As the world prepares to figure out who the”The Last Jedi” refers to, jump back in time to the beginning, and experience the Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void!
“At the heart of any poor soul not at one with the Force, there is only void. —Unknown Je’daii, 2,545 TYA
One of the best parts about Star Wars is how universal the themes are. Good stories capture the heart of these themes, no matter what the surrounding context is. Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void captures family drama, all under the veneer of a historical jaunt.
I recently learned that at the tail end of the Legends canon, most of the comic series were released as a sort of multi-media event. This was the case for The Lost Tribe of the Sith and Knight Errant, but those were only a few examples out of many. Our current novel, Dawn of the Jedi was also a multi-media event. Thankfully, despite the fact that the novel was released with a few corresponding comic series, Adventurers who read the novel alone won’t be entirely out of the loop. The book, thankfully, stands alone – I do wonder what dimensions and ideas I missed not having read the comic series, but I didn’t feel like this novel was missing anything. Tim Lebbon writes this novel as if you are new to both the era and Star Wars itself: which is great, because most of us are! You can go ahead and check out the comic after or before this book, but thankfully, it is not required reading.
At the onset of reading this novel, I was nervous about the concept of a series (both comic and novel) based on the origins of the Jedi Order. For the most part, I think Legends has earned it’s reputation for having explained too many questions that we weren’t asking. The origin of the Jedi Order might be an interesting concept, but being set millennia before the Battle of Yavin might make the stories a bit too foreign for most readers. (This is one of the places that the Adventures are really fun: we’re going to the furthest corners of the galaxy, no matter where that happens to be!) One of my biggest concerns, based on the designs and some of the story beats for the MMORPG The Old Republic, was that these stories would be repackaged/reskinned Star Wars stories set really early in the timeline. Thankfully, I was very wrong in this case. The stories feel, at the same time, quintessentially Star Wars while paving new directions in the galaxy. Despite the continuity between the two, the Je’daii of Tython and Jedi of Coruscant were different enough to tell different stories yet feel similar in important ways.
First, let’s set the stage with a bit of information. The formation of the Je’daii Order was not the first major event in the galaxy. In fact, the Celestials have been active in the galaxy for millions of years, creating both technological marvels and entire systems themselves. The Celestials created Corellia, the Maw Cluster, and Centerpoint Station by this point (all of which will become important planets or plot points in later Legends stories.) The Celestials, masters of the Force, who are rumored to be the ancestors of the Force sensitive, have mastered hyperspace travel, creating a galactic competition to develop even better hyperspace technology. The Celestials were not the only creating species, though: the Silentium have created the Sharu species. The Sharu, a highly intelligent species, were designed to create better hyperspace technology for the Silentium. Rumors have it that the Celestials attacked the Sharu to shut down this technology. The effects of this battle will have repercussions in the galaxy even hundreds of thousands of years later. After this attack, the Celestials enslaved the Gree, who also had their own hyperspace technology. Effectively, this story feels like the Legends canon “space race”.
Despite these huge historical events, or the recent foundation of the Je’daii Order, the novel takes a more intimate approach when it focuses on Lanoree Brock, a Je’daii Ranger. In the recent past, the Je’daii had separated from Dark Force users and founded a school on Tython. (These Dark Force users probably included the dangerous Sorcerers of Tund, who were considered a Jedi heresy rather than a separate group at this point.) The Force was strong on Tython and practitioners were quickly able to harness its power. The planet is surrounded by dangerous terrains, scary beasts, and special Force tests that became a great spot to earn the rank of Je’daii and explore the depths of the Force. Tython proves a wonderful background, and a stark contrast to the Temple on Coruscant. I’m thankful that in an era that desperately tries to tie itself to the films, we at least have a new planet to explore. (Readers of Complete Locations will be excited to see that Tython was canonized as an early Jedi Temple, too!).
Lanoree is a Ranger, which is a group of Je’daii tasked with exploring the galaxy. (These are the spiritual ancestors of the Jedi Rangers that Jax Pavan interacted with and Jaina Solo will later lead.) Her brother, unfortunately, is a failed Jedi named Dalien Brock. While Lanoree enjoys mild success as a Ranger, her brother’s tenuous connection to the Force drove him away from the Je’daii toward the Dark Side. Unfortunately, Dalien and Lanoree are both interested in finding hyperspace technology, the same technology that the Sharu and Celestials had already possessed. The regular people, as it were, are finally catching up to the divine and are setting their eyes on the stars. Thankfully, because neither have access to hyperspace technology, the novel remains intimate while still introducing a lot of interesting new locales.
