The galaxy is changing! The Jedi Order has been a stalwart presence in the galaxy for millennia – but what happens when their role starts to look different? How does the Jedi Order find its place in a changing galaxy? Read Chris’ review of The Living Force to see how the galaxy reacts around the changing role of the Jedi!
What does it mean to be a Jedi? To different Jedi, there may be different answers: to help legislate the galaxy in the hope of increasing the common good; to help defend the Republic against those who would destroy it; to study the Force and to become intimately familiar with the ways of the Jedi. On the Jedi Council, readers of The Living Force will meet someone with these views – and nine other views, as well. The central question of John Jackson Miller’s book is: what does it mean to be a Jedi? How does one truly act as a Jedi should act? And this question is artfully framed in a challenge issued by Qui-Gon Jinn: to truly serve the Force and act as a powerful Jedi, one must help people. His challenge, explicitly, is: help just one person. This book then follows the Jedi as they explore what it means to be a Jedi as filtered by this singular challenge as they travel to the world of Kwenn to investigate whether or not they should shut down one of their remote temples.
This book then takes all twelve members of the Jedi Council (as of the time period, one year before The Phantom Menace) to Kwenn to give them a chance to help just one person. Having at least 12 POV characters does make The Living Force feel a bit longer (and may slow down the pace a bit more than I have become accustomed to), but it gives us a chance to spend more intimate time with a larger cast of really interesting characters and viewpoints. Some of the characters are paired with one another in a way that highlights some of their core differences (and similarities), giving some more obscure Jedi a chance to shine where some more well-known Jedi are able to be reflected against characters they don’t normally interact with. Each of the twelve Jedi in the novel are given a chance to serve just one person, unique to their character traits and flaws and interests. Even though the plot of the book slows down to accommodate this cast, you really get to know quite a few characters, and, I think, have a lot of new insight to bring into the Prequel era we already know.
I chose to begin this review on the characters because they are the bread and butter of the novel. That being said, the premise of the novel itself is both extremely interesting and a hotbed for new stories itself. In the years leading up to the Clone War, the Jedi are shutting down remote temples, decommissioning them and re-basing the Jedi stationed there to Coruscant. The novel begins with one Jedi Temple shutting down and then turns its attention to another Temple, on Kwenn, which finds itself on the chopping block next. This is a really interesting way to introduce new worlds and temples, but also draw a connection with The High Republic, set 200 years prior to the events of this novel. Even the 3D animated The Clone Wars series and the book/comic Weapon of a Jedi benefit from this story, as we see the roots of how the Devaronian temple could have been shut down.
In a lot of ways, having such a character-driven book works on two levels. On the first level, it plays into John Jackson Miller’s strengths. Some of his best books are more character-driven than plot driven (Knight Errant and Kenobi come to mind quickly), and even his more action-y books really shine when they drill down on the cast and their motivations (A New Dawn). When I think of Miller’s writing, Kenobi or A New Dawn have medium size casts and one or two clearer main characters, like Obi-Wan or Hera and Kanan, but this has 12 plus and yet when he’s writing the character based parts, I really think this book works so much better. As I implied, I’m much more of a fan of Miller’s character work than his action scenes, and in this book, I felt like I was ready for the climactic battle scene to wrap up to get back to the characters themselves. This is true on a lot of levels: some characters with less content are fleshed out really well, and some characters with more material feel like more full people (the main villain, Depa Billaba, Mace Windu, some other new side characters). I can think of a direct comparison: Light of the Jedi. Both are somewhat introductory pieces to a new era, and both juggle extremely large casts. This book has a bit of a heads up in that we do know these Council members over the THR characters, but they read similarly in my mind. The new villain, Zilastra, is well-fleshed out, having a Miller-favorite “character bit” based on sabacc and a solid motivation. This makes for a memorable villain in my mind.
The Living Force being character-driven also helps on a second level: it’s a great transitional novel. If you’ve ever wondered how the Jedi of the High Republic era became the Jedi of the Fall of the Republic era, this novel does a really good job of showing that happening. We’re dropped somewhat in the middle of this transition: Jedi are locked in political (and commercial?) mire with regards to the Republic. The Jedi have all but left the Outer Rim, with no more exploration on the frontier and the destruction of the Occlusion Zone, the Nihil threat to the galaxy that was (presumably) defeated 200 years prior. This shows a Jedi Order that, whether or not it means to, has started to turn inward and has started to (maybe even accidentally) begin to ignore the problems of the wider galaxy. Without getting into details, I was happy with the way this book was able to both satisfactorily (in my mind) tell a good story with a solid enough conclusion without contradicting the way we saw the Jedi in the Prequel films. This is a Jedi Council who can be pushed to remember who they are – but the book then makes us wonder, “but are they too far gone?” I believe achieving this aim was a tight balance, and I don’t see this novel will satisfy everybody. I think some readers will find the book didn’t challenge the Jedi enough, and some may believe the Jedi of this novel couldn’t become the Jedi of the Prequels. I do think The Living Force has the chance to cause some great conversations, and I hope they happen.
It seems to me The Living Force may be one of the first novels in a while that would easily have a broad readership. It appeals to fans of the Prequels, of The High Republic, of the Jedi, of the Expanded Universe, Miller fans, etc. In this case, it would be hard to not recommend this book to you. I won’t call it a masterpiece – like I said, I found it slow at times and the climax wasn’t the book’s strength. But those aside, this character based work is going to cause a lot of great discussions, introduce new avenues for storytelling, and should be well-read.
Chris is Mynock Manor’s Sous Chef. You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.