This article was originally published on TatooineTimes.com
I, Jedi is written by Michael A. Stackpole (Rogue Squadron series) and was published on Star Wars Day, May 4, 1998. The novel’s plot runs concurrently to Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy trilogy and follows Corran Horn who’s facing the greatest challenges of his life: figuring out who he is and reuniting with his missing wife, Mirax. Corran’s allegiances are many (the Jedi, the New Republic, Rogue Squadron, his family) and it’s this unique mixture that takes him on a path fraught with danger and indecision. Can Corran find his way in the galaxy, forge a new path, rescue his wife, all while keeping a healthy distance from the dark side?
I, Jedi is a first person narrative from Corran Horn’s perspective and in this regard it succeeds. With a story this expansive and dense (the book is over 500 pages) I always prefer to stick with one character’s point of view. Horn’s perspective is really the readers’ and Stackpole never gives any reason why he’s anything but a reliable narrator. Feeling Horn’s feelings, especially related to those of his wife Mirax, are what keep the reader fully on his side. This isn’t to say that Horn’s every decision in the book is admirable, but setting a story up in this manner gives it a personal feel and the stakes seem that much higher because the reader becomes invested in the main character. Familiar faces make appearances (Wedge Antilles, Luke Skywalker) but this is really Horns’ book. So much so that I’d argue the majority of the side characters fade into the background and serve as plot devices for Horn’s progression.
The biggest critique I have for I, Jedi is its plot structure. Stackpole crams so much into the pages of the book that I’d argue it should have been two standalone books. Horn’s Jedi training with Luke Skywalker takes up the majority of the first half and his infiltration of the Invids (his pirate foes) the second. More confusing is how the main motivation for Horn’s actions, his search for Mirax, takes a back seat and he spends months upon months doing side quests. For this reason I found myself hyper invested in I, Jedi at the beginning and end, with everything in between ultimately not really mattering in the grand scheme of things.
For lovers of Jedi lore, there’s plenty to get excited about in I, Jedi. Luke Skywalker has his first class of Jedi trainees and for as interesting all this is, it’s even more interesting to see Luke fail. He’s not equipped for what being a teaching Jedi Master truly is and he stumbles his way through it, with mixed results (a dark side Force ghost doesn’t help matters either). I really enjoyed seeing Skywalker not be the perfect Jedi specimen; his faults and failings made him super interesting and it’s not a given that he’s going to succeed. We also get to see Corran construct his own lightsaber which varies drastically from the canon lore that many might be familiar with. In this regard I, Jedi serves as a time capsule of a different time in Star Wars in ways that I haven’t encountered in a Legends book to this extent (spoiler alert: there’s not a kyber crystal in sight).
I, Jedi joined The Essential Legends Collection recently, with new cover art by Amir Zand and its unabridged audiobook, narrated by Marc Thompson is also available. It doesn’t take a Jedi Master to know that I, Jedi would make the perfect addition to your Star Wars book collection, grab your copy today!
Purchase I, Jedi The Essential Legends Collection edition
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