Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure

Coming off of Smuggler’s Run, I was looking forward to diving into Jason Fry’s The Weapon of a Jedi. Having read Jason Fry’s nonfiction fiction work like Star Wars: The Essential Atlas and The Essential Guide to Warfare, I was expecting good things. However, in the end, I was a little disappointed. It’s an okay book overall, but not quite on par with Rucka’s Smuggler’s Run.That said, the story has a strong start with some fun X-wing combat. Unlike Aftermath, Jason Fry knows how to use Wedge and quickly puts him and Luke in a dogfight against some TIEs. The starfighter combat had me nostalgic for Michael A. Stackpole’s X-wing series. Jason not only did a great job with the action scenes, but also with portraying the relationship between Luke and Wedge. The story plants seeds on what they’ve been up to since blowing up the Death Star, the amount of missions they’ve been on, and how they’ve both grown as a team. It’s kind of sad when they part ways and I can’t help but wonder if the story would have been stronger if Wedge partnered with Luke for the entirety of the book.Alas the story trades Wedge for R2-D2 and C-3PO as Luke goes on another mission for the Rebel Alliance. While Jason did a great job with Wedge and Luke, he doesn’t do quite so well with the droids. Granted 3PO is a hard character to make interesting, but with this character being his choice for the story, I would think he had something up his sleeve. Personally, 3PO just didn’t turn out to be that fun of a character. On the other hand, Jason did a great job of capturing 3PO’s more annoying characteristics as he bickers a lot. Perhaps the more brutal blow was the lack of role for R2. He’s there, he beeps, and I think he moved a few things, but overall he’s really insignificant. R2 could be completely removed from the story and it wouldn’t effect the plot. In the films, R2 and C3PO make quite the pair, but in The Weapon of a Jedi, their role leaves a lot to be desired.As for the story, Luke goes to Devaron and finds an old Jedi temple where he practices with some remotes and refines his lightsaber skills. That’s pretty much the core of the entire plot. Along the way, a young Devaronian girl gets involved and a strange alien hunter named Sarco Plank (who shows up later in The Force Awakens and who already has an action figure). Mix in a couple encounters with Imperials, and you have the entire story. There’s not a lot to the plot, so much of the story focuses on Luke, his reflections on the Force and what lessons he managed to learn from Obi-Wan. While that could have been fertile ground for storytelling, there’s not a lot of depth to it. Much of the story feels dumbed down, from Sarco Plank being your typical mustache twirling villain, to the heavy handed anti-hunting theme in the book. It definitely has a kid’s story vibe to it.Aside from the characters, I thought one big missed opportunity was the lack of integration with the other canon stories. I think this book could have been a lot more interesting and more significant if it would have tied into Kevin Hearne’s Luke Skywalker novel Heir to the Jedi. Both tackle similar ground with Luke hunting for Jedi knowledge and trying to learn about the Force. This would have been the perfect place to show Luke taking what he’s learned and building upon it. However, this story made Heir to the Jedi feel like it didn’t exist. Luke talks to Obi-Wan a lot, deflects blaster bolts left and right, and feels much more experienced than the Luke we saw in Hearne’s story. There’s also no mention of the events from the comics. In fact it would be rather difficult to determine where this story takes place in the timeline. The Marvel Star Wars comic, Heir to the Jedi and The Weapon of a Jedi all take place in the same time gap between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, but there’s nothing to show how this story fits into the others. The complete isolation of the story was a bit of a drawback for me. On the other hand, it does tie into The Force Awakens with the inclusion of Sarco, hoggsquattle (aka happabore) and a red armed C-3PO recounting the entire tale. But since none of us have seen the movie, the importance of those tie-ins loses a lot of their value.While I had high hopes for Jason Fry, The Weapon of a Jedi fell short of the mark. It’s not a bad story, and it is enjoyable, but there was a lot of missed potential. It had a strong start but mellowed into an average story. The prowse is skewered more toward a younger audience with it’s plain and straightforward style. The dynamic between Luke, 3PO and R2 lacked the punch the story needed to stay fun and exciting. As is, I give it a three out of five. You might not want to skip it, but it doesn’t need to be at the top of your reading pile.

“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: It’s 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 “hero’s journey.” We find Luke still as a young, naïve rebel pilot learning what it means to be a Jedi. The Force is the central theme of the book and I was delighted with Jason’s 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 Yoda’s teachings from Ep.V. It is a true return to form and the best part the book. There’s 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 Luke’s characterization. Jason Fry effortlessly recreates the Luke we love and remember from the films. Mark Hamill’s mannerism never feels forced. He literally comes alive from the pages and responds to situations the way you would expect him to. Luke’s 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.” There’s 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 shouldn’t 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.I’ve read practically all of the existing Star Wars novels and thought I would never read anything as great as Kevin J. Anderson’s and Rebecca Moesta’s famous “Young Jedi Knights” series. I was very pleasantly surprised with this book. Thank you Jason Fry. I’m looking forward to new great SW stories from you in the years to come!

This is a novel that concentrates on Luke Skywalker’s 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. It’s somewhat of a novelty as it’s a relationship that isn’t usually given much attention across the various media of the Expanded Universe.There isn’t 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 Luke’s early adventures. This whole plot device seems a little superfluous and it doesn’t 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.

**Spoilers**This book is a really well written adventure with an authentic Star Wars feel. It has fantastic X wing v TIE action, a well described world that one can visualise and memorable new characters, particularly the young Devaronian girl, Farnay and the villain who is genuinely scary.It is also the best written depiction of Luke in my experience. It gets him to a tee! Threepio, also is brilliant - and hilarious! I defy anyone to not hear Anthony Daniels voice when they read this book.Perfect for the target age, this is a great short story for adults too.I do have a couple of gripes - Earth measurements, such as metres are used, but then I remembered the target age and that this is a short story - familiar measurements would be needed to visualise what is being described, and too much time expended on developing and explaining "alien" measurement systems would have spoiled the narrative. I also thought that in the aftermath of "Aftermath", I am perhaps overly sensitive to earth terms in a Star wars book.My only other, very minor, complaint is that the fight between Luke and Sarco is very similar to that between Luke and Boba Fett in the excellent Marvel SW comic "Skywalker Strikes". Both fights are beautifully written, and if you haven't or don't intend to read the comics then this isn't a problem at all. I do think however, that the bad guys need to realise that perhaps it's not a good idea to blind Luke!Neither of these reservations was enough to downgrade my review to 4 stars. I reserve 5 star reviews for books which I know I will read over and over. Since I have become a grandmother, I also keep one bookcase filled with books for my grandkids to enjoy in the future. Alongside the usual children's classics, I'm collecting modern ones by authors who have created wonderful characters and worlds that I would have loved when I was young; authors such as J K Rowling, Jonathan Stroud and Joseph Delaney. Now, I have a fabulous Star Wars book to add to that collection courtesy of Jason Fry.

Easy read, maybe a little too easy. Although this short story is enjoyable with some funny exchanges between Luke and C-3PO, this story is fairly predictable and, despite 3PO and R2-D2, Luke is the only familiar character in the book. Would recommend for an afternoon read, but doubt I would read it a second time in the near future.