March 3, 2025 • 42 mins
Hey Star Wars listeners! We've got a treat for you this week. Iain Kay's back for another book review, and this time, we're talking about John Jackson Miller's 'The Living Force,' which just dropped in 2024. It's all about celebrating 25 years of 'The Phantom Menace'! We're going to give you a full spoiler review and a quick recap to help you figure out if you want to pick it up. And of course, we'll be ending with our famous Pablo Points and Poodoo Ratings. Check out the link below for our podcast archive spreadsheet. Find Iain and Peter on Star Bores: https://open.spotify.com/show/2rvMavRW1ZqunG5Ot8COCM\
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Time to abandon ship.
(00:05):
Oh no!
Here we go!
Can I persuade you to join us for a drink?
It's a tradition.
Here, here.
Jar Jar, homie, my main man.
Quick!
Before the separatists attack, get into the escape pod.
Wait!
This is a escape, then where is da pod!
(00:27):
Welcome back to Star Wars Escape Pod and our review of The Living Force, which is a novel
that came out last year, 2024, by the author John Jackson Miller, and takes place in the
(00:52):
years prior to Episode I, The Phantom Menace.
So we're going to dive right into that.
We have a very special guest joining us again this week, as well as our lovely co-host.
So without further ado, let's get into it.
(01:17):
Another happy landing.
Alright, welcome back, Blake.
Hello there.
What a celebration it is.
(01:39):
I feel like we're a little late with this review, but this book came out to celebrate
25 years of The Phantom Menace.
That's part of the reason why this book was a thing.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, because when this book came out, I think it was around the time that Phantom Menace
did re-release in the theaters.
So yeah.
Because we went to that.
Yeah, we did go to that.
I do remember that.
(02:00):
Yeah.
I didn't realize this book came out around the same time.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
Same year, same summer.
But yeah, we're going to dive right in.
We also have a very special guest this week, returning guest, our friend Ian.
Welcome back, Ian.
Hi, Matt.
Always good to be back on the show.
Oh, it's always good to have you back.
And it seems we're always, we're usually talking about books with you.
(02:23):
I mean, you know, Ian, for anyone who hasn't listened to the, to Star Wars Escape pod before
or Star Wars or any, any podcast for that matter, you might not know who Ian is.
And Ian's a big Star Wars reader as well.
I think you and I chatted, Ian, about The Force Collector, which was like the first
time that you had did a Star Wars podcast, which was, which was here, which I'm very
(02:47):
honored for.
That was, that was a while ago, to be fair, yeah it was.
Yeah.
That was, that was a while ago.
That was 2019.
I think.
It was five years ago, dude.
Yeah.
Almost six.
Yeah.
I believe so.
Yeah.
It was, yeah.
Ian was.
It was part of the journey to the Rise of Skywalker.
So yeah, it was.
That's right.
Yeah.
(03:07):
Ian was one of my first, first special guests ever.
So, you know, I hold that near and dear.
That's right.
He's got a special plaque.
All right.
So, so yeah.
So this week, guys, we have, we have a book that we, we, we got through called Star Wars
The Living Force.
And I'll just read a little bit about, about the book.
But for those of you out there who have not read the book, big spoiler bell for you with
(03:32):
the spoiler territory and just kind of a funny little side note is Blake, you technically
didn't finish the book.
Did you?
No.
I kind of ran out of time.
Been a little busy.
But I did the best I could.
Yeah.
So I might, I might leave some of it for you guys to quarrel about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(03:52):
But yeah, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna, hopefully we'll get, we got a good chat ahead
of us here.
And what I'll do is I'll read a little bit about the book and then we can kind of get
into just, you know, the nitty gritty of things.
So.
All right.
This is Star Wars, The Living Force by John Jackson Miller.
(04:13):
Takes place prior to episode one, The Phantom Menace.
The story focuses on the Jedi council as they grapple with a changing galaxy and their place
within it.
The Jedi have always been defenders of peace and justice, but as the galaxy evolves, so
too must the Jedi order.
Qui-Gon Jinn challenges the council about the orders increasing isolation from the galaxy.
(04:35):
In response to this challenge, Mace Windu suggests that all 12 Jedi masters embark on
a goodwill mission to the planet Quen, where a Jedi outpost is being decommissioned.
This mission is intended to remind the people of the galaxy that the Jedi remain as stalwart
and present as they have been across the ages.
This is a multi-protagonist story with a large cast of characters.
(04:57):
And I'll just kind of run through the cast here.
So you'll see some familiar names.
We have Jedi Master Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Depa Billaba, Eeth Koth, Jarl Poof,
Adi Gallia, Oppo Rancisis, Yaddle, Sassy Tin, Ki-Adi Mundi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi,
and our villains of the story, Zalastra and Kyla, who ends up being a bit of a gray character
(05:21):
in the end.
So yeah, interesting things.
And maybe we can start with you, Ian.
Like what did you think of this book, just in a nutshell?
In a nutshell?
It was quite an interesting adventure where you obviously get to spend time with Jedi
that haven't...
You don't get the, obviously, the showcase that like an Obi-Wan or a Qui-Gon or a Yoda
(05:41):
get.
And it was quite interesting seeing the dynamics of the characters working together.
I particularly like the Ki-Adi Mundi dynamic with, I think it was Jarl Poof.
That was quite a good dynamic, so quite interesting.
Yeah, no, I thought it was a really fun adventure, to be fair.
It had a good...
It was a good read and a good story.
Yeah, I had some fun moments.
(06:03):
I think what I appreciated most about this book was really just getting into stories
that feature some of these Jedi that we haven't really had a chance to read about at all in
the canon.
Especially Jarl Poof.
Yeah, like such niche characters like Yaddle and Oppo Rancis, you know, like, yeah, I mean
Sassy Tin, like all these characters.
(06:24):
I feel like Sassy Tin in the old, the 2D anime, Clone Wars, had a big fan base because he
was pretty badass in that.
Yeah, yeah.
Because he had like a Mandalorian helmet, basically, that went over top of his horns.
That whole scene is very memorable.
But in the canon, there's not a lot about him.
No, yeah.
And it was very cool to read about that.
(06:44):
I think this is truly, I think within the canon, this is probably a one of a kind book
as far as featuring a story like this.
Around the whole council, yeah.
It is a bit of a curious time spot, or I guess placement to feature a story, you know,
with the Jedi Council.
Because right before the events of Phantom Menace, you know, things are pretty peaceful.
(07:06):
Pretty peaceful.
Yeah, like they're pretty surprised when the Sith show up in the movie.
So it's like, okay, well, what could possibly go wrong?
So, you know, having a book like this with lower stakes in mind, I think was kind of
what came to mind as I was trying to decide, like, you know, how I felt about the overall
narrative of it.
And, you know, I thought to myself like, oh, yeah, it was like, I guess it was like, good.
(07:29):
I don't know if it was like, personally, one of my favorites.
But it was, it had me laugh, like, you know, two or three times.
And he had some good moments in there, for sure.
Yeah.
And I think I really appreciated the diverse cast.
