Week five of the Inner Jedi Notebook. This week instead of a question (or in addition to one) there was an activity. At first I thought I’d skip the coloring activity, thinking it silly or unnecessary, but then I thought, if you’re going to do this, do everything. Don’t skip. So, below witness my Luke and Yoda masterpiece, lol.
Coloring Meditations:
“Luminous beings are we.”
Yoda
What are some of the qualities that make you a luminous being?
Color in the scene on the opposite page, and then decorate the following spread with illustrations, taped or glued-in ephemera, and other embellishments that symbolize your best traits.
I forgot how much I loved coloring when I was a kid.
This is just a bunch of stuff I found on hand when I was working on it this week. I focused on my family and my love of nature, mostly. How do these things make me a luminous being? They’re things that make my soul happy.
My tribe.
I’m still meditating fifteen minutes every day. I think as a beginner, you never really know if you’re doing it right, lol, or how you’re supposed to feel afterwards. I find that I do look forward to that little bit of quiet time everyday. No computer, phone, TV, book, work, errands, chores, people needing me, etc. It’s me-time, when I can just be quiet with myself. And that alone is worth it.
Obi-Wan by croaky on Devientart.com
What makes you a luminous being? If you’d like, we can talk about it in the comments below!
Just a few things this week. I’ve finished the YA book Before the Awakening, by Greck Rucka, and it was actually a lot better than I was expecting, to be honest. It consists of three short stories, each one focusing on the three sequel trilogy leads: Finn, Rey, and Poe. The stories take place just before the events of The Force Awakens, and we get a little glimpse of what these characters were doing just before the film.
Nothing revelatory here: Finn is training as a stromtrooper with the First Order and is beginning to have some doubts; Rey is on Jakku and finds a crashed ship she decides to fix up and sell to Unkar Plutt for rations; and Poe goes on an exciting piloting adventure in his first foray in the Resistance. They’re fun little stories that gives us a little more insight into these characters and where they’re at emotionally at the beginning of TFA. I enjoyed it.
Future friends.
As I await the next new Star Wars book (Queen’s Hope, on April 5th), I was casting around for an adult Star Wars novel to read to get me by until then. As I was scrolling through some canon books I haven’t read yet, I realized I just wasn’t interested in them (at least at the moment). I enjoy a good Legends book now and then, and thought it might be time for one of those.
One in particular (or rather, one trilogy) that I’ve been avoiding in Legends is the original Thrawn trilogy, and the first set of books that came out after Return of the Jedi. Not because I don’t like Thrawn; on the contrary, I think he’s a great character. I’ve tried to read the new canon Thrawn books (well, at least the first one, simply called Thrawn) but I couldn’t seem to get into it. I think it’s because in these books, Thrawn is the protagonist. But I like my Thrawn as the antagonist–the bad guy.
So I decided to read Heir to the Empire. I’d been avoiding it because, unlike some of the prequel Legends books I’ve read, this one diverges radically from what is now considered canon. Taking place five years after the Battle of Endor, Han and Leia are married, and are expecting twins, a girl and a boy. Luke is involved in the New Republic trying to establish itself on Coruscant. It’s a whole new set of events, and I wanted to get a handle on the canon first before I dived into this. I consider Legends an “alternate universe” version of Star Wars, kind of like the Marvel What If? idea.
Strangely enough, I did read this book when it first came out in 1991. I was starving for more Star Wars, and wanted to know what happened after Endor. Funny thing is, I couldn’t remember a thing about it (it was over thirty years ago, I guess, lol), except that it had Thrawn in it, and Leia and Han had twins. And Mara Jade, who I remember not liking very much at the time. I might have read the second book in the trilogy, but I really can’t remember. It all just seemed so weird to me, lol. But I figured this time, with the perspective of time and all the Star Wars I’ve ingested over the years, it could be interesting.
Anyway, I’ve read about a quarter of the book so far, and the verdict is…I’m loving it!
Where the EU all began.
It’s quite entertaining, and fun, and well-written by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is great as the bad guy, although a very interesting one, and it’s much faster-paced than the new canon book Thrawn (I couldn’t finish that one). I love that we get Luke, Han and Leia front and center going on adventures together. I find the idea of the twins fascinating (and the sequel trilogy characters Rey and Kylo/Ben were modeled after them, I believe). There’s just a lot to love here, and I can’t wait to read the rest of it! Then onto Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.
