Delusions of Grandeur

Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights #9

by Kevin J. Anderson

As the young Jedi Knights continue their search for Raynor Thul's father, they turn for assistance to a dangerous resource, the reprogrammed assassin droid IG-88, a fearsome bounty hunter that the young Jedis may or may not have under control

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, War

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

If I had tried harder, I probably could have finished this book last year. No matter.

This arc is finally hitting its stride. The characters are finally moving in interesting directions - the whole Diversity Alliance concept is fascinating if flawed (as I’ve noted a million times, it sounds like “reverse racism” to me, a concept that was quite prevalent in the 90’s). I’ll also add, seeing yet another Empire bounty hunter and that the blurb’s description of IG-88 doesn’t happen until the last 10 pages was a bit eyerolling. Despite that, this has definitely picked up after the rather sloppy “Shards of Alderaan” and struggling “Diversity Alliance”.

Full Review:

Bornan Thul is still missing but now Tyko, his brother, has also been captured by the feared bounty hunter, IG-88; the Young Jedi Knights want to find them both for their friend, Raynar (who has actually turned into a pretty decent kid by this point), but a lot of things are going on with Lowbacca. With his friend (and let's face it - love interest), Raaba, back, Lowie finds himself caught between Raaba and her new beliefs and hatred of humans and the Young Jedi (who are strangely all humans). Meanwhile, Zekk gets a new bounty - but his employer seems rather fishy.

After a trip and a stumble, I feel like this arc is finally hitting its stride. It's a lot more focused and isn't quite as eye-roll inducing as "Shaards of Alderaan" and "Diversity Alliance". It's cringy - but we're going to jump immediately into that.

Reverse racism. I remember talking about how our society (American of course) had come full circle and was now oppressing white people and not giving them chances back in the early 2000's. Affirmative action was hiring any unqualified person of color off the street while ignoring the capable white person right in front of them. Colleges were full of people who couldn't pass a test but got a scholarship because of their skin color while those poor white kids couldn't get a break!



In case it's not clear, I now realize what a load of baloney the above is. The above ignores years of systemic racism - not the calling people names or lynching, but the type where you can't get a loan because of your name, you can't get a job because of your speech, where your natural hair makes people think you are a slob so you aren't taken seriously. I am not nearly as experienced or eloquent enough to get into the details - my knowledge has come from years of listening to minority voices and opening my mind to different experiences - but there are loads of articles, books, videos about these very things. If you are interested, take 15 min, look it all up.

Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but it's kinda hard not to read "Aliens = Minorities" and to read this series as a "Poor humans/white people who are now experiencing unjust violence against them! It's not human/white people's fault for what's happened to aliens/minorities - just a few bad apples out there!" Which is a shame, because this plot is on to something - humans are overwhelmingly present in Star Wars. They basically are front and center of the entire plot of the movies and most of the Legend book lines. Their actions cause great harm to aliens - and yes, the Empire was hella sexist and xenophobic! So I think a story about "Black Lives Matter" in a galaxy far, far away was totally needed - just this isn't at ALL what we needed. We don't need to incite more fear of minorities and their organizations that just ask to give themselves the chance for success (the chance that I, for one, have definitely benefitted from). Reverse racism doesn't exist.

And here I get canceled over a silly Star Wars young adult book. Ha ha!

Because the entire plot is contingent on this sketchy premise, I will admit to having a bit of trouble to jump into the good parts. However, just because there are problems with the theme of the book, doesn't mean in the end, I couldn't see the redeeming qualities. This book is doing great things with Lowbacca - I actually love to see him struggling between old and new friends, to see Raaba so entrenched in Diversity Alliance and being wary himself. It's like the mid-late 90's were warning us of the things we are seeing today - people adopting beliefs in QAnon, essential oils, climate change denial, flat earth and refusing to look outside their echo chamber. Seeing how it can take good characters and twist them to evil in people like Lusa is astounding (BTW, always neat to see recurring characters!), while it's also inspiring to see pompous characters of privilege like Raynar learn how to be better people. These characters get the spotlight - Jaina, Jacen and Tenel Ka are more helping guide the story along now (but they had their own arc already).

Then we have Zekk. Zekk's story of becoming a bounty hunter and redemption is also interesting - it gives us insight into the world of bounty hunters and he even does some admirable sleuthing in this book. His investigation made me question why our Young Jedi Knights hadn't uncovered the very obvious plot element much much earlier. (But then last book I believed I commented that these kids are far too trusting - and my guess last book of Tyko being suspicious it proven 100% right in this one.)