That was like, really cool.
So yeah, I agree with that.
And admittedly, there were moments because I went into this novel completely blind.
I just really didn't know what to expect.
And you had mentioned Qui-Gon.
(07:49):
And that's kind of all I knew.
Yeah.
And then finding out it was actually, it almost felt like a series of short stories that kind
of all converged at the end.
And so I guess there's, I'd say some stories are more interesting than others.
So there's definitely times where it did feel like a little bit of a slog, in my opinion.
But I loved the idea of the narrative of covering all these different characters and then seeing
(08:11):
how it all fits together.
But there were points, especially because it's based around going to this Planet Quen
and then they're going to have basically a festival because they realize after being
challenged by Qui-Gon that they need to be more involved in the galaxy, which is ironic
because they all go to one planet.
But there were moments when they were setting up the celebration or it felt to me like the
(08:32):
High Republic novel.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where they were having the.
About the fair.
Yeah.
The Republic Fair.
Yeah.
I remember you didn't like that one very much.
It was very slow.
Did you read that one Ian?
I did.
Yeah.
I know which one you're talking about.
Yeah.
To be fair, when everything kicks off at the fair, it did get interesting.
But yeah, I do know.
But it was a bit slow to get started on setting up for a big party.
(08:54):
When is the action going to start?
You might need to repeat that.
I think you got clobbered by Discord there.
Oh, sorry.
Yeah.
No, I know what book you're talking about.
I think it's Into the Storm or The Rising Storm.
Yeah.
That's the one where they set up for the Republic Fair on Balamb.
Right.
The Rising Storm.
Yeah.
And then.
Yeah.
And it was a bit slow.
But when the action started, it was pretty good.
It just took a while to get there.
I know what you mean.
Yeah.
(09:15):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Depa Bilaba takes the center stage in this book as she investigates a Jedi initiates
death and becomes embroiled in Zalastro's plot.
So this investigation forces her to confront difficult questions about her own commitment
(09:36):
to the Order and its principles, particularly as she grapples with the themes of attachment
and letting go.
These themes are closely intertwined with the larger issue of the Jedi's role in the
changing galaxy.
And Qui-Gon Jinn's concerns about the Order's increasing isolation highlighted by the decommissioning
of the Jedi outposts is like the one on Quen raises an important question about how the
(09:57):
Jedi should engage with the galaxy and maintain their relevance in a time of shifting political
landscapes as threats emerge.
And I think that was a very like probably the deeper part of the book.
You know, like.
I feel like that was the main thread.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For sure.
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(10:18):
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(19:16):
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and they made a bit of an arrangement in which he would supply Sidious some Jedi
historical archives and various texts that he would then go through,
personally keep some, and give back the rest of which he was instructed to
(19:39):
destroy. So this caretaker guy decides not to destroy the remaining artifacts
and chooses instead to selfishly sell them to a local buyer who in turn sold
them at his shop or something like that. Was that how you would put it, Ian?
Yeah, I think so. I think he obviously, Sidious told him. To be fair, he doesn't
know he's Darth Sidious, he just thinks he's dealing with Chief Palpatine.
(20:02):
Senator, yes. I think he went to destroy, obviously he sold them and then I
think they were found in someone else's shop. He sold them too and then
obviously words gets back to Sidious now. I'm pretty sure we get a little Darth Maul
sign right at the end of the book. Yeah, yeah. It's like a ghost story, you know.
He basically reveals his plan to the reader, but also to this
(20:27):
guy who is the caretaker of the outpost or whatever, and then he
has Maul kill him. Because Maul just shows up out of nowhere and just killed him.
I think he says something like, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the person behind you.
And then in the book it's like, someone stood there with red skin and black tattoos.
You're like, oh right, that's not going to go in well then. Yeah, exactly.
(20:52):
One thing I did like, the character, the caretaker guy is a Bim. I think that's from the planet Bimisari,
which is from the Edge of the Empire, which is a pretty cool little tie-in.
Oh, wait, did you say Edge of the Empire?
Yeah, the Edge of the Empire, yeah. The planet Bimisari. I think the character is a Bim,
which is from the planet Bimisari, so it's just a nice little tie-in to like a legend alien that
(21:14):
plays a prominent role in the Edge of the Empire. Oh, Edge of the Empire, yes, yes, of course.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is cool. That is cool. That was a good catch. I didn't actually catch that.
So he's a Bimati, Bimisari, yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, so kind of cool, you know.
Does that mean that Palptine was the one who was the exterminator that showed up at the outpost?
(21:38):
Because the guy, the caretaker said he had hired an exterminator to get rid of
these bugs that were eating the techs and then a bunch were missing after that?
Yeah, I think that was his excuse.
Okay.
That was his excuse, but in actual fact he has been giving them to Sidious.
Right? Or Sheev, right? Because he just thinks he's just a nice politician guy
(21:59):
who acknowledges him, right? Because this guy is like, he's a lonely guy, right? Like he's
like got no friends, you know, and it's like here's this like big shot senator, you know,
he makes him an offer. And in turn he does offer something back, like there was something about
trafficking like ships through that area or something like that on a space lane.
(22:23):
And then of course, when he found out that these techs were not being destroyed,
but being resold, he decides to, he's like, okay, yeah, you know, you don't scratch my back,
I don't scratch yours, I'm not doing you any favors.
Right. So Darth Maul comes to visit.
Yeah, so then he sends Darth Maul to pay him a visit, you know, so it's kind of funny.
(22:43):
I feel like that's been the ending of a couple of books where it's just like,
look behind you, Darth Maul's there.
I'll just kill you. All right. That was the same as, that was the same as Shadowhunter,
the legend book where the character escapes Darth Maul forever. And then at the end of the book,
he's literally like, oh Palpatine, I'm so happy to see you, I've got something to tell you. And
(23:03):
it's like, at the end of the book, you're like, oh, right.
Yeah, I feel like, I feel like they need more, more Star Wars stories that ends off with Maul
at the very end. Even Solo, Solo ends off with Maul.
That's true. Yeah.
He's always like, he's always surprising people.
He's just this cameo character.
The doors open, Darth Maul's, oh, every time.
(23:25):
So another thing at the very end of the book, Depa Blava talks to her old master, Mace Windu.
And, you know, I like hints at her taking on a Padawan. She's just like, yeah, you know what,
I think I'm ready to take a Padawan. And Mace says that the force will look kindly on whoever
you choose. And this is just a little nod of the head to Kanan Jarrus, you know, Caleb Doom.
(23:50):
Oh, right.
So, you know, who is the apprentice of Depa Blava.
So I didn't know that. I didn't think about that. So that means Kanan technically has
a connection to Mace Windu.
Yeah, he does. Yeah, he is. He is a legacy of that character. Yeah. And so does Ezra.
Yeah, I think in one of the Rebels episodes,
when they meet Shams and Dula, they talk about Mace Windu. I think I'm pretty sure
Kanan says something about the Battle of Ryloth and that, and Shams and Dula's like, ah, Mace
(24:12):
Windu. Yeah, so that's a cool little tie-in.
