The Legend of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu is a series of short stories that tell what may or may not have happened to the last Jedi. The book exists as part of the Journey to the Last Jedi stories and follows a group of starship deckhands who share 6 different tales about Luke. Each story either exaggerates or embellishes the events of Lukes life. It’s called the legends of Luke Skywalker because, as is the case with all legends, there are possible nuggets of truth mixed in with each story.
As Episode 9 approaches, it’s books like this that may give fans a glimpse as to where the lore may be heading. As such, here are some of the highlights, lowlights and overall vaule of The Legends of Luke Skywalker.
Legend of Luke Skywalker Highlights
The Reliability of Unreliable Narrators
Overall, the tales told are enjoyable. Some are more believable than others, while some are just downright insulting; I’m looking at you story about Luke Clodplotter. What’s interesting is that each storyteller believes the story they are telling is absolutely true. This makes the overall narrative of the story fascinating. While it’s a quick compendium of short stories about the most famous Jedi in the galaxy, it’s also a fascinating study of the sociology in the Star Wars universe. As fans of the universe, we all have our thoughts and feelings about the characters within it. What this book does is introduce us to characters who have thoughts and feelings about the characters we inturn have thoughts and feelsings out.
In short, even though the storytellers in the story are unreliable, we start to trust them as their tales don’t seem to far off what we believe about Luke Skywalker ourself. It’s pretty awesome.
The Force … of Sorts
One of the cool things that story focuses on is how and when Luke Skywalker uses the force. There are stories that show him relying on the force heavily and others that show him and the force as farcicle. There are still others that show him using more of natural ability and not relying on the force at all. But what we see in two of the more well developed stories is just how Luke interacts with people who are sensitive to the force. Neither group refers to it as the force. One group calls it the Tide while the other calls it the Mist. What makes these stories so interesting is how the individuals from the other cultures interact with the mystical power.
In Fishing in the Deluge, Luke learns how a group of force users use the power to interact with the world around it. Luke is taught that the force is neither good nor bad and should not be used as he has been taught. It compels individuals. It drives them. We actually see a lot of this mentality, not to mention the spearfishing Luke learned how to do, in Episode 8, The Last Jedi. It’s likely this story, or at least the true aspects of it, that influenced Luke’s teaching to Rey.
In Big Inside, Luke and a scientist get trapped inside an exogorth (giant space slug, think of the thing that eats the Falcon). In this story, Luke and his scientist friend find a trio of ancient force users. These force users called themselves Mist Weavers and went about the galaxy knitting together the strands that bind people together like a big rug. There’s a moment when the trio talks about the galaxy at large. They say that this great rug of the mist has giant holes in it, a darkness that has spread.
Both of these stories add to the already rich lore that exists in and around the Jedi, Sith, and the force.
Lowlights
There aren’t really any low points to this book. Liu crafts each story to benefit the overall whole. Each builds upon the story before it by adding just a little bit of narrative to help readers see what people believe about the legend that is Luke Skywalker. However, as a fan, I was bothered by two of the stories told: The Myth Buster and The Tale of Legubrius Mote. Not that the stories are told poorly, but that they try to discredit the Jedi, the Rebellion, and Luke himself.
The Myth Buster retells the events of A New Hope from the perspective of an unbelieving former Imperial engineer. His story is nothing more than a conspiracy theorists attempt to explain away the Death Star. It turns the heroic feats of the rebel soldiers into nothing more than the galaxy’s greatest con ever. The storyteller believes Luke and crew to be the most effective con men in the galaxy. Obi-wan, Luke, Han, and Chewie didn’t blow up the Death Star because there was no Death Star to blow up. The Death Star was just an elaborate form of propaganda created to frighten planets into obedience. The so-called Heroes of the Rebellion simply staged an elaborate play, pretending to destroy the fictional Death Star. Since there was no giant megabase to destroy, the Empire couldn’t simply say there was nothing to destroy. It’s really a brilliantly crafted piece of conspiracy theory. This is only problematic if you believe that Episode 4 is the true, literal events that took place.
Similarly, the Tale of Legubrius Mote retells the events at Jabba’s palace from Return of the Jedi. Instead of Luke, being one with the force, he was being manipulated by a space flea that once lived on Salacious B. Crumb. Being small and unassuming, Luke mistook this loquatious bug as the force. From the moment Luke fell into the Rancor pit, to the events over the Sarlac, Luke was nothing more than a meat puppet for the space flea. What bothers me about this story is that it undercuts the planning and potential sacrifice of all involved in rescue of Han Solo.
Needless to say, both of these stories paint Luke Skywalker and company in the a less than acurate light.
Final Thoughts about the Legends of Luke Skywalker
All in all, The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu is a fun installment in the overall Star Wars canon. It’s a simple enough story that young audiences will easily engage with it’s characters, but it’s complex enough that older fans will still enjoy the stories. If you are an avid reader of the extended canon, this book is worthwhile. If you have children you want to get into Star Wars, this could be a good start. You can find this story on Audible, Amazon, or your public library…probably.
I am a man-child in my early 30s who is looking to explore the nerdy side of life. I am a former English teacher, a current copywriter, and a future who-knows-what. I love movies, literature, video games, TV, and music.
