The Jedi have always traveled the stars, defending peace and justice across the galaxy. But the galaxy is changing, and the Jedi Order along with it. More and more, the Order finds itself focused on the future of the Republic, secluded on Coruscant, where the twelve members of the Jedi Council weigh crises on a galactic scale.
As yet another Jedi Outpost left over from the Republic’s golden age is set to be decommissioned on the planet Kwenn, Qui-Gon Jinn challenges the Council about the Order’s increasing isolation. Mace Windu suggests a bold response: All twelve Jedi Masters will embark on a goodwill mission to help the planet and to remind the people of the galaxy that the Jedi remain as stalwart and present as they have been across the ages.
But the arrival of the Jedi leadership is not seen by all as a cause for celebration. In the increasing absence of the Jedi, warring pirate factions have infested the sector. To maintain their dominance, the pirates unite, intent on assassinating the Council members. And they are willing to destroy countless innocent lives to secure their power.
Cut off from Coruscant, the Jedi Masters must reckon with an unwelcome truth: While no one thinks more about the future than the Jedi Council, nobody needs their help more than those living in the present.
John Jackson Miller will always have a really interesting & special place among Star Wars authors, for the community as a whole & for me personally.
Among many other things, his book KENOBI was the first book to be released with the LEGENDS banner on it (the hardcover was released prior to the canon “reset” of 2014). And then his novel A NEW DAWN was the very first book to be released in the new canon!
He’s done some short stories in between then & now, but THE LIVING FORCE is his first full-length Star Wars novel since A NEW DAWN. A whole lot has changed across the landscape of Star Wars books since then, but it’s awesome to see Miller on the shelves with a new Star Wars novel!
If you are a prequel fan (and I am!) there’s so much happening right now…The Bad Batch is ending in a few days from the writing of this review, and at the comic shop, there’s two amazing new titles on the shelf; MACE WINDU (a four-issue miniseries) and JANGO FETT (I think the length of this is still a bit up in the air, but I could be mistaken). It’s also the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace with the movie back in theatres May 3rd!
And now we have THE LIVING FORCE, a book that finally asks the question: What if all twelve members of the Jedi Council went on a somewhat wacky roadtrip?
I’ll get this out right at the beginning…this isn’t a new favorite of mine. I certainly enjoyed it, as I do with all the Star Wars novels I read! But this one felt a little bogged down with the sheer number of characters involved, which made it a bit hard for me to feel totally connected to some of them. That said, there are parts of this book I adored & I’ll certainly highlight those in a bit.
The whole catalyst for the story involves Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi, though they don’t appear in the book a whole ton. But it’s a nearly-violent episode that occurs on a public transport ship that spurs Qui-Gon to ask some difficult questions of the Jedi Council.
It’s a time of peace, which has lead to the closure of many Jedi outposts, which has not gone unnoticed. Both by the citizens who felt reassured by the presence of the Jedi throughout the galaxy, and by some more unsavory types (namely bands of pirates) who take advantage of these largely Jedi-less sectors of space.
So, Qui-Gon being Qui-Gon, he kind of gets in everyone’s head a little, getting all the members of the Jedi Council to take a second and reevaluate the role of the Jedi in the galaxy. To question whether there is more that they can be doing to help everyday people with their problems.
The Jedi hit the road & hijinks ensue!
I mean, to a point.
Most of the action takes place on & around the planet Kwenn. If we’ve seen this planet in Star Wars before, I can’t recall it. What we haven’t seen before (at least I’m pretty sure?) in a Star Wars book is a map!
A MAP! And a land map, no less. It’s a veritable staple in fantasy books, but yeah, this is the first time I think I’ve seen one in a Star Wars book (maybe there’s been some star maps) & I love it! Kwenn is made up of a bunch of different islands called keys (maybe it’s inspired by the Florida Keys?)
The story that I loved most by a long shot in THE LIVING FORCE was Depa Billaba’s. So much so that I honestly think this entire book could have been about her! She’s a character that we’ve seen a fair bit of over the years, and she’s always fascinated me. While it’s no longer canon, her storyline in Matthew Stover’s SHATTERPOINT is so haunting & unforgettable. Additionally, I (somewhat) recently read the KANAN: THE LAST PADAWAN comics (serious contender for my favorite Star Wars comic ever!), and her importance to Kanan Jarrus’s overall character arc cannot be overstated.
In THE LIVING FORCE we find Depa (former padawan to Mace Windu) in deep on an undercover mission, disguising herself as getaway driver for a young kid named Kylah. Kylah has kind of stumbled into working for the Riftwalkers, a notorious pirate band led by a Nautolan pirate named Zilastra.
I think I was a little split on this character. In the beginning, I thought she might turn out to be a pirate-with-a-heart-of-gold type character. Someone with the gruff exterior who turns out to be a little soft on the inside. But as the story went on, she just became more and more reprehensible. Ugh, yeah…what a monster.
Anyhow, Depa is attempting to infiltrate this band of pirates from the inside out, and an ultimately free Kylah from this way of life. The real question is whether or not Kylah wants to be free. Oof…yeah the more I sit with things about THE LIVING FORCE, the more this aspect of the book really resonated with me.
They all can’t be my favorite. That’s kind of what it all boils down to, I think. There were some really cool surprises and fun moments in this, it just ultimately fell a tiny bit flat for me in places. I would absolutely recommend this to prequel fans! And certainly, if you’ve read any of the stories I mentioned that feature Depa Billaba & want to read more, then this becomes pretty essential reading.
Even if I was a little so-so on certain aspects of THE LIVING FORCE, it’s still an enjoyable read, and I was really excited to see John Jackson Miller back in the fold!
May the Force be with you!! And happy Star Wars Day!
Grimdark Dad 