Into the Void

Great narration but the story disappoints

I recently read the Dawn of the Jedi comics (three trade paperbacks) and was very enthousiastic about them - those stories I would rate five stars. So I was very excited to discover that there had also been written a novel with a storyline from that same - ancient Star Wars - period.

However, this story fell short for me. The characters felt very two-dimensional and the supposed heroine was, frankly, rather annoying and unsympathetic. Je'daii (pronounced correctly by the narrator) Ranger Lanoree came across as endlessly hasassing and nagging her brother, not accepting his making a different life choice. Now, this concept in itself I could understand, it is very human to struggle with choices close family members make that we maybe don't get. However, the author did not succeed in writing a gripping story about it, nor did he give his heroine anything remotely resembling an interesting internal monologue; she simply kept repeating how the Force was with her, how much she constantly was aware of it, and, frankly, how awesome it made her. Quite boring.
The author fails to explain what it's like to keep the Force balanced within you, since that is what it's like to be a Force wielder in these ancient times. There's not Jedi and Sith yet, no Light and Dark side wielders; everyone keeps Light & Dark in balance within them. Lanoree talks the talk but we never see her actually walking that walk, it's only the Light side that she wields. Only in the bonus short story that follows the novel (so don't stop listening!) we finally see a Je'daii choosing to wield the Dark side for a certain purpose, but still not Lanoree - and that short story is by a different author...

As for the "bad guy" in the novel, Lanoree's brother, the novel does not make clear at all how he reaches his point of Super Villainy. It starts out as him choosing not to have anything to do with the Force, and how he longs to explore the rest of the universe, which seem to me to be quite innocent thoughts. But why this is not acceptable in these Early Days is never explained (would have been interesting!), nor how this turns him into a full-blown psychopath in the end.

Then there was the sidekick to the heroine. A supposed 'true' bad guy with whom she partners out of necessity, but somehow he turns out pretty darn 'good' for a criminal. How he stays loyal to Lanoree confounds me, as she openly uses him and does not seem to care about his well-being at all. For instance, when he's injured she promises him that he'll get medical treatment once they reach her ship, but when they finally do, he doesn't get any treatment whatsoever. (sigh)
Had I cared for this character at all, it would have bugged me.

However, I did not care for any of them. I finished the novel because I kept hoping it would get better, but when it finally reached its so-called climax, I felt robbed.

In conclusion, if you'd like to find out more about the early Je'daii, skip this novel and get your hands on the comics, for they are truly awesome examples of Star Wars lore, with gorgeous graphic artwork.

Narration was good however, and I also liked the SW music and sound effects, although it was a bit weird to hear the same sound effects for the Light side of the Force as were used for the Dark Side in Darth Plagueis and Darth Bane.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A lot of not much

Would you try another book from Tim Lebbon and/or January LaVoy?

Probably not

What was most disappointing about Tim Lebbon’s story?

The story was pretty bland and ultimately lifeless. If this hadn't been a Star Wars novel nobody would have published it. The main character was annoying, the villain one dimensional and pretty much everyone else in the story was a stock villain or bit player. I also found the use of the Star Wars themes in an attempt to create tension that simply doesn't exist was pretty sad.

What three words best describe January LaVoy’s performance?

Potatoes, not stuffing.

What character would you cut from Into the Void?

The real question is "what character would I keep?"

Any additional comments?

If you are the kind of person who puts "jedi" as your religion on official documents then this book will no doubt thrill you from the first syllable to the last implied period. Otherwise it fills your ears with harmless sound for a few hours.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Pleasant surprise, best SW novels of late

What, no Marc Thompson?!? He pretty much makes or breaks any SW audiobook. He's like that familiar security blanket. And he's dang good.

But so was January LaVoy. Though she's no Marc Thompson, she rises to the challenge and exceeded my expectations, and quite frankly, I enjoyed her more than other non-Marc Thompson SW narrators. Not only that, it was fitting to have a female narrator with a novel that featured a female Jed'aii front and center.

Now, the story. I've been quite disappointed with the direction of SW novels as of late. Not enough to turn me away completely, but I think the quality of the stuff coming out lately has not been as great, the overarching story arcs/time frames (The Old Republic, namely) has been lacking for me.

This has revived my interest. This story is extremely interesting and opened up a whole new door in the SW universe. I still have some unanswered questions on the background (maybe I should read the comic book series) but perhaps as this period in the SW canon becomes more developed (here's hoping...) the answers will become more apparent. But there is a lot of potential in this time period that I am hoping for more to come out...

27 of 32 people found this review helpful

Really bad

This book is poorly written, stuffed with descriptive cliches, and offers nothing in the way of interesting lore to the Star Wars universe. Jumbled and hinting at more interesting stories we don't get to hear, each section jars with the previous one.

The performance was fine, but the story was written in such a way as to make all the protagonists dialogue stilted and forced with her main companion.

It's always odd to hear a narrator imitating the voice of the opposite gender. Most are quite passable, but this was a particularly bad one. Takes me out of the story I guess.

Mostly I spent the time wondering why all the characters were so stupid. Protagonist is almost entirely unlikable. Kind of like watching the prequel movies. As a fan of the expanded universe or whatever Disney is calling the books now, I'm disappointed.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A waste

Was not good til the end and then it just ended, have no idea why I waited til the end

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Mediocre

This book had so much potential but the story was vague in its important story elements, its characters undeveloped and borderline child-like, and was horribly cliche. Didn't sound like it was written by an experienced author.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sharp writing and a great story!

What made the experience of listening to Into the Void: Star Wars the most enjoyable?

Tim Lebbon's world building and prose. The man can write this stuff!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Into the Void: Star Wars?

The whole thing was so good that I can't really select one moment. And I really can't say that about too many recent Star Wars novels.

Have you listened to any of January LaVoy’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nope. She was pretty good. I enjoyed hearing a woman's voice in a Star Wars book with a female protagonist. Marc Thompson is pure awesome and all but this was a nice change. I felt January made it easier to feel like we were inside Lanoree's head.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The climax of the novel was very emotional.

Any additional comments?

Lebbon does an outstanding job inter-cutting a flashback of Lanoree's Je'daii training with her brother, Dal, and her pursuit of him 9 years later. It gave the novel a balance and depth that it wouldn't have had had Lebbon simply stuck with the chase and nothing but. It also serves to explain the differences between the modern Jedi and the ancient Je'daii.

15 of 19 people found this review helpful

Stupid main character

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Give us a main character who isn't mentally retarded

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something other than Star Wars. This made me a little sad about the universe. They could have written an awesome story about the origins, but chose this garbage :(

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not read by Marc Thompson, still very good

What about January LaVoy’s performance did you like?

I was originally dubious about January LaVoy narrating this over Marc Thompson (who I love), but she really pulls you into the book as much as Marc does for me. Good choice!

10 of 13 people found this review helpful

Hmmm...

Tim Lebbon is talented. January LaVoy is talented. And this is a Star Wars story. So, I'm baffled. This is the first of dozens of Star Wars audiobooks that I had to convince myself to finish.

This should have been a short story. About 1/4 of the way through, the story becomes repetitive. Instead of unexpected twists and turns, it's like attending a football game where both teams go scoreless without a completed pass or passing the 50 yard line after the first quarter.

Any true Star Wars fan is fascinated by the dilemmas characters face when seeking a "balance" in the Force. What this novel revealed is that talking about it, describing it, and revisiting it in virtually every chapter can leave you feeling like you've heard the same song thirty times on an 8 hour car trip.

It wasn't terrible - but, it's the first SW novel I can say I wont revisit or enthusiastically recommend to others.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful