skywalker sind zwischen Star Wars: Eine neue Hoffnung und Star Wars: Das Imperium schlägt zurück angesiedelt. Luke findet sich auf einem unbekannten mysteriösen Planeten wieder und muss mit Hilfe der Macht eine junge Frau aus höchster Gefahr retten. Darüber hinaus sieht er sich mit einem brandgefährlichen neuen Widersacher konfrontiert … Mit vielen versteckten Hintergrundinformationen zum mit Spannung erwarteten neusten Teil der Saga: STAR WARS: DAS ERWACHEN DER MACHT!

203 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2015

217 people are currently reading
2693 people want to read

About the author

Jason Fry

122 books295 followers
I am the author of The Jupiter Pirates series published by HarperCollins -- visit the official site at http://jupiterpirates.com.

In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.

I spent more than 12 years at The Wall Street Journal Online, where I wrote or co-wrote the Real Time and Daily Fix columns. My non-fiction work has appeared on ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Poynter.org, Deadspin and Baseball Prospectus. I blog about the New York Mets at Faith and Fear in Flushing and live in Brooklyn with my wife and son.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 496 reviews
Profile Image for Scott Rhee.
2,310 reviews161 followers
August 1, 2022
So, I saw “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. (As if you expected me not to.) And I loved it. LOVED IT. It was everything I expected from the new movie, maybe even a little more. Director J.J. Abrams did a wonderful job of keeping the film respectful of the tone of the original series while still making it accessible for new generations of fans. I loved the new characters. I loved the storyline. I even loved all the unanswered questions and missing back-stories that I know will gradually be revealed in the inevitable sequels. End of movie review...

Anyone who is a book-lover AND a film-lover knows that while the two mediums are similar in many ways, they are also vastly different in a lot of ways. Books can do things films can’t do and vice versa. Sometimes the differences are irreconcilable. (I won’t even go into the differences between books and video games, mainly because I don’t play video games, so I can’t intelligently speak about them.)

When dealing with this whole new “canon” of Star Wars literature, it’s important to note that most of the new books written specifically as lead-ins to the new movie have been published primarily within the last several months prior to the Dec. 18 release. This generally suggests that they were possibly written in conjunction with the film’s production teams, and that the writers, producers, and the director may have had some input.

This can be a good thing. Occasionally, it means that the events and characters within the books are aligned carefully with their filmic counterparts, adding more depth and back-story to what is presented on the screen, thus giving the viewer a better appreciation of what is going on and the motives behind some of the characters’ actions.

This can also be a not-so-good thing. Generally, film producers and directors (unless they are, themselves, also writers) have a different worldview and aesthetic than writers. Things that may seem “cinematic” and wonderful on the screen don’t always translate well to the page, and things that are “literary” and work great on the page don’t always translate well to the screen. It’s like a painter trying to chisel a sculpture for the first time: the artistic vision isn’t in question, it’s the artist’s choice of medium to best express that vision that’s questionable.

A recent series of books, ostensibly targeted to young adult readers, were published simultaneously as a lead-in to the new movie. Indeed, written on the covers of these books are the words “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, in case one forgets.

I am unsure of the order in which these books are to be read, if indeed there is an order, as no indication is given about that. Most, if not all of them, appear to be stand-alone novels.

I read Jason Fry’s “The Weapon of a Jedi” first, which indicates on the dust jacket that the story is set between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back”. It also indicates that there are supposed to be clues to characters and events in “The Force Awakens”.

Fry’s writing is good, nothing spectacular. The novel is short, probably best described as a novella. It’s a quick, enjoyable read.

What Fry does really well in this story is take a well-loved character---in this case, Luke Skywalker---and expand on what we already know about him. The story takes place after the Battle of Yavin. Luke is being lauded as the young X-wing pilot who single-handedly destroyed the Death Star. Secretly, he doesn’t like the accolades and attention. He just wants to fight for the Rebel Alliance and fly his X-wing. Unfortunately, within him stirs the embryonic Force of a fledgling Jedi Knight, the last and only Jedi Knight in the universe.