I’ve also been reading the High Republic comics: the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures. I wanted to get more of the High Republic story that I’d been missing from the novels. And they’re great, but I was surprised by how unprepared I was to read comics.
What I mean is, I’m a book reader, and I’ve never in my fifty years read any comics, or any graphic novels, for that matter. And I found it–disorienting–trying to read comic panels. It was kind of overwhelming, at first. A lot of things are going on visually, and I had a hard time deciding what gets read first, and which way to go, and taking it all in…it definitely has all your brain cells firing at once! I love, love, love the images, though. A very different experience than reading a book, which is a very orderly process. But I’m getting used to it! I’ll probably write about them in next week’s High Republic Wednesday.
Sskeer is a rather terrifying Jedi, lol.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
The High Republic is an exciting new era in Star Wars, taking place two hundred years prior to The Phantom Menace. That means lots of new, interesting characters to get to know. However, since Yoda is so long-lived, he is quite alive during the High Republic, at a mere 700 or so years. I thought I’d take a look at some Yoda representations during the High Republic era.
This one seems to be an earlier concept piece prior to the release of Project Luminous (the name the creators gave to the High Republic publishing initiative):
This is an amazing image of Yoda with Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis; I believe it is a comic variant cover:
Gabriel Dell’Otto
This is a more detailed and stylized concept piece of Yoda in his “Temple” garb (a fancier, more formal version of Jedi robes):
This gorgeous image is of Yoda with Jedi Master Avar Kriss, and is another comic cover variant:
Stephanie Hans
Here’s Yoda in his “Mission” garb, a plainer and more utilitarian version of Jedi robes:
Yoda is definitely a well-respected part of the High Republic Jedi Council, but is not the Grand Master yet.* His appearances are few and far between in the novels, but has a slightly larger role to play in the comics, especially the High Republic Adventures, in which he leads a group of younglings and Padawans. It’s always great to see this iconic, wisdom-dispensing character in any era.
What do you think of these images? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it.
For light and life!
*Edited–He actually is a Grandmaster, but he shares the post with two other Jedi: Lahru and Pra-tre Veter.
This was a fun entry, and echoes a post I did about my five favorite Jedi. The journal only gave five lines for each of the Jedi, so I had to be especially succinct. If you’re interested in my more exhaustive blog post, you can check it out here.
For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Who are your favorite Jedi Knights? What are the qualities that you admire most about them, and how do they embody the spirit of a Jedi?
These were my choices:
Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan is the ideal Jedi–he’s kind, empathetic, dedicated, and loyal. He’s calm in a crisis, and is a superb warrior. He loves deeply (Anakin and Satine, for example), but not possessively. His commitment to protecting Luke borders on martyrdom. He is selfless–yet not perfect. His loyalty to a flawed Jedi Order cost him Anakin. He always trusts in the Force.
Qui Gon Jin. Qui Gon is an authentic Jedi in the truest sense of the word–he is true to the Force (mostly the Living Force) and himself. He is a wise, patient master to Obi-Wan. And he questions and defies the Jedi Council numerous times. He questions authority when warranted. He’s a bit of a mystic, with an interest in the Prophecies.
Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is a Jedi with the biggest heart. Her first instinct is to help people, always. But she’s also got some sass, and some cool moves. She’s brave for leaving the Order and striking out on her own when she felt they’d betrayed her. And I love her double lightsabers!
Luke Skywalker. Luke personifies compassion. He loves his friends, but it was his unconditional love for his father that saved Anakin from Darth Vader and the Emperor. He’s been tempted by the Dark several times, coming to the brink, but never lets it consume him.
Kanan Jarrus. Through Ezra, Kanan relearns to be a Jedi, and what it means to be one. He learns to care again after the devastation of Order 66. He made the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved most, and for a cause he cared about.
I’m proud to say I’ve made it up to fifteen minutes of meditation everyday. Still fighting the thoughts, earworms, and images that come into my mind, as well as the itchy face, aching back (even though I’m sitting in a chair, lol), and occasional cat disturbances. Maybe someday I can be as serene as Kanan here (I’m not holding my breath about lifting the rocks):
Kanan by Jake Murray on Devientart.com
Who are your favorite Jedi and why? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I don’t have a lot to report this week. I’ve been reading Mission to Disaster, by Justina Ireland, the middle-grade High Republic book recently out, and I’m almost done with it. I don’t usually do reviews for the middle grade books, but I might do so this time. It’s quite good.