I also want to congratulate this book on having its teenaged characters show interest without spending the entire book mooning over their love lives. It's almost startling how incidental these moments are - Jaina blushing at Zekk, Jacen pondering Tenel Ka as she works out - but it feels nice to keep the romance there but not dominating the action.

One other complaint (Sorry I know, I can't help myself!): Dengar. Why did we have to drop him in? Last book I complained that the authors seemed to want to drag every bounty hunter from "Empire Strikes Back" in here; if I thought it bad with Boba Fett and IG-88, it's worse and sillier now with Dengar. I lay odds we see 4-LOM and Zuckuss in the next book.

Now that I hope I've gotten what's bothered me about this Diversity Alliance plot out of the way, I am hoping to focus completely on the characters and story in the next book. This definitely has picked up from the disappointing "Shaard of Alderaan" (though the blurb authors once again take some liberties - the events concerning IG-88 happen in the last 10 or so pages of the book), and once again, I do look forward to see where this story goes and how it is resolved.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this series has a special place in my heart, and I did enjoy the process of rereading this book, this is one of the weakest books in the series.

The biggest problem with the book is that the main action doesn't start until halfway through. There really is no plot with the Young Jedi Knights characters until then. Zekk has a plotline throughout, but he's not one of the core characters.

One of the advantages of this one is the references. There were references to the X-Wing books, Black Fleet Crisis, Jedi Academy Trilogy, The Crystal Star, and the original Thrawn trilogy. If you are an EU/Legends superfan, you will love all of the references in this book. I'm not even certain I caught everything, and I AM a Legends Superfan!

Another advantage that this book has is the exploration of the Jacen/Tenel Ka relationship and the introduction of the Raynar/Lusa relationship. Neither one is given enough pagetime, but both are advanced in this book. There are other books in the series that do a better job advancing them though.

Overall, this is an ok book, but doesn't have the impressiveness of several other of the books. 6.0 out of 10.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a contingent of fans who’ve read Delusions of Grandeur and didn’t like it. And I can understand why. Of the 9 Young Jedi Knights books up to this point, it’s probably the slowest and the least Star Wars of the bunch...by which it means it reads far more like a basic sci-fi story, with just the right amount of requisite Star Wars characters and themes to still be considered part of the franchise.

I’m of the mind that, despite these otherwise negative aspects, it’s actually a good thing. The reduced pacing, with more focus on story leads to one of the strongest entries in the series. There’s more character building, world building, and plot building in DoG than the other 2 books in this particular saga of the Young Jedi Knights stuff, and focusing on plot instead of just throwing typical Star Wars tropes into the mix leads to one of the more coherent stories so far.

Then again, this one isn’t perfect. The Diversity Alliance isn’t the best example of antagonists and there’s a freakin centaur in here.

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was both dissapointing and a breath of fresh air. It was probably the best addition to the series since book 5, with many long drawn out plot points finally converging after their painfully slow introductions. It was actually interesting how a lot of things came together, and could have been the best book in the entire series but with a few problems. Kevin J Anderson has a habit of going over the top with some off the wall ideas. He also has a tendency to not write these into his stories very well, surrounding them with below average writing. It wasn't very visible in the previous books, but it made an appearance in this book. The writing became a little childish and didn't flow very well. The diversity alliance is the main focus of this

[elef · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars! it was very fun to read!!

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a lot slower paced than the previous books in the series, but I still enjoyed it

[Cameron Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my opinion, this book will not be appeasing to Star Wars fans. At the beginning of the book, it says Jaina Solo, but Han Solo never had kids at the point in time of the book, around the Clone Wars. To me, the writing is simple, bland, and just not exciting. Some pros of this book is that it is a weird twist to the beloved franchise, but some cons are that I was confused for half of the book. If I would give this book to a friend they would kill me for giving them a book that ruins Star Wars. Although this isn't the greatest book, it did have a good view of how kids learned and the action is pretty decent. This is book 9, which I didn't know until I got onto Good Reads, and I would not continue this series. In all, I would NOT recommend this book to a friend.

[Zombie_Phreak · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn’t have that Star Wars feel to it. It was more like I was just reading a random sci-fi book, and not even a very interesting one.

The most intriguing parts of the book were about Zekk and his bounty hunting. The parts with the Diversity Alliance in it are just boring and I didn’t really care about them.

Hope the next book in the series is better.

[Ben Briles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really more of a 3.5 stars. Just not my favorite. The characters are still good, obviously, but there's a lot of talk of reverse space racism that hasn't aged particularly well, I think.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just isn't compelling at all...

First of all, the title doesn't really mean anything. It's purely called that because the phrase has been repeatedly used in the earlier volumes (you might as well call one of the books 'This is a fact.' and achieve the same thing.)

