Product Description

Major original Star Wars adventure set against the backdrop of the Clone Wars and telling the tale of Anakin Skywalker's rise to full Jedi Knight status. Somewhere between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III, Anakin Skywalker graduates from Jedi Padawan (apprentice) to Jedi Knight status. This book tells how that happens. A planet that is a crucial communications centre is taken by the Separatists, and the Republic decides to back a guerrilla fighting group called Freedom's Sons in taking it back. A detachment of clone troopers led by Jedi Knight Nejaa Halcyon and Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker is sent out to help the Freedom's Sons. Little does Anakin know that the volatile situation on this occupied planet will prove to be his own personal Jedi Trial, and that if he emerges victorious, he will have won the coveted titled of full Jedi Knight, student no longer but Jedi in his own right. This is the Anakin who learns how great his powers can be and how huge is his real potential...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242377 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From the Publisher
Exciting Star Wars Jedi adventure starring Anakin Skywalker, the young man who is destined to become Darth Vader.

About the Author
David Sherman and Dan Cragg are the authors of Del Rey's successful military science fiction series Starfist. David Sherman is a former U.S. Marine and the author of 8 previously published novels about Marines in Vietnam, where he served as an infantryman and as a member of a Combined Action Platoon. He is also the author of a new military fantasy series entitled Demontech. Dan Cragg enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1958 and retired with the rank of sergeant major twenty-two years later. He is co-author of Inside the VC and NVA, Top Sergeant, and The Soldier's Prize. Mr. Cragg is an analyst for the Defense Dept. He and his wife, Sunny, live in Virginia.

Customer Reviews

A more epic Clone Wars novel, but flawed.
THE STORY:
Two and a half years after 'Attack of the Clones', the important world of Praesitlyn falls into Separatist hands and only a small independent army, the Freedom's Sons and Daughters, are fighting back. The Republic sends a small force to recapture Praesitlyn, led by Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon and Anakin Skywalker, desperately seeking advancement to Knighthood.

WHAT'S GOOD:
This book deals with much larger-scale events than the other Clone Wars books so far, going some length to recapturing the epic scope of the films (and earlier novels) that has been largely lacking in recent Star Wars fiction. The authors, having military backgrounds, manage very well to convey the tactics, logistics and horrors of large-scale ground combat, giving a definite air of realism to the story. There's also a few familiar cameo faces (something else sadly lacking in the Clone Wars novels) ranging from Asajj Ventress (from the comics, cartoons and 'The Cestus Deception') to Armand Isard (the father of the X-Wing series villain Ysanne Isard).

WHAT'S BAD:
I can't exactly quantify it, but there's an overwhelming feeling of shallowness to this book. No time or space is dedicated to describing the subtleties of the politics involved, the details of Praesitlyn itself, or even many of the main characters. The events are presented at such a rapid pace that it feels as though they're aren't important (particularly the actual invasion by the Separatists and the space battle at the end). Also, Zozridor Slayke is a thoroughly unlikable character who, obviously outnumbered and outgunned, heroically throws away the lives of most of his force and is then presented by the authors as some kind of tactical genius! Finally, I felt more could have been done with the character of Nejaa Halcyon, the fact that he has a wife like Anakin is only mentioned two or three times and no mention whatsoever is made of his work with CorSec or his limited ability to use Jedi telekinesis (both established by the character's creator Michael A. Stackpole in 'I, Jedi').

Simply terrible
I thought Jedi Trial couldn't nearly be as bad as some of the reviews I had read, so I went ahead and bought this book. Foolish. The dialogue is cheesy, the characters make for cringeworthy reading, and the relationship between Halcyon and Anakin is nauseating. Plus Slayke is so irritating you'll find yourself on the side of the Separatists before the book is out.

You'll be trawling through this book for ages and never really getting anywhere- it's all "Let's sit around and chat about feeding clone troopers and how big our egos are." Very dull. Don't feel you have to read this to keep up with the Clone Wars series. It only gets two stars for it's mildly interesting portrayal of war as a more tangible issue rather than just a space yarn.

It's a Trial alright, but not a Jedi one.

Too much of a good thing.........
Star Wars: Jedi Trail. Average at best. The story of Anakin Skywalker's trials to become a fully fledged Jedi Knight is an addition to the already vast library of Star Wars books, and an addition that really didn't do a great deal for me to be honest.
Some of the language and descriptions used seemed to be lifted straight from several of the better war movies (Troops shouting "OOORAHH" before battle for instance....Why for god's sake? This is a Star Wars book...not a book about U.S Marines!)
The new characters seem hastily formed and even a little childish at times (Slayke's mannersisms, as a professional Commander of troops annoyed the crap out of me straight away!)and even existing characters come don't come across as they do in the films or other publications.
All in all, buy if you want to have the complete collection of Clone Wars Star Wars books, but other than that, borrow of a mate and read it. not worth buying. Get yourself either Republic Commando: Hard Contact or Shatterpoint for a decent Clone Wars novel instead.