Other than that, March is looking wide open as far as books and shows go. Moon Knight premieres on the 31st, but other than that, there’s no Star Wars or Marvel show that I can think of that will fill up the month. There’s also no big book releases. The months of April through August (at least) will keep me busy with a new book release per month, but March? Zip. What’s a Star Wars fan to do?
Well, catch up on other things, for one. I remembered I’d ordered Before the Awakening, by Greg Rucka, on my Kindle a while ago but never read for one reason or another. It’s a YA book (I think) that has some stories about Rey, Finn and Poe before the events of The Force Awakens. I’ll probably dig into that.
I’ve also ordered the combined comics of the Marvel High Republic series, as well as the High Republic Adventures. I’m pretty excited about this, as I’ve long wanted to read these comics. I’m not a huge comic fan, but I know that the story being told in the High Republic era encompasses both books and comics. There are characters that feature mainly in the comics (like Avar Kriss, Keeve Trennis, Skeer, and many others), as well as storylines that I feel are important to understand the totality of the High Republic era.
I also think that, with a storyline that has no live-action medium (or even an animation), the comics really fill in the look of the High Republic. What do these characters look like? What about the ships, and the droids, and other aspects of the High Republic that we’ve never seen before? The comics answer those questions and gives us a visual to latch onto. So yeah, I can’t wait to read these!
Oh, and by the way, we’ve got a cover for the YA book by Kiersten White about a young Obi-Wan Kenobi coming out on July 26th:
Obi-Wan looks pretty intense here, lol. Definitely on my pre-order list.
That’s really about it right now. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Daniel Jose Older’s YA novel Midnight Horizon is the third, and last YA offering in the first phase of the High Republic books, and it was an enjoyable read. It takes place just before and during the events of The Fallen Star, the adult novel by Claudia Gray that tells of the Nihil attack and destruction of Starlight Beacon.
The Nihil are also causing problems on Corellia (Han Solo’s home planet); while the marauders have long plagued the Outer Rim, most of the Inner Rim is complacent that they wouldn’t dare attack a Core world. They also believe that the Jedi and Republic forces have hunted down and destroyed most of the Nihil and that they’re not that big a problem anymore. Oh, how wrong they are.
Padawan Reath Silas
Corellia is famous for its shipyards, and it makes sense that the Nihil would want to attempt to steal some ships for their own nefarious purposes. Their plan is surprisingly sophisticated, but it’s interrupted by a group of young people that include Jedi Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jamoram (and their masters, Cohmac Vitus and Kantam Sy), and a young native with pink hair named Crash who runs a protection agency.
Most of the book is a slow burn of character development and setting up of events that lead to a huge, rather exciting climax in the last part of the book. I will admit that I wasn’t particularly wowed by the first part of the book, and Crash was not a character I found interesting in any way. I’m a little tired of brilliant adolescents who vacillate between teen angst and impossible feats of valor and wisdom. But that’s YA for you–I’m not the ideal reader.
Master Cohmac Vitus
The Jedi, of course, are exceptions to this very biased opinion of mine, lol. Reath Silas is my favorite High Republic Padawan, precisely because he originally was the bookish, studious type who, while quite skilled with the lightsaber, hoped that he never had to use it. He didn’t want adventures. He wanted to live in the Jedi Archives. And I could totally relate. But, over the course of several YA novels, he’s been forced into living a life of war with the Nihil, and it’s rather poignant to see him struggling with that transition. And I love seeing him mentor the younger Padawan Ram, who is also struggling with the transition. He just wants to tinker with machines.
Mostly I preferred the scenes with the older Jedi, Cohmac and Kantam. Until the very end of the book, they took a backseat to the younger characters, but they, too, had their own emotional struggles to deal with. Since Into the Dark, Cohmac has struggled with his emotions and the Jedi Order’s stance on how to deal with them (though the High Republic Jedi are still much more open with attachment and emotions than the prequel Jedi). Kantam Sy (a non-binary character) had even left the Order for a time when they were young, to explore their burgeoning need to explore life outside of the Jedi. They tell this story to Cohmac during some of their down times.
