Customer Reviews

Children of the Jedi (Star Wars)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(93)

 

 

Children of the Jedi, the first book of the Callista Trilogy, has some intriguing qualities to it, but overall this book is too weak, repetative and convoluted to be considered good. I would give it 1.5 stars if possible, but its not so one will have to do. Yet another superweapon comes into being, the super-automated ship, Eye of Palpatine, whose mission to destroy the children of the Jedi on Belsavis was stopped 30 years earlier by a young female Jedi. Someone restarted the ship's programs, and its up to Luke Skywalker, who i accedentaly on board the vessel, to destroy the ship before it reaches the planet Belsavis where Han and Leia are currently vacationing/investigating. The superweapon story just keeps being used over and over again. IT'S OLD GET OVER IT! Luke and 2 student companions are investigating some random coordinates when they are shot down and captured by the Eye, a super-intelligent ship that does everything it possibly can to kill Skywalker and his friends, but can't tell the difference between alien species. Um ok. After an attack/warning by an old smuggler friend, Han Solo and Chief of State of the New Republic Leia Organa Solo (without escorts, bodyguards or anything) travel to Belsavis seeking out the mythical place where the children of the Jedi were hidden. Right, like the Chief of State of a galactic republic can just wander around without a planet's population of guards orbiting her. Um NO! Luke gets hurt making his job that much more difficult, but to comfort him in his time of need the Jedi who originally stopped the Eye reappeares. It seems Callista had jammed her spirit into the Eyes gun system and existed for the last 30 years by herself. Right! Han & Leia fight a former concubine/Emperor's Hand and her son, who has been implanted with a device that allows him to use the Force to control droids. Menwhile, Luke & Callista fall in love, and eventually she is able to enter the vacated body of one of Luke's students and they can live together except Callista has lost her force powers. The Eye is destroyed and they all live happily until the next galactic crisis. The biggest problem with this story is that the plot is too convoluted and confusing, the story makes little sense and the characters are written out of character. There are some good lines, the Dr. Breen line was very funny, but overall this book is very poorly done. It is probably the weakest of the Callista Trilogy, although all three books are among the weakest in the exapanded Star Wars universe.

The writing style is too choppy to be considered a decent narrative. The plot is very weak. The characters are flat, especially Luke's love interest (who isn't even human). It is almost painful to read. The story even contradicts many beliefs of the Star Wars universe. I wouldn't even consider this a Star Wars novel hadn't the major Star Wars players been involved. I do not recommend this book.

For what my opinion is worth, Children Of The Jedi is the worst book I've read (not just Star Wars book but all up). I own over 30 Star Wars books and this is by far the worst.

Why? Well I couldn't stand the author's writing style. It was terrible (she improved it in her second Star Wars book Planet Of Twilight). Barbara Hambly tends to write long sentences that span multiple lines, most of which had me confused. Further, she's one of those authors that jumps around a lot. For example, at the start of the chapter she'll describe the surroundings of the current scene and then explain how the character got here and what experiences he/she underwent.

I also thought that the plot was ridiculous. I know that there are others Star Wars novels with silly plots but in my opinion this book takes the cake for stupidity.

The only reason I completed the novel was because I had already bought it. By the end of the novel, I was cursing the author for polluting the Star Wars universe with characters such as Callista. I didn't see much "burgeoning passion" (as it says on the blurb of the book) between Luke and Callista. I feel that the author did not understand the Star Wars characters well enough.

I have to admit that I found the Han/Leia plot somewhat interesting but that was the only plus point. I really regret buying this book and pity anyone else who endures themselves through it.

Some may think that I've been overly harsh in my opinion of this novel. But it's how I truly feel about it. I am not forcing my opinion on anyone else merely stating it (as said before, for what its worth).

An already mediocre book in which the author places "coffee cups" in the Millennium Falcon. The author appears to have been simply cashing in on the book deal without any real understanding of the Star Wars universe. She could have called them anything else, and this reader would not have wanted to blast this book out of the air lock.

Let me just say, that I am relatively new to the StarWars EU. So far I have read, the thrawn trilogy, the Jedi academy Trilogy, the two bane books, and I Jedi. I loved each and every one of these books, (even the much less liked jedi academy trilogy.) So this is the first Star Wars book that I loathe.