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. So it's always cool to see that thing. I think about that
more often now that I've seen Ahsoka and how Anakin sort of does this last lesson with her
about her being part of a legacy. And like, I think about it more often now that they've
kind of emphasized that in the story. And I think, oh, yeah, like, I guess it is sort of
(24:35):
an important part of being a Jedi apprentice, you know, is that you carry forward all of the
teachings that came before you from your master and their master and their master before them.
So that's where Anakin has Count Dooku tendencies?
Well, I guess that's sort of where that interesting connection comes in, right? Is,
yeah, it's like Dooku trained Qui-Gon, who trained Obi-Wan, who trained Anakin. And yeah,
(25:00):
there is, it is really interesting to think about when you think about it like that. It's like
I don't know.
It adds a lot of depth to the duels between Anakin and Obi-Wan versus Dooku.
I think there's just like one line that is brought up, but then just kind of that's it.
Yeah. It's like fighting your evil great, great grandfather.
Yeah, exactly.
(25:22):
Yeah, so relatable, isn't it?
Yeah. But I think about that more often than not now. And now that that's part of the story,
and I think like, oh, wow, like, we're still seeing like, to this day, like the legacy of
Mace Windu, you know, delivered through characters like Ezra or the legacy of Anakin is now delivered
through characters like Ahsoka and technically Sabine now, you know, and yeah, it just kind of
(25:47):
carries forward, right? And then, of course, Luke Skywalker is still floating around out there. And
yeah, it's just an interesting part of the story that I never used to think about. And now
I think about it more often. So yeah, so that's the story in a nutshell. Did you guys have anything
to bring up about it?
I'm just waiting for us to play this clip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, here. Oh, actually, sorry. I did want to talk about one other thing that we
(26:10):
haven't talked about at all. Even Peele, he's in this book. I think I missed his name. But even
Peele, I want more. I loved his character in this story. It was great. It felt so in line with how
he's depicted in the Clone Wars series. And we listened to the audiobook, you and I, Blake. So
(26:32):
like the voice of even Peele was like, bang on, like, it was like, super well done. Literally
felt like it popped right off the screen.
Oh, yeah, they actually yeah, they nailed that. Yeah, they absolutely nailed that in this. I think
it's just because we did the audio book version. So just the one guy doing the voices. I was very
impressed with the voices he was able to pull off for this.
(26:52):
Oh, yeah, 100%. Speaking of the voices, though, who was the girl? I thought that voice was
incredibly annoying.
The young girl?
I think it was her. I think it was Kyla.
Kyla? Yeah.
I think I think it was Kyla. If it Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was her. But anyway, that there
were some moments which were just a little like screechy. And I was like, well, it is
(27:16):
grown man trying to do a young girl's voice. So yeah, I commemorate the Yeah, like, I mean,
I appreciate the attempt, but it was like, a little jarring. I had to turn down my volume.
That's fair.
Yeah. So okay, so yeah, so we got a little audio clip to play here. And then we can kind of
Let's set it up a little bit.
(27:37):
Yeah. Okay. So why don't you why don't you talk about this? What is this clip exactly about?
So this is it. I would argue this is the highlight of the entire book for me because I was not
expecting this moment to happen. But it's a it's a very unique moment to Ki-Adi Mundi.
It's something that I feel like, you know, it's one of those things that did not need to be in
(27:57):
a book or even in existence in Star Wars canon, but I'm so glad it does. Because it's just such
a fun moment to put in there. And I think of the entire novel, this is the thing I'll probably
remember for the years to come. So I thought it was worth sharing here with with the audience.
All right. All right. Let's take a quick listen.
Ki-Adi Mundi righted it and ventured back out into the crowd.
(28:20):
He was about to try the ice mound when, without warning, a tall Yarkora woman in a floral gown
burst forth from the crowd. Well-coiffed hair framed her long snout and wide nostrils,
and she wore an enormous smile.
Hello! She cried.
(28:43):
Ki-Adi Mundi looked up at her with mild disinterest.
Greetings. She looked back over her shoulder before facing him.
And what's your name? Ki-Adi Mundi.
You say the most wonderful things.
(29:04):
Long, tan arms grabbed the surprised Jedi, pulling him into an embrace.
He looked past her to the street.
I have dropped my ice mound.
You buy another one? She released him.
You buy me one, too, won't you, sweetheart?
(29:29):
Ki-Adi Mundi tried to pull away.
I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else.
Oh, I could never want someone else.
Such a profile you cut. That rugged frame. That beard.
(29:52):
She stroked the side of his face.
That head.
The Jedi Master looked around, embarrassed by the display of affection.
It was fortunate that no one knew him here,
and that his fellow members of the Council were not around.
(30:13):
That would have been a fate worse than death.
Still, he preferred not to act abruptly.
If she was experiencing mental or emotional instability,
that might cause her a setback.
So he took care in trying to escape her.
I'm sorry, but you must.
(30:35):
All right, that's enough.
A rugged-looking Yarkora male charged from a storefront in their direction.
He stopped before the pair and looked Ki-Adi Mundi over.
Ah-ha! A Cereon!
He faced the woman.
What truth, Polaris? Is he the one from that sales conference?
(31:01):
I'm not telling you anything.
The female clung to Ki-Adi Mundi more tightly.
Leave us alone, Aptor!
The Jedi put up his hands.
Good citizens, I have no...
The man she called Aptor yelled.
(31:24):
A likely story!
I told no story.
That's it!
Aptor punched his hand with his fist.
I don't know who you think you are, but let's go!
Go? Go where?
(31:46):
Right here!
He pointed at the ground.
He stomped on the fallen ice mound and pulverized it with his shoe.
That'll be your head if you don't let Veralis go!
This time, the Jedi succeeded in freeing himself from her.
There was quite a crowd around by now.
(32:08):
I tell you, I have never seen this person before.
Then what are you doing harassing her?
Harassing?
Aptor pointed to Veralis.
She and I are having a disagreement.
This has nothing to do with you, and I'll thank you to keep out of it!
(32:30):
It would be my profound pleasure, Ki-Adi Mundi said.
Veralis reached out, preventing him from leaving.
You leave Ki-Adi Mundi alone, Aptor!
We're finished!
Finished!
Finished!
Aptor stomped on the ground again.
(32:53):
What about the children?
With difficulty, Ki-Adi Mundi reclaimed his arm.
Am I to understand you two have a family together?
Family? Yes.
Together? No!
Veralis glared at Aptor.
(33:14):
I've been his business partner for 20 years!
We've got a house together!
We've got five children!
(33:43):
It doesn't make any sense.
It's so funny because he's such a stoic character.
He is.
Just being thrust into this situation.
Yeah, yeah.
There's some funny moments with him in Clone Wars that I wish we did get a little more of.
But yeah, that was definitely a funny moment in the book for sure.
Were there other moments that cracked you up, Ian?
(34:04):
Like throughout this novel?
Yeah, I really like the three Stooges characters that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan constantly run into.
I think the main guy's called the Lobber or something.