Without a master to help teach him the ways of the Force, Luke must learn to utilize and hone his powers himself. Much of the book is set within Luke’s head, as he deals with the fact that his destiny lies within the Force.

What Fry doesn’t do really well in this book is create action or give any hints as to what his main point is.

The main problem with the book is that it seems to be solely written as a way to introduce a new character, Sarco Plank, who presumably plays an important part in the new movie, or subsequent movies. Having seen the new movie, Sarco’s character in the film is on-screen for approximately one second, doesn’t speak, has absolutely no relevance to the film’s storyline, and isn’t even named (as far as I recall).

I can only assume that Sarco’s character will have a bigger part in the next two films.*

Basically, “The Weapon of a Jedi” is less of a novel than it is a bit of merchandise and an advertisement for the new movie. I’m hoping that the other books in this “new canon” succeed where Fry’s novel fails.

*8/1/2022 addendum: He doesn't. At all.
Profile Image for Jonathan Judd.
11 reviews
September 5, 2015
Fun little read. the back cover states there are clues about the new movie in this book. There are a couple of characters that feel set up for later appearances. Obviously aimed at young readers, but from an adult point of view it feels like they got the classic characters right.
Profile Image for Daniel.
812 reviews74 followers
October 26, 2015
3.5 zvezda.

Zabavna pricica koja prati Luka posle unistenja prve zvede smrti. Najvise sto mi se svidelo sto knga ima dosta dobar prikaz nama poznatih likova a i daje fin pogled na jednog od glavnih likova price.

Sama prica kao prica nije nista posebno tako da se preporucuje samo fanovima. A njima ce biti vrlo zabavna.
Profile Image for Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library).
4,896 reviews88 followers
January 30, 2019
A decent space opera adventure, though reading any of the novels from the new canon leaves a bad taste in my mouth after the shark jumping travesty that was The Last Jedi.
Profile Image for Anthony.
813 reviews63 followers
February 7, 2016
A lot better than Luke's other solo book, Heir to the Jedi, but it's helped a little by it being a quicker and easier read. Like Heir, he's still just understanding the Force. It is quite cool to read about him early on and see him figuring things out for himself (since there's no one around to train him anymore, which is a point made several times in this novel). I also think what made Heir lag a bit is that it's from Luke's POV, and he can be quite boring a POV character at times because he's so much of a 'good' guy, but this one is told as Threepio telling a story to a pilot from The Force Awakens.
Profile Image for Tiara.
464 reviews65 followers
February 9, 2017
Read more reviews @ The BiblioSanctum.

Luke’s story starts a little differently than Leia and Han’s. He’s the only person who isn’t actually “telling” his story for reasons that are obvious if you’ve watched or read Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Instead Luke’s story is told by C-3PO. Luke’s story takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Luke is trying to reconcile his roles as a pilot and as a Jedi. Following the death of Ben Kenobi, he’s left floundering with no master, but the Force is on his side gently pushing him in the direction that he needs to take to better himself as a Jedi.

Out of these three books, this one is probably the one that is more in line with what I would expect of a book for younger teens and kids. It has a very straightforward story with a basic good versus evil concept. While Han and Leia’s stories, especially Leia’s, dealt more heavily with morality and the sometimes ambiguous nature of it throughout their books, Luke’s story only has one moment where that comes into play and it’s more of a personal choice than something that involves thinking about something bigger than himself like Han and Leia’s dilemmas.

You’d think that a story centered around Luke learning to harness the Force would have a bit more action, but nothing truly happens until the book is nearing the end. Most of the book is spent with Luke lamenting about the Force. Still, I listened to these books with my children in mind (because they’ll be listening to them soon), and it’s really hard to go wrong with showing the “hero” learning to control his powers.

