Customer Reviews

Jedi Twilight (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights I)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The aptly-named Jedi Twilight, the first book of the Coruscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves, is an adventurous, fast-paced romp of a tale that skillfully weaves in many characters and story elements of the larger Expanded Universe. The setting is the largely untapped Dark Times, the eighteen years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The Jedi have been decimated by the infamous Order 66, Emperor Palpatine is consolidating his grasp on the galaxy and building his new Empire, and Darth Vader is growing comfortable in his position at his master's side.

Reaves brings a very intriguing cast of characters to this story. Referencing his own earlier works, the main character is Jax Pavan, son of Lorn Pavan who had the limelight in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Happily, Lorn's sarcastic and self-aware droid sidekick I-5YQ returns, bringing along his closest friend, Sullustan reporter Den Dhur. Den was first featured in another Reaves work, the Medstar duology, as was rising Black Sun vigo Kaird, also returning here. More surprisingly, Reaves also grabs Prince Xizor of Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire fame and tosses in Nick Rostu from the superb Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover. It's definitely an interesting brew of characters.

The storyline primarily focuses on weaving relationships between these disparate people, using a chase for a missing protocol droid named 10-4TO as its focal point. Reaves deftly depicts the grittiness and peril of the less desirable reaches of Coruscant, creating a vaguely film noir atmosphere with what really is a detective story at its core. The inclusion of Prince Xizor and the insights into his ascension up Black Sun's ladder are particularly compelling reading. The sections featuring Vader are brief, and some of his dialogue doesn't seem quite right tonally. Arguably, since this is so early into Anakin's career as Vader, he may indeed have spoken differently from the familiar dialogue we heard in the Original Trilogy. His actions, however, are very much in keeping with his characterization from the films.

Events weave into a gripping climax set in Coruscant's downtrodden Factory District. There is an illuminating foreshadowing of Xizor's humaniform creation Guri in his hidden facility, and Reaves brings an extremely entertaining new concept to the Star Wars universe in the form of feral droids. These regressed droids are the result of programming gone haywire and act as a thematic counterpoint to the heightened self-awareness of I-5.

Jedi Twilight is a fun, entertaining kickoff to a promising trilogy. Reaves does a good job with managing an unusual cast and setting up future books while simultaneously creating a reasonably self-contained story. The book doesn't end with a particular cliffhanger, but through its strong character focus it creates excitement for the second volume in the series, Street of Shadows.

I went into this book knowing that I was going to like it because of the characters. I'd been very eager to know the adventures of Lorn Pavan's son, greatcoat-wearing Jedi Knight Jax Pavan, and the further adventures of reporter Den Dhur, snarky droid 1-5, and especially Nick Rostu (originally of Matthew Stover's SW: Shatterpoint, he is one of the main characters here and quite faithful to the original). However, knowing that I was going to like it was not the same as being confidant that I would be able to praise its literary worth.

So I was pleasantly surprised when the prose proved to be deft and dense, sprinkled with Reaves' characterisic vocabulary words ("ecumenopolis", "reliquary"), most of which didn't appear in my Elementary Edition Webster's. Reaves' writing can be either flippant and funny or serious and musing. Sometimes I laughed (or at least sort of snorted) out loud. There were also quite a few sections which boardered on the existential, and some interestingly metafictional passages about humans as the diminant species of the SW galaxy.

There are none of Death Star's half-memorable characters here (although there is another Twi'lek girl, a scarred Jedi of an obscure sect, who at the half-mark could do with some more characterization and screen time in general). The plot moves fast in a similar manner as in Death Maul: Shadowhunter.

It's not perfect: there are some long pasasges without action and some irritating Star Wars-y substitutes for metaphors (ex. "carried like a sack of potatoes" becomes "carried like a pack of Zelosian Moorfruits"), which, in excess, can be too vague, I mean, I know a lot about Star Wars, but I don't know what some of these things they're referencing are. One character, Laranth, got less screen time than she needed to be fully realized, not even contributing to a discussion where everyone else pipes up. I begin to fear that she is the requisite Twi'lek woman of the book.


I already think that this one will deserve an immediate reread, for the thought-provoking parts and for the joyous reunions with Nick and 1-5. It is a book that wonderfully captures the feel of Star Wars, and makes me feel really comfortable in that universe again and to long for it like I haven't since Legacy of the Force came out.

