I, JEDI
Review by Steve Almond
Author Mike Stackpole tries to Horn in on main character
territory with this epic told in first person.
I, Jedi
by Mike Stackpole
published by Bantam Spectra
Bantam must be kicking itself right about now. Riding a wave started by the likes of the "X-Wing" series, "Han Solo Trilogy" and Specter of the Past, the latest high-quality book to roll in off their presses is Mike Stackpole's I, Jedi. This one veers from many of the traditions established by the novels released over the previous seven years or so, but fans will rejoice, "Finally! Where have books like this been?" while Bantam utters a sorrowful, "D'oh!" as they realize the effort comes too late. If the majority of their publications had achieved the standards of the recent ones, perhaps they could have held onto the Star Wars license.
They say you can't judge a book by its cover? True, but you can sure infer a lot. The first thing you may notice is the style of the cover art. Missing is the typical main-character head collage, something that's such a staple of Drew Struzan's Star Wars cover art that even a Corellian wouldn't hesitate to offer you great odds on its appearance. Sure, you've got Luke's badly-in-need-of-a-haircut cranium hovering in the background, but front and center stands a stern looking, lightsaber-wielding individual accompanied by an R2 unit at the threshold of some entryway.
When you pick up the book
to admire Struzan's departure from the tried and true,
and guess the identity of the mystery man, you'll find
that it's pretty hefty for a Star Wars title. I,
Jedi, at 464 pages, weighs in at about one hundred
pages more than a typical romp through that galaxy far,
far away. A further surprise awaits on the inside flap,
which reveals that the story follows not the heroes from
the original film trilogy, but Corran Horn, late of Rogue
Squadron from Stackpole's X-Wing novels, even if he
doesn't look quite like we expect. And while not as
obvious, the title hints at the most significant
departure from old: this story is told entirely from the
first-person perspective!
ALL I EVER NEEDED TO
KNOW ABOUT LIFE
I LEARNED AT JEDI ACADEMY … ?
The time is just before Jedi Search by Kevin J.
Anderson (roughly seven years after the events of Return
of the Jedi) and the story essentially picks up with
Corran soul-searching regarding his wife's (Mirax) desire
to have children. When he returns to his home on
Coruscant after a Rogue mission, eager to tell Mirax the
happy news concerning his decision, he soon discovers
that she is missing. Corran learns from military command
that Mirax has departed on a mission to locate the
Invids, the very pirates that Rogue Squadron has been
trying to eliminate; this reinforces Corran's Jedi
instincts that she is in grave peril. Governmental
bureaucracy rears its ugly head, preventing Corran from
gaining any official information or support to rescue
Mirax, for fear of jeopardizing her sanctioned operation.
Recovering Mirax is a job he'll have to accomplish by
himself.
Corran seeks help from now-General Wedge Antilles, and
the former Rogue Leader along with Jedi Master Luke
Skywalker are able to convince Corran that the key to
finding Mirax may lie in developing his Jedi abilities, a
proposal he turned down a few years earlier. But now the
stakes are higher and Corran agrees to attend Luke's
soon-to-be-formed Jedi Academy.
The first half of the novel revolves around the events of Kevin Anderson's "Jedi Academy Trilogy," and seen through Corran Horn's eyes, it is a much more interesting story. KJA's portrayal of the students and their teachings always seemed intentionally vague, and for good reason; since the trilogy was a relatively early release there would be many events taking place before and after that were yet to be chronicled. Some characters appearing in I, Jedi are new to the setting of the Jedi Academy but are familiar faces from previous Star Wars titles, and it's great to see them fit in logically with the overall timeline. Stackpole also does a great job fleshing out Anderson's existing characters in Streen, Tionne and Gantoris and delves much into the day-to-day activities at the Academy.
Corran's progress in the
ways of the Force is definitely satisfactory, but it's
certainly not extraordinary and by no means easy. He is
as old as Luke, yet been in contact with the Force for
only a fraction of his life. There are blocks in his
skills and we experience the trials Corran must face to
overcome them. He learns a great deal about himself and
his Jedi heritage, but as the story reaches the stage
where the Jedi Academy trilogy concludes, Corran is
unsatisfied with Luke's Academy (both with Luke's way of
teaching and what little he feels he has learned) and
decides that the Academy can offer him nothing further to
aid in the search for Mirax's search. In a memorable
scene, he tells Luke "what's what" and
justifies his decision to leave. I can't help but read
this as not only a criticism of Luke, but as an overall
message to Anderson of what he did wrong in creating the
atmosphere for the praxeum, as he liked to call
it.
A HUNTING WE WILL GO
A brief pit-stop to his grandfather's abode on Corellia
allows Corran to dig deeper (literally) into the past of
his Jedi ancestors. A new resolve develops within him,
and he decides to shelve his "Jedi half" and
return to using the skills developed from his past in the
Corellian Security Force (CorSec). He makes plans to
infiltrate the Invids, the group of pirates &
Imperials led by ex-Moff Leonia Tavira (who will be
familiar to readers of the X-Wing comic book series) and
aided by mysteries person or persons utilizing the Force
to efficiently guide their strikes. Now, this is the half
of the novel where the storyline doesn't cover old
territory, so I won't give too much away.
Corran successfully works his way into pirate's circle and becomes "one of the gang" as - no surprise - a fighter pilot. The usual friends and enemies are made, and considering these folks are, in a sense, the footsoldiers for the enemy, they are often portrayed as a group that fell in with the wrong crowd just making a living for themselves. Corran seems to really identify with some of them and when the time comes for him to make his big move, he's careful not to bring unnecessary harm to them.
While the pilots that
Corran associates with aren't very original characters,
it was a pleasure to see the return of Leonia Tavira
(actually, she's also appearing in the latest X-Wing
story arc). She's a very wily and manipulative
personality, and when she develops eyes for our hero,
Corran better watch his step … temptation lurks and
may be the route to his wife's rescue or his own fall to
the dark side of the Force.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF
ONE
There is a definite split in this novel - Corran's time
at the Academy and his involvement with the Invids - and
each reads with its own climactic moment and different
character development. As an original character, Corran
Horn can actually be (and is!) developed, put
through his paces, and actually grow as an
individual, something the movies' cast can't be allowed
to do. They had their defining moments and stories in the
films. In Stackpole's novel, we can actually see
something happen internally with the main character, and
watch as Corran struggles over whether to keep or abandon
his Jedi side or his CorSec side - and the result has a
profound effect on his personality, is essential to the
core of the story, and lets the reader feel like he's
just witnessed something that had an impact.
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What dawned on me as I was going through I, Jedi was that if the publishers had been greedy, they could have easily diluted the two sections and released it as a duology, or take it one step further and create a third installment delving deeper into Corran Horn's Jedi heritage. Luckily they didn't, and fans have received a nicely paced, meaty adventure and a strengthening of character that just isn't possible with books focusing on the major cast of characters. Too bad they didn't have the same thoughts with some of the other trilogies of novels that could have easily been condensed.
Mike Stackpole has been the most consistently satisfying Star Wars author to date. It's a shame Bantam didn't get a hold of him earlier, I'm sure they've lost readers due to the initial relatively low quality novels released. But we have him now and can look forward to his next X-Wing book, relating the story of the Rogue's rescue of Jan Dodonna … and if the folks at Ballantine / Del Rey have any sense, I'm confident we'll see more Stackpole SW projects in the future.