Padawan Ram Jamoram
All the Jedi, Masters and Padawans alike, struggle with their emotions and their attachments to each other and others, as the story unfolds. Especially as they find out what’s happening to Starlight Beacon; they worry for their friends and struggle with rage against the Nihil.
Even Crash, who lost a good friend at the beginning of the book, struggles with attachment–she decides to distance herself from her other friends in order to prevent being hurt again in that way.
Padawan Lula Talisola
The end of the book was inarguably the best part, as it climaxes into a battle between the Jedi and their allies and the Nihil in the shipyards. And we get a surprise appearance from a familiar green friend, who has also figured into some of Kantam’s memories in the book.
In the end, this was a pretty good book, but I do prefer Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark, as far as YA High Republic novels go. I do like how we get to know Corellia a bit more during the High Republic, its politics and inner workings (and we get to see the Grindalids, the White Worm gangs that rule the sewers and underground passageways that we see in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the book Most Wanted). And I finally got to see some of the characters from the comics, like Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, Krix, and others that Older created for his High Republic Adventures comics.
I would give Midnight Horizon 3.5 out of 5 lightsabers.
Have you read Midnight Horizon? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’ve been working on my Inner Jedi Notebook for three weeks now, and I’m really enjoying the experience.
Here’s the question for Week Three:
Yoda assigns Anakin Skywalker a Padawan in Ahsoka Tano, in the hopes that mentoring a young Jedi would help Anakin discover his own best traits.
Decades later, Yoda would implore Luke Skywalker to pass on what he has learned to a new generation of Jedi. How can you be a mentor to people in your own life?
I answered with this:
“The obvious example that comes to mind is my daughter. We care for our children, protect them, play with them, but I think we also hope that we can guide them, teach them, impart some wisdom. My daughter is thirteen, so is probably at an age where she doesn’t quite want to listen to my lessons, lol. But I’m hoping, throughout the years, that a few things sink in that she can later retrieve: Be kind, always (she’s already pretty good at this; in fact, she’s got the biggest heart in anyone I know). Love yourself. Stand up for yourself. Listen to your intuition. Respect yourself. Believe in yourself. These are actually things I’m still working on. I’m hoping by imparting these lessons to her, I will also learn them. Be the example. Like a Master and a Padawan, the hope is that you can learn from each other. I know that eventually I will need to learn to let go, to teach her to be independent and send her out into the world. This terrifies me, lol, but is probably the most important lesson of all.
Yoda says over and over, especially in the High Republic books, that Padawans teach Masters the hardest lesson: to let go. Yoda ought to know–he’s probably had dozens of Padawans over his long life. And he had to let each one go. People with multiple children must guide and protect them, and then let each one go, one by one. I only have one child, and that seems hard enough!”
I got up to fifteen minutes of meditating this week, at least until Wednesday, but then I didn’t feel well, and didn’t do it for a couple of days. But I’m better and back on track, so I’m planning on fifteen minutes every day next week. It’s a habit I want to get into, like brushing my teeth; and also work my way up to thirty minutes, if I can. It seems impossible now, but so did meditating in the first place, so we’ll see.
Rey meditating on Ach-To by Shawn Duddridge on artstation.com
Are you a mentor to anyone? If you’d like, let me know about it in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’ve finished Midnight Horizon, the latest High Republic YA novel by Daniel Jose Older, and although it didn’t wow me at first, it did get better and ended up being quite good. I’ll probably do a review of the book for next week’s High Republic Wednesday’s post, so stay tuned.
I’m now reading Mission to Disaster, the middle-grade novel by Justina Ireland in this third High Republic wave, and the end of Phase One. I’ve generally liked the middle-grade novels, and Ireland is particularly good at them; it also centers around Vernestra Rwoh, one of my favorite High Republic Padawans. I literally just started it, but I’m looking forward to getting into it.
Vernestra and Imri battling some gnarly looking space crocs.