Jonathan Davis is one of my favorite narrators, but I have a bit of a mixed feeling here. He certainly didn’t do a terrible job. His narration was beautiful as always. I was just a little underwhelmed with some of the character voices that didn’t seem to show much nuance from one another, even the female voice. Other than that, he did quite well.

Narrator: Jonathan Davis | Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Listening Library (September 4, 2015) | Whispersync Ready: No (As of this posting)
Profile Image for Matías Racedo.
381 reviews60 followers
May 21, 2018
Esta es la primera vez que leo una novela (o más bien una novella) ambientada en el universo de Star Wars. Siempre amé el universo cinematográfico, pero nunca me interesé por los cómics, series animadas o libros, hasta que empecé a ver estos últimos en bookstagram. ¡No pude elegir una mejor para empezar! Al estar situada entre los episodios IV y V, tenemos como protagonista a un joven e inexperto Luke que intenta aprender a utilizar la fuerza.

Siendo sincero, Fry nos presenta a un Luke mucho más carismático que el de las películas. Me quedé con ganas de conocer más sobre las aventuras que tuvo fuera de la pantalla.
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A partir de aquí hay SPOILERS.
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En esta historia en particular, al pasar encima de un planeta llamado Devaron, Luke siente que la Fuerza intenta atraerlo, y después de un enfrentamiento con unos cazas TIE, decide aterrizar allí y averiguar qué es lo que la Fuerza intenta decirle.

Allí encontrará un viejo templo Jedi derruido, en donde terminará enfrentándose a una patrulla del Imperio y a un cazador sin escrúpulos, con la ayuda de una joven Devareana.

La historia tiene un ritmo rápido, la escritura es fluida, C-3PO y R2 están bien representados, y como ya mencioné arribe, me cayó mucho mejor este Luke que el autor retrata.

¡Estoy ansioso por continuar explorando el universo de Star Wars a través de sus novelas! 👏
Cuéntenme ¿Cuál es su personaje favorito de Star Wars?
Profile Image for Michelle.
2,164 reviews87 followers
September 16, 2015
The Weapon of a Jedi is one of three middle grade books released on Force Friday and a part of the official Journey to Star Wars: Force Awakens line designed to drum up hype and curiosity for the new film. Each of the middle grade books is a little single dose adventure designed to help the newer fans get to know the old crew of the original films. This particular book centers on Luke and his struggle to become a Jedi.

The book starts and ends with a nice little ‘current’ prologue and epilogue, introducing us to a new character Jessika Pava as Threepio tells one of his adventures with his master Luke. I can only wonder if we’ll be seeing her in the movie at some point. Luke’s story begins with a bang as he pilots his X-Wing and staves off enemy fire from TIE fighters, and receives another mission. Right away we get to know Luke (for those who don’t know him) and see that he’s brave, a skilled pilot, and humble; while getting to know him is the main focus it’s also really great for those who already know Luke and want a nice little one-shot story focused on his growth as a Jedi. There is plenty of action as well and we get some really nice scenes while he learns more about using his lightsaber, and is forced to put it to the test. We also get to see a new planet (from the current canon stories atleast) Devaron which was pretty cool and definitely has me excited to see what other places they plan to explore in other novels as well.

The writing itself is quickly paced but has plenty of detail and depth, and I had no trouble seeing how addicting this could be for a younger reader since I had trouble putting it down. Add that too the really awesome artwork included and you have a winner.

