Scott, Cavan
About the Author:
Cavan Scott is a writer, editor and journalist. He lives near Bristol, England with his wife and two daughters.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3.1 out of 5
(16 books)
TOP PICK:
Doctor Who: The Shining Man
Doctor Who: The Shining Man
An original adventure featuring the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and his companion Bill Potts. The Doctor and Bill begin investigating the disappearance of a woman near Manchester who was apparently taken by a strange creature called a Shining Man, with lank hair, a blank face and shining eyes. Strange events soon reveal that an ancient power has been awoken and is lashing out at the world around it.
This book actually follows up on an idea introduced in Torchwood on TV in that fairies and their 'ultra-terrestrial' world exist in parallel to our own. This allows Scott to give us a much more supernatural Who story than you may be used to. Truth be told, if I hadn't seen that episode of Torchwood, I probably would've struggled to reconcile the fairyland aspects of this story with the Doctor's rational and scientific modus operandi. However, I have seen that episode of Torchwood and, as a result, I actually really rather enjoyed this unusual adventure for the TARDIS travellers; taking the ideas introduced on Torchwood and developing them further.
Capaldi's Doctor is done justice here and I particularly enjoyed his petulant disregard of apparent authority figures whilst he simultaneously connects easily with the children Noah and Masie. Bill is okay, but she's a little edged-out by the introduction of some pretty good new characters, not least the vlogger Charlotte, who manages to outwit the Doctor.
As I say, this isn't your standard 'aliens causing trouble' Doctor Who story, but as someone who loves both Who and fairytales, I rather enjoyed it.
4 out of 5
Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts Of Vader's Castle
(Art by Francesco Francavilla, Megan Levens, Derek Charm, Robert Hack and Chris Fenoglio)
The third and final book of the Vader's Castle series, set in the wake of 'Return of the Jedi'. When Milo Graf mysteriously disappears, his sister Captain Lina Graf puts together a team to rescue him, including Thom Hudd, Skritt and the smuggler Jaxxon. However, they've all been suffering horrifying nightmares and someone is seeking to bring about the return of the Sith.
This book's biggest problem is its flashback interludes. In the previous volumes (and in the other Star Wars Adventures anthologies) I found the way in which these anthologies of short stories were loosely strung together with a framing story to be pretty contrived. Here, however, the short stories don't even have the benefit of being actual tales from the Star Wars universe because they're all just recollections of nightmares the characters had. It means that the vast majority of this book has no impact because "it was all a dream", even if some of the imagery, particularly of Lina being hunted by an evil version of 9 year-old Anakin Skywalker, is solidly spooky.
That said, the framing story here is much stronger than it had been previously, with Lina gathering allies to mount a rescue of her missing brother and Vader's acolyte Vanee trying to resurrect his fallen master. And there does, in fact, turn out to be one real ghost in Vader's castle...
3 out of 5
Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space - The Cold
Book five, the sixth book of the series (including the 'Prelude'), 18 BBY. Following a lead on their parents whereabouts, Lina, Milo, Crater and Morq are shot down on a frozen moon. Things get worse for them when Lina finds herself on the run from their arch-enemy Captain Korda and the others all become trapped in the depths of the ocean beneath the ice.
The previous book of the series, Tom Huddleston's 'The Dark', had been a disappointment for me and by comparison this one is much better. Scott's writing is a bit more dynamic than Huddleston's and his master stroke here is the introduction of the delightfully sarcastic droid RX-48. I was also immensely pleased by the inclusion of a familiar face in the book's epilogue.
That said, it has to be noted that, once again, this book doesn't advance the overarching plot of the series very far which makes most of what happens feel like a bit of a sideshow. On top of that, this book doesn't have the links to the larger Star Wars saga that I enjoyed so much in 'The Steal'.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space - The Escape
The first book of the younger reader Adventures in Wild Space series, 'The Escape' was released as part of World Book Day. Milo and Lina Graf are the children of galactic explorers and are on an uncharted world when their parents are suddenly arrested by the Galactic Empire.
