Jedi Twilight (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights I) Review

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(More customer reviews)The aptly-named Jedi Twilight, the first book of the Coruscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves, is an adventurous, fast-paced romp of a tale that skillfully weaves in many characters and story elements of the larger Expanded Universe. The setting is the largely untapped Dark Times, the eighteen years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The Jedi have been decimated by the infamous Order 66, Emperor Palpatine is consolidating his grasp on the galaxy and building his new Empire, and Darth Vader is growing comfortable in his position at his master's side.
Reaves brings a very intriguing cast of characters to this story. Referencing his own earlier works, the main character is Jax Pavan, son of Lorn Pavan who had the limelight in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Happily, Lorn's sarcastic and self-aware droid sidekick I-5YQ returns, bringing along his closest friend, Sullustan reporter Den Dhur. Den was first featured in another Reaves work, the Medstar duology, as was rising Black Sun vigo Kaird, also returning here. More surprisingly, Reaves also grabs Prince Xizor of Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire fame and tosses in Nick Rostu from the superb Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover. It's definitely an interesting brew of characters.
The storyline primarily focuses on weaving relationships between these disparate people, using a chase for a missing protocol droid named 10-4TO as its focal point. Reaves deftly depicts the grittiness and peril of the less desirable reaches of Coruscant, creating a vaguely film noir atmosphere with what really is a detective story at its core. The inclusion of Prince Xizor and the insights into his ascension up Black Sun's ladder are particularly compelling reading. The sections featuring Vader are brief, and some of his dialogue doesn't seem quite right tonally. Arguably, since this is so early into Anakin's career as Vader, he may indeed have spoken differently from the familiar dialogue we heard in the Original Trilogy. His actions, however, are very much in keeping with his characterization from the films.
Events weave into a gripping climax set in Coruscant's downtrodden Factory District. There is an illuminating foreshadowing of Xizor's humaniform creation Guri in his hidden facility, and Reaves brings an extremely entertaining new concept to the Star Wars universe in the form of feral droids. These regressed droids are the result of programming gone haywire and act as a thematic counterpoint to the heightened self-awareness of I-5.
Jedi Twilight is a fun, entertaining kickoff to a promising trilogy. Reaves does a good job with managing an unusual cast and setting up future books while simultaneously creating a reasonably self-contained story. The book doesn't end with a particular cliffhanger, but through its strong character focus it creates excitement for the second volume in the series, Street of Shadows.


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With the dark ascension of the Empire, and the Jedi Knights virtually wiped out, one Jedi who escaped the massacre is slated for a date with destiny–and a confrontation with Darth Vader.Jax Pavan is one of the few Jedi Knights who miraculously survived the slaughter that followed Palpatine's ruthless Order 66. Now, deep in Coruscant's Blackpit Slums, Jax ekes out a living as a private investigator, trying to help people in need while concealing his Jedi identity and staying one step ahead of the killers out for Jedi blood. And they're not the only ones in search of the elusive Jax. Hard-boiled reporter Den Dhur and his buddy, the highly unorthodox droid I-5YQ, have shocking news to bring Jax–about the father he never knew. But when Jax learns that his old Jedi Master has been killed, leaving behind the request that Jax finish a mission critical to the resistance, Jax has no choice but to emerge from hiding–and risk detection by Darth Vader–to fulfill his Master's dying wish.Don't miss the continuing adventures in the Coruscant Nights series, coming this Fall!

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Medstar II: Jedi Healer (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is the second in the Medstar duology and brings a nice conclusion to a good first effort by Michael Reaves. This novel obviously does not stand by itself, but if you read and enjoyed Medstar I, this is a must read. Enjoy!

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Street of Shadows (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II) Review

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(More customer reviews)I probably should have given up on this series after the first one, but there was just enough with Darth Vader to keep me hooked. However, the second book in the Corsucant Nights series was just as average as the first one.
Again, scenes with Darth Vader keep my interest, as well as the appearances by Jedi hunter Aurra Sing. So much more could have been done with Sing over the years, but she's remained largely in the background until now. Sing is hunting Jax Pavan, the main character, and Vader is being hunted himself, this time by Padme's love-struck protector, Captain Typho.
Once again, the author attempts to impress us with his large vocabulary, and his story moves very slowly in places. Most Star Wars novels I find myself staying up late at night, eager to read the next chapter. So far, these two novels have helped put me to sleep at night.
Now I've given both books in this series three stars, which means they're not completely unreadable. I love the Star Wars universe outside the movies, but this series hasn't done much to flesh out the Star Wars universe after the prequel trilogy. Hopefully the final novel will have a payoff worthy of one more star.

