Heir To The Jedi Review: The Continued Adventures of Luke Skywalker.

Heir1Pomojema here with another advance review of a Star Wars novel. This time we’re looking at Heir To The Jedi, written by Kevin Hearne (best known for his work on his own series, The Iron Druid Chronicles). Make the jump to see how the Skywalker-centric novel turned out in this spoiler-free review.

 

Heir To The Jedi starts off asking an essential question following a continuity reset: Before the Battle Of Hoth, but after Luke blew up the Death Star and got a medal to show for it, what happened? The Empire is still out and about, and the Rebellion is still ongoing, albeit lacking in manpower and resources. When Han and Chewie take a break from the revolution to deal with their own matters, Luke is forced to carry out a series of operations with R2-D2 and a few other companions that will ensure that the Rebels survive and thrive against an enemy with incredible armies and vast amounts of territory under their control. His most important goal: rescuing a cryptographer who can compromise most security from the Empire, with only R2-D2 and a talented sniper to help him.

 

Heir is the first book to be told entirely from the first-person perspective of Luke Skywalker, and I believe that Hearne excelled at capturing Luke’s personality and motivations around the time of A New Hope. He’s up a river without a paddle in regards to learning how to use the Force, based on his limited knowledge from “Ben” Kenobi in a handful of conversations. As you can imagine, he struggles with figuring out how to use the Force without the aid of a Jedi Master, but controlling the Force is something he gains on his adventures to help a struggling Rebel Alliance persist in the face of adversity. It comes across very naturally, too – he starts off completely lost and frustrated, slowly learns how to adapt, and has a considerably better grasp on the Force by the end of the novel.

 

 

Skywalker

 

Along his journey, Luke meets two women: a human by the name of Nakari Kelen, and a Givin by the name of Drusil. Kelen is a clever sharpshooter with a dry wit, while Drusil is a mathematical genius and an expert at slicing Imperial data. Kelen was written as a love letter to the girl-of-the-week format of old Legends stories (back before they settled on Luke hooking up with Mara Jade), but she has a decent amount of depth and personality to her. Drusil comes across as a quirky individual (appropriately enough, since she’s an alien), but she is highly methodical, and the focus on her mathematical craft actually draws a few parallels to the Jedi that Luke aspires to be. Both characters are important to the narrative, and in some ways help they shape Luke into the “not a Jedi yet” that he is in The Empire Strikes Back. I really liked both of these characters, and hope to read more about them in other stories set around the same time period.

 

The book goes for a “less is more” sort of approach – you won’t find any grandiose war sequences or elaborate lighsaber duels in this story, but if you’re looking for classic skirmishes with alien monsters, ISB agents, and bounty hunters, this is your book. For instance, there’s a spectacular space battle sequence in the middle of the book, but it revolves around Luke flying solo against a much larger force instead of leading a squadron of X-wings. The book feels more episodic than other Star Wars novels I’ve read. Nearly every chapter focuses on a different aspect of Luke’s journey, ranging from something as suspenseful as his investigation of a derelict ship on an unknown world infested with invisible predators to something as mundane as ordering noodles with Rancor sauce to communicate secret information to an incognito Rebel supporter. That episodic nature is something I feel helps the narrative feel distinctive as a story. Hearne not only captured the spirit of Luke Skywalker in his writing, but he also captured a lot of the lighthearted fun that made the early days of Legends such a joy to read.

 

 

luke11

 

This is definitely a book that fans of the Skywalker family should check out. The book does a good job of getting Luke Skywalker and an ensemble of characters – including R2-D2, C-3PO, Leia Organa, and Ackbar – just right, all while introducing a couple of new characters who can stand on their own. It also does a wonderful job of setting the stage for Marvel’s Star Wars comic, which reflect’s Luke’s character development in this story very well (the Lucasfilm Story Group deserve props for this as well). The Force is indeed strong with this one.

 

 

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the text. Heir To The Jedi will be released on shelves on March 3.

 

+ posts

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

48 thoughts on “Heir To The Jedi Review: The Continued Adventures of Luke Skywalker.