And they just bumble their way through the book.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
The wannabe pirates that keep trying to join the gang.
Yeah, and the main villains literally just try to kill them off every time.
(34:25):
And they survive each time.
And then they get to the end of the book and then they double cross her.
It's quite funny.
But yeah, it's funny how they keep running into the same people.
They run into him on the ship at the start of the thing.
They run onto the base when it's being attacked.
And then they run into him on the ship at the end of the book.
It's quite funny, to be fair.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Those are the three guys that they ended up setting up with a job or something at the end.
(34:46):
Right?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
I think they set them up with a job to repossess ships legally on Coruscant.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I think overall it was a surprisingly...
Some of the stories throughout this book were very feel-good.
You know, it's like kind of, again, playing into that help one person,
that person goes off and helps a lot more people.
(35:07):
Right?
So it was just like a do-good will in the galaxy.
Just Jedi being...
It's like a do-good pyramid scheme.
It's like the first time I think it's ever been like,
this is just a Jedi being a Jedi, you know?
Like normally we just watch stories where they're warriors.
Yeah, exactly.
They're going after a big bad.
They're almost just like galactic police as opposed to peacekeepers.
(35:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
But yeah, that is Star Wars The Living Forest.
So I feel like we should probably give this some Pablo Points and Poodoos.
So let's cue up the music here.
All right.
So Pablo Points and Poodoos is our fun, ridiculous, crazy rating system on the show.
(35:52):
It is a scale out of seven.
So I'll explain it out for you, Ian, just in case.
I forget if you've played Pablo Points and Poodoos with us before,
but it's kind of ridiculous.
So three Pablo Poodoos is just the worst of the worst.
Two Pablo Poodoos is bad.
One Pablo Poodoo is not great.
(36:15):
A Bendu is 50% score.
That's like in the middle, kind of a mediocre, you know, don't like it, don't hate it.
Then you got Pablo Points.
One Pablo Point is good.
Two Pablo Points is great.
And three Pablo Points is the best of the best of the best.
So maybe we can start with you, Ian.
(36:35):
What would you give this?
I'd give it one Pablo Point.
Yeah, it's good.
Good story.
Not shattering, but yeah, just good.
All right.
All right, cool.
And what about you, Blake?
I think for me, I think I'm probably going to go with a Bendu
because there was moments that I really enjoyed,
(36:56):
but at the same time, it wouldn't be something I would.
Having now, you know, gone through at least most of it,
be something I would want to pull off the shelf necessarily.
Yeah, fair enough.
Fair enough.
Yeah, I kind of struggle with this one because like on the one hand,
I thought it wasn't like it wasn't bad.
It was just like, I don't know how much I would want to reread it is the thing.
(37:20):
Yeah, that's fair.
Because like for me, maybe you feel this as well is,
I guess when I'm reading Star Wars books, I kind of want that adventure.
I know we just talked about them always being more of the warriors or the police,
but that also is the stories I probably gravitate towards.
Yeah, yeah.
So I see it as a story that was worth exploring,
(37:41):
especially considering just the lore and the canon around
kind of Qui-Gon's perspective on the force and what huge effect that actually has.
But on the other hand, you know, it's not the most terribly exciting.
Right.
Um, okay.
Yeah.
So, I mean, given that, I think, I think I'll probably give it a 0.5
(38:07):
Pablo point.
Just kind of right in the middle of Bendu and one Pablo point.
I don't know.
Ian, does that change anything?
Do you stick with one or do you want to give it a 0.5 or anything?
I'll stick with one.
Yeah, I do enjoy the majority of the book.
I do agree though.
I'm saying the place is a bit slow, but yeah, no, I do enjoy it.
All right, sweet.
Okay, cool.
Yeah, so we got a, we got a 0.5, a Bendu and a one.
(38:30):
So, I mean, in general, I would say like overall pretty good.
You know, I think who is this book for, you know, probably
any fan of the Phantom Menace for sure.
I mean, this was.
And I would argue older people.
I'm not sure if myself at 13 would be able to sit through a lot of the slower parts.
No, and this is an adult novel, to be fair.
Like it's not a young adult novel or junior novel.
(38:52):
Like it's for the Del Rey audience, you know, the adult Star Wars book.
So yeah, you know, it's a little more suited for mature readers, I would say.
But yeah, you know, it's probably for fans of Phantom Menace,
fans of the Jedi still in their prime, you know.
And overall just probably one of the first general feel good books I think I've read.
(39:17):
Yeah, I would still say the strongest point is just being able to explore
deeper into a lot of the Jedi Council members.
Because a lot of them you get maybe one or two stories in Clone Wars, but that's really it.
It's cool to see them all needing to work together.
Yeah, it's funny how that seems to only happen in arenas.
Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
(39:38):
All right, cool.
Well, that being said, I think that's all for today.
So before we wrap things up, you know, we did just celebrate
what we did just celebrate Star Wars Podcast Day not that long ago.
Which was February 7th on the Friday is when that episode dropped.
(40:00):
And we also had an episode drop from Star Wars Launchpad,
which is an experimental podcast that we've been doing lately, which is mostly AI generated.
It's just the intro and the outro is our own recording.
But the meat of the podcast, which is quite short, is between 10 and 30 minutes,
(40:20):
is all generated based on the StarWars.com news articles that we feed it,
as well as any other official sources.
So, you know, we do put the sources in the description below.
But we just encourage all of you guys out there listening to check it out for fun.
It's kind of fascinating what technology can bring these days.
And it sounds very convincing.
It sounds like real people.
(40:41):
So that's kind of...
I was very surprised by that too.
Yeah, that's kind of the interesting part of listening to it.
It's like, oh, wow, like this actually doesn't sound terrible.
Yeah. And the idea is just to make an easy,
subscribable way to get Star Wars news directly from StarWars.com.
So you can listen to it in the morning or in the car or whatever.
Exactly, exactly.
But yeah, seeing as it is podcast day, or Star Wars podcast day,
(41:02):
only a week or two ago, whenever this one drops,
we encourage you all to check out all the other podcasts out there.
And speaking of which, Ian, you normally spend a lot of time with Peter on the Star Wars.
So maybe you want to chat a little bit about that?
Yeah, me and Peter and Jason and Cass,
we put on a semi-regular Star Wars podcast.
(41:24):
We just go over the news or review stuff that's come out.
Yeah, and we have a good time.
We like to chat Star Wars.
So yeah, if anyone wants to find that, it's at BallStar on Twitter or everywhere else.
And it's just called The Star Wars Show,
which would be great if anyone could email us and is listening.
Awesome. All right.
And I'll leave a link to that in the description as well.
(41:45):
And without further ado, thanks so much to the both of you for
reading this book and joining us on the review.
And thanks so much, Ian, for tuning in with us.
You come from a completely different time zone over there.
So really appreciate it.
No problem at any time.
(42:05):
All right. And Blake, thank you as always.
It's always a good time.
We'll see you out there.
See you out there.
Keep flying.
May the force be with all our listeners out there.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
We would appreciate a nice five star review.
