The Legends of Luke Skywalker (Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

After a couple of years I finally got around to reading this anthology about Luke Skywalker.

The book is in big font and is a very quick read despite the page count (420). I suppose it’s aimed at young adults but the book focuses mostly on the original trilogy which tells me they are aiming for the 30-50 year old crowd.

The book frames all six stories around a group on a ship that involves fathiers and Canto Bright which is the only tie to The Last Jedi. The wrapper is not that interesting. The six stories are.

1) The Myth Buster – this is a laugh out loud funny take on A New Hope as seen through the eyes of a conspiracy nut. Essentially the Death Star never existed nor the battle of Yavin, etc. Luke plays a big role in it but this story is ultimately a laugh and not much else.

2) The Starship Graveyard – this is after the battle of Jakku and Luke seemingly finds and rescues an Imperial found alive after the dust settles. This is creative but more importantly tells the reader everything they need to know about Luke. His sense of humor, strength, determination, nobility and growth as a character. This is what Luke Skywalker is and this story is perfect.

3) Fishing in The Deluge – This is another excellent Luke story. Luke is in search of ancient Jedi civilizations and knowledge and he finds a new source. He is humble, bold and shares his knowledge with others through his actions, wisdom and some Yoda quotes. This is an excellent story.

4) I, Droid – Luke is on a rescue mission. It’s a cute enough story to start but it takes forever for Luke to appear and the background of the mission is absent making for a frustrating read. However, there are parts that are excellent once Luke enters the picture. He is just such a great character.

5) The Tale of Lugubrious Mote – this takes place during the events with Jabba in Return of the Jedi. Because it pretty much tells the movie beat for beat through the eyes of a bug it’s nothing too new. The Tales of Mos Eisley beat this subject to death and I don’t see why we needed another one. I found this to be a throwaway.

6) Big Inside – Luke finds himself trapped in a space slug. A personal pet peeve is when Star Wars keeps dipping back into the same story well. How many books have slavery, bounty hunters and dark Jedi and on and on? Going back into a space slug is not using any imagination. However, what is found within is very interesting. Luke shows growth in this story in a different direction from the previous stories. Ultimately it is not enough to raise this story to the level of stories 2-4. Good but not great.

Two excellent stories. One very good one. One decent one. A funny one and a dud.

I enjoyed this book and this will help wash away the take on Luke Skywalker in the Last Jedi film just a little bit. This book tracks Luke’s character arc from Return of the Jedi and not the jump into hiding that the Last Jedi tries to jam in the audience’s face.

Give it a shot.

This novel, billed as filling the gaps to explain what Luke did after Return of the Jedi, doesn’t really do that. Instead it is a collection of stories about Luke during that time, told by other, mostly unknown minor characters. I found it both interesting and entertaining. Keep in mind some of the stories are tall tales or from hostile perspectives.

I wanted to write a review after seeing the low rating other users have given. You should give this book a chance if you are on the fence–it is light-hearted, and many of the stories are probably non-canonical, but Ken Liu clearly understands Luke as a character and the way he writes about the Force is nothing short of poetic. It would be a great book to read aloud to younger Star Wars fans. I hope the author will contribute more to the Star Wars universe in the future.

Luke Skywalker hero of the Star Wars galaxy his exploits are legendary. So one would assume that everyone in the galaxy has heard of him. Stories have been told and passed on from person to person so things would be exaggerated from time to time. So in this Star Wars novel we have six mini stories within one overall story. The story begins on a ship called The Wayward Current a transport barge on its way to Canto Bight. Its late and the crew has just finished a meal and are ready to call it a night when one of the deckhands asks for a story about Luke Skywalker and so the story telling begins.

My Thoughts:

Ive said it before Im not a big fan of anthologies and it seems that Ive reached a point in my Star Wars new canon TBR were thats all we have. (Ive been reading them in order of publication) the last one was From a Certain Point of View, which I did enjoy very much. This one was ok. I enjoyed it but as I said before Im not a big anthology fan. I believe that all but two of these tales about look take place after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens. The first one was very amusing The Myth Buster is a tale about the original trilogy and how none of it really happen. Its basically told by a conspiracy theorist, she tells a tale about how our heroes were really a bunch of con artist and how the Death Star really never existed. The second one is about the aftermath of the battle of Jaaku. The third about Luke on a primitive planet looking to know more about The Force. The fourth is about a rescue attempt for R2-D2. Then we have a tale about the escape from Jabbas palace in Return of the Jedi and how the real hero was a small flea (very interesting take) and we conclude with a tale somewhat similar to the scene were Han and The Princess were trapped inside a giant space slug.

I will say the stories kept me interested and turning the pages and it was a super fast read. And it was interesting to see how the rest of the galaxy perceives Luke Skywalker. And last but not least are the wonderful illustrations by J. G. Jones every story starts of with one of these works of art that gives you hints but never gives away what you are about to read. I recommend that you stop and truly appreciate each illustration before jumping in to the story.

I wanted to love this book. Luke is my favorite character from Star Wars. With the Last Jedi coming out I was hoping for more on Lukes journey and what he has been up to since Return of the Jedi.

The book looks great in hardcover format, with great art work at the start of the story, and the red blank pages look great. Even the jokes about messing up famous Star Wars quotes and mixing up legends was all good and funny. However out of 5 stories there were only 2 I really liked. Yes I know this was aimed at younger readers but it is Luke so every Star Wars fan would read it.

On the Star Wars universe Luke has become the stuff legend, tails of his exploits have been told so many times and by so many people it is had to tell fact from fiction. One thing remain everyone loves hearing about him.

There was just something missing in this book. It was readable and enjoyable but (maybe I am being greedy) I wanted more about Lukes journey/training or even adventures. To be honest I am not sure if I liked this book or I am convincing myself I liked it because it was about Luke Skywalker. Though unless I miss my guess I think this might also setup another book in the journey to the last Jedi series. I would give this one 3.5 stars but being about Luke and the Tide story rounds it up to 4 stars.

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