Dalien’s plan to travel the stars revolves around ancient Gree technology. (Yes, Commander Gree names himself after these aliens.) In order to be able to travel the stars, Dalien hopes to tap into an ancient Rakatan energy source. The Gree technology, a transporter, was rumored to be able to send the user across the galaxy in a matter of moments. Readers of Legends novels won’t be too familiar with the Rakatan Infinite Empire, but could know from previous experience that they were a massive empire that controlled almost all of the galaxy. The Infinite Empire created their own superweapons, such as the Star Forge, which harnessed energy from the Dark Side of the Force. The dark energies started to corrupt the Rakatans, which led to the empire’s dissolution from civil wars and foreign attacks. (Between the Celestials and the Rakatans, the galaxy is being littered with discarded superweapons, some of which we won’t see for hundreds of thousands of years!) The novel reflects a bit on our tendency to create huge weapons, the ethics of using these tools for good or evil reasons, and the effect their use has on the user. While it’s the least interesting question the novel asks, I do appreciate that the Legends canon has an eye on critiquing their overuse of super weapons.
The most interesting questions of the novel come with the explorations of early Je’daii philosophy. The concept of the early Je’daii are fascinating, and it opens up a lot of philosophical discussions on the nature of the Force. The novel introduces quite a few questions and fascinating discussions, but doesn’t spend a lot of time developing a philosophy of the Force. These discussions of the Force should stick in the back of your mind while you read future Legends novels, though! The Adventures will mostly revisit these concepts when we reach the end of the canon, starting in the New Jedi Order series. Philosophically minded readers will easily find a lot to like in this book for this reason alone.
We also see a new dimension between the relationship of people to the Force (no midi-chlorians, though!). Dalien has a reticence to opening himself up to the Force, which couples poorly with his inability to harness and feel it well. Dalien comes to find himself hating the Force after leaving Tython, doing all that he can to shut himself out from the Force. His struggles create doubt in Lanoree’s mind about her ability to follow the Force and the nature of the Force itself. She also asks personal questions: would he have turned away from the light had he felt a better connection to the Force? Would he have tried to find the Gree transporter, or would he have stayed with the Rangers?
But the early Jedi philosophy as taught on Tython is not the only thought provoking aspect of this book. Dalien’s early reticence toward following the ways of the Force opens up doubts in Lanoree’s mind. For one of the few times I can remember, the main character has to deal personally with what it means for someone to hate the Force. This introduced a lot more thought-provoking elements, and even the climax is focused on these thoughts. As Lanoree finishes the fight with her brother, she wonders about how he would change if his lot in life were different. If he had the Force, would he had turned evil? Would he have tried so hard to find the Gree transporter? She also wonders about her own power, both in its nature and how to properly use it. She travels with a Twi’lek rogue named Tre Sana. At times, Lanoree is tempted to use the Force to influence Tre’s mind to accede to her will. Tre may be a shady person, but Lanoree is not sure that gives her the ability to manipulate him with the Force. This becomes a subtle criticism of the Prequel Jedi down the road.
The plot is fairly basic: a Jedi is sent to stop a bad guy from getting a MacGuffin. Thankfully, despite how straightforward that summary might have been, the plot is interesting. The book is split in two parts: Lanoree and Dalien’s early Je’daii training, and Lanoree’s current mission. The flashbacks to their early training do a good job of setting up both sibling’s characters and explaining how we got to the present situation. This is entirely a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going back and forth between these stories. When the character learns a lesson in the past, they learn a similar lesson in the present (think of The Arrow on The CW). By putting these stories right next to each other, I feel like the story is robbed of its chance to naturally develop. I would love to see these put in chronological order and seeing the characters develop rather than being shown, at convenient intervals, how they develop.
All in all, Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void is a fascinating read, exploring the earliest history of the Jedi. I never thought this was a story that I needed, but thankfully, Tim Lebbon expands the history into something interesting.
Chris is the Sous Chef at the Mynock Manor. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, follow the Manor.