That always helps us out a lot.
And we will see you in the next one.
Time to abandon ship.
(00:05):
Oh no!
Here we go!
Can I persuade you to join us for a drink?
It's a tradition.
Here, here.
Jar Jar, homie, my main man.
Quick!
Before the separatists attack, get into the escape pod.
Wait!
This is a escape, then where is da pod!
(00:27):
Welcome back to Star Wars Escape Pod and our review of The Living Force, which is a novel
that came out last year, 2024, by the author John Jackson Miller, and takes place in the
(00:52):
years prior to Episode I, The Phantom Menace.
So we're going to dive right into that.
We have a very special guest joining us again this week, as well as our lovely co-host.
So without further ado, let's get into it.
(01:17):
Another happy landing.
Alright, welcome back, Blake.
Hello there.
What a celebration it is.
(01:39):
I feel like we're a little late with this review, but this book came out to celebrate
25 years of The Phantom Menace.
That's part of the reason why this book was a thing.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, because when this book came out, I think it was around the time that Phantom Menace
did re-release in the theaters.
So yeah.
Because we went to that.
Yeah, we did go to that.
I do remember that.
(02:00):
Yeah.
I didn't realize this book came out around the same time.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
Same year, same summer.
But yeah, we're going to dive right in.
We also have a very special guest this week, returning guest, our friend Ian.
Welcome back, Ian.
Hi, Matt.
Always good to be back on the show.
Oh, it's always good to have you back.
And it seems we're always, we're usually talking about books with you.
(02:23):
I mean, you know, Ian, for anyone who hasn't listened to the, to Star Wars Escape pod before
or Star Wars or any, any podcast for that matter, you might not know who Ian is.
And Ian's a big Star Wars reader as well.
I think you and I chatted, Ian, about The Force Collector, which was like the first
time that you had did a Star Wars podcast, which was, which was here, which I'm very
(02:47):
honored for.
That was, that was a while ago, to be fair, yeah it was.
Yeah.
That was, that was a while ago.
That was 2019.
I think.
It was five years ago, dude.
Yeah.
Almost six.
Yeah.
I believe so.
Yeah.
It was, yeah.
Ian was.
It was part of the journey to the Rise of Skywalker.
So yeah, it was.
That's right.
Yeah.
(03:07):
Ian was one of my first, first special guests ever.
So, you know, I hold that near and dear.
That's right.
He's got a special plaque.
All right.
So, so yeah.
So this week, guys, we have, we have a book that we, we, we got through called Star Wars
The Living Force.
And I'll just read a little bit about, about the book.
But for those of you out there who have not read the book, big spoiler bell for you with
(03:32):
the spoiler territory and just kind of a funny little side note is Blake, you technically
didn't finish the book.
Did you?
No.
I kind of ran out of time.
Been a little busy.
But I did the best I could.
Yeah.
So I might, I might leave some of it for you guys to quarrel about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(03:52):
But yeah, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna, hopefully we'll get, we got a good chat ahead
of us here.
And what I'll do is I'll read a little bit about the book and then we can kind of get
into just, you know, the nitty gritty of things.
So.
All right.
This is Star Wars, The Living Force by John Jackson Miller.
(04:13):
Takes place prior to episode one, The Phantom Menace.
The story focuses on the Jedi council as they grapple with a changing galaxy and their place
within it.
The Jedi have always been defenders of peace and justice, but as the galaxy evolves, so
too must the Jedi order.
Qui-Gon Jinn challenges the council about the orders increasing isolation from the galaxy.
(04:35):
In response to this challenge, Mace Windu suggests that all 12 Jedi masters embark on
a goodwill mission to the planet Quen, where a Jedi outpost is being decommissioned.
This mission is intended to remind the people of the galaxy that the Jedi remain as stalwart
and present as they have been across the ages.
This is a multi-protagonist story with a large cast of characters.
(04:57):
And I'll just kind of run through the cast here.
So you'll see some familiar names.
We have Jedi Master Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Depa Billaba, Eeth Koth, Jarl Poof,
Adi Gallia, Oppo Rancisis, Yaddle, Sassy Tin, Ki-Adi Mundi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi,
and our villains of the story, Zalastra and Kyla, who ends up being a bit of a gray character
(05:21):
in the end.
So yeah, interesting things.
And maybe we can start with you, Ian.
Like what did you think of this book, just in a nutshell?
In a nutshell?
It was quite an interesting adventure where you obviously get to spend time with Jedi
that haven't...
You don't get the, obviously, the showcase that like an Obi-Wan or a Qui-Gon or a Yoda
(05:41):
get.
And it was quite interesting seeing the dynamics of the characters working together.
I particularly like the Ki-Adi Mundi dynamic with, I think it was Jarl Poof.
That was quite a good dynamic, so quite interesting.
Yeah, no, I thought it was a really fun adventure, to be fair.
It had a good...
It was a good read and a good story.
Yeah, I had some fun moments.
(06:03):
I think what I appreciated most about this book was really just getting into stories
that feature some of these Jedi that we haven't really had a chance to read about at all in
the canon.
Especially Jarl Poof.
Yeah, like such niche characters like Yaddle and Oppo Rancis, you know, like, yeah, I mean
Sassy Tin, like all these characters.
(06:24):
I feel like Sassy Tin in the old, the 2D anime, Clone Wars, had a big fan base because he
was pretty badass in that.
Yeah, yeah.
Because he had like a Mandalorian helmet, basically, that went over top of his horns.
That whole scene is very memorable.
But in the canon, there's not a lot about him.
No, yeah.
And it was very cool to read about that.
(06:44):
I think this is truly, I think within the canon, this is probably a one of a kind book
as far as featuring a story like this.
Around the whole council, yeah.
It is a bit of a curious time spot, or I guess placement to feature a story, you know,
with the Jedi Council.
Because right before the events of Phantom Menace, you know, things are pretty peaceful.
(07:06):
Pretty peaceful.
Yeah, like they're pretty surprised when the Sith show up in the movie.
So it's like, okay, well, what could possibly go wrong?
So, you know, having a book like this with lower stakes in mind, I think was kind of
what came to mind as I was trying to decide, like, you know, how I felt about the overall
narrative of it.
And, you know, I thought to myself like, oh, yeah, it was like, I guess it was like, good.
(07:29):
I don't know if it was like, personally, one of my favorites.
But it was, it had me laugh, like, you know, two or three times.
And he had some good moments in there, for sure.
Yeah.
And I think I really appreciated the diverse cast.
That was like, really cool.
So yeah, I agree with that.
And admittedly, there were moments because I went into this novel completely blind.
I just really didn't know what to expect.
And you had mentioned Qui-Gon.
(07:49):
And that's kind of all I knew.
Yeah.
And then finding out it was actually, it almost felt like a series of short stories that kind
of all converged at the end.
And so I guess there's, I'd say some stories are more interesting than others.
So there's definitely times where it did feel like a little bit of a slog, in my opinion.
But I loved the idea of the narrative of covering all these different characters and then seeing
(08:11):
how it all fits together.