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With the Jedi all but wiped out in the grim aftermath of Order 66, the Empire's power seems unchecked. But one lone Knight continues to fight the good fight–against all odds and when all else fails.Deep in the bowels of Coruscant, Jedi Jax Pavan ekes out a living as a private investigator, a go-to, can-do guy for the downtrodden. Now a mysterious Zeltron knockout named Deejah approaches Jax with a case that needs to be cracked: to find out who killed her artist lover Volette, brutally murdered hours after his triumphant unveiling of a dazzling new light sculpture with obvious links to lightsaber pyrotechnics.Finding Volette's killer won't be easy–too many secrets, too many suspects, and all kinds of motives. But with the droid I-5YQ's help, and ex-reporter Den Dhur's excellent snooping skills, the investigation is soon operating like a well-oiled machine.Unfortunately, there's a far more efficient machine hunting Jax. It's a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as the clock starts ticking toward the final explosive showdown . . . to see who strikes first and who will die first.

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Shadow Hunter (Star Wars: Darth Maul) Review

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(More customer reviews)I found Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter to be an interesting, exciting and fun change of pace from the more run-of-the-mill Star Wars novels. It obviously takes place in the Prequel Era, and covers the events immediately before the start of The Phantom Menace. Basically the plot is that a Neimoidian with news of the Naboo blockade tries to sell the information on Coruscant, so Darth Maul is sent to hunt the guy down and kill him, as well as anyone he has told about the blockade.
Michael Reaves is by no stretch of the imagination a fantastic author; his writing style and mechanics just weren't that great. However, this minor lapse is more than made up for by all the great elements to this book. Reaves introduces several new and interesting characters, which is a boon since because they aren't "main" characters, there are no assurances that they will survive, and the suspense is therefore much greater than in most of the Star Wars stories.
The author also explores a lot of hitherto underexplained and -explored elements of the Star Wars universe. For example, the fighting style known as tëras käsi has been referenced and mentioned a lot in previous novels, but here for the first time we see what it really is. Also, we get more insight into the Sith culture -- why they want "revenge" on the Jedi, why Darth Maul in particular is so obssessed with killing Jedi, and things that make the Sith's motivations in the films much more clear. The book goes more into the actual role of the Jedi in the galaxy, and how much influence they have, and it explores some of the problems with Jedi policy. Also, though Reaves is a newcomer to the Star Wars universe, there are enough small references to other works to please fans especially.
In terms of action, of which there is certainly plenty to be found here, the author had a lot of fun. New and innovative ways of killing and dying in the Star Wars universe, cool weapons and capabilities. And instead of giving us a blow-by-blow breakdown of lightsaber duels, Reaves instead opts to go more into the mindset of the fighters, how the Force helps and influences their actions and decisions, which gives us a unique view in that regard. In fact, for a novel more oriented towards adventure, I think that this book has an outstanding amount of introspection and thought regarding the ways, the use, and the limits of the Force, and the differences between the Light Side and the Dark Side.
There were really only a few small downfalls in terms of plot. First of all, the Obi-Wan subplot was really unnecessary. It didn't really go anywhere, and it didn't really establish anything new about the character anyway. Also, in this book it seems that Holocrons are also able to be used as simple recording devices -- I had thought from previous sources that they were something different. And finally, there was really no reason to introduce the "Crimson Corridor." There are already plenty of bad places that we know about on Coruscant, an easy example being the Southern Underground, without the author having to create an even new, even worse section than we've seen before.
Overall, however, this was a great effort. A quick, fun, and entertaining romp through the bowels of Coruscant, filled with fun and enjoyable characters that I for one would like to see more of in the future. Good job Michael Reaves!

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Patterns of Force (Star Wars: Coruscant Nights III) Review

