Hawke is not amused. Not amused at all.
About/Summary
First published in 1996 (which means I was 11 when I first read this book. I was a baby. A little bitty baby nerd), Darkest Knight is the fifth book in the Young Jedi Knights series. In this book, the Baby Jedi (Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca) are going to Kashyyyk with Chewbacca to visit Lowie's family. But, of course, the Second Imperium is going to cause some problems.
Content/Trigger Warnings
Minor character death
Tropes
Okay. So the tvtropes page is for the entire series. So... I'm gonna hold off on the trope talk until the last book. For reasons that barely make sense to me, so I will not be explaining.
Characters
Once again the main characters are Jacen and Jaina Solo, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca. Oh, and Em-Teedee. This time we get to meet Lowie's sister and parents.
We also got Brakiss (still think that is a stupid name...), Zekk, Tamith Kai and her Nightsister underlings.
Characters are good. Lowie's sister, Sirra, was fun.
Atmosphere/Setting
Main setting is Kashyyyk. The Kashyyyk I grew up with. Which means, the cities are built on treetops and wookiees rarely go into the lower levels that are full of predators and the like. I much prefer this version. Not a beach in sight.
Writing
This is a children's book. Yes, older children, but still for children. The writing is simple and easy to follow. Which is fine. It is a children's book.
Plot
The main plot is basically the Baby Jedi just chilling on Kashyyyk. Then there is the secondary plot of the Second Imperium stealing computer components from Kashyyyk (ya see, back in the times of the Expanded Universe, Wookiees are great with tech, so a lot of computer things that the New Republic used came from Kashyyyk). Secondary plot also includes Zekk "taking care of" the young Jedi. And then we have the third plot (or maybe the second subplot?) of Lowie's sister, Sirra, preparing to go through the rite of passage that all Wookiee youths go through. And finally, we have the last bit (not really even a plot really) where the Emperor shows up on the Shadow Academy but is acting a bit shady.
That seems like a lot, right? And it is. But things are very well done. And none of the subplots... side plots... Whatever... None were left unfinished. Aside from that Emperor one, but it's fine, it'll be resolved in the next book.
How diverse is it?
Well... It's just a bunch of white people causing problems for a bunch of furry people...
Overall Thoughts
I got some thoughts.
The Solo twins decided as of this book to learn the Wookiee language. They have known Chewbacca their entire life. He is a constant feature of their lives. And at age 14 they were like "huh. Maybe we should learn what that guy is actually saying to Dad..." I am disappointed in them. I have had this issue since book one by the way.
Second thought. There are banthas on Kashyyyk. Was that always a thing in the Expanded Universe that I blocked out? Why are there banthas on Kashyyyk? How did they get there? I have so many questions.
Third thought, why is Chewie not spending time with his wife and son? Which, yeah, he had a wife and son in the Expanded Universe, but he owed Han a life debt, which are super important in wookiee culture so his wife and son stayed on Kashyyyk while Chewie kept Han from dying. I don't remember them even being mentioned in this book. I hope Chewie was visiting them while the Baby Jedi were off doing things without him.
But overall, I enjoyed this one. Did take me a while to read it but I'm easily distracted.
That's all for this one. See y'all on Saturday.
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