Review: Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi

Well, now that the Lucasfilm Story Group has up and rebooted the expanded Star Wars universe, we once again know very little about the events that take place between each film. Fortunately, author Kevin Hearne  is returning readers to the post-New Hope era in an effort to fill in some of those blanks, but it's not the best book around.

The book sees Luke Skywalker trying to find his place in that far off galaxy, while the Rebel Alliance struggles to gain some serious ground in their battle with the Galactic Empire. As events in the novel progress, Luke teams up with a new character by the name of Nakari Kelen in order to exfiltrate a cryptographer who's skills could serve as a big boost to the Rebel Alliance.

Hearne has wrote the book in first-person with the idea that this will allow reader's to really peer into what makes Luke Skywalker tick. This is a pretty cool selling point for the book, but this time around, it really doesn't work for us.

Granted, it's neat that the book is wrote in such a way that it strays from the regular way Star Wars novels have been wrote in the past, and it's only the second first-person novel in the Expanded Universe next to Michael Stackpole's Star Wars:  I, Jedi, but it's just a little too flawed.

Time periods are vague, the first-person perspective is rather superficial and the writing has a rather stiff, clunky feel to it that always seems to make Luke Skywalker's voice seem somewhat more out of place then it really should. Overall, while we see hat Kevin Hearne was shooting for with this one, these issues make it more difficult, rather than less, to connect with Luke and his struggles throughout the course of the story.

Additionally, the book moves at a rather slow pace. There is never a real sense of danger, especially as the mission kicks off, and it's only once the main rescue mission begins that things really seem to move forward. To his credit, Hearne is then able to deliver a steady stream of fast-paced fun that makes up for the aching slow dullness of the novels early chapters.

Kevin Hearne does bring a few good things to the novel, however. The bond between Luke and Nakari is handled well, and the author does do a descent job exploring young Luke's limited Force abilities and overall knowledge of the Jedi Knights and the father he never knew. Plus, Hearne does a great job casting an interesting assortment of supporting characters throughout his first foray into the brand new expanded Star Wars universe.

So, in the end, Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi does work in a few areas. However, the books biggest selling point of being a first-person narrative does very little to enhance the story, and oftentimes ends up working against it. Honestly, if you want a fun, entertaining look into why happened after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, pass this one by and pick up one of the new Star Wars books from Marvel Comics.

Special thanks to Random House publicist Alex Coumbis for sending us a copy  for this review!  

Until next time, Infinite Earths fans!  

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