The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure

Weapon of the Jedi a fantastic title in the best tradition of Star Wars. It will delight the young readers and make the adults revisit their inner child. Jason Fry understands what makes a SW story work and delivers it with heart and imagination.

STORY: Its a short tale set in one location that feels like an act of a much larger play and yet managed to capture all the core elements of a heros journey. We find Luke still as a young, nave rebel pilot learning what it means to be a Jedi. The Force is the central theme of the book and I was delighted with Jasons treatment of it. Once again the Force is a magical power surrounded with mysticism. Here the Jedi are a legend of old wizards who stood of peace (not generals in the military or a space police force.) Chapter 8 in particular left me with a sense of wonder, bringing back Yodas teachings from Ep.V. It is a true return to form and the best part the book. Theres also a colorful cast of supporting characters, a beautifully fleshed out exotic location, and solid action. Nothing here is particularly innovative but, more importantly, the story is expertly told, with vivid prose and a sense of urgency!

CHARACTERS: I was instantly sold on Lukes characterization. Jason Fry effortlessly recreates the Luke we love and remember from the films. Mark Hamills mannerism never feels forced. He literally comes alive from the pages and responds to situations the way you would expect him to. Lukes first steps into learning how to control, or rather submit to the force is also beautifully portrayed! (In Heir to the Jedi novel he movies noodles for practice, which I found completely absurd! Here the force is not a trivial mind trick. Theres a logical narrative extension of his training from Ep.IV taken to the next step!)The same is true with R2 and Threepio, their back and forth banter is on the money! The new cast is there mainly for support and help add purpose to the plot.

ACTION: Without giving anything away I will say the action was quite enjoyable. Parents buying the book for their children shouldnt worry about the level of violence. The writer avoids brutal vocabulary but gives just enough hints for adult readers to image its full extent. The space battle is vivid and well-choreographed and there is a cool surprise for the ground battle.

Ive read practically all of the existing Star Wars novels and thought I would never read anything as great as Kevin J. Andersons and Rebecca Moestas famous Young Jedi Knights series. I was very pleasantly surprised with this book. Thank you Jason Fry. Im looking forward to new great SW stories from you in the years to come!

The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure by Jason Fry is a truly fantastic young adult novelthat gets Luke’s character 100% right and takes place shortly after A New Hope and the Battle of Yavin. However, don’t be fooled by the Young Adult classification, it appeals to both adult and juvenile fans alike.

Without giving too much away, the majority of the book takes place on Devaron (a jungle planet seen in a few episodes of The Clone Wars Season Three). The book isabout Luke finding his Force potential and finding out more about what the Force does and how it affects the universe around him. He also has to use his new found confidence and new found Force Abilities to rescue a native girl and to fight a new villain.

Finding and learning his skills in the Force feels like anatural progression of his latent power from simple farmboy to hero in A New Hope to a humble, curious, and cunning young adult in The Weapon of a Jedi. So it’s basically Episode 4.5. It feels like a classic Star Wars film. It’s bathing in atmosphere and immerses us in the original Star Wars universe. It also sees the glorious return of Threepio and Artoo, banter and all.

I literally got chills reading this novel and even writing this review, thinking about the book. And let’s not forget Phil Noto’s phenomenal artwork in this book. The novel is separated into three parts with several chapters in between. Before the beginning of each part (including Prologue and Epilogue), there is a page of artwork which is beautifully drawn by Noto who has drawn many Marvel and DC comic books before.

There are a few negatives to the book. First off, the plot is quite simple and the book is pretty short. This is a character driven story so not much emphasis is put on intrigue or complex plot mechanics which honestly isn’t that big of a deal considering how well the characters are written and the themes presented in the novel. Also, for $7.00 (hardcover on Amazon), a fantastic novel with 184 pages is a steal and isn’t a negative in any way. Secondly, the villain sadly fell short of my expectations and fell victim to the “evil” mustache twirling bad guy trope which was disappointing to say the least.