  • February 17, 2015 at 11:01 pm
    Permalink

    New canon is so tiny and dumb.Last two books were pretty bad and i refuse to belive this one is any better.Sad how shitt lucasfilm have become,rebels is dogshit and new universe is reduced to a tiny period with a few characters.Well like most fans i prefer the boks that were written with the story pre VI.

    • February 17, 2015 at 11:12 pm
      Permalink

      Blimey, give it a chance will you!

    • February 17, 2015 at 11:26 pm
      Permalink

      Tiny… the EU has existed for well over 30 years, the new canon policy is barely a year old. At least it’s not all floating islands of content anymore. Give it a chance, not everything in the EU was good either.

    • February 17, 2015 at 11:26 pm
      Permalink

      Right now I prefer the older books too, but that doesn’t mean we should lose all hope of ever reading another quality Star Wars novel. At this point, so early in the development of the new canon, the possibilities of what could be added (including bringing back shelved EU material) are endless. I understand that’s both frightening and exciting, but I for one am greatly looking forward to future Star Wars material. I’m sure us older fans will get something dark and gritty to enjoy as much as the younglings do Rebels.

      • February 17, 2015 at 11:41 pm
        Permalink

        Yeah, hopefully…

        I mean, if you throw the Ewoks out, ROTJ was pretty dark, just as the Empire Era overall. So I REALLY hope they’ll continue with that vibe after The Force Awakens.

        • February 18, 2015 at 1:32 am
          Permalink

          Love it or hate it, Darth Starkiller’s story was better than the cameo-appearance-filled Rebels.

          • February 18, 2015 at 6:34 am
            Permalink

            Starkillers story was utter rubbish!

          • February 18, 2015 at 2:49 pm
            Permalink

            As if. TFU2 may have sucked, but TFU had an incredible plot that made the origin of the rebel alliance something epic and extraordinary, not child-like and basic. Rebels defines the word “rubbish”.

          • February 18, 2015 at 5:44 pm
            Permalink

            What the alliance being created by vader to catch out the dissidents was a realy shite idea lol!

    • February 18, 2015 at 1:14 am
      Permalink

      NO LIKES FOR RAABY!

    • February 18, 2015 at 2:56 am
      Permalink

      Bring back the Vong, Luke’s haunted Computer girlfriend, and Waru! It’s what a lot of the fans deserve… bah.

      • February 18, 2015 at 5:34 pm
        Permalink

        All complete tripe.

      • February 18, 2015 at 8:19 pm
        Permalink

        the Vong where the reason I never liked the aftermath of ep. VI in thr old canon

    • February 18, 2015 at 10:24 am
      Permalink

      God it’s people like you that make this day and age such a shit place to live in. You can’t think, or live if you’re not instantly gratified. “I want and deserve everything my shitty heart desires now, or I’m gonna whine like a baby and be as negative as possible”. All the while whining and spreading your negative thinking to everyone around. They’ve barely had anytime to get a huge think tank around to coming up with new stuff that’ll impress as many people as possible. Of course it’ll take awhile. Just like rebels will take awhile to catching good ground. Which it’s already getting better. Just like the clone wars show. That show was “eh” when it started out and became incredible. I’d say chill out and grow up a bit.

      • February 23, 2015 at 11:52 am
        Permalink

        People are just annoyed because they replaced a convoluted and silly expanded universe with one that will most likely become convoluted and silly given time. As always, when fanboy demand is around and profit is to be made quality control goes out the window.

  • February 18, 2015 at 12:02 am
    Permalink

    I guess they won’t include huge bttles at the early development of the new canon, but they might do that later on…

    • February 18, 2015 at 5:45 pm
      Permalink

      You don’t need huge battles in everything.

  • February 18, 2015 at 12:44 am
    Permalink

    I really would like to see asome sorta galaxy map including the new canon planets like Lothal…

  • February 18, 2015 at 1:14 am
    Permalink

    I found these were some of the best old EU novles I’ve read
    ‘Specter of the past’ and ‘vision of the future’ { an awesome dou } ‘Darth Plagueis’ and ofcourse ‘Crucible’.
    The ‘Hand of Thrawn’ and ‘Survivors Quest’ were pretty good as well 😛

    I’d have to throw in the whole Aboloth series too I guess….anything with a hot sith chick in it isn’t so bad …gotta love Vestara!