Because its retail price was so low (£1 in the UK) this is an incredibly short book, coming in at 83 pages and is, really, little more than a teaser for the full-priced books of the series to follow. The pitiless marketing machine of Disney in action once again. Now, with the cynicism out of the way, on to reviewing the book itself!
The simple truth is that, whilst not a bad book, it's an entirely unremarkable one too. The characters, situation and writing are entirely generic. In fact, except for the change in names, the premise of this book is all too similar to John Whitman's Galaxy of Fear series in which there's an older sister, a younger brother, a droid babysitter and an absence of parents. The only significant difference between those books and this one was that this one wasn't as interesting.
So, an inoffensive but also uninspiring start to the series.
Followed by 'Adventures in Wild Space: The Snare'.
2 out of 5
Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space - The Snare
The second book of the series, although billed as Book 1 due to 'The Escape' being a 'Prelude'. Here Lina and Milo Graf, along with their companions Morq and CR-8R, arrive on the planet Thune in search of help in their quest to find and rescue their parents. Instead they are confronted by their nemesis, Imperial Captain Korda.
What I liked about this book was the fact that the author begins to introduce the characters to the larger Star Wars universe. Where 'The Escape' had almost no familiar markers, here we get to see things like Klatooinians (from 'Return of the Jedi'), a Jablogian (from the 'Rebels' TV series) and an all-too-brief appearance by Darth Vader himself. This is also a far more dynamic book that its predecessor and I particularly enjoyed the boat/TIE Fighter chase through Thune City's Venice-like canals.
Whilst this book is a great improvement over the far shorter previous book, it nonetheless isn't a great book in and of itself. The problem is that this book reads more like a single chapter within a larger novel. Whilst I get that it's part of a series, I definitely think that each book of a series should provide a satisfying reading experience in and of itself. This one doesn't. And, call me cynical, but I can't help but wonder if the soulless marketing people at Disney have told Scott to deliberately sacrifice a feeling of completion in order to ensure that the subsequent books sell.
I will continue to read this series but to others I would say that if you're after similar stuff but, frankly, better then definitely choose either John Whitman's Galaxy of Fear series or the Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta.
2 out of 5
Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space - The Steal
Book four of the series set around 18 BBY (by EU reckoning). Following directly on from Tom Huddleston's 'The Nest', Milo and Lina arrive on Lothal in search of help from mysterious rebel broadcasters. However, they soon run afoul of gangsters and a sinister bounty hunter.
This book did exactly what I want a Star Wars tie-in book to do; add depth and detail to the larger Star Wars galaxy whilst simultaneously telling a story of its own. One of the problems I'd had with this series in general was that the Graf children's adventures were entirely inconsequential to the mythos of the Galaxy Far, Far Away; featuring entirely new characters exploring worlds that have never appeared before and likely never will again. However, this book takes us to Lothal, a planet central to the 'Rebels' TV series, where we meet some surprisingly familiar and significant characters. I'll try not to ruin too much, but a good indicator of this book actually having consequences for the larger saga is that it reveals how the smuggler Cikatro Vizago (from 'Rebels') gets his broken horn. It's a small thing, I know, but it's the kind of backstory development that I really love.
So, whilst it has to be acknowledged that this book, as a young adult novel, doesn't have a huge amount of depth and complexity, I can say that for the first time in the series the author hits all the right notes. The book ends on a massive cliffhanger, but here it feels like a natural thing rather than simply a tease.
4 out of 5
Star Wars Adventures: Return To Vader's Castle
(Art by Francesco Francavilla, Megan Levens, Kelley Jones, Nick Brokenshire, Nicoletta Baldari and Charles Paul Wilson III)
The sequel to 'Tales from Vader's Castle', this book sees Rebel agent Thom Hudd as a prisoner on Mustafar, being tortured by Darth Vader's deranged servant Vanee. Vanee and Hudd exchange stories whilst the latter tries to escape his captivity; tales featuring the likes of Darth Maul, Jabba the Hutt and Asajj Ventress.