I have hopes that this will help usher in some new fans, both from Star Wars loving families and those who are not. It’s fresh and fun, and definitely more accessible than the previous EU’s younger novels.
Profile Image for Ari Pérez.
Author 10 books82 followers
September 15, 2015
It seems that the only excuse for this book is to tell how Luke in Ep. V uses the force to grab his lightsaber in Hoth. It implies that he must have been training, somehow, on his own before going to Yoda. And this book explains a little bit about that 'training'. It's nothing more, really. It's very short and anyone can finish it in a couple of hours. Noto's art is great as always. But for a plot, is a thin one, almost feels like a novella. One interesting thing, though, is that it features a character that appears in The Force Awakens some Sarco Plank (google him, and you'll see). He's cool looking and the encounter with Luke was nice. But there's nothing more. One last interesting detail is that C3P0 tells this story after EP. VI, and he has already a red arm. But, you won't miss much if you skip this one.
Profile Image for Amy H. Sturgis.
Author 42 books405 followers
September 15, 2015
This is the Star Wars that I love.

The Weapon of a Jedi makes itself indispensable with its convincing portrayal of Luke Skywalker's growth as a Jedi-in-training between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Luke's ability to summon his lightsaber while a captive of the wampa in the latter film now takes on new meaning.

As a Star Wars adventure, a character study of Luke Skywalker, and a tribute to the Jedi Order that once was, this novel strikes all the right notes.
Profile Image for DiscoSpacePanther.
343 reviews16 followers
December 8, 2017
That was a fun little read. A short story recounting an adventure had by Luke Skywalker whilst working as a scout shortly after the battle of Yavin. Luke still has much of his farmboy innocence, but is desperate to learn more about the Jedi, the Force, and his father.

The framing device of having See Threepio recount the story of Luke's first lightsaber duel to a Resistance X-wing pilot works well, helping to cement Luke's legendary status in the period shortly before The Force Awakens.

Suitable for kids, but still an enjoyable novella for an adult Star Wars fan
Profile Image for Lisa.
78 reviews1 follower
March 31, 2016
Enjoyable Read

An entertaining and informative look into Luke's early days as a Jedi, or Padawan (technically), as he takes his first steps in exploring the ways of the Force. It feels consistent with Star Wars and in keeping with Luke's character. Recommended for fans of all ages!
Profile Image for Matthew.
517 reviews17 followers
August 19, 2016
To check out all my reviews: https://dancinginth3dark.wordpress.co...

After reading Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure my enthusiasm for Star Wars increased and made me enjoy this new series of EU Books. I really enjoy this book but I am afraid that Han Solo raised the bar in terms of storytelling and action compare to this book. I will admit that for including R2-D2 and C-3PO into this story it felt like I was watching an episode of Star Wars.

Since this book is part of Journey to the Force Awakens series, we get a bit of insight into the world of post-Return of the Jedi while at the same time read new adventures of our beloved characters. This is written for children especially middle grade but I will be the first one to defend this book and highly recommend those who want to read new stuff about these iconic characters. The writing is natural and organic and it doesn't feel forced which is highly important when dealing with Star Wars.

Future: It takes places 30 years after Return of the Jedi or the same time frame as The Force Awakens.

Present: Jessika Pava is performing regular maintenance check up with astromechs droids and meets C-3PO who mysterious has a red robotic arm and seeks friendly conversation with Jessika.

Past: For almost the entirety of this book deals with Luke Skywalker on a mission after the events of A New Hope.

With all the new footage and photos of the Force Awakens, everyone is questioning where is Luke and why Luke isn't featured in any of the advertisements? (AND NO LUKE IS NOT FU#$@$@#NG KYLO REN!) Well for this book it is clear that Luke is in hiding and is not featured in the future part of this story. We are introduced to a new character named Jessika Pava who is a fighter pilot and she is practically doing chores while waiting around for a new mission. Her chore is to check up on the astromech droids and make sure they are clean and have all the important information that is needed for the upcoming adventures.

While Jessika is cleaning one astromech droid, she has an encounter with C-3PO who is looking for friendly chatter. While C-3PO talking to Jessika, he nonchalantly mentions his Master Luke. Jessika has a panic attack and makes the connection that C-3PO & R2-D2 are Luke Skywalker's droids. She immediately wants to know more about their adventures and ask C-3PO to tell her a story that no one knows which he gladly provides.

