• Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars

  • By: Kevin Hearne
  • Narrated by: Marc Thompson
  • Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (4,627 ratings)

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Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars  By  cover art

Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars

By: Kevin Hearne
Narrated by: Marc Thompson
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Publisher's summary

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

A thrilling new adventure set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and, for the first time ever, written entirely from Luke Skywalker's first-person point of view.

Luke Skywalker's game-changing destruction of the Death Star has made him not only a hero of the Rebel Alliance but a valuable asset in the ongoing battle against the Empire. Though he's a long way from mastering the power of the Force, there's no denying his phenomenal skills as a pilot--and in the eyes of Rebel leaders Princess Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar, there's no one better qualified to carry out a daring rescue mission crucial to the Alliance cause.

A brilliant alien cryptographer renowned for her ability to breach even the most advanced communications systems is being detained by imperial agents determined to exploit her exceptional talents for the Empire's purposes. But the prospective spy's sympathies lie with the Rebels, and she's willing to join their effort in exchange for being reunited with her family. It's an opportunity to gain a critical edge against the Empire that's too precious to pass up. It's also a job that demands the element of surprise. So Luke and the ever-resourceful droid R2-D2 swap their trusty X-wing fighter for a sleek space yacht piloted by brash recruit Nakari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul, who's got a score of her own to settle with the Empire.

Challenged by ruthless imperial bodyguards, death-dealing enemy battleships, merciless bounty hunters, and monstrous brain-eating parasites, Luke plunges head-on into a high-stakes espionage operation that will push his abilities as a Rebel fighter and would-be Jedi to the limit. If ever he needed the wisdom of Obi-Wan Kenobi to shepherd him through danger, it's now. But Luke will have to rely on himself, his friends, and his own burgeoning relationship with the Force to survive.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Adventurers with Daddy Issues

If this novel were written outside of the Star Wars universe, I'd classify it as a simple, fun read. I have no problem with that because it captures the equally simple and fun tone of A New Hope, but without the level of epic that film introduced us to. All of the depth that's added to this story comes as a direct result of author Kevin Hearne delving into questions about Luke's character that Hearne has clearly pondered as a part of his own fandom.

This tale centers around a Luke Skywalker in transition. Immediately following the destruction of Death Star I, he is a hero to the Rebellion, but nowhere near competent with his abilities to tap the Force. He is perceived as more of an icon and less of a young man. Where this novel shines revolves around Luke's questions concerning his father, the Force, Darth Vader, and all of the unanswered questions that Obi-Wan left behind in the wake of the original film. Likewise, we can even see how the galaxy perceives the events of the Clone Wars, which Hearne uses to full effect. It's well done. The result is we see Luke at perhaps his most vulnerable, taking his next steps into the larger world of the Jedi Knight he'll become.

Luke is paired off with Katari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul who specializes in her own daddy issues and keeping us aware of just how young and inexperienced Luke really is at this point, illustrating just how much he would have to grow in the three years to The Empire Strikes Back.

I've read some of Hearne's other work, and his strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same here. He's excellent with characters and dialogue. His plots are uncomplicated and propel the story forward. But his world building is questionable at best. He creates some interesting and dangerous creatures, but in the little things he's far too Earthbound, taking me out of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. For example, the ever-ubiquitous coffee substitute "caf" from earlier Expanded Universe ("Legends") novels is all over the place here, and apparently buckwheat, noodles, salt, pepper, citrus, mint, "disposable eating sticks," and other such things from our own world can be found throughout the galaxy. I realize these are shortcuts to help make the Star Wars universe feel more real, but it brings down from epic to mundane by its very mention. Or I should say, it does for me. Maybe that won't bother others, but for me it's the little things that keep you in the story or yank you out of it. The good news is that when these things are brought up, Hearne uses these moments of down time to give us more character, which as I've said is his true strength as a storyteller.

Bottom line, it's not a great novel by comparison of the truly standout novels in the Star Wars line, but it's a fun one, and Hearne's character explorations of Luke make it a worthy addition to the new canon.