This book feels a bit like all of the best ideas got used up in book one, as all the stories here are less engaging and not as atmospheric, with the framing story in particular falling into that category.
The highlight here was definitely the tale featuring Darth Maul (or just 'Maul' by this point, I suppose) during his time as an insane half-spider castaway on Lotho Minor. I enjoyed seeing a crew of salvagers falling afoul of the former Sith's descent into madness, not to mention a nice nod to the EU history of Dathomir in the form of 'Mount Gethzerion'.
Overall, a somewhat disappointing follow-up which feels like a B-list spin-off to the A-list original. It's not bad, just not really good either.
3 out of 5
Star Wars Adventures: Tales From Vader's Castle
(Art by Derek Charm, Chris Fenoglio, Kelley Jones, Corin Howell, Robert Hack and Charles Paul Wilson III)
A Rebel team led by Commander Lina Graf (of the 'Adventures in Wild Space' books) crashlands on Mustafar. As they investigate the sinister Imperial fortress there they exchange spooky tales from across the galaxy featuring such characters as Hera Syndulla, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo.
Let's be fair, you need a pretty robust willing suspension of disbelief to accept that these desperate Rebel agents would keep stopping to tell each other ghost stories as they infiltrate Darth Vader's castle but, honestly, if you can get past that then there's a lot to enjoy here. The story of the main characters is engaging enough (nice to see Lina and Crater in action again) but each of the flashback tales is pretty compelling too.
Personally I'm an absolute sucker for the Ewoks, so getting a Wicker Man (Wicker Ewok?) -esque story featuring young later-Chief Chirpa was a real treat. Not least because we also get to see Logray as an apprentice and get the now-in-canon return of Chukha-Trok and Ra-Lee, from the 80s Ewoks movies and cartoon.
The story also makes excellent use of Vader himself, the true horror lurking behind everything else going on in the book.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: Dooku - Jedi Lost
The script of the audiodrama. During the Clone Wars Asajj Ventress is sent by Count Dooku to locate his sister Jenza. Whilst on the mission Asajj begins to learn the details of Dooku's past; his training as a Jedi, his relationship to his estranged family and his eventual fall to the dark side.
So, the elephant in the room is the fact that this book is a script and not a novel. I've read several scripts, screenplays and stageplays and they can sometimes be something of a chore, being forced into a medium for consumption by the general public that they were never intended for. I have to say, however, that this was definitely the most enjoyable such book I've read so far, with a combination of narration and 'stage' direction that actually tells the story well enough that the change in medium isn't so out of place. Would I have enjoyed this more as a prose novel? Absolutely. Does that mean it can't be enjoyed as it is? Not at all. But still, if you're not up for reading a script instead of prose, then don't be fooled into starting this one.
Aside from some scenes in James Luceno's brilliant 'Darth Plagueis' and part of 'Legacy of the Jedi' by Jude Watson (both now rendered non-canon by Evil Disney), we've never seen much exploration of Dooku's past, so it's great to get some here. Given his role of villain in the movies and the Clone Wars stories it was hard to understand how he could once have been not only a dedicated Jedi, but also a Master of the Jedi Council. Scott gives us a convincing version of young Dooku who already has a vague sense of superiority and entitlement but is still actually a great Jedi. Having it be Ventress that explores and reveals this period of Dooku's past is particularly poignant given her own fall to the dark side and her toxic relationship with her Sith Lord master. I also liked the fact that rather than just being inherently drawn to the dark side and always destined to be a villain, Dooku's clashes with the other Jedi are largely pretty justified and there's a great scene where he lectures Yoda about the Jedi's rules being directly responsible for a Master being corrupted in an attempt to hide a personal attachment (a nice bit of foreshadowing of exactly what will lead to the rise of Darth Vader).