  • February 18, 2015 at 2:20 am
    Permalink

    You butt hurt nerds need to chill. Stop bitching about lame ass extended universe shit and go work on your plus size cosplay…

    • February 18, 2015 at 2:35 am
      Permalink

      A: I’m not a cosplayer, nor do I plan to be. Also I’m actually pretty healthy, call me in 30 years, THEN you can call me plus-sized. [when I hit 50 I plan to go full Jabba, or at least original-deleted-scene-scottish Jabba]
      B: There are worse hobbies to have.
      C: What is your motivation for reading an article about a new expanded universe book if you have zero interest in the EU or it’s fans?
      D: I do agree that it’s a novel, printed on paper, with hundreds more to come, and people might do well to lighten up for a year or so. We can wait patiently for them to PROVE the new continuity is bad… right?

      • February 18, 2015 at 11:22 am
        Permalink

        You do realize this is not an EU book…?

        • February 18, 2015 at 6:05 pm
          Permalink

          The terminology is out the window. In my eyes, these books are an expansion on the star wars universe. Would you rather me call it “enlarged realm”?

  • February 18, 2015 at 2:43 am
    Permalink

    I’m not big on SW books, but I WANT THIS BOOK. Understatedepisodic is like my middle name, my other middle name is Chronicasshole, but I just use an initial for that one.
    This does have the potential to be a good book, at least it’s a good idea to start with.

  • February 18, 2015 at 3:00 am
    Permalink

    yeah your as about as asshole as a napping My Little Pony.. lightweight. And original Jabba was Declan Mulholland who is Northern Irish.. how can you even argue Star Wars when you don’t know Star Wars!!

    • February 18, 2015 at 6:11 pm
      Permalink

      I’m not a trivia man, which the name and exact nationality of an actor who was deleted and species-changed 6 years later is arguably not essential Star Wars knowledge, though I will do my homework next time.
      I don’t know names [lucked out on 90% of them being wiped by Disney], but I do know what makes a Star Wars film great.
      Also I thought we were talking about my eventual obesity. Now we’re so off-topic that we’re talking about the thing this website is named after. I’ll stop talking now.

  • February 18, 2015 at 3:36 am
    Permalink

    This sounds good for the most part. One thing I didn’t like about the old EU was that everything was galactic stakes that made the movies not that special anymore. Any good writer knows that as long as you make the character personable and the stakes personal to the character and the reader, you don’t need to have the future of freedom for the galaxy on the line to make an intense read. I hope the new Disney Canon keeps going along that path. Leave the big stuff to the movies.

    • February 18, 2015 at 4:24 am
      Permalink

      The mainline EU certainly did keep things ‘Galactic Stakes’ but it never made the OT less special for me.
      Also, you know as well as I do that there was plenty of ‘small stakes’ EU out there.

      • February 18, 2015 at 5:00 am
        Permalink

        What I meant was the significance of the events of the movies became more of a day in the life when paired with all the EU stories. It didn’t effect my love for the movies at all because I chose not to let so-called canon dictate my thinking.

        • February 18, 2015 at 5:28 pm
          Permalink

          I understand what you meant. And that “so-called canon” response helps me understand a lot more about your.. stance.
          It is interesting with all the usual talk I hear from the ‘purists’ stripped away what REALLY bothered them about the EU. I can see now that it’s not because they thought the books were bad; their sin was daring to be as grand in scale as the OT. They should have been meek and meager, so as not to threaten the OT..
          I get it. I totally get what your saying.

          • February 18, 2015 at 7:32 pm
            Permalink

            No, of the books and comics I read, some were OK but most were sub par and failed to capture the spirit of the movies or the characters very well. But now they are what they always were really, stories to enjoy of no real significance. If there was any ‘sin’ involved, it was the EU fans insisting that others had to buy into it or they are some sort of second class fan. Good riddance to those debates.

