I, Jedi: Star Wars Legends

It was an interesting book, introducing an important jedi character in the same way they did with Mara Jade, Kyp Durron or even with Kyle Katarn. Now we have the honor to meet the starfighter ace Corran Horn in his journey to become a Jedi Knight. To do so, he must find his wife, Mirax Terrik, who has disappeared on a secret mission. By the way, this book follows the events of Kevin Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy, but from the perspective of Horn (which is nice, for the remembrance).

I think there are several similarities between Horn and Katarn: they aren't jedi at the beginning and they must find and deal with their inner selves to finish their jedi training. Katarn is the most independent character I've ever seen (he doesn't even need the aid of Master Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi; his hero's journey is quite odd and very interesting in the same way)... Corran seeks Luke at the beginning, but becomes quite dissatisfied with his jedi training: he's desperate to find the missing Mirax... by the way, such a cool name, uh, Mirax?

It's not the best book I've ever read, but it's quite entertaining and well written (a fast read and definitely better than the Dark Forces comic book/audiobook trilogy, if you want to compare with Katarn's journey). Written in first person, it seems a jedi pupil personal diary (without being tacky), which is... unusual if we take all the other Star Wars books by comparison, but introduces new dynamics and possibilities for the reader to understand the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

When talking about Star Wars books, well, I must confess that Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole are ma favorites, so... But anyway, nice read, lot of fun.

I think some context is important for this book.

It mainly retells the events of the ‘Jedi Academy' trilogy from Corran Horn's perspective, Rogue Squadron pilot with Jedi heritage.

But the main goal of the book is, as much as Michael A. Stackpole promises otherwise, to fix some continuity issues and bizarre story choices made during that trilogy by adding new information and showing a different point of view rather than direct retconning.

Corran Horn is an intriguing character, one I never really took a liking to until ‘The New Jedi Order', and one that Stackpole himself said he wouldn't want to be in the same room as, but this deep dive into him is really great because of how flatly it lays out his flaws as a person and failures as a Jedi.

Sure, Corran Horn having to save his wife is a little bit of a poor damsel in distress style story, but I think it is intentionally simplistic to set the course of the much more complex story and deep dive into Corran himself, much more fascinating with him isolated, and his family. But also the added stress of knowing his wife is out there and may be hurt.

Mirax Horn is no damsel. She is more than capable and even partakes in the battle during their escape. So that element is easily forgiven, personally.

The first half of the book follows the story of ‘Jedi Academy', cleaning up some of Luke's flaws in that trilogy as actual character flaws rather than writing ones, and setting up his arc that is satisfied in ‘The Hand of Thrawn', which I too love.

Throughout this section of the book, it is just fantastic, meeting all of Luke's students again, revisiting their early training, the mysterious deaths and dark Force preying on them, and the eventual fight against the possessed Kyp Durron and the ancient Sith Lord, Exar Kun.

I am a rare fan of the ‘Jedi Academy' books, but it is undeniable how much better Stackpole is as an author. This entire section flows so well, and the sound design for the unabridged audiobook is possibly the greatest I've ever heard, with Marc Thompson delighting in giving everybody intricately unique voices. Revisiting this particular storyline in such a breezy fashion was a lot of fun.

Another genius aspect is how it goes about making Kyp's redemption far better. There is conflict between Corran and Luke for Luke's decision to forgive Kyp, but it is also suggested that Exar Kun not only manipulated Kyp, but actually possessed him and used a far more supernatural influence to control him. This would not be possible without the darkness inside Kyp, and he is not totally blameless for his arrogance and eagerness to follow Kun, but there is clearly a deeper control and influence than in the original KJA trilogy, and it makes forgiving him much, much better, while leaving this dark aspect of him ripe for storytelling.

I will admit that after Corran leaves the academy, the book takes a bit of a hit for a while, slowing right down for some nice time with Corran's grandfather, before he attempts to infiltrate the Invidious.

This plotline ends up really fun and interesting, but it is a little bit of a murky slog for a while, one I lost track of for some time and got confused about repeatedly.

As it progresses, it becomes really fun, with Corran haunting criminals and the Imperials in his Jedi disguise and manipulating the Imperials, this whole section really picks up, and it is where Corran meets Elegos A'kla, which made me wish I had read this before his appearance in ‘The New Jedi Order'!

When the Jensaarai come into it, we start to explore some really fascinating prequel era lore BEFORE the prequels were made, which I always find fascinating, and they are a really interesting group as a whole, especially with their current vendetta against the Halcyons.

Luke Skywalker comes back into the later story, which I was really glad about, and it was awesome seeing him and Corran team up against the Jensaarai in their attack, and then when they later bust Mirax out. It's a really fun dynamic now. Corran has settled down and doesn't hold anything against him. The tension was really well handled before, but I really enjoy their dynamic as friends.

Finally, the battle towards the end was fun, and the mercy Luke shows towards the Jensaarai, trying to assist them, and us finally seeing how Corran's Jedi grandfather died, showing the Jensaarai that his family weren't murderers, was really nice but also sad for Corran. You're very attached to him at this point, flaws and all, with how all of his issues and strengths are laid out bare. You get a full sense of Corran Horn in this novel, the ins and outs of him, good and bad. That is brilliant.

I like that Corran doesn't become a full-time Jedi yet, deciding to stay with Rogue Squadron, but also to keep and use his powers for good. This fits his character at this point well, although I love him as a full-time Jedi Master in ‘The New Jedi Order'.

Overall, it's a really great book!

For any fan of the X-Wing series, it'll be a treat, having cameos of most of the characters from the novels by Stackpole, featuring Wedge, and also focusing on Corran, obviously But also a worthy replacement for the ‘Jedi Academy' trilogy for anyone hesitant to read it who is an X-Wing fan.

However, I'd argue it is possible to read this with little knowledge of the series, as I have done, and really enjoy it regardless, and if you know anything about the trilogy this can act as a substitute for, and know you might not enjoy it, this is a much safer bet.

I get why this novel won't be for everyone, not everyone is gonna enjoy reading Corran Horn, and it does often feel a little bit like a fanfiction inserting a new character into an already existing story, and it is definitely taken a bit far when Corran nearly defeats Luke in a duel because of Luke being emotionally unstable at that point - I find this to be a tad too far, keep in mind, faults and all, Luke Skywalker is a Jedi Master who could defeat Darth Vader, however tired and old Vader was. One of his own students, not even under a dark influence, shouldn't be a struggle. And the fact that it is written in the first person alone might be a bit weird for some people, even if it means Marc Thompson reads almost the entire book in his brilliant Corran Horn voice if you listen to the audiobook!

Even though it drags in the middle a little, I think it is paced really well and is a thoroughly enjoyable read!

It does a lot to repair a flawed but fun trilogy of books for me personally, adding a lot more depth and complexity to a rather simplistic storyline, and setting up a lot that Timothy Zahn will play with in ‘The Hand of Thrawn', and Michael A. Stackpole will pick back up in ‘The New Jedi Order'.

I really, really enjoyed it.