We are then shifted back into the past after A New Hope with Luke on a dangerous mission on the planet Giju. Since he and Wedge are the only pilots who survived the Battle of Yavin they are reinstated to continue with Red Squadron. As Luke and Wedge are trying to destroy tie fighters, Luke gets this weird vibe from the force giving him a message that he can't decipher. When they finally succeed in their mission they head back to a rebel station, and he meditates with the Force and gets a message from Uncle Ben and a vision of a mysterious planet and how he needs to go where the Force is calling him.

Mon Mothma has a new mission for Luke which he is reluctant to accept but for the Rebel Alliance he cannot argue and accepts the journey. His mission requires R2-D2 and C-3PO to tag along and right from the beginning Luke disobeys the mission to follow the force that leads him to this new planet. Along the way he encounters Imperials and almost gets his ship destroyed. He makes the decision to visit this mysterious planet in order to recuperate and figure out why the Force is calling him to it.

When he arrives to this new planet, Luke finds out that there is a Jedi temple that has been abandoned and prohibited to enter and he wants break in to discover what is inside the temple and if he can improve as a Jedi in training. It is clear that he has the lack of training to use a lightsaber in combat and is conflicted between following his father path and accomplishing it now that Ben Kenobi is dead and the last available Jedi to train him. To get into this temple, Luke needs a guide and hires an alien called Sarco Plank who is mysterious and deceitful especially how all his clients mysteriously disappeared.

This is just a snippet of the book and for the most part I really enjoy the story and how we see Luke Skywalker grow as a Jedi. I never made the connection until now but it makes you wonder how Luke master the force in Empire Strikes Back before the help of Yoda and without anyone to help him train. I know for a fact that you can't just magically train without any experts and clearly Luke has major training to do in order to be the badass that he becomes in the trilogy. With this marvelous book we see Luke really connect to the Force and learn how to be one with it and how marvelous the world was with the Jedi helping the galaxy.

Luke Skywalker is not my favorite character because he is naive in the beginning and I love to see myself relatable in a character and I don't see myself in anyone except for Anakin Skywalker where I can relate to until Revenge of the Sith where he is a completely different and not recognizable person. The major issue I had is this book is only about Luke.

What I mean is with the Smuggler's Run, it dealt with Han, Chewbacca, and we got major insight into the bad guys. We got to see different point of views and see the drama raveling which left me at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next whereas I did enjoy all the training and fighting that Luke encounters, we really don't get to see the bad guys point of view and it felt random when the bad guys arrive and try to take down Luke. I felt like they added that sequence because without it then it wouldn't be consider a Star Wars book and we don't get any names of any Imperial officials. I felt as though for the Villains it was really disconnected and I did not like that. I know this book was dedicate for Luke to connect to the Force but I would have loved more danger into the story.

Overall I believe this is a great book and I hope they write a sequel that provides the details of what happens after the events of Luke and this temple. The author was smart with leaving us with loose ties because then we get to look forward for more adventures and more personal stories of Luke Skywalker and those who he encounters in this huge galaxy. For children who have started watching Star Wars this would be a great read for them and to enjoy more the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

More Star Wars adventures will be coming your way and I hope my love of Star Wars will inspire those to see the new film and read more about the Expanded Universe. Stay tuned for more and may the force be with you.
Profile Image for Jim.
67 reviews21 followers
April 17, 2016
The Weapon of a Jedi, by author Jason Fry, is a young readers novel described as "A Luke Skywalker Adventure," and is part of the new canon in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Though the story itself takes place following A New Hope, it is told from the point of view of C3PO, Luke Skywalker's protocol droid, to a young Resistance pilot in current Star Wars times. It is intended to go hand-in-hand with the new trilogy of films and part of Disney's effort to keep the Star Wars universe better organized, more controlled, and just overall more tied together (which by the way, I love. The old expanded universe was a mess and had a lot of terribly written stories and characters that had no continuity and many upon many contradictions).

