Star Wars: Children of the Jedi » (Reissue)

In Children of the Jedi,  Barbara Hambly introduces a new character: Callista, a  brave Jedi warrior of long ago who gave her life  to foil one of the Empire's darkest plans, a plot  to destroy a stronghold that was sanctuary for the  wives and children of the Jedi knights. Suddenly,  the dreadnought is rearming itself, intent on  destruction. Only Luke Skywalker can feel its evil  presence as well as the mysterious influence of  that powerful woman who should have died decades ago.

Publishers Weekly

This latest entry in Bantam's successful Star Wars series is a transitional novel. Its pace may be slow enough to disappoint some of series's many loyal readers, but Hambly's (Those Who Hunt the Night) retreading of familiar ground provides a more variegated perspective than usual on several major characters. She offers several solid, well-wrought adventures as well, but they never cohere into a whole worthy of its parts. The subplots are frequently more interesting than the main story line, in which the ruling houses of the recently fallen Empire attempt to revitalize their way of life with the aid of a new type of Jedi knight. A particularly compelling subplot concerns the effort to determine whether the now machine-based consciousness of Nichos, a Jedi Apprentice whose body has died, is still human. While Hambly creates some fascinating alien life forms and plot complications (fans of Luke Skywalker will be especially delighted by a couple of the plot twists here), what she finally offers is more a promise of things to come than a realization of them. Major ad/promo; audio rights sold to BDD Audio Cassette. (May)