Book Review: The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves

The Last Jedi

by Michael Reaves
Published: February 26, 2013
Genres: Science Fiction, Star Wars
Format: eARC (460 pages)
Source: For Review

The Emperor’s ruthless Order 66 has all but exterminated the Jedi. The few remaining who still wield the Force for good have been driven into exile or hiding. But not Jax Pavan, who’s been steadily striking blows against the Empire—as a lone guerrilla fighter and a valued partner of Whiplash, a secret Coruscant-based resistance group. Now he’s taking on his most critical mission: transporting a valued Whiplash leader, targeted for assassination, from Coruscant to safety on a distant world.

The Last Jedi is about Jax, one of the few surviving Jedi from Order 66.  Jax is part of a budding rebellious uprising against the Empire called Whiplash and he’s on a secret mission to move a Whiplash leader to safety. This book felt like one of those dreams that no matter how hard you try to run, you’re just not getting anywhere. I felt that way because the writing was either choppy or tended towards info-dumping which slowed down the pace a lot for the first half of the book.  It also took me a while to read, but you know me – I can’t quit a story because the ending might be good.  Luckily, about half-way through I was right and the plot starts to pick up and get interesting.  I enjoyed the ending that was action-packed and full of tension.  But… (highlight between brackets for spoiler). {But I was a little disappointed that in a book called “The Last Jedi” the Jedi doesn’t die at the end.  Maybe I’m morbid.  I kept thinking “And then he dies. He DIES. When is Vader going to kill him? What kind of book is this?” Also, since my reviews are technically spoiler free, maybe he does die. I’m not telling.}

While a lot of the novel felt original, I also saw a lot of tired and over-used story elements from the Star Wars universe.  For example, a protocol droid’s head falls off but he won’t stop yapping and oh, look, they are running from Vader’s ship and then they get boarded by him.  Although there were some tired plot elements here and there,  I really enjoyed learning about the alien race called the Cephalons that could see the future in their own, unique way.

I have a few other small bones to pick.  Like a drug that enhances force abilities – really? I don’t buy it.  The alien races were hardly described at all.  I don’t need a huge description each time someone new enters, but I would like to have a small idea of what they look like.

I know it sounds like I didn’t like this book, but the characters were enjoyable. Geri was an adorable orphan who loves to build droids.  And Jax was a very likable main character who grows a lot throughout the story. The humor was very good and even had the classic joke “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Overall, it was an average Star Wars novel that took me a while to get into and felt like it had a lot of recycled story elements.  But the ending was a great, action-packed, tension-filled ride that made up for some of it’s faults.

Content Rating: Mild, hardly any language or graphic violence.

I received this book for review from the publisher, Random House, in exchange for an honest review. I was not told what to say, I was not paid to write this review and all the opinions expressed are my own.  I read an Advanced Reading Copy for this review. 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• eBook Challenge 2013