Luke Skywalker has been given an assignment by his commanders to retrieve some communications intercepted from the Empire by Rebel spies. As Luke begins his mission he feels the Force calling him to explore Devaron, a nearby planet. So, basically he has to choose. On one hand there's following what the great cosmic consciousness that binds all life together and penetrates all things in the whole freaking universe, and the spirits of dead mystical warriors who wear sweet wizard robes and carry crystal-powered plasmatic energy swords are instructing him to do, or on the other hand following the orders... of a human. As you can imagine, he was torn. No, really. Like this is a decision? Anyway, after Luke finally concludes to listen to God rather than Commander Narra, he breaks away from his mission and heads to the jungle planet of Devaron. The Force guides him to the ruins of an ancient temple that the Empire has closed off for some reason. Luke hires the help of an unsavory beetle-like alien mercenary, by the name of Sarco Plank, who by the way you can buy as a 3.75 inch action figure, (you're welcome, Hasbro) to guide him through the jungle. Upon a rather tricky entry into the temple, Luke discovers some ancient glyphs and training droids to help train him in the mastery of his father's lightsaber. Can Luke trust his guide, Sarco Plank, to not do anything that would bug him (see what I did there)? Will the Empire be alerted to his presence in this mysterious ancient temple that they have sealed off? And even if they do, will any Stormtroopers, being lead by a commander with a British accent no doubt, actually be able to hit Luke when they fire at him? Well, unfortunately the answers to those questions are not nearly as interesting as the story leading up to them.

The truth is, this is not a bad read. If you like classic Star Wars, and don't mind reading books intended for a tween audience, then this is a decent little story. I actually quite enjoyed the story, plot and the new villain, Sarco Plank. However, the ending sort of just 'happened' if you know what I mean by that. The plot had been built up quite well, then all of a sudden it was over in just a few pages, leaving me feeling unsatisfied. It's a pretty simple and direct story, but it deserved an ending just a little more meaningful. I know it was written for younger readers, but it really could have used some sort of plot twist or edge that just never came to fruition. I would have liked to see the author do a little bit more with what could have been an interesting new villain and promising backdrop.
Profile Image for Ulises  Estrada.
341 reviews27 followers
February 4, 2021
En esta historia podemos ver como Luke se comienza a abrir a la fuerza y aprender a manejar la espada laser, pues sin un maestro que lo guie se siente perdido en la rebelion.
Esta historia se mi hizo mucho mas rapida de leer que la de Leia asi como que aporta mas al canon de Star wars.
Profile Image for Miss Clark.
2,888 reviews223 followers
February 26, 2016
3 - 3.5 stars

I thought this novel did a better job of emotionally connecting me to the characters than Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure did.

Fry does an excellent job of capturing the voice and bickering/conversations of C3P0 and R2D2. Very important.

Luke is still trying to find his place in the Alliance and trying to further his understanding of the Force and learn how to become a Jedi. It was a worthwhile adventure to see him discover the lost temple of Eedit and learn to connect with the Force.

So, will we ever hear about Luke's return to Devaron? When he helps Farnay? And is the Scavenger truly gone....? Luke said he was still alive down there and thus he could always get out again....

It was a small cruelty compared with the crushing of freedom on so many worlds, not to mention the obliteration of Alderaan. But Luke knew the Empire wasn't just warships and stormtroopers. It was a billion small cruelties, grinding up what people cherished and leaving ruin and hopelessness behind.


We usually don't get to see the smaller but no less devastating aspects of what life under the Empire means as we usually just get to view the great battles and high stakes. But this is a galactic empire and it touches billions of lives. And it may not enslave or kill all of them, but it crushes them and stifles their spirits all the same.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lady*M.
1,069 reviews107 followers
September 6, 2015
3.5 stars

I am obviously not the target audience, but, hey, Star Wars! Plus, I am young at heart. XD

This is a simple story set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.