Rating: 4/5 Stars- A Must Read, A Phenomenal Ride; While the plot is simple and the villain is underwhelming and falls victim to classic stereotypes, it is a fantastic novel. It is atmospheric, nostalgic, and emotional. Jason Fry truly understands the characters,emotion, and the universe of the original Star Wars while incorporating new and exciting ideas and a new character and species. Highly recommended!

This is a novel that concentrates on Luke Skywalkers path to becoming a Jedi. Set not long after the destruction of the first Death Star; the death of his short term mentor, Obi Wan, leaves him lost and directionless as to how to continue his training. Seeking inspiration from the Force itself he allows himself to be drawn to the world of Devaron and the remains of an ancient Jedi temple.

As such this is a novel entirely about Luke. Few other Star Wars regulars play much of a role. R2-D2 and C3PO do, however, accompany Luke on his personal mission but much of this is so that C3-PO is on hand to be able to later relate this particular sequence of events. Although Wedge is a minor character in this story there is also some interaction between Luke and him that highlights their camaraderie at surviving the assault on the first Death Star together. Its somewhat of a novelty as its a relationship that isnt usually given much attention across the various media of the Expanded Universe.

There isnt a great deal of depth to the plot and far too much of a relatively short novel (even if the book is called Weapon of a Jedi) is taken up with Luke practicing with his lightsabre. However, although it is a fairly basic story it does set out to do what it intends; that is helping to explain how Luke becomes so proficient with his lightsabre, and indeed the Force (or at least to some degree), in the absence of any other Jedi to learn from in between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

Even though the story takes place not long after A New Hope it features a prologue and epilogue that must be set sometime shortly before the events of The Force Awakens. They feature Resistance pilot Jessika Pava, who appears briefly in The Force Awakens, and are used as a device for C3-PO to relate to her this story of one of Lukes early adventures. This whole plot device seems a little superfluous and it doesnt really benefit the story in any way. It feels more like an excuse to tie the novel in more closely with the popularity around the release of The Force Awakens. It is also a bit hard to imagine that C3-PO could actually grasp the nuances of what happens to Luke on Devaron well enough to explain it to a third party, certainly in an interesting way.

This new tale set a few months after A New Hope and written for early teen readers features Luke Skywalker and droids C-3P0 and R2-D2 following a mysterious tremor in the Force to the planet Devaron, where Luke begins to make progress in using his lightsaber when he faces a mysterious new enemy.

It’s a quick easy read and author Jason Fry captures the familiar characters well; Luke is more convincing than in Kevin Hearne’s recent disappointing effort Heir to the Jedi. My only real complaint is that the pacing is a bit off – while the story starts well and picks up towards the end, the middle is a little dull, with too much repetition of Luke wondering if he’ll ever become a Jedi, who will train him, etc.. It’s not a bad book by any means but not quite as good as the Han Solo adventure in this series, Smugglers Run.

It’s still worth reading for fans though, as it introduces the character Sarco Plank, who will appear in The Force Awakens. A decent read.

A great Luke Skywalker story. The book showcases all of the skills that Luke has learned so far, but still manages to keep the young naivety, the “farm boy”, was always known for.

After the intro the book starts off with a space battle. I like the way Luke is treated by his CO. Respected but still a rookie pilot, and he still has a problem with military discipline. I like the way Luke tries to balance his time between becoming a better pilot, running missions for the Alliance, and his own Jedi training. The majority of this book concentrates on the latter. The thing I like about the continuity of this book is that he does not exhibit any powers or abilities that he did not have in the Empire Strikes Back.

On a mission for the Alliance, Luke feels a tug from the force on the planet Devaron. What he finds is the building blocks for his future as a Jedi. I like that face that Luke is more or less feeling his way through his training and the fact that he is actually training. Not just the parts of how to access the force, but training his body through repetitions and muscle memory as well. A good short story a must have for any Luke Skywalker fan.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member