Rating: 
Summary: Since when was fan fiction profesionally published?
Review: I didn't read "I, Jedi" for a long time after it came out, until a friend who loved it recommended it to me, so I rushed out to buy it thinking I was missing a great Star Wars book. I could have saved my $7. I seriously do not see why this book is so popular. The main character, Corran Horn, is so riduculously good at just about everything save telekinesis that it's a wonder the New Republic doesn't build a shrine to him or make him president. All of the other characters- the main SW characters that we have grown to love through both the movies and the books- just sit back and take the arrogant, abusive lecturing that Corran regularly dishes out. This book not only makes Corran a kind of secret hero in the Jedi Academy Trilogy, thus partly undermining Stackpole's fellow Star Wars writer, but it also makes the main characters, Luke in particular, look weak and pitiful next to Corran. Corran is the only character in this book who acts like he has more than a couple functional brain cells; all the other characters seem lost without Corran there to advise them- they seemed to get along just fine before he came along. Did Luke, Han, Wedge, and everyone suddenly get lobotomies? Corran beats Luke in a lightsaber battle... Luke beat Darth Vader for crying out loud! He is also at this point the ONLY JEDI MASTER IN THE GALAXY! What gives?! The character of Corran is too ridiculously perfect and smart to be realistic, and coupled with his arrogance and huge ego it makes the character totally intolerable. Most of the other characters, regardless of their importance to Star Wars, are either totally idiotic, totally out of character, or both. The entire book had a feeling of unreality since many scenes seemed contrived, with characters magically being where they needed to be and everyone dropping what they are doing to help Corran out (though of course, Corran does not really need their help since he is already smarter and better than them at everything anyway). This book comes off as more of a fan fiction from someone obsessed with Corran Horn than as a genuine Star Wars book. (Though in all fairness to fanfic writers, I've read much better fan fics.) Thank God I didn't buy the hardback. It was so obnoxiously untrue to the Star Wars characters and universe that I couldn't even finish it. This is the only Star Wars book I have given up before finishing. I thought Callista was annoying, but Corran makes Callista look cool and entertaining. That's pretty sad.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Book Ever
Review: First of all I would like to say that I really don't like to read that much, I'd rather watch TV or play video games. A friend told me that this book was a must so I decided to go ahead and read it. WOW! I was amazed! The hardest part about reading a book is getting started. Within three chapters I was hooked. I found myself staying up till 2:00 a.m. just to read this book. I've read this book twice and it always seems to get better. If you like Star Wars this is a must!
Rating:
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: This book received mostly good reviews but I just don't see it. The author made a great effort to link the story in with the Jedi Academy trilogy, a trilogy that I read a few years back and did not like. There was not very much logic to the story which made the characters not-so believable. The guy's wife disappears on a secret mission for the New Republic. The New Republic does nothing to find his wife. When he goes for help to Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, Luke's advise is to go to Jedi school so he can become a Jedi and find his wife himself. Does anyone else see the stupidity in that? The only character that was really developed was Corran Horn, the main character. Other characters, like the other students in the Jedi academy, were just borrowed from other stories. You neither know or care about them unless you have read other stories that they have appeared in. The book portrays Luke as naive. He is over confident in his ability to "save" anyone from the dark side. He is too forgiving of students who get drawn to the dark side and kill billions of people. "Oh, he was just under the influence of the dark side but he is better now" is an argument that just does not hold. Luke sounds like an idiot in this book. I don't see Luke in that way and I can't believe that anyone in the New Republic would allow him to protect someone from prosecution who did what his student does in this book. Also, since the book spends most of the first 300 pages on the Jedi school, the real villain in the story is not really developed at all. It is a former female imperial officer who is now a pirate. She makes an appearence in the opening scene but then we don't hear about her again for a few hundred pages. In reading this I felt like there were two stories being told. The first is the main story, Corran Horn trying to save his wife. That story is a mystery and a space fantasy and could have been very good. But this story is interupted by the second story, the story of the evil presence at the Jedi academy. Since so much of the book was devoted to the Jedi academy story, the author could have at least done a good job telling it. I felt like was seeing that story from way in the back, if that makes any sense. Certain important scenes were walked into rather than developed. The main character showed up after-the-fact whenever something significant happened at the Jedi academy. It was like being told this Jedi academy story through the eyes of a background character. We learned about the events that happened, but we really were not told the real story. It made for a very dry 300 pages. I don't have the patience to find out if the rest of the book is any better so I am tossing this time-waster aside and moving on to the New Jedi Order.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't read this book if you aren't interested in Jedi!
