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This series of 10 short novels (about 150 pages each) aimed at a teenage audience is not high literature. My personal complaint about the writing is that the author does not know how to use the pronoun 'whom'. At least once or twice per book I noticed this error, and I'm sure there were many others that didn't strike my attention. Despite the grammar problems, if you're looking for what I call "fluff fiction", you've come to a decent place.
The series follows the exploits of Ferus Olin, who had been a Jedi apprentice during the Republic before he left the Jedi temple to strike out on his own. Thus, he knew many of the Jedi masters and padawans of the age of the Clone Wars, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. These connections make him the perfect person to seek out any remaining Jedi who may have survived Order 66 - the order which saw the stormtroopers turn on the Jedi, depicted in Episode III of the films. This mission is what drives the overall plotline of the series, although there also many sub-plots to keep our attention, as we follow a nascent empire-wide rebellion against the empire, led by friends and acquaintances of Ferus. By the end, we are setup for a big showdown between Darth Vader and Ferus Olin, who has learned the true identity of Darth Vader.
What makes the series worth reading are the values-based concepts that form the heart of the series. Again this is not high literature, but there are important issues to contemplate, and with 1500 pages total, there is plenty of time to develop these issues. Perhaps what keeps the series at the teenage level is that the author eventually resolves all the issues for the reader. In the end, good is good and evil is evil, but in the meantime, we can explore the meaning of friendship, loyalty, good, and evil.
During the course of the series, Ferus, who spends much of the series trying to get back his force connection and become the Jedi he had failed to become before, is tempted by the dark side. We gain some understanding of how the Dark Side really works, and where some of its weaknesses lie. In this way, we come to understand more deeply Anakin's own path to becoming Vader. We are allowed to contemplate, along with Ferus, whether one can find any virtue in the Dark Side of the force and whether one can use those supposed virtues without completely giving oneself over to evil.
Another significant virtue that is explored in the series is trust and loyalty. By nature, rebel groups must be very careful in whom they place their trust, as it only takes one to betray the entire organization. And yet, for the group to become successful it must grow by bringing in new members and working together with others. So, whom can you trust, and how can you know that your loyalty is not misplaced? Appearances can be deceiving, in both directions (i.e. good appearances can mask evil intentions, and bad appearances can harbor one seeking to do good). In the end, we find that developing trust-based relationships is worthwhile, even if there is some heartache along the way as well - that is mortal life.
The series follows the exploits of Ferus Olin, who had been a Jedi apprentice during the Republic before he left the Jedi temple to strike out on his own. Thus, he knew many of the Jedi masters and padawans of the age of the Clone Wars, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. These connections make him the perfect person to seek out any remaining Jedi who may have survived Order 66 - the order which saw the stormtroopers turn on the Jedi, depicted in Episode III of the films. This mission is what drives the overall plotline of the series, although there also many sub-plots to keep our attention, as we follow a nascent empire-wide rebellion against the empire, led by friends and acquaintances of Ferus. By the end, we are setup for a big showdown between Darth Vader and Ferus Olin, who has learned the true identity of Darth Vader.
What makes the series worth reading are the values-based concepts that form the heart of the series. Again this is not high literature, but there are important issues to contemplate, and with 1500 pages total, there is plenty of time to develop these issues. Perhaps what keeps the series at the teenage level is that the author eventually resolves all the issues for the reader. In the end, good is good and evil is evil, but in the meantime, we can explore the meaning of friendship, loyalty, good, and evil.
During the course of the series, Ferus, who spends much of the series trying to get back his force connection and become the Jedi he had failed to become before, is tempted by the dark side. We gain some understanding of how the Dark Side really works, and where some of its weaknesses lie. In this way, we come to understand more deeply Anakin's own path to becoming Vader. We are allowed to contemplate, along with Ferus, whether one can find any virtue in the Dark Side of the force and whether one can use those supposed virtues without completely giving oneself over to evil.
Another significant virtue that is explored in the series is trust and loyalty. By nature, rebel groups must be very careful in whom they place their trust, as it only takes one to betray the entire organization. And yet, for the group to become successful it must grow by bringing in new members and working together with others. So, whom can you trust, and how can you know that your loyalty is not misplaced? Appearances can be deceiving, in both directions (i.e. good appearances can mask evil intentions, and bad appearances can harbor one seeking to do good). In the end, we find that developing trust-based relationships is worthwhile, even if there is some heartache along the way as well - that is mortal life.
3 comments:
I'm interested to see what is decided about whether or not one can use some of the "dark side" to do good. A quote I recently read said, "It is hard to tell the difference between right and nearly right." I hope that you will explore this issue a little more for your readers' benefit.
What kind of fool name is "Ferus Olin"? I'd be interested to find out where on earth they get all this stuff (especially the names).
Well, Ferus starts to tap into the Dark Side, and discovers its great potential for power, but at a cost that we are all too familiar with from Anakin's story. So, the answer is no, you cannot try to use the power of the Dark Side and remain the good person that you are. It doesn't mean that you are beyond redemption (a la Return of the Jedi), but the price, or perhaps side-effect, for turning to the Dark Side is a selfishness that will not allow you to act for anyone but yourself. The source of the power is anger, particularly an anger rooted in that selfishness (something like "look what everyone has done to me - now I will show them!"), which must become ever more egotistical if you want to increase your power in the Dark Side. So, if anger is the path to the Dark Side, where does something like the righteous indignation of Christ clearing the temple fit in?
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