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(More customer reviews)...but was simply too ridiculous to pull it off.
Another reviewer on here wrote about the "silly" things in this series and I agree with that review. Reaves, who did so well with the MedStar books, should have stayed out of Jedi lore and delivered more Star Wars through another perspective. Much like Traviss really shines when she deals with non-Jedi (the Clones and Mandalorians) Reaves' medical personnel and media hounds were truly interesting to read. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to muck about with lightsabers and Force-religion.
The Coruscant Nights Trilogy tries too hard. I appreciate the attempt at having a noir feel - in fact, I think it's a great idea. I don't think that having a Jedi play Private Eye is such a good idea. It comes off completely silly, trite, and campy. Were the character of Jax Pavan a normal citizen, or perhaps a law enforcement agent, a reporter, or even a person with just a slight affinity for the Force, these books could have been fantastic. The conflict could have existed on a level of a lone do-gooder against a corrupt system. We could have seen the bad guy be an Imperial agent, an Imperial enforcer - something. However, since he's a full-fledged Jedi Knight, we get such ridiculous things thrown in here for "excitement" (enter, the Inquisitors, and the "Inquisitorius"- an entire legion of Dark Side users) that this turns into a complete turn-off. The Inquisitors were one of the worst additions to Star Wars lore that I have ever come across. Suddenly we have Vader training dozens (perhaps even hundreds?) of Force-users in the Dark Side to hunt down other Force-users and rogue Jedi. I mean, there's the whole "Rule of Two" thing, plus one would think that any Force-users would be seen as a threat to the Palpatine/Vader regime. Plus, the idea of an Inquisitorius is such a big one that it makes a strange gap in continuity that we've never heard about it at any point until now.
And one character's use of the Force is so beyond a level we've ever seen before and he's not even fully trained? This kid, who's never had any instruction, mind you, is vaporizing people with the Force. How many Masters of the Force have we seen or heard of doing this? And some teenage kid is pulling it off with "just instinct."
Light sculptures shielding the Force from detection? Ugh. Don't get me started.
And Vader going on a "bad trip" (an actual quote from the book) when he takes some bota? Good God, the last thing I want to see is the Dark Lord himself having some drug freak out.
Plus, Reaves' characterization of Vader is just awful. His dialogue is never right, his motives and actions are so un-Vader-ish that I had to keep reminding myself that it was the same character. At one point, he asks if his display of an imprisoned character's post-torture state is too disturbing and distracting, and so he removes the character from view with a very sarcastic sense of "is that better, now? insert-evil-laughter-here." It was much too Bond-villain for me. He tortured Han and Leia and let the reverberations in the Force be enough punishment/lure for Luke. Why the petty display through hologram for Jax? It's just lame.
And Reaves is apparently in love with his own grasp of vocabulary. The sentences are often long, clunky, and way too wordy to even be enjoyable to read. At times I had to put the book down and stop reading simply because I felt as if I were reading a thesaurus.
This series isn't the worst Star Wars I've ever read, but it's fairly close. I would recommend this to people who are die-hard only since anyone who doesn't have an extremely strong sense of love for the Star Wars franchise will see that love extinguished by this trilogy.

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After the Empire's bloody purge of the Jedi, one lone Knight still fights for those who cannot, unaware that he's about to be swept into a cataclysmic battle against the Master of Darkness himself.Throughout the galaxy, a captured Jedi is a dead Jedi, even in Coruscant's most foul subterranean slums, where Jedi Knight Jax Pavan champions the causes of the oppressed with the help of hard-nosed reporter Den Dhur and the wisecracking droid I-5YQ. But Jax is also involved in another struggle–to unlock the secrets of his father's death and his own past.While Jax believes that I-5YQ holds some of those answers, he never imagines that the truth could be shocking enough to catapult him to the frontlines of a plot to kill Emperor Palpatine. Worse yet, Darth Vader's relentless search for Jax is about to end . . . in triumph. The future looming over the valiant Jedi and his staunch pals promises to be dark and brief, because there's no secret whatsoever about the harshest truth of all: Few indeed are those who tangle with Darth Vader . . . and live to tell the tale.

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Medstar I: Battle Surgeons (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Battle Surgeons" is the first book in the Medstar duology. The action takes place two years after "Attack of the Clones." As can be guessed from the title of both the book and the duology, "Battle Surgeons" gives readers the first true look at a side of the Galaxy that has never been seen before. These battle surgeons are the ones who clean up the messes of all the wars and battles and try to save lives in the midst of a war. Think of it as the Star Wars version of M.A.S.H. and you will have a sense of exactly what "Battle Surgeons" is.
This story takes place on, and around, the planet Drongar. There is some backstory presented that there is a rare plant which can be used as something of a miracle drug for a variety of species throughout the galaxy and the Clone Wars have come to Drongar for the control of this plant/drug. This is the background, but it isn't terribly important because the story is really about the M.A.S.H. unit. The heart of "Battle Surgeons" lies in the interaction between the various surgeons: Jos Vondar, Zan Yant, Tolk le Trene, and the Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee sent to investigate the situation on Drongar. There is, of course, the love interest between Jos and Tolk, which is complicated by their cultural restrictions. But, added to the mix is also the protocol droid I-Five. Readers may remember I-Five from "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter", which was also written by Michael Reaves. I-Five is a droid which has more human emotional characteristics than most droids, more so than some humans would think possible for a droid. He is also a much more interesting character (on the page) than C-3PO (not in this book). For example, we see I-Five gambling with the other surgeons, holding his own in both the game as well as in the give and take of conversation.
There is a main plot thread about smuggling the rare plant from Drongar, but what makes this story shine is the interactions within the M.A.S.H. unit (if I were more familiar with the show I would be able to extend the analogy to the characters). This is a much funnier book than many of the other Star Wars novels, and while they all use humor, the humor in "Battle Surgeons" felt appropriate and fitting for who the characters are and the situation they are dealing with. Then again, I was prepped for this novel by periodically watching M.A.S.H. reruns over the years. "Battle Surgeons" is an entertaining look into an overlooked part of the Star Wars universe, and one which also sets up the continuing story in "Medstar II: Healer". This volume was good enough that I am looking to read the second volume over many of the other Star Wars novels that have been published.
-Joe Sherry

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