But there were points, especially because it's based around going to this Planet Quen
and then they're going to have basically a festival because they realize after being
challenged by Qui-Gon that they need to be more involved in the galaxy, which is ironic
because they all go to one planet.
But there were moments when they were setting up the celebration or it felt to me like the
(08:32):
High Republic novel.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where they were having the.
About the fair.
Yeah.
The Republic Fair.
Yeah.
I remember you didn't like that one very much.
It was very slow.
Did you read that one Ian?
I did.
Yeah.
I know which one you're talking about.
Yeah.
To be fair, when everything kicks off at the fair, it did get interesting.
But yeah, I do know.
But it was a bit slow to get started on setting up for a big party.
(08:54):
When is the action going to start?
You might need to repeat that.
I think you got clobbered by Discord there.
Oh, sorry.
Yeah.
No, I know what book you're talking about.
I think it's Into the Storm or The Rising Storm.
Yeah.
That's the one where they set up for the Republic Fair on Balamb.
Right.
The Rising Storm.
Yeah.
And then.
Yeah.
And it was a bit slow.
But when the action started, it was pretty good.
It just took a while to get there.
I know what you mean.
Yeah.
(09:15):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Depa Bilaba takes the center stage in this book as she investigates a Jedi initiates
death and becomes embroiled in Zalastro's plot.
So this investigation forces her to confront difficult questions about her own commitment
(09:36):
to the Order and its principles, particularly as she grapples with the themes of attachment
and letting go.
These themes are closely intertwined with the larger issue of the Jedi's role in the
changing galaxy.
And Qui-Gon Jinn's concerns about the Order's increasing isolation highlighted by the decommissioning
of the Jedi outposts is like the one on Quen raises an important question about how the
(09:57):
Jedi should engage with the galaxy and maintain their relevance in a time of shifting political
landscapes as threats emerge.
And I think that was a very like probably the deeper part of the book.
You know, like.
I feel like that was the main thread.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(10:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
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(10:39):
Yeah.
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(11:00):
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(11:21):
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(11:42):
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(12:03):
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(12:24):
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(12:45):
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(13:06):
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(13:27):
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(13:48):
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(14:09):
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(14:30):
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(14:51):
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(15:12):
Yeah.
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(15:33):
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(15:54):
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(16:15):
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(16:36):
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(16:57):
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(17:17):
Yeah.
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(17:38):
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(17:59):
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(18:20):
Yeah.
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(18:41):
Yeah.
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(19:16):
Yeah.
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Yeah.
and they made a bit of an arrangement in which he would supply Sidious some Jedi
historical archives and various texts that he would then go through,
personally keep some, and give back the rest of which he was instructed to
(19:39):
destroy. So this caretaker guy decides not to destroy the remaining artifacts
and chooses instead to selfishly sell them to a local buyer who in turn sold
them at his shop or something like that. Was that how you would put it, Ian?
Yeah, I think so. I think he obviously, Sidious told him. To be fair, he doesn't
know he's Darth Sidious, he just thinks he's dealing with Chief Palpatine.
(20:02):
Senator, yes. I think he went to destroy, obviously he sold them and then I
think they were found in someone else's shop. He sold them too and then
obviously words gets back to Sidious now. I'm pretty sure we get a little Darth Maul
sign right at the end of the book. Yeah, yeah. It's like a ghost story, you know.
He basically reveals his plan to the reader, but also to this
(20:27):
guy who is the caretaker of the outpost or whatever, and then he
has Maul kill him. Because Maul just shows up out of nowhere and just killed him.
I think he says something like, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the person behind you.
And then in the book it's like, someone stood there with red skin and black tattoos.
You're like, oh right, that's not going to go in well then. Yeah, exactly.
(20:52):
One thing I did like, the character, the caretaker guy is a Bim. I think that's from the planet Bimisari,
which is from the Edge of the Empire, which is a pretty cool little tie-in.
Oh, wait, did you say Edge of the Empire?
Yeah, the Edge of the Empire, yeah. The planet Bimisari. I think the character is a Bim,
which is from the planet Bimisari, so it's just a nice little tie-in to like a legend alien that
(21:14):
plays a prominent role in the Edge of the Empire. Oh, Edge of the Empire, yes, yes, of course.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is cool. That is cool. That was a good catch. I didn't actually catch that.
So he's a Bimati, Bimisari, yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, so kind of cool, you know.
Does that mean that Palptine was the one who was the exterminator that showed up at the outpost?
(21:38):
Because the guy, the caretaker said he had hired an exterminator to get rid of
these bugs that were eating the techs and then a bunch were missing after that?
Yeah, I think that was his excuse.
Okay.
That was his excuse, but in actual fact he has been giving them to Sidious.
Right? Or Sheev, right? Because he just thinks he's just a nice politician guy
(21:59):
who acknowledges him, right? Because this guy is like, he's a lonely guy, right? Like he's
like got no friends, you know, and it's like here's this like big shot senator, you know,
he makes him an offer. And in turn he does offer something back, like there was something about
trafficking like ships through that area or something like that on a space lane.
(22:23):
And then of course, when he found out that these techs were not being destroyed,
but being resold, he decides to, he's like, okay, yeah, you know, you don't scratch my back,
I don't scratch yours, I'm not doing you any favors.
Right. So Darth Maul comes to visit.
Yeah, so then he sends Darth Maul to pay him a visit, you know, so it's kind of funny.
(22:43):
I feel like that's been the ending of a couple of books where it's just like,
look behind you, Darth Maul's there.
I'll just kill you. All right. That was the same as, that was the same as Shadowhunter,
the legend book where the character escapes Darth Maul forever. And then at the end of the book,
he's literally like, oh Palpatine, I'm so happy to see you, I've got something to tell you. And
(23:03):
it's like, at the end of the book, you're like, oh, right.
Yeah, I feel like, I feel like they need more, more Star Wars stories that ends off with Maul
at the very end. Even Solo, Solo ends off with Maul.
That's true. Yeah.
He's always like, he's always surprising people.
He's just this cameo character.
The doors open, Darth Maul's, oh, every time.
(23:25):
So another thing at the very end of the book, Depa Blava talks to her old master, Mace Windu.
And, you know, I like hints at her taking on a Padawan. She's just like, yeah, you know what,
I think I'm ready to take a Padawan. And Mace says that the force will look kindly on whoever
you choose. And this is just a little nod of the head to Kanan Jarrus, you know, Caleb Doom.
(23:50):
Oh, right.
So, you know, who is the apprentice of Depa Blava.
So I didn't know that. I didn't think about that. So that means Kanan technically has
a connection to Mace Windu.
Yeah, he does. Yeah, he is. He is a legacy of that character. Yeah. And so does Ezra.
Yeah, I think in one of the Rebels episodes,
when they meet Shams and Dula, they talk about Mace Windu. I think I'm pretty sure
Kanan says something about the Battle of Ryloth and that, and Shams and Dula's like, ah, Mace
(24:12):
Windu. Yeah, so that's a cool little tie-in.
