Star Wars: Children of the Jedi
(Eight years after the Battle of Yavin)
“They hid the children down the well,” said Leia softly. “Do you think when…when Vader and the Emperor started hunting down and killing the Jedi, some of the Knights…I don’t know, smuggled their spouses and children to some place of safety.”
This was a very interesting story that begins with the revelation of a secret regarding “Children of the Jedi”. A discovery is made when a crazed old smuggling buddy of Han’s seeks him out on the planet of Ithor. The topic of children being hidden in a well…Plett’s Well, is what truly kick starts the story. Two former pupils who are with Luke, Dr. Cray Mingla, and her android fiancé, Nichos Marr, are able to shed a little light on the story of Plett’s Well because Nichos spent his childhood there. Nichos once suffered from a condition known as Quannot’s Syndrome and was destined to die, but Cray and experts on Coruscant were able to rebuild his body in the form of a synthetic android…however, he has never been quite the same. Thus, Luke is forced to reach into the mind of Nichos and try to find these memories of his childhood.
As a result of what Luke sees in Nichos’ memory, Leia, Han, Chewy, and R2-D2 head off to the planet of Belsavis. Luke had Nichos enter into a receptive trance in order to generate random numbers that Luke hopes will serve as coordinators to the next clue in this mysterious puzzle. The coordinates lead Luke, C-3PO, Cray and Nichos to the Moonflower Nebula in the Outer Rim where they meet an old Imperial Soldier named Triv Pothman. Pothman still thinks that Palpatine is alive and is the last member of his squadron that was killed by two warring clans of Gamorreans. Tracker droids emerge from an unknown vessel that doubled as an asteroid to take Luke and company hostage. Luke discovers that the vessel is the battle station known as the “Eye of Palpatine”. The supposed crew aboard the battle station consists of Gamorreans who believe Imperial stormtroopers, Sand-People, Jawas, and various other alien species that were also taken hostage by the mysterious battle station. Apparently, “The Eye of Palpatine” was a thirty-year-old mission long since forgotten by the Empire, which was designed to operate with an automated intelligence that is evidently still active and unpredictable. The Gamorreans all seem to be obeying the orders of “the Will” of this unique vessel that results in Luke being separated from Cray, Pothman, and Nicho. Luke finds an old Y-Wing fighter that he assumes was flown into the Eye of Palpatine by someone, but was too badly picked apart by the ship’s automated defenses to take off again. Luke instantly realized that it was this “someone” who had disabled the Eye of Palpatine thirty years ago and yet something or someone had started it back up again. Luke also finds a lightsaber with the help of a Jawa that belongs to one of the Jedi that were once on this odd vessel. This someone, Callista, is later revealed to be a Jedi whose consciousness has remained alive inside the vessel’s weaponry systems to ensure that it can never execute its programming. Luke also somehow falls in love with her.
Meanwhile on Belsavis, Han & Leia have trouble with R2-D2 who appears to have lost his droid mind. Eventually Leia takes the restraining bolt of the rewired R2 and goes with the little astromech in search of answers. Han and Chewy end up teaming up with Mara Jade trying to follow any leads regarding his old buddy Drub McKomb. Leia ultimately runs into a mysterious woman she hasn’t seen in years. Leia believes this woman, Raganda Ismaren, was the Emperor’s concubine and perhaps the mother of the Dark Lord’s only heir. Han later discovers that this woman was actually another “Emperor’s Hand” which enrages Mara Jade. Raganda’s son, Irek, who Lei believes is fourteen or fifteen years old is a bratty little kid with a mysterious force-like ability. Leia learns of this ability after finding the notes of Nasdra Magrody. Magrody was one of the original designers of the Death Star who was forced into serving Raganda when his wife and daughter were taken from him. Magrody, designed a chip to be implanted into Irek that would allow him to manipulate artificial inteeligences of different complexities.
Eventually, it’s learned that it was Irek who reactivated the Eye of Palpatine through this unusual ability he has in the Force, but can no longer control the vessel since Callista has manipulated its original programming. Han and Chewy get tipped off by R2-D2, who has escaped from Raganda and her goons, as to where Leia is being held. Han and Chewy rescue Leia from Raganda and Irek who got the heck out of dodge after the people realize that Irek cannot control the Eye of Palpatine.
The most interesting part of the story occurs when Cray and Callista, fearing that Luke may settle for something less than the total annihilation of the Eye of Palpatine, knock out Luke so that, along with Ticho, they can take action. Ticho, the only one able to endure the stresses of this ships core, is more than up for the task. Cray decides to die with Ticho so she can be fully reunited with her fiancé in the Force. Only in the end does Cray give her physical body up to so that Callista can be with the man she loves…Luke Skywalker. The story ends with many questions about these hidden chil;dren of the Jedi remaining unanswered. However, when Luke and Callista find each other at last; the reader is guaranteed some excitement is bound to happen in the future.
RATING:
Storyline Importance: 8.6
The reason I’ll give this book somewhat of a high score in this category is because this story dropped some major bomb shells at the time it was released. Just the possibility that the Emperor had an heir was huge. Even though Irek was not the son of Palpatine it still bears mentioning that Raganda was one of the Emperor’s Hands. The whole idea of Jedi hiding their wives and children also opened the door for other forms Star Wars literature to further expand on that idea. And let me not forget the introduction of a love interest for Luke Skywalker. No, he and Callista didn’t stand the test of time but at least we now know Luke wasn’t a sissy boy!
Character Importance: 8.9
Again…the character importance of this book is huge considering when this book was released. Luke finally has a love interest in the form of Callista. Raganda and Irek shake up most Star Wars fans mode of thought regarding the Emperor. I never once thought of the man having concubines, let alone sex. Even though there was only a marginal character development regarding Mara Jade, it’s still evident that she was going to be a mainstay for years to come.
Excitement Level: 8.3
I’m usually very picky when it comes to this category because I’ve read the best and I expect nothing less than that when it comes to excitement. I’ll admit there were moments when it was hard to read through the scenes where Gamorreans thought they were stormtroopers. However, this book did have its good moments especially when the reader is finally introduced to that bratty little Irek and his momma.
Favorite Moments:
The revelations left by Nasdra Magrody were very intriguing and were a real eye opener for Leia, who had once thought about hunting down all the scientists involved in creating or designing killing machines like the Death Star. To hear this man apologize to Mon Mothma and Bail Organa in a message he left made Leia realize that some of these men had been forced into doing such things. Would Leia’s father have done the same thing if given a choice?
Overall Rating: 8.6