Monday, November 26, 2012

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi - A Review


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A Review

I have been enamored with the Star Wars saga since the release of the original movie in 1977.  It was the last movie I remember seeing in a drive-in theater with my wife in a suburb North of Chicago.  Since then, I have each movie exactly once, I have read a number of the books, and, now, I have read two graphic novels based on the epic film series.  

The previous comic, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire - Iron Eclipse, also by John Ostrander, was well done and held my interest.  Sadly, the current book did not do so.  It left me wishing it was over - not because I was enthralled, but because it lacked the holding power of a well-written story.  Even the end of the story left me disappointed - though it did provide a lead in to the next novel in the series.  

The only tie-in to the original movies was a gathering of individuals to a common place in the universe to be trained as a Jedi.  As each individual trained - training that allowed them to find a balance within the force - they moved from “Youngling to Apprentice, from Journeyer to Ranger, and finally to Ranger”.  And as they did, the “Je’daii” grew. That part of the story took about 15% of the books total page count.  The remainder of the book followed a number of trainees as they sought to understand a disturbance in the force.

There seemed to be a disconnect, for this reader, between these distinct parts of the book.  However, this is the first book of a series being planned by Dark Horse Comics.  The ongoing series may have potential as it is developed over time.  

The end of the book does include a one page summary of the Star Wars timeline - showing how other stories and events merge with the six movies that define the Star War universe.  This book takes place thousand of decades before the start of the timeline; with the exception of the Je’daii, there is little connection to the six movies.  Perhaps later stories in the series will make a stronger connection.  
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This review is based on a free electronic copy of this book provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are mine alone.  



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