Why do I hate this book? Well it has to do with the way it's written. I'm not one of those people who dislike it because of the way the characters are represented, or whether or not the plot invalidates the "jedi code" or anything such as that. I hate it because it is VERY poorly written. Allow me to elaborate.

Often you will be reading this book, and have ABSOLUTELY no idea of what's going on. Not because of a lack-of-detail. But because too much of the wrong kind. The author will take care to describe every last possible detail about the flower on the floor, the color of the building, the scent of the wind ect, But she spends very little to no time narrating HOW the characters get to these places, see these things, and smell these winds. Let me make it more clear.

You'll be reading this book, and Luke skywalker or some other character will talk to some other character in a room, and she will describe EVERY single thing about the room they are in. But then all of a sudden in the next paragraph Luke will be talking to someone else, in an entirely different location, about something else. And you'll say "Hold up, what the hell is going on!?"
And that's what it's like the entire book, there is horrible transition between people and places, and it kills the plot. One minute the character are here, the next they are there. Characters join conversations from out of no where, and then they are gone...

Perhaps I have a below-par reading level, I make no claim of intelligence, but speaking for myself only, I can say that this is one of the most boring, poorly written books I've ever read. And I'm only on chapter 6!

I honestly can not finish this book, so if it somehow does a 180 and becomes amazing later on, I apologize for my poor review. But 82 pages of this novel is more than I can stand.

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you ask a cross-section of Star Wars fans what they think about specific authors in the Star Wars universe. Except for Timothy Zahn (and possibly Michael Stackpole. Both of whom are universally liked), you will get a wide array of opinions on each and every author. There are some people who seriously dislike Kevin J. Anderson, while myself and others think he's one of the best authors of the Star Wars novels. Some people dislike R.A Salvatore for "Vector Prime" (though, I suspect it has a lot more to do with a certain plot twist he was authorized to make than the quality of his writing), while others (myself included) respect his writing.

Barbara Hambly is one such writer that seems to provoke such varied debate. "Children of the Jedi" is her first foray into writing Star Wars novels (she followed it up with "Planet of Twilight"). Unfortunately, it is quite a disappointing debut. There are some people who love Hambly's writing and thing she is a great addition to the list of Star Wars authors. I am not one of those people, and judging by the averaging rating her books have received, neither are many other people. Hambly is one of those classic cases of an author who doesn't know how to get out of her own way. She is quite enamored with her writing and ability to write long, descriptive passages (not to mention her love of overly cute terminology). However, Star Wars novels are not the place for that type of writing. Most readers are avid fans and already have their own picture of the Star Wars universe, its characters, ships, planets, and battles. Unless something brand new or drastically different is being introduced, this type of writing style only impedes the progress of the story it's trying to tell. This is disappointing because the plot of this novel is actually quite promising, but it never gets the chance to gain any momentum because of Hambly's writing.

The story, itself, focuses on our regular band of heroes quest to find the mythic ancient city that served as a haven for the children of the Jedi during the great purges under Emperor Palpatine. In addition, a massive superweapon has come to life and is on a path to the planet of these children to destroy their haven. This sounds like it would be the basis for a very entertaining book, but it fails under the weight of Hambly's prose. Her love of cute phrases and terminology becomes obvious early in the book when Han and Leia are trying to figure out what place some crazed man was trying to tell them about before he died. He kept muttering about "plettwell", which they were able to determine either meant a place called "Plett's Well" or something else called the "Plawall Rift". Both seem to be places of some importance in this novel, but they are so similar in name and they way there are referenced is so confusing that it's nearly impossible to follow what their significance is. This story is also hindered by the part of the plot dealing with Luke's entry into this massive superweapon ship in an attempt to destroy it. Hambly spends an inordinate amount of time describe to looks and actions of alien creatures who are aboard the ship, but end up having no bearing on the outcome of the story. In addition, there is a forced romance between Luke and the 'spirit' (soon to be embodied in real life) of a former Jedi named Calista. This subplot has proven to be the bane of the Star Wars universe. It's forced, makes little sense, and has been rendered completely moot by Luke's subsequent marriage to Mara Jade.

It's really a letdown to have a clunker of a book like this in the midst of such a high quality science fiction series. Hambly faltered again with her second attempt with "Planet of Twilight". She has not been asked to write any more novels since then, and it's probably for the best. From all accounts, Hambly is an accomplished writer in other science fiction stories, but her style just doesn't fit with the Star Wars universe.