It is an almost needless caveat to say that I loved that Jedi Twlight came out in paperback, so that it was relatively non-bank-breaking for me to buy it. Good on ya, Lucasbooks. You're dead set on parting us fans from our money, but you're giving us some vaping good reading material in return.

As should be evident from the cover artwork, JEDI TWILIGHT is being marketed as a hardboiled detective story, with former Jedi Jax Pavan as a sort of latter-day Philip Marlowe. The prototypical hardboiled detective is a man who, although a good egg (yep) and a smart guy, has been toughened up by encounters with corrupt institutions (like the police and politicians) on one hand, and the seedy underbelly of society, on the other hand. He is a flawed hero whose past fall from grace both limits and drives him. A Jedi like Pavan, who was a respected knight before the overthrow of the Republic, and who is now forced to live in the margins of society, might plausibly make a hardboiled detective.

But he's not; he's too young, he's not really a detective, there's nary a femme fatale in sight, and, in any event, this novel is not really his story--rather, it is a story Pavan shares in equal measure with an underworld assassin, an aide to Darth Vader, and an ex-reporter and his droid companion. Aside from reveling in the seediness and decay of the lower levels of Coruscant -- you didn't think that the glitz at the top of the skyscrapers was all there was to the capital planet, did you? -- this isn't much like a hardboiled detective story, either. On the surface there are some resemblances to THE MALTESE FALCON, with an elusive droid playing the part of the MacGuffin (an object whose main purpose is to drive the plot), but that's just on the surface. Like THE MALTESE FALCON, there are many subplots going on, but, alas, unlike in the MALTESE FALCON, none of them are very interesting. At the core, this is a Star Wars novel that serves as a vehicle for Star Warsy characters to do Star Warsy things like tricking a battle droid into colliding with a repulsor field in order to give a Jedi a chance to ram his light saber into something-or-other and make the droid explode.

One of the book's strong points is its exploration of the underside of life on Coruscant. In Reeves' reading, Coruscant is like a cross between Asimov's Trantor (from the Foundation Trilogy -- that's something to read before you pick up this book!), Ridley Scott's Los Angeles (from "Blade Runner"), and the stereotypical inner city you see on TV cop shows every day. It's a neglected world of 24-hour (26-hour?) twilight, where a Hutt and his gang or a horde of schizoid droids might be hiding around any given corner.

Another point of interest is the Reeves' treatment of droids. We know that Obi-Wan famously said "If droids could think, there'd be none of us here, would there?" in "Attack of the Clones," and I'm still not sure whether this was intended to show that Obi-Wan had a blind spot or was meant as a Lucasfilm policy statement on the issue of droid sentience. In any event, we are given every reason to think of R2D2 and C3PO as sentient beings. If they are sentient beings and they are owned by others, then they are slaves and the citizens of the Republic are slaveholders. Lucas et al. don't want to touch this, because they want droids to be both controllable pets and smart beings capable of independent thought. Reeves suggests that it is only rare droids that, like his I-5YQ, have somehow achieved self-awareness, but even the disposable, centrally controlled foot-soldier battledroids seem to have some self-awareness ("Uh-oh!"). I don't find I-5YQ particularly interesting as a character, but it will still be interesting to see how the Star Wars powers that be allow Reeves to develop the character and what he is allowed to say about droids in general.

In sum, while marketed as stylish sci-fi noir, this novel is pretty standard Star Wars fare. It's not great and it's not terrible, and if you're at the airport and need something to help pass the time, you could do worse.

I went into this novel expecting a great look at the post Episode III Star Wars universe, and instead met up with mediocrity at best. In fact, there are times it's confusing just where this falls in the continuity. I know the timeline has it in the year following Episode III, but it's hard to believe some of the things have happened that quickly, such as the establishment of the Inquisitors.
Jax Pavan is a largely forgettable character. The fact that I didn't remember his father from a Darth Maul novel or his droid tells me that a Star Wars novel which doesn't revolve around a movie-continuity character holds less interest for me. While some like the expansion, Pavan is not a good enough character to hold three novels of his own.
One of the other reviewers alluded to the great vocabulary the author uses. I'm an English teacher, but I found myself scrambling for my dictionary too often. It's fine to have a large vocabulary (and I think I do), but to use large words for the sake of large words, when the majority of your reading audience won't know them, is not necessary. It's showing off, plus it distracts from any enjoyment of the story.
The best parts of this book are the ones involving Darth Vader and his aide; otherwise, it's a very ho-hum Star Wars novel, which is too bad, because the post-Episode III universe is ready to be mined for better material than this.