Secondly, it just doesn't really go particularly far in any direction with characters or plot, and hamfists in OT characters (surprised that they managed to leave Bossk out of this, actually.)

There's no dimensionality to the Diversity Alliance, the reverse racism angle, with a real-world parallel, is an interesting potential idea, but they just jump straight to a human genocide.

There's just nothing really going for it, the most interesting aspect is how it ties into The Crystal Star (widely panned, but it's probably better than this was...)

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The caliber of stories in the series remains the same (reliable and serviceable), but I do find that the characterization becomes stronger the farther along it gets. This makes sense, but if you look at just one book's worth of characterization, they all come across as a bit flat; taken over the course of the whole series, though, they become distinctive.

Also, I like how the authors frame Tanel Ka's loss of a hand not as a disability, but just as something else that's a part of the character. There was grief and anger and guilt, of course, but now that she's accepted it, it's never a detriment to what she wants to accomplish. It's a very positive outlook, and though they may not have included that plot twist to be inclusive, it's become so.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just pure filler. Nothing of note happens it only solves issues introduced in the end of the previous book. This entire book should've been two or three paragraphs in the next book.

Also, again, desperate to bring things from the movie despite it making no sense, Dengar returns for some reason and has lost all character development.

[Stasia Bruhn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is by far the weakest in the series. Nothing much happens and honestly its skippable. All you need to know is Tyko faked his abduction and IG-88 is not what it seems. Other than those two plots nothing is interesting. Yes Lowbacca & Sirra go with Raaba to Ryloth . Thats it in a nutshell.

[Ola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boba Fett, Dengar, IG-88 och Zekk.

[Gaby Cresswell ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun bounty hunter action if you can suspend your disbelief that Jedi teens can be a worthy match for Dengar or IG 88 or Boba Fett.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another addition in the Young Jedi Knight Series. I will say, I like this one better than its predecessor ‘Diversity Alliance.’ There’s more action, more plot development, and I daresay more character development.
One of the themes I have fun looking out for in this book is which moments tied into the title ‘Delusions of Grandeur.’ Raaba certainly has some when she recruits Lowie and Sirra to the Diversity Alliance, thinking she’s won back her best friends (whom we must remember she has let think she was DEAD for the last year or so) and now they are all part of something that will totally change the galaxy for the better forever.
Then we have Raynar, who has been feeling a little low and useless since his father disappeared, but after some inspiration from *Da-da-da-DUM* a potential love interest, he decides he can at least go and run his Uncle’s factories on Mechs 3 until he is found.
And speaking of his Uncle… Oh wow, where do I start? Typo Thul is officially one of the most irritating, arrogant fops to come out of this series. (But since I don’t think we’re really supposed to like or sympathize with him, it works.) Anyway, it turns out in this story that Tyko faked his kidnapping in the last book because he is convinced his brother is in hiding for a totally selfish and BS reason, and hoped to lure him out of hiding to come to his rescue. Geez. If there is any character in this book that truly embodies a 'delusion of grandeur,' it is Tyko Thul.
The last case, which I think is by far the most interesting (as is often the case in this series), belongs to Zekk. He is hired by a mysterious employer to track down Tyko Thul when the whole galaxy is looking for Bornan Thul. The client also asks that Zekk transmit a message to the Bornaryn fleet; from this Zekk quickly puts the pieces together and realizes that his client is indeed Bornan Thul himself. He contemplates turning Thul in to Nolaa Tarkona,thus claiming the reward and earning himself renown that most bounty hunters only dream of. Then again, how many people would trust him if he betrays his employer? Also, perhaps Thul has a very good reason for going into hiding… is the reward he could earn worth what consequences could potentially come from his actions? Really poignant questions in that story thread.
All that said though, I must say, with the current tense political climate, the book's addressing of racial inequality was making me squirm a bit. We’re supposed to think of the ‘Diversity Alliance’ as the 'bad guys,' but they have some fair points. What the Empire did to many alien races during the Emperor’s reign (enslavment, appropriating their planets, mass genocide) were reprehensible. Nolaa Tarkona has some good points, which is how she draws Raaba and so many others to her. Until she becomes a political power, her own home-planet of Ryloth was horrible patriarchal and allowed the selling of their women slavers… however, she proves just as ruthless as her adversaries. Her ideas of all alien races created equal is great! Her ideas of mass genocide for all humans… yeah, that’s just evil. (Still Tarkona is a great villain compared to the earlier characters of Tamith Kai and Brakes, as she has a certain amount of poise and charm, and a strong political agenda, rather than just I am evil-- because I am evil!)
Anyway, as I was saying, current political and social events in America have made me think a lot about racial, gender, and sexual orientation equality… and how it is still a very dicey and sore issue for many. Things are still pretty bad, and we need to work together to make them better. And while we may wish to silence or eject those who disagree with us, we can not; to cut off their rights is to set a precedent to violate our own later. We need to protect and stand with our minorities. Much like the Young Jedi Knights, we must stick together and be a force for good in our communities and the world, or be prepared for a grim future.
… Okay, now that I have gotten thoroughly preachy, I will sign off. Happy reading everyone!

[Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another pretty good installment. Lots of action in this one and we start to get to heart of the conspiracy. The alternating perspectives are interesting but I still can't help but wish that these were all longer to allow for more character and story development. I think it's good that we start to add more characters into the story here because it allows the main four to grow in response to new friends.

[Jaime K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot is uncovered, though gradually, brining the reader through the story. Enough irritated me though to make me really give this 2.5 stars.

This starts off with Jaina nearly pining over Zekk (and leaving him adorably cheerful messages), the gort hatching - which sounds adorable - and Jacen goggling over Tenel Ka. There are a lot of teenage emotions that are written well and make me smile. Jaina especially starts missing Zekk even more when Raaba is back on the scene.

It's obvious that Raaba's existence will cause trouble and that she will force Lowie in a hard place. So the question is whether he'll be able to bring her back to the "humans aren't evil" side.

The word "nicta[te]" is used 4 times in 2 full pages. It's an annoying word. granted, I'm glad to have learned new vocabulary, but that was ridiculous.

I'm tickled by Zekk following a "what would Fett do?" train of thought.

Chapters 3-5 offer some early surprise twists.
- Zekk is sent to look for Tyko Thul from a seemingly unlikely source.
- Em Teedee is insanely annoying and complains more than he did before. He grates on me.
- Chapter 4 was almost too fast to follow and quite abrupt.
- Chapter 5 has a friend from the past (:D) give some horrifying information about the Diversity Alliance.

Actually, the entire Diversity Alliance is exposed to the reader. We see the lies it feeds to its members and how easily bigots/speciesists/racist twist the truth to hide the biases the leaders harbor.

I love that the kids try to cheer Raynar and that they're chosen to help Tionne with new trainees.

Chapter 7 is beautiful.

It makes sense why Lowie isn't on the cover towards the middle of the story, but now I'm comparing this to #8. That cover should have had Tenel Ka and THIS one Raynar Thul. Luke is barely mentioned in this one; he shouldn't be on the cover!

Em TeeDee's modifications are pretty neat and make me smile.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rereading this so this isn't a full review, but the whole Diversity Alliance plotline really rubs me the wrong way.

The Diversity Alliance which is made up of all aliens seems to represent black people (or other minorities) who are struggling to uplift themselves and are seeking fair treatment by white people, or other oppressor's.

The book depicts them as being evil and malicious under the guise of a good cause. The humans (white people) are being well what about me as if they aren't already in power, in control.

And it honestly just feels like an attack from these white writers against POC, disparaging their movements and fights to be seen as equals. Portraying them as evil, or misguided.

Basically I think it's an awful plotline. Especially if they end up having the diversity alliance continue on under a human leader(haven't gotten that far yet, we shall see).

Humans are the people in power in the star wars galaxy. The imperials were fervently human supremacists. The alliance less so, but the people in charge are human. The main characters are largely human, and based on movies and art also largely white.

I love Star Wars but they do have a serious human problem.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this whole series several times when I was a kid. These were a lot of fun and easy to read. They really helped me along my way to enjoy reading and becoming obessed with Star Wars. We meet alot of charaters that became close frinds to the reader. I feel Anderson was able to identify what a young adult would be lookig for in characters and hit it bullseye. Kudos for a great series.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was always one of my favorites in the series, but I found I didn't remember the plot going into it. I had a few inklings to what was going to happen, but on the whole u thought things played out really well and in a feel consistent with Star Wars. Super fun.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm totally in love with the Young Jedi Knights books. They're so silly, but they were a big part of my childhood, from about age 10-13. I wanted to be Jaina Solo so badly. XD

[Melkirdin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Kevin Anderson masterpiece. Good plot, good detail.

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...the plot thickens. I like how the fact that this is "just" a kids' book didn't stop the authors from pulling in important characters and having a plot that will seriously affect the future.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F AND yjk bk. 9

Based on Star Wars

Science Fiction

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an ok story. I'm waiting for the story arc to move forward. This one felt a little like filler.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable but fun to read.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Islam · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was an amazing novel