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Saturday Dad Reads Week of August 2
Star Wars extended Universe and Some Fall book suggestions
Welcome to this week’s edition! Here’s what we’ve got lined up:
📕 This week’s Book Summary and Review: Champions of the Force
🧑🦰 Author Bio: Kevin J. Anderson
💣️ Dad’s Knowledge Bomb: The Empire’s Arsenal
📣 This week’s Dad Rant: Top 5 Dad Reads for Fall
Summary
Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson is the final installment in the Jedi Academy trilogy that follows Luke Skywalker’s efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order after the fall of the Empire. In the series, Luke establishes an academy on Yavin 4 to train a new generation of Jedi, but his students face serious challenges, including the emergence of an ancient Sith spirit. Meanwhile, throughout the series the New Republic must go toe to toe with a new military threat in the form of Admiral Daala new superweapons built within the top secret Maw Installation.
In Champions of the Force, with Luke trapped in a comatose state after an attack by the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun, his students must come together to defeat the dark presence threatening their future. Meanwhile, Kyp Durron, one of Luke's most powerful yet troubled students, continues his rampage across the galaxy in the superweapon Sun Crusher, targeting remnants of the Empire but risking turning to the dark side himself. As Han Solo, Leia, and other heroes work to stop Kyp and protect the fragile New Republic, the novel delivers a dramatic conclusion where other threats, both internal and from the void of the Maw itself, are met and countered.
📕 Review
I’ll probably catch some strays from the Star Wars community for this review, but I think I can handle it. The truth is that Kevin J. Anderson gets a lot of bad press for his contributions to the Star Wars expanded universe and I can see why. Is the Jedi Academy trilogy the apex of Star Wars novels? Certainly not, but they’ve got redeeming qualities. They’re worthy of their share of criticism, but not the absolute shelling they take from fans.
I maintain (and will die on this hill) that when it comes to Star Wars this book series should have been in consideration for Episodes VII-IX. I don’t think they’re deserving of a stand alone movie trilogy (that nod I’d give to Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn series), but in terms of source material alone, they would make for a better product than any of the series Disney has produced with the exception of The Mandalorian.
The Jedi Academy trilogy is chock full of Star Wars lore: Luke Skywalker attempting to rebuild the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to revive the Jedi Order; awesome technology and weaponry: The Maw Installation, Sun Crusher, and Death Star Prototype; the ancient Sith Master, Exar Kun. Specific to Champions of the Force: the resolution of Mon Mothma’s mystery illness; the plot to capture the infant Anakin Solo from the planet Anoth, featuring the introduction of the AT-MT walker; the redemption of Admiral Ackbar.
I will acknowledge that my perception of this book and series is heavily influenced by the presence aforementioned lore. That said, I’m willing to overlook a lot of the book’s negative baggage, specifically the dialogue. There were multiple times where I would end up re-reading an exchange and think: “That was rough.”
Also, I was willing to overlook a truly horrendous character in Tol Sivron, the Twi’lek administrator in charge of the Maw Installation who tries to abscond with the Death Star Prototype. My assumption was that Anderson was trying to add some comic relief by making him the stereotypical middle-manager, obsessed with reports, long meetings, and doing things according to the manual. However, it just didn’t work. Characters added for comic relief don’t tend to play well for Star Wars fans (sorry, Jar Jar Binks). The Maw Installation was a serious research installation for the Empire, created by one of its most ruthless officials, Grand Moff Tarkin. Sivron needed to be every bit the tyrant Tarkin was, if not more, for that character to work in context.
Those blemishes aside, I also think part of the reason Kevin J. Anderson’s work gets so much criticism is because Anderson’s main villain, Admiral Daala has nowhere near the depth and military genius of Timothy Zahn’s Grand Admiral Thrawn. We see Thrawn as a cold, calculating force that seriously gives the New Republic pause, not just because of the weaponry at his disposal, but because of his strategic mind and ambition. On the other hand, while Anderson paints Daala as having considerable military prowess, she ends up wholly reliant on the firepower at her disposal as opposed to her strategy. While a great villain, you never really get the sense that she poses a existential threat to the New Republic. As the Zahn and Anderson trilogies were released relatively close together, I think it’s wholly natural that Thrawn and Daala draw comparisons to each other.