The one major disappointment for me was that this book doesn't explore how Dooku became a Sith Lord or any of his dealings with Darth Sidious. We do get his first ever meeting with Senator Palpatine, but it's a short scene only made significant by the insider knowledge we have as readers (although I did like that it was Dooku's own apprentice, seemingly being groomed by Palpatine, who introduces them). I felt that some exploration of how Dooku went from leaving the Jedi to joining the Sith would've really made the Count's story feel complete in a way that it doesn't when this book ends.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - Balance Of The Force
(Art by Ario Anindito, Andrea Broccardo and Mark Morales)
Phase 2 Book 1, 382 BBY. Jedi Knight Vildar Mac arrives on the holy moon of Jedha as a convocation of Force-using groups begins. As he finds himself in pursuit of the petty criminal Tey Sirrek, chaos breaks out amid the streets of the Holy City and the mysterious Path of the Open Hand unfurl their plots.
There are a couple of things I really enjoyed here, in particular making Jedha the setting of the story. The moon was a compelling locale in both 'Rogue One' and 'Jedi: Survivor' but here we get to see it in its heyday, before being plundered by the Empire. Linked into that is the way this book begins to explore other Force-using cultures beyond the Jedi Order. Some of these (the Matukai, the Fallanassi and the Sorcerers of Tund, for example) have their origins in the old Expanded Universe (Legends) canon and it was nice to see them thrown into the mix here.
Despite all of that, I failed to find this book terribly compelling. The three main protagonists in particular failed to capture my interest, with Vildar actually being a fairly arrogant and stupid Jedi, Padawan Matty being bland and reactionary and Tey Sirrek being irritatingly cocky, not to mention being an attempt at comic relief which missed the mark. Also, the Path of the Open Hand, much like the Nihil before them (well, after them technically, I suppose) are neither particularly interesting or particularly menacing antagonists.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - Battle For The Force
(Art by Ario Anindito, Andrea Broccardo, Marika Cresta, David Messina and Mark Morales)
Phase 2 Book 2, 382 BBY. As this book begins rioting and inter-factional violence has broken out on Jedha and the Path of the Open Hand have put the Jedi on the back foot. Jedi Vildar Mac, Padawan Matty and the rogue Tey Sirrek have to work together in an attempt to save as many people as they can.
This book is definitely better than the preceding volume, but honestly it's not by much. The characters are little more engaging here, particularly since Vildar and Tey have both learned just a smidge of humility, and having a clear set of antagonists to confront gives the plot purpose that was lacking in the last book. All that said, though, this still felt 'just okay' to me, which is a shame considering how much I wanted to love a story about the Jedi on Jedha in its heyday.
On top of the general sense of this being unremarkable, Scott (or perhaps the art team or both) totally fails to give any sense of scale to the Battle of Jedha. I'd known that this battle was a major plot point of Phase 2 before going into it but here I didn't actually realise that we were seeing part of it until it was over. It could be argued that this book keeps the focus firmly on its protagonists but I feel that not giving some sort of sense of them being caught up in a much larger conflagration was really to this book's detriment and to the detriment of this Phase altogether.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - Tempest Runner
231 BBY. Following the Republic's counteroffensive against the Nihil in the wake of the attack on the Republic Fair the Tempest Runner Lourna Dee is captured by the Jedi. Hiding her true identity, Lourna faces incarceration and begins exploring her past in order to decide her future.
First and foremost it's worth noting that this isn't a novel but instead is the script of an audio drama, much like Scott's 'Dooku: Jedi Lost' was. So anyone expecting a proper prose novel will be disappointed. I wasn't expecting that and yet was still disappointed.
I saw someone else's review of this book which said (more or less) 'Lourna starts off as a girlboss, has some backstory, learns nothing and ends up a girlboss' and, honestly, I couldn't sum this story up better if I tried. Now, that other reviewer actually saw all of that as a positive thing but for me it was quite the opposite. At no point in the High Republic have I actually found the Nihil to be particularly engaging antagonists, but of all of them Lourna Dee was the most interesting. Unfortunately this book represents not so much a character arc for her as a character straight line. Even in the flashbacks to her teenage years her character is more or less the same, so that whilst we learn the details of her backstory, I don't actually feel like it added any depth or complexity to her character. On top of that, this book doesn't contain any significant events to add to the ongoing High Republic narrative, so you could skip it all together and not notice. That's a fairly damning thing to say about any book in a series.