As narrator, I have to give top marks to Marc Thompson. As this story is told in 1st person, Thompson has to tell most of this book in Luke's voice rather than his own. Not only does he make the most of it, but he does a fantastic job bringing the other characters to life. This is to be expected, given that he's a Star Wars audiobook veteran, but credit where it's due.

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56 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Unimpressive first person story of an errand boy

This is supposed to be one of the first books of the "New Canon" of Star Wars, so I was interested to see what it would have to offer. Honestly, it doesn't bode terribly well for the future.

I wasn't familiar with Kevin Hearne's work, but this effort doesn't leave me inclined to check out his other material.

The novel is set in between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and follows a young Luke Skywalker dealing with life after destroying the first Death Star and being fully involved in the rebel alliance. The story is a first person narrative. IMHO, there's no such thing as a good first person narrative story, but some are less terrible than others. This one definitely doesn't rise to the top.

I agree with some other reviews that I came across that this feels like following a video game character through a limited scope RPG. The events come across as tedious as, being both a first person POV and being about Luke Skywalker, the predicaments that Luke finds himself in can't result in any meaningful harm to him.

While the title Heir to the Jedi is a good one, this is not the story to attach it to. While there is some bits of Luke trying to sort out what he's learned from Obi-Wan and what he needs to do to become a Jedi, the book is mostly a series of errands that Luke gets put on.

Ultimately, this book does little to add to our understanding of Luke as a character, nor does it do much to give us a better picture of the Star Wars universe.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Weepy, whiny, lovesick excuse for a Jedi

Where does Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Last. Totally due to the story, still love the narrator.

Have you listened to any of Marc Thompson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, this is up to his normal standard, but having to do the whole thing in Luke's voice got old really quick. But not Marc's fault, blame the author.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

2 hours of your life you'll never get back.

Any additional comments?

There's a new canon. I get it. But please give us new stuff better than this. I was very disappointed in this book. I've been reading the expanded universe for 20 years, which is now out the window, leaving a large void. I understand the need to fill that void with new information to both fill in gaps between movies and to lead us into the new movie. I hope future books do this better.

Luke - see subject line. Luke went from a nervous farmboy in A New Hope to a confident Jedi in Return of the Jedi. This book is apparently an attempt to show some of that journey. What we get is a stumbling, fumbling Luke who survives the activities of the book by a combination of dumb luck and a few force tricks that he stumbles onto, because Ben Kenobi is dead so he has to teach himself. Cue the violins. I say activities, because there is no real antagonist, just a series of vignettes with generic bad guys (spies, imperials, bounty hunters) as they attempt to complete a mission that I just couldn't care about, getting several people that were trying to help him killed in the process. And great, he figures out how to use the force to move a noodle. I'd be much more interested in how he got good enough with a lightsaber to survive the duel with Vader in Empire. I don't remember any saber training with Yoda while he was on Dagobah.

In another departure from the EU, they decided to use certain "Earth" words instead of established EU terms. For example, in this book you'll hear Luke talk about going to the "bathroom" instead of using the "refresher" and reading a piece of "paper" instead of "flimsy." These are changes that may seem like small details, but using the established EU vernacular would help bridge the Legends to the new canon.

I assume it's our modern facebook/twitter "I want to show everyone what I ate for breakfast, and my daily selfie" mentality that led to the choice to write this book in 1st person? Made me feel like I was listening to a whiny teenager reading me his diary. Just don't.

That said, I do not blame the narrator. Marc Thompson is awesome and should read every Star Wars novel until his voice gives out. But even a great narrator can only do so much with the material he is given.

SPOILER AHEAD ---
Yet another of Luke's loves meets a tragic end. I know, all the women he loved in the EU that died or left or turned to the dark side or merged with a spaceship or got killed by his nephew, etc... That never happened; That was Legend. OK. Do we have to continue that meme in the new canon? --- END SPOILER

I always finish books that I start, it's just how I am. But for the 2nd half of this book, I wished I could bring myself to just stop so I could go back to something worth listening to. I really don't see what part of this book could help me understand what will happen in the new movie, set more than 30 years later. New canon authors -- Please do better.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

This is the worst Star Wars book ever written..

