Je'Daii

When I say I'm a *Star Wars* fan I mean I'm a *Star Wars* fan -- not a CosPlayer or convention devotee, but a fan of the Universe George Lucas created and the cultures that dwell within that Universe. I remember being a kid and eagerly awaiting the answer to the greatest question of the time: was Darth Vader really Luke Skywalker's father? 

I remember going to a theater in Satellite Beach, FL that was having a *Star Wars* marathon of the first two movies in preparation of the release of Return of the Jedi. It might have been the first or second time in my life I saw a movie by myself since my mother was less than interested in seeing these films.

I remember watching Jedi in disbelief as Obi-wan Kenobi explained to Luke how Vader was his father, turning the Universe upside down for an 8 (or 9) year old boy.

There came many a weekend afternoon watching the movies in syndication and many hundreds of hours watching them on VHS before George Lucas changed the films. (Han shot first, by the way) And then the changes, the underwhelming prequels, DVD and Blu-Ray.

In between all of those movies re- re- re- releases there were comic books, graphic novels and over 100 good old fashioned novels, many taking place before A New Hope and many more taking place after the Battle of Yavin (ABY).

I've read a lot of them, especially the post A New Hope books. A read Splinter in the Mind's Eye where Luke and his sister Leia make out; the adventures of Han Solo and Lando Calrissian before they ever meet Obi-wan and Luke; books about minor characters from the films, video game characters and characters that are only introduced in the books.

I've read over 60 years of history in the Star Wars universe, history starring the re-establishment of the Jedi Order, the adventures of Rogue Squadron, politics of the New Republic and the Galactic Republic and more. Always more.

Like I said, I'm a fan.

On a whim I picked up a new Star Wars book at the local library: Dawn of the Jedi. Taking place more than 25,000 years before the events concluding with the Battle of Yavin.

Starring the Je'Daii Ranger Lanoree, Dawn of the Jedi is the story of ... well, I don't really know. Stranded on a system with habitable planets, races from all over the galaxy make their way in a pre-star drive environment. The Je'Daii aren't a religious sect so much as a they are a police force that acts as judge, jury and when necessary, executioner. Nor are they of the light side of the Force, but rather stuck in the middle known as the Balance.

Lanoree and her brother Dal, both born of Je'Daii and both with Force capabilities are two completely different people which the author tries to explain in a series of flashbacks. In short, Lanoree embraces her connection to the Force and revels in it's mysteries while Dal shuns the hidden power he can sense but doesn't trust. Both brother and sister travel the continents of the their homeworld, visiting each of the Je'Daii temples for instruction in the Force.

In the "contemporary" storyline, Lanoree, a Je'Daii Ranger, is given the mission of stopping a religious cult from activating a technology they believe will destroy their world. As she learns, her brother Dal is the de facto leader of this cult and has assembled ancient technology that might return those who were stranded in this solar system eons before back to the stars.

I was really hoping for more history into the Jedi Order with this book, but was severely disappointed. Maybe the the author wasn't given leeway to delve deeper into the mysteries of the pre-Jedi force users or maybe he just didn't know how to translate the vision to paper. Instead we have a heroine who dotes on her younger brother, who travels with him over land and on foot for weeks on end, each other their only company, but who is apparent'y not smart enough to engage her brother in conversation about his distrust of the Force. It isn't until nearly the end that he explains why he feels like a slave to the will of the Force and turned his back on the power.

The brother/sister relationship just didn't seem real to me.

And then there was the technology. As we learn, this story takes place 10,000 years after these races were stranded in this system. They have space ships, blasters, amazing technology for terra-forming and war. Lightsabers aren't around yet, but droids are abundant.

My main issue with the technology is looking at the history of tech in our world and our time. In the past 100 years we've seen miracles come to life; we've seen the invention of the telephone and it's metamorphosis into the cellular technologies. We've seen computers that took up entire floors of buildings that have less power than the laptop I'm writing this post on. We've launched people to the Moon and back with computers less powerful than my cell phone.

And yet, in 25,000 years the technology of the Star Wars universe is nearly the same. Space ships that can travel in atmosphere and space easily, granted without hyperspace or warp technology; navigation computers, droids, cities built on technology that rivals even the Galactic Civil War, twenty-five eons later.

I was expecting a primitive world, perhaps with airships or ocean vessels, where the proverbial "dawn of the Jedi" was a story of the origins of Force sensitive people: what planet/system they were from or how they came together to form an organization called the Je-Daii. Instead, we get more of the same, just without the political and social tie-ins surrounding the original trilogy.

I'm guessing, at this point, the "dawn of the Jedi" will be the metamorphosis of the Je'Daii into the Jedi Order we all love.

It's sad really. Given Disney's acquisition of the Star Wars franchise and their promise to make more films, this was a perfect gateway into a "new" old universe without having to keep up with a thousand years of "contemporary" history. It could have been a blank slate, if you will, but it's not.