| Champions of the Force (Star Wars, Jedi Academy Trilogy, Vol 3) |  | Author: Kevin J. Anderson
Publisher: Demco Media
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 4195816
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 324
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 0606082042
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780606082044
ASIN: 0606082042
Publication Date: October 1994
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| Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 Great book, hidden comedy January 1, 2009
I thought his entire trilogy was a pretty good read. I couldn't help but laugh at the scientists in the Death Star Prototype who kept saying "We should have a meeting about this right away!" during the middle of a space battle. I couldn't help but think that Kevin Anderson's inspiration for that was maybe his work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
 The Jedi Academy Trilogy sputters to a halt November 27, 2008
Champions of the Force is the final book in Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy. It continues much in the vein of the first two novels: a somewhat promising and engaging storyline is dragged down by pedestrian writing and some very hokey scenes. The 300-some pages of this book are essentially one extended climax to the trilogy. One battle in particular, the assault on the Imperial facility in the Maw, almost stretches the entire length of the story.
The Bantam Spectra era of Star Wars novels was noted for the authors' predilection to invent "superweapons-of-the-week." True to form, this trilogy contains not one but two in the form of a prototype (but fully functional) Death Star and the even more powerful Sun Crusher. It's not that hard to swallow the existence of a prototype Death Star, although the idea feels a trifle overused after seeing them in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. However, the Sun Crusher concept goes beyond the pale. Anderson asks the reader to accept it took a 100+ kilometer wide sphere to support a laser that could destroy a planet, but this tiny fighter-sized craft carries the power to cause supernovas. Ick.
The Imperials of this story are sadly incompetent. Admiral Daala continually praises her own abilities and chuckles diabolically at the havoc she is about to unleash on the New Republic, but her tactics are weak and her plans fail time after time. The other key Imperial character, Ambassador Furgan from the Imperial training world Carida, is similarly depicted. Both are a long step down from Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Luke spends much of this novel in a comatose state while his spirit mystically wanders free. Anderson sets up a big confrontation between Luke's spirit and that of Exar Kun, the 4000-year old Sith Lord from his comic series Tales of the Jedi. There's potential here but when the climax comes it is underwhelming. It makes the point that the Jedi candidates will have to go beyond themselves and work together to succeed, but these characters are so one-dimensional it's hard to care. I appreciate what Anderson tried to do in this trilogy by exploring Luke's uncertainty about resurrecting the Jedi and charting a course for the future, but I don't like the weakness he coupled with the indecision. It takes Luke too far from the hero so loved in the films.
As I mentioned in my prior reviews of the Jedi Academy Trilogy, the events contained within are too big to ignore to understand the Star Wars Expanded Universe fully. The books are easy to read and won't require a whole lot of time or much deep thought. However, there are some definite flaws preventing me from recommending these books to a more casual reader.
 Unbelievably bad writing. October 1, 2008
I love Star Wars. I really, really do. And there had to be a series about the reignition of the Jedi Order. But this was unbelievably bad.
The problem is that this whole trilogy could literally have been written in one book. Every other page is a shallow re-explanation of the information provided in the previous chapters and novels. I mean, for god's sake, how many times do you have to have it explained in DFR and CotF that Kyp Durron was caught in the Maw with Han and Chewie, imprisoned, interrogated, and made a vow that he'd never be that weak and helpless again? I'm pretty sure that I could find you at least three passages in DFR and at least two in CotF that say the Exact. Same. Thing. If you've already read it once in the book, do you need to see it the second and third times? Unless you suffer from short-term memory loss, I'll bet not.
It is poor writing at best. Worse, it is a ridiculous attempt to try to soak a multi-book deal out of a publisher, and it shouldn't have happened.
For shame.
 Champions of a Flop July 2, 2008
I was really excited to read this trilogy. Last summer I read through the Thrawn trilogy and was pleased by a nice realistic story. Right after that i picked up the first of this trilogy and was so disappointed. Well after getting through that book the second one, Dark Apprentice, which was more i style i could enjoy.
I felt great getting into this book. I was anticipating some good jedi battles, and the forging of the new jedi academy. Well guess what to all those who haven't read this...it happens within the first 150 pages.
I haven't finished reading this yet and i really don't know why I want to.
The chapters jump around every 5-10 pages, the secondary plot line never interested me, and I have notice rehashed lines from the movies. On top of these obvious problems with the writing the worst part of it all is the predictability. The New Republic gets in some problems, and guess what? They come out with out any major problems.
The one character that i really started to like and still do is Kyp. He is a character that i like as much a Mara Jade for one reason...He isn't in the movies and he will re-appear through out the series. I am interested to see where his character goes and how the effects in these last books will effect the over all out come of story.
I gave this book 3 star because i felt like it had potential but ran out of steam really fast. I hope for the next books to be much better, and more enjoyable, but this was a good try.
Read it if you must August 1, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Good story, terrible writing.
Anderson's prose is trite, unimaginative, and, far too often, simply laughable. Which is a shame because the story is compelling.
This is a key part of the Star Wars extended universe, however. So, read it if you must. But you've been warned.
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