          • February 18, 2015 at 8:12 pm
            Permalink

            Yeah, we probably called you that because you had a tendancy back then (and now) to take a dump on the material the pulled Star Wars off of life support.
            But, hey, like you said, you’re getting your weak, meager meaningless stories you’ve always wanted. Enjoy!

          • February 18, 2015 at 9:28 pm
            Permalink

            It remains to be seen if the stories now will turn out to be any good either. But I’m not going to let the past dictate my potential enjoyment of them anymore then I would you or these silly notions of canon.

            Now to insinuate that the EU saved Star Wars is laughable. Had other merchandising been failing to sell at the time Heir to the Empire and Dark Empire came out then you might have a case. But the fact is there was nothing else available at all. But the love and admiration of the OT was still there and that is what made those books and comics sell.

            It could have been anything Star Wars and it would have sold because the passage of time had made nostalgia set in. People missed that world and those characters and wanted to spend time with them again.

          • February 18, 2015 at 9:47 pm
            Permalink

            Keep telling yourself that.

  • February 18, 2015 at 3:54 am
    Permalink

    Im kind of excited to read Lords of the Sith. Looks interesting. I mean, this one sounds good also but I’ll probably wait on it. But Lords of the Sith just sounds like it has some interesting plot points.

    • February 18, 2015 at 6:11 am
      Permalink

      And I’ll be sure to get to reading that as soon as NetGalley makes it available. 🙂

      • February 18, 2015 at 7:07 pm
        Permalink

        And I’m looking forward to your review of that one also. Thanks for the thorough reviews! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • February 18, 2015 at 6:11 am
    Permalink

    Oh good! I was really worried this storyline would conflict with the comic, considering they both take place between 4/5. I appreciate you guys reviewing things like this and the comics and rebels.

    • February 18, 2015 at 6:17 am
      Permalink

      Yeah, this book is firmly set before the comic, given that Obi-Wan has not yet talked to Luke again after the Death Star exploded (and Luke explicitly mentions this), whereas he does at the end of the first issue.

      And thank you very much! I appreciate the feedback. :>

    • February 18, 2015 at 12:05 pm
      Permalink

      The story group has promised to keep it all connected and non-contradictory and they’ve delivered so far))

  • February 18, 2015 at 6:32 am
    Permalink

    I’m an older fan and dark and gritty is what eventualy put me off the newer EU books with people getting killed or maimed every other page, if I wanted that I’d read a Horus heresy book! I didn’t mind the last two books they released and rebels as it reminds me of the old days of Star Wars with the west end games books and the old droids cartoons.
    The new comics on the other hand I have not been that impressed with, I couldn’t say exactly what it is about them I don’t like but there is somthing!

  • February 18, 2015 at 8:53 am
    Permalink

    after reading a mother rumor I started thinking about Luke’s role in TFA I have a theory that Andy Serkis is playing the voice of Plagueis which is taunting Luke.

  • February 18, 2015 at 10:34 am
    Permalink

    Tomorrow someone will buy Disney and release new canon… hahaha all these are gimmicks.. the old EU is still there.. its upto us to choose what is canon.

    • February 18, 2015 at 5:49 pm
      Permalink

      That will be hard to do considering Episode VII will essentially erase most of the old eu post ROTJ.

  • February 18, 2015 at 1:01 pm
    Permalink

    BTW @Pojema … thanks for the review! I was already excited for this and now it’s been increased exponentially.

  • February 18, 2015 at 2:49 pm
    Permalink

    Nah I have yet to read a Star Wars novel that is well written. They all suck. They should hire good authors. But it’s OK really because I just need to not read..

  • February 18, 2015 at 6:13 pm
    Permalink

    Nice story, but part of me wonders if sites like this would be better off operating underground or under the radar, or bending the law slightly and be portable, able to move domains easily. That way they can post loads more secretive/risky `Episode 7 news` without having to worry about the copyright mafia and their vassal company’s silencing them. This website could have `maybe` released tons more stuff if the media overlords were not on their back watching waiting to silence them.

  • February 25, 2015 at 12:12 am
    Permalink

    Can’t wait!! Luke was always my favorite 🙂

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET