Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Volume 1: Jedi Search

By: Kevin J. Anderson

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 3 hrs

Publisher's summary

As the war between the Republic and the scattered remnants of the Empire continues, two children, the Jedi twins, will come into their powers in a galaxy on the brink of vast changes and challenges. In this time of turmoil and discovery, an extraordinary new Star Wars saga begins.

While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine. But when Han and Chewie break away, they flee to a secret Imperial research laboratory surrounded by a cluster of black holes - going from one danger to a far greater one.

On Kessel, Luke picks up the trail of his two friends, only to come face to face with a weapon so awesome it can wipe out an entire solar system. It is a death ship called the Sun Crusher, invented by a reclusive genius and piloted by none other than Han himself.

More in the Jedi Academy Trilogy we have. And download all of our Star Wars titles you can!

©1994 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. (P)1994 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM.

Excellent Story and Narrator

What made the experience of listening to Star Wars the most enjoyable?

The whole Jedi Academy Trilogy is wonderful and highly recommend it for anyone searching for some old story lines while we wait for the end of Fate of the Jedi series!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Star Wars?

There has been several mentions in later books as to what happens at Kessell- and it was interesting to go back and relive it.

What does Anthony Heald bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration does an excellent job of bringing the fear that Han has as he stumbles through the darkness in the spice mines

Well done!

Minor sound effects, music, and Chewy! Nice little touches added to the storytelling. Different character voices were done well in my opinion. Story is great, read the book in the 90s. 3hrs on audible was much more pleasing and easier to comprehend. Thanks for adding this book to the collection!

good story!

loved it accept the reader kepy pronouncing Han as hān (like hand). If you watch the movies you know it is Han (like Japanese)

Not the full version

It's a great book but it's not unabridged and the author doesn't know how to pronounce several of the names of cities or characters.

Pretty good overall.

Anthony Heel, the narrator, was very clearly not familiar with many of the words that existed in the lore, and the mispronouncing of some of these words broke the immersion of the story. Regardless, any EU is good EU and I loved the story.

good story, abridged version though

great book, I read it years ago. the audio version is abridged and condensed off about 2/3 of the detail this author is known for.

eh

just completely different from the Thrawn trilogy. production wise. and how he pronounces the words drove me insane. goodnstory though. but I am hoping to gt through this set quickly to go on to the next.

Good Star Wars story

I liked it. Narrator is good. Sound effects are good. Story is fun to hear as it takes place after the end of all the movies so you kind of get to hear what happens with Han and Lei being married and Luke. It was a fun listen and I am going to listen to the other two in the triology.

Does this guy like the sound of his own voice?

The narrator reads WAY to fast, also mispronouncing names.
Not enjoyable to listen to. Actually made me not want to listen to the series.

If you're hesitant about trying these abridged audiobooks, here's my thoughts.

I was very hesitant to buy this because I have heard mixed things about Star Wars audiobooks from this era. Most of them are abridged, and this is no exception. I want to give a real review of this particular book for others who might be hesitant.

First, I have never read Jedi Search. There's something about KJA's writing that I've never enjoyed. I've heard others say the same thing about him. The story is okay. It's a typical Star Wars adventure. Nothing mind blowing. It's just the same old characters in a new journey. The most important part of this story is Luke's attempt to recreate the Jedi Order. That was why I wanted to listen to this trilogy. I had read about it in latter books by Timothy Zahn (much better all around series, by the way) and wanted to finally hear the story of how Luke made his Jedi Temple happen. As I said, the story is okay. I was never lost or left feeling that some major plot point was left out. 3/5.

The performance is okay as well. Anthony Heald is a brilliant narrator, possibly my favorite. Unfortunately, he is not the best choice for Star Wars material. His voices for Han and Luke make me wonder if he's ever seen Star Wars. Many of the voices sound similar. There's also audio effects that neither add nor detract from the experience. By the end of this book, I grew more accustomed to Heald's performance. Again, it's okay. He's certainly not monotone (thank God) but he's also no Marc Thompson or Jonathan Davis (two much better Star Wars narrators). He reads the material well, but lacks the Star Wars factor. 3/5.

If you want to power through some of these older books to get through the Expanded Universe, I would say to give it a shot. I know the abridged factor will turn some people off, but honestly Star Wars novels are often filled with things that don't generally serve the plot. Not every Star Wars author was able to do what Zahn did with his series. Just have reasonable expectations. I would suggest that you think of this as more of an audio drama than an audiobook. It's more akin to the Dark Empire audio dramas from the same era. More comic book than novel. I plan on finishing the trilogy and than moving on to the other books I never got around to reading back when the Expanded Universe was still going.