While on mission, Luke feels the call of the Force which brings him to planet Devaron where old Jedi temple is located. It's a ground forbidden by the Empire, but Luke finds a guide and together with C3PO and R2-D2 goes to explore it. Led by Ben's voice and artifacts found in the temple, Luke learns to trust the Force. When the Empire catches on and his duplicitous guide, Sarco Plank (who will apparently appear in Episode VII), betrays him, he has to fight both to survive.

There is nothing innovative here, but Fry does a good job of describing the Force and connecting the story with the first movie. It's good to know that Ben did continue to guide Luke before handing him over to Yoda. The author also capture's Luke's voice during this period well. Space battles, especially Luke/Wedge tag team, were fun. Also, C3PO is to be enjoyed only in small doses. Seriously.

Some of the books in the new canon expanded on the characters, places and events we already new, some of them significantly so. This is not one of those books. While it is well written and confirms some of the things we always speculated about (Ben), it really isn't necessary. It's short and sweet, so grab it when you have an hour or two to kill.

Profile Image for Adam Fisher.
3,594 reviews23 followers
October 10, 2015
Another installment of the new Star Wars canon, this time a Juvenile Fiction title. Overall, an excellent short tale about Luke, occurring between Episodes IV and V. We find Luke, after a very well written space battle featuring Wedge, sent off as a courier for the Rebellion. Feeling an urging from the Force, Luke ends up discovering a Jedi Temple on a planet. Add in some Imperials and an electrostaff wielding masked character known as "The Scavenger" and you have a novel that features Luke's "official" first lightsaber battle.
Where this novel shines is in the way the author describes Luke's self-training in the temple. Relying on action description as well as internal monologue, we get an insight into how Luke understands the Force at this point in the series. He struggles to move a lever, we struggle with him. He gets hit in the leg with a stinging bolt from a training remote, we feel his frustration. It's obvious that the author put a lot of thought into these sequences and how to express them.

A true fan love letter to Luke, and an excellent representation about how this "new canon" could proceed. Recommend.


...but are we ever going to find out how C-3PO's arm became red? :)
Profile Image for Jim C.
1,779 reviews35 followers
May 4, 2016
This book is part of the new canon and takes place in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. This help explains how Luke has progressed in the force from when we see him at the end of the first movie and the beginning of the second one. Luke receives a vision from the force and he visits and old Jedi temple where he learns more about the force.

I liked the idea of this story as I have always wondered about the gap of Luke's gaining in knowledge of the force. The problem with this book is there is no excitement as Luke trains. It was good exposition but how exciting can it be to read page after page about Luke training with remotes like he did in the first movie. Also, it seems we spend a huge chunk of time rehashing moments from the movies. When Luke finally has his confrontation with the antagonist my interest level was low and I just wanted to be done with it.

This was a quick read but nothing momentous or vital to the overall arc. This is one of three books and I am hoping the other two are more exciting.
Profile Image for Anna Smithberger.
717 reviews5 followers
November 4, 2015
Did I check out all of the new MG Star Wars tie-in novels? Yes, yes I did. Not an intended audience styles that I'm used to reading anymore, but damn do I love Star Wars.
Profile Image for Serch Sánchez.
19 reviews2 followers
May 6, 2021
Jason Fry nos da una perspectiva un tanto diferente del legendario Luke Skywalker, y es que logra con su novela dar una visión mucho más amplia del entrenamiento del joven aprendiz para convertirse posteriormente en Caballero Jedi. Una de las grandes dudas del universo de Star Wars fue resuelta con esta novela canónica, ya que se nos presenta un entrenamiento ascendente de Luke apoyado por el fantasma de la Fuerza de Obi-Wan Kenobi y a lado de sus fieles droides R2-D2 y C-3PO en el destruido Templo Jedi de Eedit ubicado en Devaron, en la ciudad de Tikaroo. Creo que es totalmente disfrutable para los fans de Star Wars porque además presenta otra visión de Luke como un ser genuinamente bondadoso y que busca el bien siempre, lo cuál se puede notar en diferentes momentos, siendo el trato a C-3PO uno de ellos (todos menos él y Anakin lo han tratado mal a lo largo de la saga) y otro la mención de que no le gusta su fama, sino que cree que todos deben ser tratados por igual, porque valen lo mismo; además, es muy sencilla de leer y presenta un gran evento: la primera vez que Luke Skywalker utiliza el sable de su padre en una batalla.