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. So it's always cool to see that thing. I think about that
more often now that I've seen Ahsoka and how Anakin sort of does this last lesson with her
about her being part of a legacy. And like, I think about it more often now that they've
kind of emphasized that in the story. And I think, oh, yeah, like, I guess it is sort of
(24:35):
an important part of being a Jedi apprentice, you know, is that you carry forward all of the
teachings that came before you from your master and their master and their master before them.
So that's where Anakin has Count Dooku tendencies?
Well, I guess that's sort of where that interesting connection comes in, right? Is,
yeah, it's like Dooku trained Qui-Gon, who trained Obi-Wan, who trained Anakin. And yeah,
(25:00):
there is, it is really interesting to think about when you think about it like that. It's like
I don't know.
It adds a lot of depth to the duels between Anakin and Obi-Wan versus Dooku.
I think there's just like one line that is brought up, but then just kind of that's it.
Yeah. It's like fighting your evil great, great grandfather.
Yeah, exactly.
(25:22):
Yeah, so relatable, isn't it?
Yeah. But I think about that more often than not now. And now that that's part of the story,
and I think like, oh, wow, like, we're still seeing like, to this day, like the legacy of
Mace Windu, you know, delivered through characters like Ezra or the legacy of Anakin is now delivered
through characters like Ahsoka and technically Sabine now, you know, and yeah, it just kind of
(25:47):
carries forward, right? And then, of course, Luke Skywalker is still floating around out there. And
yeah, it's just an interesting part of the story that I never used to think about. And now
I think about it more often. So yeah, so that's the story in a nutshell. Did you guys have anything
to bring up about it?
I'm just waiting for us to play this clip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, here. Oh, actually, sorry. I did want to talk about one other thing that we
(26:10):
haven't talked about at all. Even Peele, he's in this book. I think I missed his name. But even
Peele, I want more. I loved his character in this story. It was great. It felt so in line with how
he's depicted in the Clone Wars series. And we listened to the audiobook, you and I, Blake. So
(26:32):
like the voice of even Peele was like, bang on, like, it was like, super well done. Literally
felt like it popped right off the screen.
Oh, yeah, they actually yeah, they nailed that. Yeah, they absolutely nailed that in this. I think
it's just because we did the audio book version. So just the one guy doing the voices. I was very
impressed with the voices he was able to pull off for this.
(26:52):
Oh, yeah, 100%. Speaking of the voices, though, who was the girl? I thought that voice was
incredibly annoying.
The young girl?
I think it was her. I think it was Kyla.
Kyla? Yeah.
I think I think it was Kyla. If it Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was her. But anyway, that there
were some moments which were just a little like screechy. And I was like, well, it is
(27:16):
grown man trying to do a young girl's voice. So yeah, I commemorate the Yeah, like, I mean,
I appreciate the attempt, but it was like, a little jarring. I had to turn down my volume.
That's fair.
Yeah. So okay, so yeah, so we got a little audio clip to play here. And then we can kind of
Let's set it up a little bit.
(27:37):
Yeah. Okay. So why don't you why don't you talk about this? What is this clip exactly about?
So this is it. I would argue this is the highlight of the entire book for me because I was not
expecting this moment to happen. But it's a it's a very unique moment to Ki-Adi Mundi.
It's something that I feel like, you know, it's one of those things that did not need to be in
(27:57):
a book or even in existence in Star Wars canon, but I'm so glad it does. Because it's just such
a fun moment to put in there. And I think of the entire novel, this is the thing I'll probably
remember for the years to come. So I thought it was worth sharing here with with the audience.
All right. All right. Let's take a quick listen.
Ki-Adi Mundi righted it and ventured back out into the crowd.
(28:20):
He was about to try the ice mound when, without warning, a tall Yarkora woman in a floral gown
burst forth from the crowd. Well-coiffed hair framed her long snout and wide nostrils,
and she wore an enormous smile.
Hello! She cried.
(28:43):
Ki-Adi Mundi looked up at her with mild disinterest.
Greetings. She looked back over her shoulder before facing him.
And what's your name? Ki-Adi Mundi.
You say the most wonderful things.
(29:04):
Long, tan arms grabbed the surprised Jedi, pulling him into an embrace.
He looked past her to the street.
I have dropped my ice mound.
You buy another one? She released him.
You buy me one, too, won't you, sweetheart?
(29:29):
Ki-Adi Mundi tried to pull away.
I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else.
Oh, I could never want someone else.
Such a profile you cut. That rugged frame. That beard.
(29:52):
She stroked the side of his face.
That head.
The Jedi Master looked around, embarrassed by the display of affection.
It was fortunate that no one knew him here,
and that his fellow members of the Council were not around.
(30:13):
That would have been a fate worse than death.
Still, he preferred not to act abruptly.
If she was experiencing mental or emotional instability,
that might cause her a setback.
So he took care in trying to escape her.
I'm sorry, but you must.
(30:35):
All right, that's enough.
A rugged-looking Yarkora male charged from a storefront in their direction.
He stopped before the pair and looked Ki-Adi Mundi over.
Ah-ha! A Cereon!
He faced the woman.
What truth, Polaris? Is he the one from that sales conference?
(31:01):
I'm not telling you anything.
The female clung to Ki-Adi Mundi more tightly.
Leave us alone, Aptor!
The Jedi put up his hands.
Good citizens, I have no...
The man she called Aptor yelled.
(31:24):
A likely story!
I told no story.
That's it!
Aptor punched his hand with his fist.
I don't know who you think you are, but let's go!
Go? Go where?
(31:46):
Right here!
He pointed at the ground.
He stomped on the fallen ice mound and pulverized it with his shoe.
That'll be your head if you don't let Veralis go!
This time, the Jedi succeeded in freeing himself from her.
There was quite a crowd around by now.
(32:08):
I tell you, I have never seen this person before.
Then what are you doing harassing her?
Harassing?
Aptor pointed to Veralis.
She and I are having a disagreement.
This has nothing to do with you, and I'll thank you to keep out of it!
(32:30):
It would be my profound pleasure, Ki-Adi Mundi said.
Veralis reached out, preventing him from leaving.
You leave Ki-Adi Mundi alone, Aptor!
We're finished!
Finished!
Finished!
Aptor stomped on the ground again.
(32:53):
What about the children?
With difficulty, Ki-Adi Mundi reclaimed his arm.
Am I to understand you two have a family together?
Family? Yes.
Together? No!
Veralis glared at Aptor.
(33:14):
I've been his business partner for 20 years!
We've got a house together!
We've got five children!
(33:43):
It doesn't make any sense.
It's so funny because he's such a stoic character.
He is.
Just being thrust into this situation.
Yeah, yeah.
There's some funny moments with him in Clone Wars that I wish we did get a little more of.
But yeah, that was definitely a funny moment in the book for sure.
Were there other moments that cracked you up, Ian?
(34:04):
Like throughout this novel?
Yeah, I really like the three Stooges characters that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan constantly run into.
I think the main guy's called the Lobber or something.
And they just bumble their way through the book.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
The wannabe pirates that keep trying to join the gang.
