Book review: ‘Heir to the Jedi’ is an adequate ‘Star Wars’ adventure
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"STAR WARS: Heir to the Jedi,” by Kevin Hearne, LucasBooks, $28, 304 pages (f)
Luke Skywalker's adventures in the aftermath of the destruction of the first Death Star are the focus of the recent novel “Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi” by Kevin Hearne.
Just after the events of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” Luke, now a lieutenant with the Rebel Alliance, is sent on an errand by Admiral Ackbar and Princess Leia to open up a channel to arms dealers on the remote planet of Rodia. A chain of events begins, however, that soon sees Luke teamed up with Nakari Kelen, a beautiful sniper who joined the Rebel Alliance despite her family's great wealth.
Using Kelen's luxury spacecraft, The Desert Jewel, the two find themselves caught up in a plan to help an alien imperial cryptographer defect to the rebels. What follows is a series of chases, space battles and blaster fights as the Empire pulls out all the stops to retrieve the codebreaker. All the while, Luke struggles with his fledgling Force powers and works to learn all he can about the history of the Jedi, a history that the empire has largely expunged from the galaxy.
“Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi” is a first-person account narrated by Luke. Despite his central role in the Star Wars universe, Luke's character always has a whiny quality that makes him somehow less dynamic than the series' other characters, such as Han Solo, Leia and Darth Vader. Hearne's narrative emphasizes this whiny quality, and while it may be true to the character, it makes for some less-than-engaging reading at times.
The action scenes are generally done well, and the supporting characters, many of them new to this novel, are engaging. The book works best when Luke is attempting to understand the mysteries of the Force and the history of the Jedi. Since the book takes place before the events of “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” Luke believes his father had been a noble Jedi betrayed and murdered by the evil Sith Lord Vader.
Still, it feels like there is something missing from this story. The book doesn't quite live up to the sweeping adventure of the films, or even to some of the sharper novels in the series. It's a fine effort and a fun Star Wars novel, but it never quite manages to become a great one.
“Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi” contains some described science fiction violence but no sex or foul language.
Cody K. Carlson blogs at thediscriminatinggamer.com. Email: ckcarlson76@gmail.com