In other Star Wars book news, it seems I have another to add to my pre-order list, lol. On August 16th of this year a book called The Princess and the Scoundrel will be released. It’s a book about Han and Leia’s wedding, if you can believe it. It’s by Beth Revis, who wrote the excellent YA novel Rebel Rising, about Jyn Erso, so I’m hoping good things come of it. At first, I thought, Um, really? but it actually sounds like it could be kind of neat. It will tell of their wedding on Endor, and then of their honeymoon on the Halcyon cruise ship. But while on board, they get involved in some kind of adventure, as it’s clear the Imperials are still around. Could be fun.
In other extremely exciting Star Wars news, there are reports that Jimmy Smits will be making an appearance in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. This comes with other rumored plot leaks that I won’t mention (so be careful online if you want to go into the show without spoilers), but I will say I’m so happy to know that my original favorite space dad, Bail Organa, will be showing up!
In Marvel, I watched Assembled: Eternals. I really like these Assembled episodes, which show the making of these wonderful shows and movies. And since I absolutely loved Eternals, this one was pretty special. I don’t think Eternals went over well with a lot of long-time Marvel fans, and I think it’s because it’s so different than what they’re used to seeing. But as a new Marvel fan (just in the past year), I’m not so entrenched in “what Marvel should look like.” So I think I’m more open to new things. That’s my theory anyway, lol.
In more Marvel news, the Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer dropped recently, and it was insane. I have no idea what the hell is going on here, lol, but it looks awesome! I can’t wait!
Speaking of trailers, there’s more: Moon Knight had a teaser trailer during the Super Bowl, and it looks just as crazy and incomprehensible. But cool, too.
This has been a week for trailers, as there was also one for The Rings of Power series that will premiere on Amazon Prime in September. I don’t know much about this series, but it’s something I’d love to watch. I probably won’t get Amazon Prime, though, so I’ll have to wait until it’s available in some other form.
That’s about it–mostly upcoming shows and books that I can’t wait for!
What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Now that Phase One of the High Republic has concluded (for the most part), it’s time to look forward to Phase Two (called Quest of the Jedi), which I believe will start releasing this fall. Starwars.com just released the titles of the first wave of books in Phase Two along with the authors:
Adult Novel
Young Adult Novel
Middle Grade Novel
Comic
Unfortunately, there are no covers yet available, but as soon as they are final I’ll post them here. Justina Ireland and Claudia Gray are the only two original authors writing for this first wave, but I imagine we’ll see more of Cavan Scott, Charles Soule, and Daniel Jose Older. I’m looking forward to reading these new authors and what they can bring to Star Wars!
I’m about halfway done with Midnight Horizon, the High Republic YA novel by Daniel Jose Older. It’s fine so far. I’m hoping it gets a bit more interesting. Older is not my favorite Star Wars writer–I couldn’t even get through Last Shot, a Han and Lando novel that I had been looking forward to. Race to Crashpoint Tower was fine, and this one is just fine, too. The YA novels can be tricky for me–I know they’re about young people, but young people can be, well, annoying, lol. If it’s done well, I really do enjoy them. This one takes place mostly on Corellia, and features Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jamoram (and their Masters). The young Jedi are usually fine, but it’s the other young people that are thrown in that get on my nerves, lol. Anyway, I’ll probably do a review post when I finish it.
The Book of Boba Fett finished its first (and maybe only?) season this past week with Episode 7: In the Name of Honor. I enjoyed it, and posted my thoughts about it here, if you’re curious.
We finally got a premiere date for Obi-Wan Kenobi (May 25th) and a poster:
I’m soooooo excited for this!
May is going to be a huge Obi-Wan Kenobi month with the new show, a novel called Brotherhood (about Obi-Wan and Anakin), and a new Obi-Wan comic. My Obi-Wan dreams have come true! Can’t wait.
In Marvel, I watched Assembled: Hawkeye. I liked the show, but felt it was a little uneven. But watching the making-of documentary makes me want to watch it again, and I probably will. As with most things, I think I’ll enjoy it more the second time around.
Clint Barton, Kate Bishop and Pizza Dog.
With BoBF done, I’m show-less for a while. Moon Knight premieres on March 30, but until then I don’t think there’s anything new in Star Wars or Marvel. It might be time to catch up on some Marvel movies that have been waiting in the wings: the Andrew Garfield Spiderman films, a couple of Wolverine movies, Deadpool, that sort of thing.
That’s about it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
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Star Wars and Other Obsessions 