Star Wars: Children of the Jedi (AU Star Wars) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Barbara Hambly (Author), Anthony Heald (Author)

Book Description

Series: AU Star Wars | Publication Date: April 1, 1995

The Chronicle of the dazzling universe of George Lucas's blockbuster Star Wars "RM" films soars to new heights in this latest chapter in the magnificent Star Wars "RM" saga as the Republic faces its greatest challenge yet.

Star Wars: Children of the Jedi

Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca set out on a mission vital to the survival of the fragile New Republic. Searching for the long-lost children of the Jedi, their quest takes them to the once vibrant stronghold of Belsavis -- now a nearly forgotten frozen world. Leia has heard tales of a Jedi exodus from the dark crypts below the planer's surface. but she has also heard that no one entering the crypts has returned alive.

Halfway across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker has undertaken an equally dangerous expedition that, if it fails, could have fatal consequences for Leia, Han and Chewbacca. Haunted by ominous dreams and guided by a force he cannot identify, Luke journeys to a remote asteroid field over the planet Pzob. There he discovers the automated Dreadnaught Eye of Palpatine -- camouflaged deep within a nebulous gas cloud and dormant for thirty years. Governed by a supersophisticated artificial intelligence system known as the Will, The Eye is on the move. Its mission: the total annihilation of Belsavis.

Taken aboard the Dreadnaught, Luke is counseled by the spirit of Callista, a Jedi Knight who gave her life to stop the ship once before. Now Luke must learn from her how to destroy it once and for all.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As Children of the Jedi opens, a crazed, drug-addled ex-smuggler named Drub McKumb lunges at Han Solo in the middle of his and Leia's state visit to Ithor. (Long after the destruction of the second Death Star, Leia is now the New Republic's work-weary head of state.) Han, Leia, and Luke soon surmise that this isn't just another of Han's drinking buddies but rather a weirdly altered man carrying a terrible secret. Piecing together clues from McKumb's glossolaliac rants, Han and Leia set off in search of the ancient hiding place of the Children of the Jedi, while Luke--using the Force and his former-pupil-and-pal-turned-droid Nichos as a random number generator--decides to head off to a set of coordinates halfway across the galaxy.

They all end up finding more than they bargained for: Han and Leia's search for the Jedi ends on icy, isolated Belsavis; while Luke stumbles onto a humongous but dormant Imperial death machine- -which, not coincidentally, has stirred to life the intent to utterly annihilate Belsavis. Can he possibly stop it in time? Star Wars authors tend to be either you-love-'em-or-you-hate-'em types, but veteran writer Hambly makes a good go at falling into the former camp in this outing, along with the likes of Michael Stackpole and Kevin J. Anderson. --Paul Hughes --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

This latest entry in Bantam's successful Star Wars series is a transitional novel. Its pace may be slow enough to disappoint some of series's many loyal readers, but Hambly's (Those Who Hunt the Night) retreading of familiar ground provides a more variegated perspective than usual on several major characters. She offers several solid, well-wrought adventures as well, but they never cohere into a whole worthy of its parts. The subplots are frequently more interesting than the main story line, in which the ruling houses of the recently fallen Empire attempt to revitalize their way of life with the aid of a new type of Jedi knight. A particularly compelling subplot concerns the effort to determine whether the now machine-based consciousness of Nichos, a Jedi Apprentice whose body has died, is still human. While Hambly creates some fascinating alien life forms and plot complications (fans of Luke Skywalker will be especially delighted by a couple of the plot twists here), what she finally offers is more a promise of things to come than a realization of them. Major ad/promo; audio rights sold to BDD Audio Cassette.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553471953
• ISBN-13: 978-0553471953
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (189 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,684,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor book, retread plot, just very little of anything good., May 22, 2003

By 

J. K. Moser "JKM" (Flemington, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Children of the Jedi (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'll make this review simple, April 13, 2003

By 

Bryan DEmilio (Reading, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Children of the Jedi (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I hated this book., January 27, 2002

By 

"anksta" (Sydney, New South Wales Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Children of the Jedi (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

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).