Lately reading Star Wars books has been like having major dental work--tedious, painful and expensive. Jedi Twilight is a refreshing and, in my opinion, long overdue change. Eschewing the convoluted galactic politics and endless subplots that bogged down the recent "Legacy of the Jedi" series, author Michael Reeves give us a straightforward adventure with touches of humour and some noir overtones.

Newly knighted Jedi Jax Paven, having escaped Palpatine's purge, took refuge in Coruscant's lower levels. (The book jacket says he's eking out a living as a "private investigator", which is obviously a polite euphuism for bounty hunter.) To fulfil his Master's dying wish, he sets out to find a lost droid that's carrying information vital to the fledgling resistance movement.

Apart from a few scenes featuring Darth Vader, there aren't any "big name" Star Wars characters here. However, long-time Expanded Universe readers will find some familiar names: Nick Rostu (Shatterpoint), Prince Xizor (Shadows of the Empire), Den Dhur and the unforgettable droid I-Five (the Medstar books). It's nice to spent time with these characters again and even nicer that the characterizations are spot on.

I really enjoyed this book. The story moves right along as it shifts between different characters' viewpoints, building up to an explosive (literally) climax. I liked that, although it sets up the next book in the series, this is essentially a self-contained story. And I loved the concept feral droids running amok in Coruscant's Factory District.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that I am an avid Star Wars fan. I'm not one of those rabid ones with the entire universe memorized or anything like that, but I enjoy me some Star Wars. Now, on to the review.

I did not enjoy this book at all. The plot had promise, but never delivered. The main characters were similar enough that when Reaves changed the point of view, it was hard to tell. Throughout the book, Reaves has the horrible tendency to take a phrase that would be used in modern English and "Star Wars" it up, such as a droid going through a bunker "like a neutrino through plasma." Most Star Wars books have this to some degree, but Reaves in particular does this more often and with more ridiculous replacements. Finally, he gives traits to Force users that are so ludicrous that it really destroyed my suspension of disbelief.

Jedi Twilight is a solid addition to the Star Wars series. While the writing style is not my cup of tea I cannot deny it is a well crafted book. Michael Reaves is very good at describing the setting but after the slums of Coruscant have been described so many times we get the hint. As a personal preference I don't like books where most of the story happens in characters heads. There is more internal monologue in this novel than fits my taste. It seems most of the conflict is internal; in fact, one character is so internally conflicted he loses touch with the Force. However I can see where this psychological based writing would appeal to some. While this would only be a 3 star book for me I think it is definitely worth any fan's time and a 5 star read if you enjoy spending a lot of time in the characters' heads.

I admit to having debated this book and its second volume for weeks before, with nothing else pressing to read, I purchased them and began to rip my way through this particular volume. I was nothing short of impressed, mostly because it was a Star Wars novel that seemed to have found a niche in mystery noir. I was thrilled by the characters, deeply enjoyed the subtle menace of Vader (very difficult to pull off - everybody seems to just want someone standing there looking scary and breathing with a clicky sound; Mr Reaves knows how to write Vader as a PRESENCE. Kudos.), and can't hardly wait to start the second volume.

A side note: I do recall seeing several reviews early for this book which stated that a dictionary was necessary in order to get through the book as Mr Reaves utilizes some odd vocabulary. Personally, I think that's rubbish; Mr Reaves wrote a hard-boiled noir set in the Star Wars universe and so he wrote in a noir style. I applaud him. At least he's trying something different; that's far more than I can say for most of the Star Wars books.

I've read every Star Wars novel (geeky I know) since I got the Zahn trilogy when I was in grade school. After the atrocious treatment of the overall storyline, not to mention the characters in the LOTF series I do not believe I will purchase another Del Rey Star Wars novel set after that time period. Given that, this novel set prior to what the EU has become didn't leave me wondering at what possibly could happen next to "the universe" and certainly didn't leave me depressed after reading it.

If you just want to read something "Star Wars" that is entertaining or at least diverting I would recommend this series.

In Jedi Twilight, Reaves spun together a light but compulsively readable chase novel. Reaves not only gave me the first novel since Rogue or Wraith Squadron not filled with PT or OT characters that I loved, he managed to make Darth Vader the BA we've missed for so long.
I love the cast he has assembled. Each character was a joy to read. I can't help but contrast the optimism of Coruscant Nights with the current pessimism and ongoing sadness that is inherent in the era of The Dark Times. While I enjoy both, Jedi Twilight makes a dark era fun.