In our effort to expand the horizons of our Star Wars coverage a bit, Scarlett and I have decided to tag-team some of the older Star Wars EU books, revisit them, and see how well they work in today’s day and age. For our first book, we chose Kevin J. Anderson’s “Jedi Search” which was a favorite of Scarlett’s and a least favorite of mine. It’s the first book of the “Jedi Academy” trilogy and follows three storylines. The first is Luke’s quest to find Jedi students to rebuild the Jedi Order, the second is Han and Chewie, fighting to escape imprisonment in the spice mines of Kessel and Princess Leia and her work to keep the new fledgling Republic growing at a steady rate.

As I said, before, even as young teenager this was one of my least favorite books, but I wanted to read it again with a fresh set of eyes.

Now, I won’t comment on any of the problems in this story that have to do with continuity involving the prequels. It was written years before Phantom Menace came out and that can’t be faulted to the author.

But to give you a taste of how I felt about this book, here’s my string of tweets during my reading of the book:

What kind of dumbass describes a cloth as having vigor?#KJAsJediSearch

Wedge is such a great character and military leader we need to tone him down & make him a construction worker.#KJAsJediSearchSucks

Wow: “As Luke kept probing deeper, Leia became better at fending him off.” #KJAsJediSearch (@starwars)

Because Admiral Ackbar was so unimportant at the Battle of Endor, we’ll make him a shuttle driver. #KJAsJediSearch

If Mystery Science Theatre 3000 did books, KJAs Jedi Search would have been their first. #KJAsJediSearch

Because the thing @StarWars was really missing was a scarecrow named Skynxnex. #KJAsJediSearch

I don’t want to read #KJAsJediSearch on the plane, because I don’t want people to think I have a mental disability.

Phantom Menace gave us the exciting sport of podracing. Jedi Search gave us the boring flea circus “blob racing.”#KJAsJediSearch

I think you get the idea that I was fairly unimpressed. And it’s not so much with the basic story. I’m convinced that anyone could take the idea and make it better (hell, the Kevin J. Anderson of today probably could, too.) The characters were lifeless and it felt as though the movies were never referenced in determining what their characters would be like. And it seems like there were plot devices that were invented and then major characters from the films were asked to fill those roles, whether it made sense or not. The biggest two instances of that I referenced above with Wedge and Admiral Ackbar being relegated to service roles that helped the story…but not really. The only reason Wedge was present as a construction worker was so that he could uncover an old Imperial interrogation room that contained a scientific device that determined Jedi ability. And Ackbar was a shuttle driver, serving the purpose solely to drive the main characters to the old interrogation room. They are pretty much non-existent beyond that. And it really doesn’t make sense in any way shape or form.

The next part of the story that made no sense were the actions of the books main antagonist, Moruth Doole, who was the administrator of the Kesel spice mines. He acted erratically and with no realistic motivation. He puts himself in situations where he understands what the consequences will be, but proceeds anyway and, predictably, all of the consequences come true. For a man who was supposedly so savvy at smuggling spice into the hands of the Hutts during the era of the Empire, the guy is a complete moron during the time of the New Republic. At the beginning of the book, Han says to him, “Sure, you captured me, but I represent the Republic and they’ll send everything against you if I don’t report in. I’m the ambassador here, I’ll chalk this all up to a misunderstanding, let’s just start dealing and we’ll bring you lots of business.”

And Doole says, “Nope. You’re going to work in the mines, I’ll pretend you were never here, even though I have the Millenium Falcon to dispose of and sweating the constant threat of the Republic.”

It made no sense for a business man and all of the characters acted in that completely unnatural fashion.

And the dialogue wasn’t much better than I just paraphrased.