On top of the lack of plot and character development, this book is plagued by its very format. I enjoyed 'Dooku: Jedi Lost' a great deal and whilst I would've preferred a prose novel, the fact that it was a script didn't prevent me from doing so. Here, however, the way this story is scripted makes it painfully jarring to read. Scott smash-cuts from one scene or timeframe, often mid-sentence, almost every other page, giving the whole thing a fractured and irritating structure. There's also a lot more of the 'behind-the-scenes' notes included here than in 'Jedi Lost', so that the establishing text, rather than being written fairly descriptively, includes things like noting a character looks like they do in the comics or somesuch. It breaks any immersion that you might have managed to build-up in spite of the script format or sudden scene jumps and makes it much harder to enjoy the story.
Would I have enjoyed listening to this as an audio drama? We'll never know. But I can assure you that I hated reading it as a book.
1 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures - The Monster Of Temple Peak
(Art by Rachael Stott)
232 BBY. Former Jedi Padawan Ty Yorrick attempts to make a living as a monster hunter for hire, but all of her hunts turn out to be more complicated than she initially imagines. On Loreth a group of settlers hire her to kill the terrifying Gretalax but there is more going on than she knows and only by reluctantly tapping into her Jedi training will she discover the truth.
What this book should have been was a proper exploration of Ty's background, why she left the Jedi Order and how those events led her to become a mercenary monster hunter. It would've been really interesting for a High Republic story, when the Jedi are at their zenith, to explore the concept of someone who left the Order but not through having fallen to the dark side.
Instead, we get a series of flashbacks that reveal the general story of how she left the Order but the majority of the book is a pretty formulaic and by-the-numbers story of an antisocial hero who discovers that the monster they were hired to hunt may not be the real monster after all. It's not bad, but it's also entirely predictable and derivative. (I can't help but wonder, regarding when this was initially published, whether it was attempting to cash-in on the popularity of The Witcher, but for a younger audience).
A perfectly fine Star Wars adventure, but one which studiously avoids treading new ground.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - The Heart Of Drengir
(Art by Georges Jeanty, Ario Anindito, Karl Story, Mark Morales, Victor Olazaba, Sean Parsons and Marc Deering)
Book two of the comic/graphic novel series, set concurrently with Scott's prose novel 'The Rising Storm' (231 BBY). Struggling to contain the infestation of the Drengir, the Jedi take extreme measures to seek out the heart of the problem, the ancient Great Progenitor. Keeve Trennis then has to go undercover in an attempt to infiltrate the vicious Nihil.
As the plot summary above would suggest, this is very much a book of two halves, with the offscreen attack on the Republic Fair (in 'The Rising Storm') being the break between the two halves. I have to say that I preferred the first half, dealing with the fight against the Drengir, much more. I really liked seeing the Jedi pushed to their limits trying to stem the tide and I really wish this part of the book had been longer in order to further explore the links between the Drengir and the ancient Sith. The second half was perfectly fine but it definitely felt like a slowing of pace and easing of tension, and therefore something of a step down. It doesn't help that it ends on a cliffhanger either.
Although there's lots to like in this book, the split narrative robs it of cohesion and makes it a less satisfying read than if we'd got one complete story either about the Drengir or about the Nihil.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - The Rising Storm
Book two of the adult novel line, set 231 BBY. Chancellor Lina Soh is planning a great Republic Fair on the planet Valo to showcase the prosperity of the Republic and the heroic contribution of the Jedi to galactic peace. The vicious Nihil see the Fair as an affront to their very way of life and the perfect opportunity to make a brutal statement to the galaxy, launching a devastating attack against the unsuspecting people on Valo.