Yeah, and the main villains literally just try to kill them off every time.
(34:25):
And they survive each time.
And then they get to the end of the book and then they double cross her.
It's quite funny.
But yeah, it's funny how they keep running into the same people.
They run into him on the ship at the start of the thing.
They run onto the base when it's being attacked.
And then they run into him on the ship at the end of the book.
It's quite funny, to be fair.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Those are the three guys that they ended up setting up with a job or something at the end.
(34:46):
Right?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
I think they set them up with a job to repossess ships legally on Coruscant.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I think overall it was a surprisingly...
Some of the stories throughout this book were very feel-good.
You know, it's like kind of, again, playing into that help one person,
that person goes off and helps a lot more people.
(35:07):
Right?
So it was just like a do-good will in the galaxy.
Just Jedi being...
It's like a do-good pyramid scheme.
It's like the first time I think it's ever been like,
this is just a Jedi being a Jedi, you know?
Like normally we just watch stories where they're warriors.
Yeah, exactly.
They're going after a big bad.
They're almost just like galactic police as opposed to peacekeepers.
(35:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
But yeah, that is Star Wars The Living Forest.
So I feel like we should probably give this some Pablo Points and Poodoos.
So let's cue up the music here.
All right.
So Pablo Points and Poodoos is our fun, ridiculous, crazy rating system on the show.
(35:52):
It is a scale out of seven.
So I'll explain it out for you, Ian, just in case.
I forget if you've played Pablo Points and Poodoos with us before,
but it's kind of ridiculous.
So three Pablo Poodoos is just the worst of the worst.
Two Pablo Poodoos is bad.
One Pablo Poodoo is not great.
(36:15):
A Bendu is 50% score.
That's like in the middle, kind of a mediocre, you know, don't like it, don't hate it.
Then you got Pablo Points.
One Pablo Point is good.
Two Pablo Points is great.
And three Pablo Points is the best of the best of the best.
So maybe we can start with you, Ian.
(36:35):
What would you give this?
I'd give it one Pablo Point.
Yeah, it's good.
Good story.
Not shattering, but yeah, just good.
All right.
All right, cool.
And what about you, Blake?
I think for me, I think I'm probably going to go with a Bendu
because there was moments that I really enjoyed,
(36:56):
but at the same time, it wouldn't be something I would.
Having now, you know, gone through at least most of it,
be something I would want to pull off the shelf necessarily.
Yeah, fair enough.
Fair enough.
Yeah, I kind of struggle with this one because like on the one hand,
I thought it wasn't like it wasn't bad.
It was just like, I don't know how much I would want to reread it is the thing.
(37:20):
Yeah, that's fair.
Because like for me, maybe you feel this as well is,
I guess when I'm reading Star Wars books, I kind of want that adventure.
I know we just talked about them always being more of the warriors or the police,
but that also is the stories I probably gravitate towards.
Yeah, yeah.
So I see it as a story that was worth exploring,
(37:41):
especially considering just the lore and the canon around
kind of Qui-Gon's perspective on the force and what huge effect that actually has.
But on the other hand, you know, it's not the most terribly exciting.
Right.
Um, okay.
Yeah.
So, I mean, given that, I think, I think I'll probably give it a 0.5
(38:07):
Pablo point.
Just kind of right in the middle of Bendu and one Pablo point.
I don't know.
Ian, does that change anything?
Do you stick with one or do you want to give it a 0.5 or anything?
I'll stick with one.
Yeah, I do enjoy the majority of the book.
I do agree though.
I'm saying the place is a bit slow, but yeah, no, I do enjoy it.
All right, sweet.
Okay, cool.
Yeah, so we got a, we got a 0.5, a Bendu and a one.
(38:30):
So, I mean, in general, I would say like overall pretty good.
You know, I think who is this book for, you know, probably
any fan of the Phantom Menace for sure.
I mean, this was.
And I would argue older people.
I'm not sure if myself at 13 would be able to sit through a lot of the slower parts.
No, and this is an adult novel, to be fair.
Like it's not a young adult novel or junior novel.
(38:52):
Like it's for the Del Rey audience, you know, the adult Star Wars book.
So yeah, you know, it's a little more suited for mature readers, I would say.
But yeah, you know, it's probably for fans of Phantom Menace,
fans of the Jedi still in their prime, you know.
And overall just probably one of the first general feel good books I think I've read.
(39:17):
Yeah, I would still say the strongest point is just being able to explore
deeper into a lot of the Jedi Council members.
Because a lot of them you get maybe one or two stories in Clone Wars, but that's really it.
It's cool to see them all needing to work together.
Yeah, it's funny how that seems to only happen in arenas.
Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
(39:38):
All right, cool.
Well, that being said, I think that's all for today.
So before we wrap things up, you know, we did just celebrate
what we did just celebrate Star Wars Podcast Day not that long ago.
Which was February 7th on the Friday is when that episode dropped.
(40:00):
And we also had an episode drop from Star Wars Launchpad,
which is an experimental podcast that we've been doing lately, which is mostly AI generated.
It's just the intro and the outro is our own recording.
But the meat of the podcast, which is quite short, is between 10 and 30 minutes,
(40:20):
is all generated based on the StarWars.com news articles that we feed it,
as well as any other official sources.
So, you know, we do put the sources in the description below.
But we just encourage all of you guys out there listening to check it out for fun.
It's kind of fascinating what technology can bring these days.
And it sounds very convincing.
It sounds like real people.
(40:41):
So that's kind of...
I was very surprised by that too.
Yeah, that's kind of the interesting part of listening to it.
It's like, oh, wow, like this actually doesn't sound terrible.
Yeah. And the idea is just to make an easy,
subscribable way to get Star Wars news directly from StarWars.com.
So you can listen to it in the morning or in the car or whatever.
Exactly, exactly.
But yeah, seeing as it is podcast day, or Star Wars podcast day,
(41:02):
only a week or two ago, whenever this one drops,
we encourage you all to check out all the other podcasts out there.
And speaking of which, Ian, you normally spend a lot of time with Peter on the Star Wars.
So maybe you want to chat a little bit about that?
Yeah, me and Peter and Jason and Cass,
we put on a semi-regular Star Wars podcast.
(41:24):
We just go over the news or review stuff that's come out.
Yeah, and we have a good time.
We like to chat Star Wars.
So yeah, if anyone wants to find that, it's at BallStar on Twitter or everywhere else.
And it's just called The Star Wars Show,
which would be great if anyone could email us and is listening.
Awesome. All right.
And I'll leave a link to that in the description as well.
(41:45):
And without further ado, thanks so much to the both of you for
reading this book and joining us on the review.
And thanks so much, Ian, for tuning in with us.
You come from a completely different time zone over there.
So really appreciate it.
No problem at any time.
(42:05):
All right. And Blake, thank you as always.
It's always a good time.
We'll see you out there.
See you out there.
Keep flying.
May the force be with all our listeners out there.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
We would appreciate a nice five star review.
That always helps us out a lot.
And we will see you in the next one.
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