I'm sorry to do this but I've got to say this book was terrible. I would give it one star if I could. I'll break this down simply:
(some spoilers but nothing about the plot)

-The "author" has a food fetish and finds any way possible to bring earthly items (such as cake, noodles, cream, sugar, cookies, ect) into this story. He literally described the shape of a spaceship as a "cookie with a big bite taken out of it"...enough said.
-He is obsessed with foul smelling things and goes into intense detail that is completely unnecessary.
-His "set up" for the next chapter and what's to come is so blatantly obvious it makes it nearly impossible to keep reading because you already know what's going to happen.
-This did not feel like Star Wars at all.. If you removed Luke and R2 from the narrative all you would be left with is a terribly weak sci-fi novel.
-Awkward moments galore.. Can't go into depth here but just trust me. I can only imagine the author is completely socially inept.

I could go on and on but I won't; just trust me, it's horrible.
I know this all seems harsh but I just expected more I guess, if this is the direction they are taking you can count me out- I'll stick to the old republic thank you. Darth bane, revan, and the thrawn trilogy books put this to absolute shame.

TLDR; PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR CREDITS!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

If this is cannon, I'll take Legends

I'm going to try to explains frustrations with this book without being too spoiler-y. Though I enjoyed the different feel of a first person point of view, something integral to the Star Wars foundation is having multiple events coinciding and intersecting and just having it focus on one character bored me.

Things that I absolutely hated about this book were the (cannon) mention of Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Noodles, Eggs for breakfast, and the author has absolutely NO idea what Poodoo is.

The only one issue I had with the voice acting is that the main female lead sounded EXAXTLY like Stewie Griffin from Family Guy.

I would like my money and my 10 hours back please.


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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Use the fork, Luke

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. If this is the new official story line, the beginning is a good place to jump on I suppose.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kevin Hearne again?

Probably not. Didn't really feel like Star Wars. If they are wiping out the EU, this book should embody the character and feeling of the OT but it never quite hits those notes.

What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

The performance of the female characters were sappy and over the top, really ruined a good bit of the book for me...but over all an enjoyable listen. Thompson's Luke is dead on.

Do you think Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes. What fan wouldn't want to follow the further adventures of Luke Skywalker?

Any additional comments?

Luke manipulating a fork with the force is just silly...and the fact that the book tries to posit what happens to a main character in this book as his primary motivation to go forward and master the force and become a jedi demeans a lot of the emotional motivating moments that took place in E4.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A fun adventure, but not very deep

It was an enjoyable journey, and I recommend it for any Star Wars fans. I guess I was just disappointed that nothing substantial happened. This didn't feel relevant to the new vs. old canon. It was more just "an adventure featuring Luke!" The story is also a little scattered. Overall I liked listening to this and sharing in Luke's successes and fears for the future.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable ride

I saw some other complaints about the book from other reviewers, and so I was hesitant at first to purchase the book. I was anxious, however, to read the new EU. I always love Marc Thompson and was pleasantly surprised by the story.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Boring

I am an avid star wars fan. I absolutely loved the entire New Jedi Order, but since then (with the exception of Darth Caedus story) the star wars universe has been ridiculous. Off the wall story lines that include some never before seen super force entity. A bug war. A baby sitting trip.
Into the void was a great concept for an origins story but they cancelled the sequel. Thanks Disney.
I certainly don't recommend this book, especially for true start wars fans.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Underwhelming

This book is not what I was expecting. Based on the title, I wrongly assumed it was a follow-up to the legacy of the force series. Chronologically, it takes place right after Episode IV A New Hope. And it's told from Luke's perspective, so therefore no Force powers, no Obi-Wan, and no Vader. One of my chief complaints with books occurring between the movies is that there is no danger to the major characters, especially with the book is narrated in the first person. I would not read this again, and I do not recommend this book. It offers no new insight into Luke Skywalker, nor does it offer insight into any other characters in the rebellion

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