Review: And don't read this book if you are infected by Jedi! Michael A. Stackpole is among the very few authors who are about to bring sense back into the STAR WARS Universe.
Corran Horn develops throughout the novel to become a Jedi knight. But for me he's the first Jedi knight who's different from all these wanna'be Skywalkers in other books. Remember when Timothy Zahn described Leia mentioning Jedi Knights that were not warriors but teachers and diplomats? Well Corran becomes a warrior, too, but he's a Jedi educated by the Corellian Security Service and so he's different from the esoteric-hippy-Jedi roaming the galaxy by now.
Michael A. Stackpole is even able to heal a lot of the wounds Kevin J. Anderson inflicted with his Jedi Academy Trilogy! Instead Stackpole creates ' like Zahn ' characters and events who further develop the Star Wars Universe! Ever wondered what really happens when a bunch of totally different personalities come together to start a Jedi Academy? Or how that kid's are able to bring down a 4000 year old Sith Lord, with the power to crush a Jedi Master?
The only drawback I feel is, that he refrains from doing the very last step to make the Star Wars World reality. When Corran takes on a mighty criminal organisation, you can feel the way something big like that works, you start to know how mercenary fighter pilots feel and how to launch an organized raid on a naval shipyard. But unfortunately what's left out is the personal terror, harm and death that comes along with it.
Nevertheless, this book does not start galaxy wide conflicts, introduces newer mega-overkill-power-superweapons or republic toppling Admirals. Thank god it simply provides the kit so necessary between all the great events happening. It provides the humanity of people within Star Wars.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Since the Original Zahn Books
Review: For those readers who have complained that the other Star Wars Expanded Universe Novels havent been able to live up to the literary and fantasmagorical verve of Timothy Zahns original "Thrawn" trilogy, I give you "I, Jedi" my Michael Stackpole. Simply one of the best pieces of science fiction I've read in my life, and ranking just as high in Star Was EU literature as the Zahn and Anderson Trilogies. What's so great is how Stackpole is able to meld the action of his book, which takes place during the Academy Trilogy, into those books and their storylines. I actually wanted to go back and read the Academy books to make sure that Horn's alter ego wasn't mentioned at all in passing, it was so fluidly crafted. Obviously, "I, Jedi" was written long after those books, so there wasn't any way to do that, but Stackpole has Corran Horn interacting with the events and characters of the Anderson Trilogy flawlessly, and adds greatly to the depth of the events in that story. To be there at the *very beginning* of the Praxium, when they had just arrived and were trying to figure out: "gee, how do I actually begin to revive a order that was basically wiped out for 25 years. Where do I *begin*?" It was very fascinating to discover, and it kept my eyes glued to the pages. The fact that the whole story's told from the first person made me apprehensious and curious at the same time: Stackpole makes it work, completely, and as a stand alone literary work (not just in the Star Wars pantheon) it more than makes its mark. It's a great experience to read, espically for Star Wars die-hard readers who maybe haven't read a first-person perspective narrative fiction work before. Did I mention that the storyline kicks ...? It sure does. There's been a lot of discussion (espically after "Dark Journey") about the black/white, no gray aspect of the Force. I'm not really wanting to add to that discussion, but upon reading "I, Jedi" you'll understand just how much grey area there is in the force after the extinction of the Jedi Order by Palpatine. You have to remember, there isn't any code or strict rules or councils that Yoda and Obi-wan grew up and were taught on. There is no rule book. Luke discovers this in "I, Jedi" as he tries to go about teaching the new Jedi at the Praxium, and Corran realizes this on his Journey toward becoming a Jedi Knight. The white and the dark aren't very well-defined now, and the gray area has become signifigantly larger. Even luke has crossed through it and back again. Mara speant most of her life in it. Was she ever truly "evil" like the emperor, or even to the degrees Vader was while under the influence of the dark side. You'll understand the Force a lot better, and it's a good warm up to the "New Jedi Order" series where Jedi begin going into the grey. The characters, space battles, and character interaction in the book are great. Espically the interaction between Corran and Mara Jade. They're kinda kindred spirits in a way, from their origins and how they grew up, and their conversations and mini-exploits are really fun and interesting to read. that, and Stackpole ever-so-subtly re-inforces Mara's subconscious caring and development of love for Luke after he's stricken down by Exar Kun.