I have now done something I have not done before. I have put down a Star Wars novel and will not pick it back up to finish it! This story is HORRIBLE. Just when you think something is going to happen, the brakes screech to a grinding halt, and you're forced to read through pages of verbiage that makes William F. Buckley Jr sound concise!

There was one pleasing thing to this novel, and that is that I checked it out at the library. I didn't have to waste a single penny!

I truly wish I had not bothered to buy this book. At 11, perhaps I'm not old and literate enough to fully appreciate Hambly's work; though I did understand and moderately enjoy reading Planet of Twilight.

I found it difficult to concentrate on this and at times, I even felt like skim-reading and skipping pages - something that I never thought I would feel like doing with a Star Wars novel. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone my age. You don't have read this to follow with the continuity of the other novels. All you need to know is:

Boy meets Ghost. Boy and Ghost fall in love. Ghost becomes Girl. But Girl no longer has Ghostly powers. So Girl runs away from Boy. Boy goes looking for Girl. But Girl simply doesn't wany Boy anymore.

Perhaps I'll come back to this in a couple of years but I'm not holding my breath. For now I think I'll stick to Zahn, Stackpole and Crispin.

In many ways, Children of the Jedi was an enjoyable read. Leia and Han's storyline on Belsavis was imaginative and quite well done. What I particularly liked was the atmospheric evocation of Belsavis, particularly in the old Jedi stronghold, and Leia's reexamination of her own past and assumptions. All the little touches about her aunts, jewellery styles, smashball, etc., brought the StarWars universe a bit more depth than it usually has. Early mentions of certain things in passing did come to be important later, and the alliance between wealthy aristocrats who want the Government to leave them alone and Force-using, power-hungry, social climbers was plausible and well-drawn. However, Hambly once again let things get too complicated. There were too many plot elements in the Leia/Han storyline, and the ending was unsatisfying, verging on silly. And then there's the other storyline . . .
Luke's storyline could have been left out altogether, and doing so would probably have made Children of the Jedi a better book. The Eye of Palpatine (yes, another superweapon - why didn't the emperor plan to send in a hitsquad of his darkside adepts instead?) gradually falling apart as all the aliens mistakenly loaded onto it revert to type, the Will, all the various behaviours of those shanghaied aliens, Luke's aching leg . . . it became confusing, and then annoyingly repetitive. And the final destruction of the Eye of Palpatine just indicates the end of another incident that leaves no mark on the StarWars universe.
What would have been worth exploring was the Cray/Nichos element. Cray's science-can-solve-all attitude and then her growing disillusionment as she realises that Nichos is no longer what she wants him to be was really quite touching, and deserved a lot more space. But I suspect that Hambly only invented them to give Callista a morally acceptable way to escape the Eye of Palpatine's destruction and to highlight another issue she added, but never really engaged with - the nature of artificial intelligence (Nichos, Irek, the Will, etc.)
And as for Callista herself? I actually liked her, and was glad when she reincarnated to be with Luke, albeit without her ability to use the Force. Why Anderson and Hambly subsequently changed what had been wisdom, courage, and fatalism to whining selfishness is beyond me.
So overall, Children of the Jedi had its moments. But it was too complicated, tried to do too much, and suffered accordingly.

Barbara Hambly respects the characters-especially Luke. I have read all of the SW books, and it seems that none of the authors have the courage to write about Luke in a compelling, sensitive way. (Others like to see the Jedi Master brought to his knees again and again. Do they have an inferiority complex?) The story is interesting and takes many unexpected turns. For those of you who don't like it, I wonder if action is the ONLY criteria that you place on the SW universe. Thank the Force that this book did not have the entire galaxy in terror. (Sun-Crusher! Give me a break). Hambly takes the time to develop characters in a way that none of the other authors did-she took the time and carefully crafted some tenderness without wimpiness into all of the characters. There were some errors in consistancy, however, and some of the facts and description of all the alien races got a bit confusing. She doesn't let you in all aspects of the places and descriptions at once-she gives you only a bit of information at a time so the reader can digest the scene one bite at a time. All and all, a very good book and vital to the character development of Luke, Han and Leia. Thank-you, Ms. Hambly.