In closing, while I am certainly in the minority for my take on Champions of the Force and the Jedi Academy trilogy as a whole, I can’t help but enjoy these books for one simple reason: they remind me of seeing the original Star Wars movies for the first time. Star Wars is still Star Wars (except for that Disney crap).
Rating: ☕️☕️☕️
Kevin J. Anderson is a prolific American science fiction author best known for his extensive work in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Anderson played a key role in expanding the post-Return of the Jedi timeline with his Jedi Academy trilogy, which introduced pivotal characters such as Kyp Durron and explored Luke Skywalker's efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order. He also edited and contributed to the Tales of the Jedi comic book series, which delved into the ancient history of the Jedi and Sith, significantly enriching the lore of the Star Wars galaxy.
Beyond his novels and comics, Anderson co-authored the Young Jedi Knights series with his wife, Rebecca Moesta, which followed the adventures of Han and Leia’s children, Jacen and Jaina Solo, during their Jedi training. His storytelling helped define an entire generation of Star Wars literature in the 1990s and early 2000s, shaping fan perceptions of the galaxy far, far away outside the films. Anderson’s contributions were instrumental in expanding the thematic and chronological scope of the Star Wars universe, bridging the gap between the original trilogy and the vast mythology embraced by fans for decades.
💣️Knowledge Bomb: The Emperor’s Arsenal
As I noted in the review, Champions of the Force contains some of, in my opinion, the best lore in the Star Wars expanded universe. I thought it’d be fitting to explore some of it here, focusing on two of the most powerful weapons to come out of the Empire’s think-tank military research installation, The Maw.
The Sun Crusher: The Sun Crusher is one of the most dangerous superweapons introduced in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, making its debut in the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson. Designed by the Empire in secret, the Sun Crusher is a small, nearly indestructible starfighter equipped with resonance torpedoes capable of causing stars to go supernova - effectively destroying entire star systems. Unlike the Death Star, which was a massive space station, the Sun Crusher’s compact size and invulnerable armor made it a stealthier and arguably more terrifying threat. The weapon is discovered and stolen by Kyp Durron, a powerful Jedi trainee who, under the influence of the Sith spirit Exar Kun, uses it to launch a personal crusade against remnants of the Empire, wreaking mass destruction, destroying the Imperial Academy on Carida and raising moral questions about vengeance and power.
The Death Star Prototype: The Death Star Prototype serves as a historical link between the two iconic battle stations seen in the original film trilogy. Created in the Maw Installation like the Sun Crusher, the prototype lacks the outer hull plating of its successors but includes a functional superlaser and basic infrastructure. It represents an experimental phase of the Empire’s pursuit of total domination through planetary destruction. The prototype underscores the Empire’s long-standing obsession with superweapons and helps contextualize the broader technological arms race that continues to haunt the New Republic.
📣 Dad Rant: Top 5 Dad Reads for Fall
Summer is drawing to a close and just because our days of reading on the beach and/or deck/front porch are limited, I wanted to slide some top-notch recommendations your way. The days might be shortening, but the to-read list gets longer. Check some or all of these out:
Autumn Gothic by Brian Bowyer (metal music, a haunted mansion in West Virginia, and the Sorceress of the Night - one hell of a blood-soaked read!)
It Dies with You by Scott Blackburn (fathers, sons, murder, and redemption - powerful and moving!)
The Last Ranger by Peter Heller (a poaching mystery set among a beautiful mountain-west backdrop - some of the most beautiful landscape descriptions I’ve read!)
Carlisle vs. Army by Lars Anderson (old school football and one of America’s greatest athletes - a must read for football fans!)
City on Fire by Don Winslow (The Italian Mob vs. The Irish mob - Winslow’s retelling of The Iliad)
Saturday Dad’s Rating System
I’m not a published author. Therefore, I’m never going to shit all over something that someone poured themselves into. That being said, each book will be rated on a scale of 3-5 coffees. Here’s what that means:
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - You’re going to want to get comfortable and fill that cup up 3 times. This one’s solid!
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - You’re going to want to give yourself a few hours of alone time. Fill that bad boy up 4 times and buckle up.
☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ ☕️ - Send the kids to grandma’s house and call off work. You’re not going to be able to put this one down. Make a whole pot and settle in for the long haul!