Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by: Tim Lebbon

 

Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void is clearly meant to be the first part of a bigger story, however it was published the year after the Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm.  While it would take more time for the expanded universe to be declared non-canon and rebranded as Legends, Tim Lebbon’s Star Wars novel is presented as the first installment in what was clearly intended to be a larger multimedia project.  There was a comic book written by legendary writer John Ostrander and included in the published version is an additional short story also from Ostrander, however Dawn of the Jedi was clearly meant to be a larger multimedia project that never quite materialized.  In retrospect, it laid groundwork for a different multimedia event with The High Republic starting in 2021.  While there is a desire to separate what could have been from what is, Into the Void is a novel where the missing potential of a larger exploration is a detriment to the novel.  Tim Lebbon does tell a complete story in the novel, flashing back between two events in the life of Je’daii Ranger Lanoree Brock.  The first being her upbringing and induction into the Je’daii Order with her brother as well has his apparent death and the second her mission to find him before he can complete a sacred rite that would obliterate their planet, Tython.  The obvious conclusion is that the Je’daii Order will eventually become the Jedi Order, as the timeline in the front of the book places this over 25,000 years before the original film.

 

Where Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Light succeeds is in the worldbuilding of this early galaxy.  Lebbon establishes Tython, its system, and the galaxy at large in a far more primitive state than what would be expected.  The production design of the original trilogy (and to a lesser extent the prequels) established the technological advancement of the galaxy as a mix of old and new, while this novel skews towards the old.  There is space travel, however the novel itself does not actually leave the Tython system.  Aesthetically the novel shares more in common with high fantasy, the mysteries of the Force being treated like a magic system in the same vein as popular fantasy of the 2010s.  While the Je’daii are not treated as mages, the use of ranger in Lanoree’s title is important, there is a sense of learning one’s magical abilities in harnessing the force and the idea of it as a chosen talent, Dalien’s inability to access the force and jealousy of his sister is the driving factor of the novel’s conflict as much as disenchantment with Je’daii teachings.  In terms of weaponry, gone are lightsabers and in their place are specially forged swords.  There is still the sense of Lanoree as a guardian but the rigid morality of the Dark Side as something to be shunned as a Jedi is gone here.  Lebbon indicates that rift being created by the end of the novel, however the Je’daii are meant to each be balancing the light and the dark within themselves.

 

Tim Lebbon as a writer, however, is the root of this novel’s problems.  In terms of prose, Into the Light is a particularly dry novel, Lebbon’s style flipping back and forth between the present and past narratives without any real sense of growth from Lanoree as a character.  Perhaps this is a remnant of this being the first part of a planned trilogy, however, it actively makes the past and present narratives feel far more similar than they are.  This is a disadvantage to the premise of the novel as already 25,000 years before Star Wars as it muddles its own internal timeline quite a bit.  The actual plot of the novel is also taking a backseat to the worldbuilding.  The most interesting sections are those describing Lanoree’s training or the way she operates within the galaxy, while her actual mission to find her brother is fine.  Lebbon attempts pathos and there are moments where emotionally Lanoree’s response to the revelation her brother may be alive is moving, but they are particularly brief.  The plot is just one event leading to the next event without vague emotional resonance when the exploration of the world is not happening.

 

Overall, there is potential in Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, but through a combination of being cut off before any sequels could even be outlined and Tim Lebbon’s own weak prose is at best mediocre.  Despite its short length, the thin plot is still dragged out quite a bit with admittedly particularly strong worldbuilding.  4/10.