Flint, Kenneth C.
About the Author:
Kenneth C. Flint is a writing instructor at the University of Nebraska and the Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(1 book)
Star Wars: The Heart Of The Jedi
4 ABY. An uneasy ceasefire is declared between the embattled Galactic Empire and the recently-formed New Republic, with Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia being given the task of leading the peace negotiations. However, a powerful Imperial High Admiral plans to disrupt the peace accords by any means necessary in order to reunify the Empire under his own rule. Meanwhile, conflicted over his role in the war, Luke Skywalker returns to Tatooine and is given a quest by the ghost of his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi; find the mystical Heart of the Jedi and embrace his destiny as a Jedi Knight.
Okay, clarifications first: this is not an officially-released Star Wars novel and is certainly not endorsed by (evil) Disney. Flint was hired to write this book back in the early 90s as part of the first wave of novels for what would become the Expanded Universe. Unfortunately the author was screwed-over by an editor who shelved this book in favour of another (Kathy Tyers' 'The Truce at Bakura'), which led Flint into financial difficulties and, ultimately, to withdraw from professional writing. In 2015 Flint and editor Joe Bongiorno updated the manuscript and released it for free online. In 2021 an unknown individual used Amazon's self-publishing system to create and sell a bound and authentic-looking hardcopy for a short time before the listing was removed (presumably due to the famously litigious Disney). So, ultimately, what this book constitutes is a bootleg edition of an officially-licenced but never-released Star Wars novel.
But is it any good? Well, yes, I certainly thought so. It's not without its flaws; with some of the characterisation of familiar faces being slightly off and the world-building also sometimes not feeling entirely authentic as Star Wars, but we have to remember that this was written for the same era of Star Wars books that produced Vonda McIntyre's 'The Crystal Star'. So whilst it doesn't always feel like it fits with Star Wars as we know it now, it certainly feels like it fits with Star Wars in the early days of the Expanded Universe, which was a great nostalgia hit for me.
On it's own merits, this is a perfectly enjoyable adventure in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, filled with starfighter dogfights, ruthless villains and Luke Skywalker riding a bantha and surviving a shootout in the Mos Eisley cantina. It's not going to blow your mind but it's well worth a read (if you can actually get hold of a copy!).
4 out of 5
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