You can see the relationship bond forming between them, even though none of them recognize or want to admit it. This is, overall, a great story about discovering what it's like to go on a journey to become something. Who am I? What am I supposed to be? Where am I supposed to be? How do I do that? Corran Horn goes through this emotional and spiritual journey, and comes out on the other end of 400 pages as the best written character in the Star Wars EU since Mara Jade. You'll thoroughly enjoy going on his journey with him, and understanding more about the force, and maybe yourself.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Star Wars books to date!
Review: I have been a long time fan of the Star Wars novels.Before this book, I mostly read novels that were based around Han, Leia, and Luke, and if it didn't have them, I didn't bother. I originally skipped over this book because I really did not think that a book without any of the main people would be worth reading. I was wrong. This book was wonderful. I never really knew who Corran Horn was (I never read the X-Wing novels), so I was not sure if I would really like it, but it blew me away. It was so refreshing to actually know what a character was thinking. Yeah, someimes Corran was a little conceited, but so is everyone. Something else that I found interesting was Corran's take on the Jedi Academy story. It is intersting how Stackpole tweaked that story a little so that Corran was involved, and it actually made sense. Stackpole did a great job bringing this character to life. I could sympathize with some of the things that Corran was feeling. He had all of the qualities that normal people have(both good and bad). He was no longer just a hero, but human like the rest of us. Corran Horn has definitely become a favorite character of mine, and Stackpole has become a favorite author. If you are considering reading this book, I definitely reccomend it to you. This book is a must read for any star wars fan.
Rating:
Summary: What the Jedi Academy Should have been
Review: Michael Stackpole filled in some major holes that Kevin J Anderson left when he did the Jedi Academy. With Stackpole's previous writeings in the X-Wing Novels I knew I was in for a good read. Then realizeing how much of a good read it was it shocked me. Seeing a character from the inside out is always great. The amazeing thing is that in the long broad spectrum Michael Stackpole's work all meshes together into one neat drawn out storyline. The X-Wing Novels and Comic's are all one long Storyline. We see in the books for the most part much of the End Results and breif summeries of what has happend. I highly suggesting picking up some of the Trade Paperbacks. Alot of Tavira's storyline is introduced in the Comic's. Another A+ job for Stackpole.
Rating:
Summary: Nice
Review: This was my first Stackpole book and All I have to say about it is; It's still one of the greatest Star Wars book released!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: I, Jedi is the first first-person Star Wars book written. It takes the view of Corran Horn, X-Wing pilot and future Jedi Knight. During the course of the book, Corran's wife, Mirax vanishes and Corran goes to the Jedi Acadamy under the tutorage of Luke Skywalker. But the training does not go with his expectations and Corran leaves and infiltrates the pirate group that kidnapped his wife.
I loved this book because 1, Corran is my favorite character, and 2, Mike Stackpole brought the Jedi into a new light. Were we had thought them invincible, they now have limits and different strengths. Stackpole used his X-Wing technical-type writing to illistate the book in a wonderful manner. Corran has to face the dark side.
What also impressed me was that the book took place over the same time as the Jedi Acadamy Trilogy, and Stackpole blended the two wonderfully.
A must for X-Wing, Jedi and Corran fans!
Rating:
Summary: 2 words, plain and simple- AWESOME BOOK!!!
Review: This has got to be one of my all time favorite Star Wars novels. It was written brilliantly, and had the most vivid look at Jedis that I've ever seen. Truly a classic among the Star Wars novels.
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