Feb 25 2019
The Legends of Luke Skywalker: Star Wars Book Review
The Legend of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu is a series of short stories that tell what may or may not have happened to the last Jedi. The book exists as part of the Journey to the Last Jedi stories and follows a group of starship deckhands who share 6 different tales about Luke. Each story either exaggerates or embellishes the events of Lukes life. It’s called the legends of Luke Skywalker because, as is the case with all legends, there are possible nuggets of truth mixed in with each story.
As Episode 9 approaches, it’s books like this that may give fans a glimpse as to where the lore may be heading. As such, here are some of the highlights, lowlights and overall vaule of The Legends of Luke Skywalker.
Legend of Luke Skywalker Highlights
The Reliability of Unreliable Narrators
Overall, the tales told are enjoyable. Some are more believable than others, while some are just downright insulting; I’m looking atyou story about Luke Clodplotter. What’s interesting is that each storyteller believes the story they are telling is absolutely true. This makes the overall narrative of the story fascinating. While it’s a quick compendium of short stories about the most famous Jedi in the galaxy, it’s also a fascinating study of the sociology in the Star Wars universe. As fans of the universe, we all have our thoughts and feelings about the characters within it. What this book does is introduce us to characters who have thoughts and feelings about the characters we inturn have thoughts and feelsings out.
In short, even though the storytellers in the story are unreliable, we start to trust them as their tales don’t seemto far off what we believe about Luke Skywalker ourself. It’s pretty awesome.
The Force … of Sorts
One of the cool things thatstory focuses on is how and when Luke Skywalker uses the force. There are stories that show him relying on the force heavily and others that show him and the force as farcicle . There are still others that show him using more of natural ability and not relying on the force at all. But what we see in two of the more well developed stories is just how Luke interacts with people who are sensitive to the force. Neither group refers to it as the force. One group calls it the Tide while the other calls it the Mist. What makes these stories so interesting is how the individuals from the other cultures interact with the mystical power.
In Fishing in the Deluge, Luke learns how a group of force users use the power to interact with the world around it. Luke is taught that the force is neither good nor bad and should not be used as he has been taught. It compels individuals. It drives them. We actually see a lot of this mentality, not to mention the spearfishing Luke learned how to do, in Episode 8, The Last Jedi. It’s likely this story, or at least the true aspects of it, that influenced Luke’s teaching to Rey.
In Big Inside, Luke and a scientist get trapped inside an exogorth (giant space slug, think of the thing that eats the Falcon). In this story, Luke and his scientist friend find a trio of ancient force users. These force users called themselves Mist Weavers and went about the galaxy knitting together the strands that bind people together like a big rug. There’s a moment when the trio talks about the galaxy at large. They say that this great rug of the mist has giant holes in it, a darkness that has spread.
Both of these stories add to the already rich lore that exists in and around the Jedi, Sith, and the force.
Lowlights
There aren’t really any low points to this book. Liu crafts each story to benefit the overall whole. Each builds upon the story before it by adding just a little bit of narrative to help readers see what people believe about the legend that is Luke Skywalker. However, as a fan, I was bothered by two of the stories told: The Myth Buster and The Tale of Legubrius Mote. Not that the stories are told poorly, but that they try to discredit the Jedi, the Rebellion, and Luke himself.
The Myth Buster retells the events of A New Hope from the perspective of an unbelieving former Imperial engineer. His story is nothing more than a conspiracy theorists attempt to explain away the Death Star. It turns the heroic feats of the rebel soldiers into nothing more than the galaxy’s greatest con ever. The storyteller believes Luke and crew to be the most effective con men in the galaxy. Obi-wan, Luke, Han, and Chewie didn’t blow up the Death Star because there was no Death Star to blow up. The Death Star was just an elaborate form of propaganda created to frighten planets into obedience. The so-called Heroes of the Rebellion simply staged an elaborate play, pretending to destroy the fictional Death Star. Since there was no giant megabase to destroy, the Empire couldn’t simply say there was nothing to destroy. It’s really a brilliantly crafted piece of conspiracy theory. This is only problematic if you believe that Episode 4 is the true, literal events that took place.
Similarly, the Tale of Legubrius Mote retells the events at Jabba’s palace from Return of the Jedi. Instead of Luke, being one with the force, he was being manipulated by a space flea that once lived on Salacious B. Crumb. Being small and unassuming, Luke mistook thisloquatious bug as the force. From the moment Luke fell into the Rancor pit, to the events over the Sarlac, Luke was nothing more than a meat puppet for the space flea. What bothers me about this story is that it undercuts the planning and potential sacrifice of all involved in rescue of Han Solo.
Needless to say, both of these stories paint Luke Skywalker and company inthe a less than acurate light.
Final Thoughts about the Legends of Luke Skywalker
All in all, The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu is a fun installment in the overall Star Wars canon. It’s a simple enough story that young audiences will easily engage withit’s characters, but it’s complex enough that older fans will still enjoy the stories. If you are an avid reader of the extended canon, this book is worthwhile. If you have children you want to get into Star Wars, this could be a good start. You can find this story on Audible, Amazon, or your public library…probably.
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By Thaddaeus Brodrick • Book • • Tags: Book Review, Luke Skywalker, Star Wars Canon, star wars legends, Star Wras