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artemisreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
had really high hopes for this series and so far it’s just very meh
twilliamson's review against another edition
1.0
Dark Apprentice, the sequel to Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Search, is as equally baffling as the first. Incoherent even in its best light, the book continues to struggle to do anything to develop the characters of the Star Wars established canon or even flesh out any of the new characters Anderson introduces to the worn drama of the series.
The book opens, for example, with a dramatic starship crash, then abruptly transitions to a scene with Han Solo skiing with Kyp, one of the new characters of this trilogy. There's no narrative reason for the skiing sequence except that it's a place to flex Anderson's sense of action (which overpromises and underdelivers every time). Narrative tension is lost again when Solo decides to play a game of sabacc with Lando Calrissian over the fate of the Millennium Falcon.
The narrative diversions sap away from any momentum or focus on what feels like should be the focal point of the novel, and the trilogy on a whole: Luke Skywalker's efforts at creating a new Jedi Order and training a new generation of Jedi Knights. With so much of the book oriented toward the expanding cast of the series, very little is done to add a sense of growth to any single one of the characters. Moreover, because so little is done to help flesh out character motivations, things seem to just happen for almost no reason entirely. What's the relevance, for example, of the Jedi children getting lost on Coruscant for a chapter? Did we really need any of the dumb museum sequence, or was that just an excuse to introduce yet another stupid minor character of no considerable weight or importance to the story and its characters?
Indeed, the only character who receives any significant arc or development is Kyp, whose change in attitude is not discovered over the course of the book but instead occurs abruptly within the span of only a handful of pages, and we're explicitly told why his attitude changes instead of being given the opportunity to experience his change through the actions of the narrative. Anderson's approach to character development is simply an exposition dump.
Dark Apprentice is not really the worst Star Wars novel I've read, but it is thoroughly inconsistent, incoherent, incohesive, and in desperate need of major revision. It is one of the most unfocused novels I've ever read, and not even being tie-in fiction can disguise how poorly written, poorly constructed, and poorly implemented the novel's story is.
Star Wars deserves better than this.
The book opens, for example, with a dramatic starship crash, then abruptly transitions to a scene with Han Solo skiing with Kyp, one of the new characters of this trilogy. There's no narrative reason for the skiing sequence except that it's a place to flex Anderson's sense of action (which overpromises and underdelivers every time). Narrative tension is lost again when Solo decides to play a game of sabacc with Lando Calrissian over the fate of the Millennium Falcon.
The narrative diversions sap away from any momentum or focus on what feels like should be the focal point of the novel, and the trilogy on a whole: Luke Skywalker's efforts at creating a new Jedi Order and training a new generation of Jedi Knights. With so much of the book oriented toward the expanding cast of the series, very little is done to add a sense of growth to any single one of the characters. Moreover, because so little is done to help flesh out character motivations, things seem to just happen for almost no reason entirely. What's the relevance, for example, of the Jedi children getting lost on Coruscant for a chapter? Did we really need any of the dumb museum sequence, or was that just an excuse to introduce yet another stupid minor character of no considerable weight or importance to the story and its characters?
Indeed, the only character who receives any significant arc or development is Kyp, whose change in attitude is not discovered over the course of the book but instead occurs abruptly within the span of only a handful of pages, and we're explicitly told why his attitude changes instead of being given the opportunity to experience his change through the actions of the narrative. Anderson's approach to character development is simply an exposition dump.
Dark Apprentice is not really the worst Star Wars novel I've read, but it is thoroughly inconsistent, incoherent, incohesive, and in desperate need of major revision. It is one of the most unfocused novels I've ever read, and not even being tie-in fiction can disguise how poorly written, poorly constructed, and poorly implemented the novel's story is.
Star Wars deserves better than this.
j_espere's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0
brye90's review against another edition
2.0
The first one was a lot of fun, unfortunately this one was a bit boring. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but I was hoping to be more entertained. Sure it’s a trilogy and ends on a cliff hanger, but some plot points seemed to be forgotten, picked up for a chapter, then never brought up again. Hope the 3rd one is better, might have skipped it if I didn’t buy all 3 at once.
ofclumsywords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While this was another great book in this trilogy, I found it a tiny bit predictable. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t incredibly enjoyable. All the characters, the good and the bad, were well written and could understand the decisions that they made. I am very excited for the third and final book in this trilogy as this book was a great set up for what I hope is a great conclusion.
pakebrokenshire's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
gingerreader99's review against another edition
3.0
The Second novel of Anderson's trilogy. Well written and exciting story to the last minute. My only issue is that I feel the detail could he expanded in some areas. It seems to skim through some parts of the story. Leaving parts feeling somewhat empty
marshthemartian's review against another edition
3.0
I thought it was better than Jedi Search. It took me forever to get through Jedi Search. I'm not saying this is great, at all. I do feel like Anderson is repetitive with the things that he says, using the same phrases etc. However, I felt the plot line in this one was better. I can't wait to see how some characters respond to the events that took place in Dark Apprentice. I am itching though to be done with the Anderson Trilogy so I can move on to maybe some better characterization of the main characters.
tarmstrong112's review against another edition
1.0
Oh no no no. This was not good, not good at all. I'm really starting to think this trilogy should have been one book focusing entirely on Kyp Durran's story because the utter lack of focus in this book was astonishing. The story had no flow. Plotlines are picked up and dropped seemingly at random.
The whole subplot of Chewbacca and Threepio taking Jacen and Jaina to the Zoo was shocking in it's dullness and when the twins get lost the plot lost me even more. And there are no repercussions to this! They lose two children in the dirty depths of the city and are essentially let go with a chuckle and a smile.
Han and Lando play cards for ownership of the Millennium Falcon 3 times in this book. THREE! It's just so stupid and repetitive.
Either have the courage to kill Ackbar or don't. But don't make it seem like you did and then confirm he lived with a throwaway line of dialogue. That was cheap.
Luke's Jedi Academy has barely been a thing in this Jedi Academy series so far (so that name is odd). And when we do visit the Academy, the students are falling to the Dark Side by some dumb ghost so fast that it's incredible that people actually willingly stay there.
And Kyp Durran. Such promise in the first novel. It's all thrown away here for cheap thrills and plot devices that make no sense. I mean come on, stealing the Sun Crusher from the middle of a gas giant and then destroying seven suns! That's just an insane, and we are talking about a fictional fantasy world where plenty of weird things happen. He basically has no redeemable qualities at this point.
It's all just disappointingly written. It all feels forced. I will finish the trilogy because I bought way too many used Star Wars books and I pledged to read them for better or worse. I'm interested to see how the author tries to redeem Kyp Durran out of all of this.
The whole subplot of Chewbacca and Threepio taking Jacen and Jaina to the Zoo was shocking in it's dullness and when the twins get lost the plot lost me even more. And there are no repercussions to this! They lose two children in the dirty depths of the city and are essentially let go with a chuckle and a smile.
Han and Lando play cards for ownership of the Millennium Falcon 3 times in this book. THREE! It's just so stupid and repetitive.
Either have the courage to kill Ackbar or don't. But don't make it seem like you did and then confirm he lived with a throwaway line of dialogue. That was cheap.
Luke's Jedi Academy has barely been a thing in this Jedi Academy series so far (so that name is odd). And when we do visit the Academy, the students are falling to the Dark Side by some dumb ghost so fast that it's incredible that people actually willingly stay there.
And Kyp Durran. Such promise in the first novel. It's all thrown away here for cheap thrills and plot devices that make no sense. I mean come on, stealing the Sun Crusher from the middle of a gas giant and then destroying seven suns! That's just an insane, and we are talking about a fictional fantasy world where plenty of weird things happen. He basically has no redeemable qualities at this point.
It's all just disappointingly written. It all feels forced. I will finish the trilogy because I bought way too many used Star Wars books and I pledged to read them for better or worse. I'm interested to see how the author tries to redeem Kyp Durran out of all of this.