After they finally escape (with the help of a force sensitive slave boy named Kyp Durron (who ends up turning evil and then good, this is basically the story of Phantom Menace but not good)) they run right into the Empire no one knew still existed. And they’ve developed a starfighter sized super-weapon called the Sun Crusher. For some reason. Apparently Tarkin wasn’t one to put all of his eggs in one basket and sent his mistress to the Maw cluster to hide this weapon “With the power to turn a whole star system to slag.” That’s a direct quote from Tarkin. Can you see him saying that? Me neither.

Then there’s Luke’s story. At the beginning of the book, Luke “probes” Leia and discovers a way of touching latent force ability with his mind (because apparently he can’t feel the presence of the force in any other way). And he spends the rest of the book researching people whom have published stories about them and their intense luck or seeming force ability. He picks a couple of these guys up (in incredibly boring scenes, one on a fire planet like Mustafar, the other on Bespin for some reason). There is no action here and Luke is as boring as Kenth Hamner, more boring, even.

There’s not even anything to say about it, it’s so boring.

Same with Leia’s story. The twins were around and all I could think about was how they’d try killing one another years later and how one of them would succeed. And I was glad for it.

Though Lando did get a story that ties in with Luke’s. You see, he just gambled away his fortune and comes to Leia begging for a job and she assigns him to help Artoo and Threepio find Jedi for Luke’s academy. They discover a gambler with incredible odds of winning bets at the “blob races” and so Lando, with his intense knowledge of cheating is sent with the droids to determine whether or not this gambler has force ability (with the convenient device Wedge found just in the nick of time in his construction work duties) or if he’s cheating.

Blob races are the most boring thing I’ve ever cared to read about in the history of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It’s not even worth going into, unless it’s to tell you to skip those portions of the book. (Or better yet, the whole book.) Lando made no sense and this subplot was as boring and lifeless as Lukes. Which made it doubly boring when Luke and Lando hooked up to rescue Han. It’s great that Leia, with no force training, can sense that Luke is alive at the end of the Return of the Jedi and Obi-Wan could hear Alderaan exploding in the force, and Luke could feel Han and Leia in trouble before it happened in Empire, but when Han is in trouble in this book, Luke is completely oblivious even when standing on the spot Han was tortured.

If you really hate Phantom Menace, though I really can’t understand why, read this book. It will restore your love for Star Wars movies because they’re about 8,000x better than “Jedi Search.” Which is why it’s doubly frustrating looking back on my article about Kevin J. Anderson bashing the stories in the prequels. He essentially told the same story he complained about, only incredibly worse.

Arghh…. This is just frustrating me. Scarlett, why don’t you take over and tell me why I shouldn’t burn my copy of “Jedi Search”?

Scarlett O’Robotica: “Jedi Search” has always held a special place in my heart. While it was very different in tone from the Timothy Zahn trilogy that preceded it, it was an extension of the saga that began a long
time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

As Swankmotron already mentioned, there are three storylines. The one I found most interesting was Han’s, and I felt it best matched the spirit of the Star Wars films. In an effort to assist the New Republic, Han and Chewie set off on a mission to Kessel to try to make friends with the people there. Han is his usual confident self as he pilots the Millennium Falcon, but the trip is cut disastrously short when an enemy named Moruth Doole decides to get vengeance for the loss of his eye. He blames Han and sends human and Wookiee down into the spice mines to be lost to oblivion.

I think “seeing” the spice mines makes Threepios’s line in “A New Hope” that much more interesting: “We’ll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel, smashed into who knows what!” I don’t know about smashing, but the mines do hide some scary spider-like inhabitants that seem to be picking off the miners one by one. While in the dark and ominous tunnels, Han and Chewie  meet a young man named Kyp Durron. The “Jedi Academy” trilogy is largely Kyp’s story, but it’s the story of someone with Force abilities forced into captivity, separated from his family, and not under the guidance of an aunt and uncle in an igloo in the desert. I doubt little Kyp Durron ever got blue milk with his supper. Poor kid. Explains a lot.