Algo interesante igualmente es que la historia es contada por C-3PO a la piloto rebelde de la Resistencia Jessika Pava, personaje importante en las secuelas y que colabora en diversas ocasiones con Poe Dameron, por lo que la historia realmente fue contada por el droide aproximadamente 20-30 años después de que sucedió, ya que fue en el año 0 y estamos rondando la época de la Resistencia ya.
Profile Image for Baylee Varnell.
9 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2022
Loved having this as a short and light read after recently finishing a longer and more emotional book. It was fun having the perspectives of both Threepio and Luke. Between Luke’s daydreams, Threepio’s anxiety, and Artoo’s iconic presence, I enjoyed the brief adventure that helped Luke master the use of lightsabers.

I feel like there are a couple of pieces missing that could wrap up the story, but at the same time you can’t ask that much of a storyline that’s more of a side quest in such a huge fandom/universe.

Edit:

After reading other reviews, I’m seeing a lot of the following
- No point to the plot
- Sarco is irrelevant
- Too juvenile

My three star rating still stands and I think that short stories don’t have to have a huge climax. Having lackadaisical content in a world where we have so much lore is kind of a breath of fresh air. Luke’s inner monologue in this book would be a time waster in a major film or storyline, but I’m grateful to have it presented to me in this fashion and feel a little closer to him. Not all lore has to be a mind blowing production that sends us into information overload.

I love seeing moments of characters that have lesser importance, and I’m not mad that Sarco doesn’t have heavy appearances in the movies. Sure, the claims that there are Easter eggs for the movies is a marketing tactic. It’s one I’ll bite - and as far as the writing itself being juvenile, Star Wars is a fandom meant for sharing and I’d eagerly share this with my favorite tiny humans. Plus, I’m never too old to be above a YA read myself.
Profile Image for Edith.
239 reviews
January 19, 2018
A diferencia de The Heir of The Jedi que se enfoca en explorar el papel de Luke en la resistencia y, finalmente, como héroe, este libro muestra su entrenamiento amateur para convertirse en, lo que él considera, un Jedi. (Ahora que lo pienso tal vez deberían invertir los títulos de los libros).

Esta Junior Novel es bastante sencilla en historia pero tiene muchas capas que explorar y se adentra muy bien en la psique de Luke Skywalker. Parece ser un cuento ligero gracias a la presencia de los dos mejores comic relief (C3PO y R2D2) sin embargo es bastante obscuro ya que tratamos con la constante ansiedad de Luke por perfeccionar su entrenamiento, su deseo de ser un orgullo para su padre y Ben, y con sus miedos y dudas sobre su destino.

Este es un gran libro para quienes buscan saber más de Luke Skywalker y el inicio la leyenda.
Profile Image for Linda.
280 reviews13 followers
Read
December 12, 2018
As I picked up the book, I was hoping it would be set between episodes V and VI, cataloguing the building of the green lightsaber, but instead it was set right after episode IV. Still it was certainly fun and even does have that Star Wars feel from the old canon books. Better enjoyment than Han's book and approximately the same as Leia's.

Favorite quote:
Just a few months before, he'd been a farm boy on Tatooine, fixing vaporators and tinkering with skyhoppers and landspeeders. Now people treated him like some kind of hero-but he knew better. He was just a kid who'd made a million-to-one shot, guided by a mysterious power he barely understood.
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