The year is 2024 and it is the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace; what better way to celebrate than with a new Star Wars novel set in the year leading up the first of prequel films.
John Jackson Miller’s The Living Force is a wonderful blend of adventure of The Phantom Menace with the Jedi character examination of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There is camp, fun, politics, lore, spy craft, and action all to be found in these nearly four hundred pages. Miller’s novel did drag a little for me in Part 2 when I was not sure where things were going, but by the end I really enjoyed the journey the book took me on and time I got to spend with each character. If the Jedi are one of your favorite parts of Star Wars, this is a must read.
Spoilers Ahead
The structure of the novel follows all twelve of the Jedi Council members as they work to celebrate the anniversary of The Great Renewal of Kwenn, a High Republic era Great Work of the Jedi. The Great Renewal, an idea of Council member Oppo Rancisis, turned a junk planet into a “jewel” of the Outer Rim. The Jedi Outpost on the planet has since been neglected by the Order, so the Council’s retreat and celebration is an opportunity to revive the outpost or assess if it should be closed.
A third person narration allows Miller to bounce between the different members of the Council. I enjoyed getting to know the Jedi more who I had only seen in passing the films or read about in visual dictionaries growing up. The stand out Jedi in the book for me were Yoda, Yaddle, Oppo Rancisis, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Eeth Koth. Each of these characters has their own subplot on Kwenn interacting with locals in fun ways. Yoda and Yaddle show why they are great leaders. Oppo has fun grandpa energy (the audiobook narrator’s voice for him sounded a lot like Christopher Lloyd, so that definitely added to this). Ki-Adi is so socially unaware in the most endearing way. And Eeth gets a cute flirty subplot that adds some more context to the Jedi’s feelings around attachment.
Qui-Gon and his padawan, Obi-Wan, pop in and out of the story, not overstaying their welcome or overshadowing the Council members.
The true main character of this novel, however, is Depa Billaba. Miller has noted in interviews that after writing about Depa and her apprentice Caleb Dume (Kanan) in his first canon Star Wars novel, A New Dawn. I enjoyed Depa Billaba’s undercover mission with kid Kylah and pirate queen, Zilastra. Depa’s story drives the plot and did a great job building tension to the finale. And the end of the book definitely ties in nicely to Depa eventually taking on a new padawan (who would be Caleb).
The only things that keep this book from getting 5 stars on my Good Reads account are the slower middle of the book and the odd exclusion of any mention of Count Douku. The middle part of the book is definitely slowed down by the vignettes with the Council members on Kwenn. This is one of those negatives that by the end of the book I did not mind as much because the grand finale does tie a lot of these sides quests into the main plot. No mention of Count Douku though was absolutely weird. Tales of the Jedi established that Douku does not fully break from the order until the night that Qui-Gon dies (during The Phantom Menace). So, it seems odd that his name is not even mentioned once in spite of the fact that his master and apprentice are both present. The book even goes to the length of incorporating Sifo-Dyas and his removal from the Council, but does not mention Douku.
Putting those two things aside, I do recommend this Star Wars novel to prequels era and Jedi lover fans.
4.5/5 Kyber Crystals 💎
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