Speaking of Luke, his decision to create a Jedi Academy is a reasonably intelligent one. He convinces the government to allow it, though they (not surprisingly) raise the concern that the academy will graduate more Darth Vaders than anything else. (The image of Darth Vader in a graduation cap just popped into my head . . . I’m liking it!). However, they all trust and like Luke and ultimately support him. It doesn’t hurt that his sister is also on the Council. I’m not saying she’s playing favorites, but she does have a lot of influence.

I really have nothing to say about the use of Wedge and Ackbar in this book, other than they play much more prominent roles in books 2 and 3 of this trilogy. In fact, it was this series that really made me view Wedge as a more complete character instead of merely a pilot in an X-wing. I do realize he made appearances in the Zahn trilogy, but honestly, all I can recall from that is that he sat at tapcafes and drank hot chocolate.

I also don’t have much to say about Leia. Her role is very minor in this book other than greeting Jaina and Jacen upon their return home. They have been sheltered for years on a hidden planet, and they barely know their mother. I did enjoy reading some of the antics of the Solo twins and their interaction with Threepio as he played nanny, however. The twins begin to emerge as characters (though not yet with distinct personalities), embarking upon the journey that will lead them to take very different paths. I just found it very interesting to go back to a more innocent time in their lives. Before the dark times . . .

While Leia deals with the complications of working for the government and finally being a mother, Han continues his adventures in the spice mines. There is a mine tunnel sequence that naturally evokes memories of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and Han’s story arc is very action- packed in this book. I thought it was great, though I desperately wanted him back home with his wife and kids. It added a different dimension to the character—no longer is Han the carefree adventurer with a furry sidekick. He has a family and responsibilities. There is indeed a world outside the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.

Through a series of unfortunate incidents, Han, accompanied by Chewie and their new friend Kyp, stumbles into a hidden Imperial research facility called the Maw Installation. There he meets the “delicate” and “ethereal” scientist Qwi Xux and the ice-cold Admiral Daala. I always liked Qwi. I just thought that the name looked very cool (how often do you see THOSE letters used in a word?), and she’s an intellectual rather than a Jedi Knight or a fighter. Sure, she’s a bit naïve when it comes to how her weapons are being used, but the Empire has been feeding her lies, and she has been sheltered all the years the Maw Installation has been hidden away. Her sole purpose is to invent, and she is quite good at it.

World Devastators? Check.
Suncrusher? Check.

Qwi has convinced herself that they aren’t being used for evil, but Han brings her crashing back to reality. This one prisoner has changed Qwi’s entire world, but instead of wasting time wondering how many people her creations have killed and realizing that she has only been deluding herself, she takes prompt action. Though naïve, she is intelligent and decisive. She uses her brain instead of her blaster, and I just felt that she was a different kind of character in the “Star Wars” universe. A heroine in her own quiet way.

A lot of what happens in “Jedi Search” merely leads up to its sequel “Dark Apprentice,” which has always been my favorite in the trilogy. However, the story does have a resolution though dark clouds are on the horizon. I know Anderson has always gotten a lot of grief for this series, but I think a lot of it has to do with the Zahn trilogy that preceded it. Fans had been so eager for anything with the “Star Wars” name on it that they eagerly consumed Zahn’s trilogy. Anderson’s was very different in style and tone, and they rejected him for it. It simply wasn’t the same.

You can’t please everyone all the time. Even George Lucas himself disappointed a lot of fans with the prequels. But, for those of you who continue to bash Anderson, I can say two things about him that I don’t think you can disagree with:

1. He didn’t write “The Crystal Star” (shudder)
2. He didn’t kill Chewbacca

There. I’ve just redeemed him in your eyes with those two items. Aside from that? I think he writes a damn good story.

Swank-mo-tron: In closing, I’m going to ask if we read the same book. You’ve filled in so much subtext with your imagination it’s startling.

What do you guys think? Does Jedi Search deserve the bad rep that it has?