I had two main problems with the first book of the series (Charles Soule's 'Light of the Jedi'); that the Nihil weren't particularly impressive antagonists and that there were way too many new Jedi introduced who were hard to tell apart. Whilst both problems are still apparent with this book, Scott goes a long way towards mitigating them. Here we get to know Pan Eyta and Lourna Dee, two of the Nihil leaders, a bit better and they're given scenes which actually make them stand out as antagonists, with Dee's hand-to-hand duels with several Jedi being particularly prominent. We actually get a sense of them being a significant threat, rather than just another bunch of vicious pirates. I continue to find Marchion Ro distinctly underwhelming, however. On the other front, we're also given enough time to get to know some of the Jedi characters a bit more intimately, Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann in particular, so that when their names appear on the page they feel much more than the 'insert Jedi here' feeling I got reading the previous book.
However, one other significant problem with the High Republic line as a whole does become apparent here and it's that it is made up of lots of stories across mediums all happening at once. Characters and events get referenced here that are total narrative dead-ends unless you've been keeping up with the entire multimedia publishing line and, whilst I do my best, who has the time/money for that? It feels like a real drawback for characters to be introduced whose story then doesn't appear here and you've got to go and find a comic book or a YA novel to understand who they are. Is this what the old EU was like to new or casual readers? Because if so, then I finally understand some of the 'too convoluted' criticisms that used to be aimed at the Expanded Universe. What I'm saying is that the various elements of the High Republic are separate enough that they don't feel like a cohesive series but interlinked to a degree that stops them from feeling like stand-alone stories set within the same era too.
Overall, however, I found this to be a much more enjoyable book than its predecessor and, more or less from the start of the attack on the Republic Fair, it really kept me gripped and invested, keen to find out what happened next.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - There Is No Fear
(Art by Ario Anindito and Mark Morales)
232 BBY. The first book of the comic series, set not long after the first High Republic novel ('Light of the Jedi' by Charles Soule). Padawan Keeve Trennis takes the Trials to become a Jedi Knight but begins to worry about her Master, Sskeer, whose behaviour is becoming erratic. As the dedication of Starlight Beacon approaches, Keeve and Sskeer are sent on a mission which will put them head to head with the Hutt Cartel and a terrifying new enemy, the Drengir.
Overall, this book is pretty middle-of-the-road, with no particularly clever plotting or revolutionary new take on the Star Wars universe. It has to be said that it doesn't even do that good a job of exploring the new High Republic Era in order to get us hooked on the whole multimedia project.
However, for all its aggressive averageness, there are a few minor elements which add together to elevate the book as a whole.
The first is the characterisation of both Keeve and Sskeer. Keeve lacks the stuffy, sanctimonious nature that many Jedi of the Republic seem to have and is therefore a much more enjoyable protagonist than she otherwise might have been. As for Sskeer, I was deeply fascinated by the idea of a Jedi Master suffering PTSD. The Jedi have not faced a threat as potent as the Nihil in centuries, so it makes a certain sense that the first major conflict with them (which isn't shown here, but can be found in 'Light of the Jedi') would leave some major psychological scars on some of the Jedi called on to fight.
A couple of the other elements that bring the quality of the book up are; the first ever non-binary Jedi (a nice bit of representation for people who have every right to have characters they can identify with in Star Wars), and the Drengir themselves. Unfortunately the Drengir don't get explored here as much as I'd like but, like the Nihil, we have some genuine credible threats to test the Jedi going forward.
Not an amazing book but a solid start to a series which I hope will improve as it goes.
4 out of 5
Collaborations & Anthologies:
Doctor Who: Supremacy Of The Cybermen (here)
Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension - Book One (here)
Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension - Book Two (here)
Doctor Who: The Missy Chronicles (here)
Star Wars Adventures: Defend The Republic! (here)
Star Wars Adventures: Driving Force (here)
Star Wars Adventures: Fight The Empire! (here)
Star Wars Adventures Omnibus: Volume 1 (here)
Star Wars: From A Certain Point Of View (here)
Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca - The Crystal Run: Part One (here)
Star Wars Insider: The High Republic - Starlight Stories (here)
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - From A Certain Point Of View (here)
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures - Volume 2 (here)
Star Wars: The High Republic - Jedi's End (here)
Star Wars: Yoda (here)