Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars

De: Sam Maggs

Narrado por: Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Cal Kestis leads the Stinger Mantis crew on an adventure set between Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the highly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Cal Kestis has built a new life for himself with the crew of the Stinger Mantis. Together, Cal’s crew has brought down bounty hunters, defeated Inquisitors, and even evaded Darth Vader himself. More important, Merrin, Cere, Greez, and faithful droid BD-1 are the closest thing Cal has had to a family since the fall of the Jedi Order. Even as the galaxy’s future grows more uncertain by the day, with each blow struck against the Empire the Mantis crew grows more daring.

On what should be a routine mission, they meet a stormtrooper determined to chart her own course with the help of Cal and the crew. In exchange for help starting a new life, the Imperial deserter brings word of a powerful, potentially invaluable tool for their fight against the Empire. And even better, she can help them get to it. The only catch—pursuing it will bring them into the path of one of the Empire’s most dangerous servants, the Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother.

Can the Imperial deserter truly be trusted? And while Cal and his friends have survived run-ins with the Inquisitors before, how many times can they evade the Empire before their luck runs out?

©2023 Ballantine (P)2023 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Author Sam Maggs has managed to turn a tie-in novel that bridges the gap between two video games into one of the most romantic and riveting Star Wars books of all time. Jedi: Battle Scars blows every expectation out of the water for a thrilling and intimate tale of messy found family and finding your fire and purpose in the galaxy.” —Dork Side of the Force

“Maggs is a strong writer and the story is incredibly compelling.” —SlashFilm

“A perfect bridge from Fallen Order to Survivor . . . Battle Scars provides a fun and exciting new adventure for Cal & Co.” —That Hashtag Show

Too much lesbian erotica, not enough Star Wars

They did my boy Cal dirty with this one. The sound design had long sections of high-pitched alarms or other environmental sounds. The music was good, but certain chapters were almost unbearable using headphones. And you’ll want to use headphones, unless you’re cool with your children overhearing a ton of grating, steamy scenes that just feel out of place.

A more mature take on the story of this crew!

First, a little bit about me. I am 48, straight married female, consider myself an ally to my beautiful LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. I am also CEO of my own video game development company since 1997. I have been a fan of Star Wars since 1977 and I am REALLY into all the stories --- films, shows, books, etc. I am an original trilogy baby, thus that's my favorite of all the films. Rogue One to me was a masterpiece that led us straight into A New Hope and everytime I see it, it makes me want to see the OT all over again. I loved the prequels, with all its flaws, and I don't consider myself a sequel "hater" at all, but I did have some problems with those films, yet still I am a fan of ALL Star Wars. I have LOVED the video game stories probably the most out of everything, not surprising because of my background.

Overall, this is certainly a more adult book and not really for young kids. If you are a fan of the video game story of Jedi: Fallen Order, you'll get a glimpse into Merrin's thoughts and personality a lot more in this book. The story is really centered around her, not necessarily Cal Kestis. Which I think could be a negative point if folks really expected this story to be about him.

But as a fan of Merrin's, I loved learning more about her. She's definitely "xeno"-sexual in this book --- a term I coined myself because of the various races that we have in this franchse. She swings all the ways you can swing and I am not mad at that at all. I love that part of her. She loves because she loves. There is something really great in that.

I know people will balk and say that doesn't belong in Star Wars, but I disagree. I think LOVE in general is a HUGE part of this franchise, it started with Han and Leia, then moved back in time to depict the love of Anakin and Padme, and forwards again to see Ben Solo and Rey. Love, and all the messiness of it, makes for great, realistic drama in storytelling.

The story of the "Shroud" technology is pretty good but at times can be boring; I mean a "cloaking device"? You have a cloaking device onboard with Merrin and her Ichor Talisman --- sooooo.... yeah? But the book isn't about the story of this device, its about the story of this crew. They all have different goals, and probably never talked about them before. This book dives into those differences and how they chose to resolve them --- for now. And in that, I loved it!

The performances are A+++ stellar for this audiobook and Star Wars delivers yet another amazing Audiobook filled with sounds, music, and amazing voice actors that are chameleons with their voices. S-Tier!

One of my least favorite SW Books

I’ve read/listened to about all of them…from legends to the High Republic. I was very excited for this novel, as I’m a fan of the game.
The short version of what I want say is that there is no real objective in this story, no real conclusion, and minimal character development. Add in a pointless, overly verbose cheesy romance novel feel, bordering on soft core. Pass on this one.

Not enough Star Wars…

I was hoping to get at least a few answers as to why Merrin and Greez were not in the new game trailer. Also when/ why Cere left the crew. The first game was in 14bby, and the new game is in 9bby. The book says years have passed, but these questions don’t get answered. Instead we get a little action, less Star Wars information, and a ton of Merrin eye banging then actually banging a female Imperial. Look, I don’t care if characters have alternative lifestyles/ preferences. There is this modern agenda to tell everyone’s preference up front… fine, but this is a Star Wars novel, not True Blood or Ann Rice. Tell us their preference and move on. I don’t need full on chapter after chapter of this lesbian love triangle. I don’t care! No one that reads Star Wars cares! Look at the Legends novels, Leia and Han have multiple kids. Guess how much of their sex life is described? Zip, zero, zilch. Enough with the inclusion agenda. Just tell a good story that Star Wars fans can get behind no matter who they invite into their beds. This was another missed opportunity. I don’t recommend wasting your time reading or listening to this book. Just play the games and you won’t be lost as far as the story goes. Hopefully the 2nd game is better than this novel. Shouldn’t be hard.

Not what you expect

This is a wonderful romance novel, but its not what was advertised at all. Way too much of the book is the love interest. Without spoilers, its not who you think. I'm pretty majorly dissapointed because I was excited for Cal kicking butt and discovering more about the force, but he gets sidelined most of the book. If I had a nickel for every time the descriptions strayed into romance and away from what was advertised, I'd be able to afford a different star wars book.

Mew

Honestly, this story didn't do much for me. I found it shallow and boring. The mandatory lesbian love story was absolutely terrible. I wish I could get my credit back, lol. Maybe my expectations were too high because I was really looking forward to this story and it was a total letdown.

Just find a summary if you want to know what happens between games

I only finished this because of the game coming out. Read more like a cheesy teen romance novel, but without any shred of believability

a good Tie-in

I really enjoyed this book because of the fifth brother inquisition. this made him seem pretty formidable

Did a child write this?

Genuinely the worst Star Wars book I think I’ve ever heard. Any time the characters are conversing, it’s fantastic. Maggs gets their personalities to a tee. Anytime there’s narration, it’s all along the lines of
“And it hurt. Really hurt.”
Like something you’d hear in a Marvel movie. Not sure if I want to continue listening.

Threw me at first, but got hooked quick

Initially I was thrown off by the pacing of the narration. I tend to listen at at least 1.2x speed, but with this even 1x felt a little fast for the speech, took some getting used to. The content pleasantly surprised me, I have been loving ALL the different additions to the Star Wars Canon, and even though it caught me off guard with the first, acknowledging that sex exists (in a less creepy way than...other things...) and that different sexualities are present in a way that just feels natural was great!

Thank you Sam Maggs for your contribution, and may the Force be with you!