Star Wars Bookworms Book Club discussion

This is for the first part of our reading breakdown. Please place any general thoughts, comments or wonderings here. You can always make a separate topic for bigger themes or topics that you want to discuss from these chapters. Have fun I am on Chapter 6.

I enjoyed the chapter that Kanan was introduced in a lot. He has a kind of Han Solo vibe, and I like that it wasn't mentioned at all at this point that he is a Jedi, or has any connection to the Force. Lets us meet him as a person first instead of as a Jedi.

This was the clearest I've ever understood an EU novel. Usually there's a lot of mumbo-jumbo jargon about air combat, engines, technology, but this time the action and events are clear and streamlined, much to the credit of JJM! Loving it so far!

Brian wrote: "I enjoyed the chapter that Kanan was introduced in a lot. He has a kind of Han Solo vibe, and I like that it wasn't mentioned at all at this point that he is a Jedi, or has any connection to the Fo..."

It's almost difficult to see how his Jedi qualities will be reintroduced later on. I really like that. I love when the Jedi are seen as mysterious!

After reading the Del Rey sampler in July I was looking forward the character of Vidian. At first I thought he would be more like the two cyborg brothers from Crucible, but I think there is more to this character after a few chapters than I ever felt for them. I was surprised when in chapter 7 when he killed the manager in the mine. I liked the line about murder belonging in every supervisors toolkit and even the coldness of purging that information when he had to clear his memory at the end of the day because there would be no consequences.

I also liked the use of existing characters and species with the Belsalisks (like dexter jettster and pong krell) and using Depa Billaba. I have not gone back and really thought about Shatterpoint but don't recall her being fully redeemed. Has anyone else who remembers that novel better had trouble with this now that this is newly established cannon? Of course there could be some comic or short story that I am missing.

***SPOILER***

I got to the part last night where we find out that Caleb and Kanan are the same character! I KNEW IT! Did anyone else see this coming?

I got to that part too last night and did not see that coming. It didn't even dawn (get it...dawn) on me. So when I read that part, I said, "Of course! Duh."

I haven't gotten that far yet (I fell asleep in about 5 minutes last night), but I had a feeling. Seemed odd to put that much focus on the kid otherwise.

The first 11 chapters were great but I'm dying for more Kanan and Hera!

"Caf" has already been introduced in the new canon. This makes me happy.

Aaron wrote: ""Caf" has already been introduced in the new canon. This makes me happy."

Now we just need Luke to drink a hot chocolate in Heir to the Jedi.

Somehow I knew someone would comment on Caf!

So far, so good. The action is brisk and Kanan is not a super-hero at all which is refreshing. His disenchantment with the Jedi seems legit and he really is a self-centered person. I feared going it that he would be a Jedi in hiding doing good while waiting for the Jedi to rise again and instead he is a drunk who doesn't even bat an eye when the Empire guns down a ship in cold blood.

The only thing I found myself not satisfied with so far was the meeting between Kanan and Vidian in the mines. Kanan has a weapon drawn on him and Vidian pays him no mind, he flushed his image from his mind at the end of the night and did not question his ship being one of a handful that immediately left the planet after the explosion.

I really liked the roles of females in the book and a number of minor characters felt really fleshed out for their minor scenes. Everything thus far has been about resetting the universe and setting up the rest of the book so I am really ready for things to start coming together soon.

I had a feeling that Kanan was Caleb.

I'm actually struggling with the amount of female imperials; it seemed in the original trilogy there were no women on deck, or especially as stormtroopers. I wonder if something happens later in the growing Empire that makes it more male dominated, or if this detachment of troopers is out of the ordinary?

I discussed that topic in an interview, here: http://bit.ly/JJMon1138

John, thanks for the clarification, I was also wondering about that. I have to say that it took me a while to get over the cartoon character cover and thinking this was written for a younger audience... Now that I'm over that, I'm very much enjoying the novel. I really like the fact that Kanan is not your typical Jedi, more of a loner and not looking to right every wrong in the universe.

I've read some thoughts on the book that its slow in the beginning. I totally disagree. I'm on Chapter 17, but I'll keep to the first couple chapters. I thought it started off really well. Especially the prologue. You could feel the emotion when Caleb is asking Obi-Wan those questions and knew what would eventually happen to the Jedi. Smart kid. And I enjoy the politics of the galaxy. Gives a lot of context into understanding what's happening in the world of Star Wars. Loving the book though.