“Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows”, by Michael Reeves (Arrow)

Jax Pavan and his compatriots return for a second outing

In this second installment of the Coruscant Night series, Jedis Jax Pavan and Laranth Tarak, now members of the underground rebel movement based on Coruscant, are pursuing a career in private investigation, along with the help of Den Daur and his near-sentient protocol droid, I-5. They are hired by Dejah Duare, assistant and partner of artist Ves Volette, to help uncover the truth of Volette’s murder. So far so good a premise – the idea of a classic PI novel, set in the Star Wars universe was very appealing. But, for some reason, this novel fails to truly satisfy.

It’s not the characters, as they are fine. The premise is a good one, helping to flesh out the time between Episodes III and IV, with plenty of exposition about Coruscant and background to the times. The rival strand of the novel, following the bounty hunter Aurra Sing, as she is hired by and takes on a job from Darth Vader, is very good, and at times a lot more interesting than the main strand.

What lets the book down, however, are two things. First, it’s the middle book of a trilogy, and not a very long one at that. It has the feel of too much filler, to get us from book one (Jedi Twilight) to book three (Patterns of the Force, out January 27th, 2009). This, to be fair, is an ailment that afflicts almost every second book in a trilogy. The second reason this book failed to truly grab my attention (though, after the rather long set-up, the second half of the book was very good), was because it felt rather over-written. For such a short book, this is a surprising thing to say. But there were plenty of sentences and exposition that just felt redundant – such as explaining certain elements of the Force, where everyone reading this novel will know that a Jedi has affinity for the force, so why tell us that Jax has this affinity, then, immediately after, tell us that Laranth does, too?

Perhaps I’m being harsh, having now become used to reading trilogies in one sitting, rather than reading them as and when installments are published. As I mentioned, this is a good book, only not as great as I would have hoped. The interaction between Den and I-5 is still interesting, and the droid is always good for some lighter moments – either when putting down a Coruscant CSI for asking pointless questions, or generally being fussy and completely un-droid-like. Jax’s specific connection to the Force also remains interesting, and we do get to know more about the main protagonists as the story progresses. Street of Shadows has plenty to offer fans of Star Wars, but perhaps the important content could have been incorporated into the first and final installments, and I would say this isn’t the best place for a casual reader of Star Wars fiction to start. (For that, I would recommend the X-Wing series and, especially, The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timpthy Zahn.)

With luck, Patterns of the Force will finish the series off well, indicating that Michael Reaves was not as the top of his game for just the one book (I’ve enjoyed his other Star Wars novels a great deal, and without exception; so Street of Shadows was surprising as a slight disappointment).

"Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight", by Michael Reeves (Arrow)

A new trilogy begins, set between Episodes III and IV

And so begins another trilogy aimed at filling in some of the blanks between the middle two episodes. Set on Coruscant, Jedi Twilight introduces us not only to a host of new characters, but also a seedier, grimier side of the "gleaming capital" of the Star Wars universe.

Following the actions of Jax Pavan (a newly-minted Jedi Knight when Order 66 was given to wipe them out), an acerbic droid who's well on his way to becoming sentient thanks to a generous removal of software, and a Sullustan journalist. Unlike most other Star Wars novels, this one is a little slow, taking almost half the 343 pages to bring the main characters together. It dispenses with the fast-paced space action, set as it is on one planet. It's because of this that the novel is a little unfulfilling, though it does mean that we're learning about the Star Wars universe on a smaller, compressed scale, rather than the vast scale we're used to. Sure, as part 1 of 3 we know there isn't going to be any closure at the end, but it's usually better to have something a little more gripping to keep people excited about the next instalment (Streets of Shadows).

What makes Jedi Twilight stand out most for me was how Reaves focusses more on what the Force is to different users. The descriptions of how it appears to main protagonist Jax Pavan as dark or light tendrils of intent are particularly new. The "return" of established characters such as Prince Xizor of the Black Sun criminal organisation, as well as everyone's favourite wheezing menace Darth Vader, help the reader to remain connected with the over-arching Star Wars saga, as well as bringing some familiarity to an otherwise completely new story.

It's well worth reading, but don't expect something as fast as most other Star Wars novels. Exciting and interesting events do start to take off a little over halfway through (at which point the novel improves tenfold), which will be rewarding to Star Wars fiction fans, but might be a little too late for casual readers who picked up the novel on a whim.

While the end of the novel does leave you wanting more, it would still perhaps be best to wait for all three volumes to be out, so you don't have to wait too long to find out what happens next, able to treat the trilogy as one long book in one go.