The Great Jedi Rescue by Cavan Scott

The Great Jedi Rescue, written by Cavan Scott, illustrated by Petur Antonsson

This is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

So, to be perfectly honest, this book confounded me!!! It's a children's retelling of The Great Disaster and the dedication ceremony of Starlight Beacon, both found in full detail in the adult novel Light of the Jedi. But there's so much in this children's version that's just flat out wrong...I don't get it at all!! Did this book get written before Soule was finished with his adult novel?? How did it get past the story group?? The parts that were changed were so simple and yet so drastically different. It would have been so easy to fix these spots! I absolutely adore Cavan Scott so this was a disappointing entry from him.

But at least there are two pages of stickers!!! They're big too! See them below. These include Starlight Beacon, 3 Vectors, a Longbeam, Avar Kriss (blonde human), Loden Greatstorm (Twi'lek), Bell Zettifar (human with dreadlocks), Te'Ami (Duros), Mikkel (Ithorian), and Burryaga (Wookiee). 

Also, the artwork was pretty fantastic and it was wonderful getting to see visual depictions of many of the characters and vehicles I was introduced to in Light of the Jedi! So that's definitely a plus. 

You win some and you lose some, oh well. It was still a fun read, it just wasn't correct.

---

Things that were changed:

-The build of the Legacy Run that's illustrated does not match its description in Light of the Jedi--"Most of the vessel's structure was taken up by a single gigantic compartment, shaped like a long, triangular prism, with engineering aft, the bridge fore, and the rest of the space allotted for cargo. Hollow boom arms protruded from the central 'spine' at regular intervals, to which additional smaller modules could be attached. The ship could hold up to 144 of these, each customizable, to handle every kind of cargo the galaxy had to offer." The prism shape and modular design is spot on, but the boom arms protruding from a central spine just simply are not there (see below).

-It implies that Longbeams are Jedi ships when in Light of the Jedi they are clearly Republic military vessels. It's the Vectors that are Jedi ships. See an image of a Longbeam and some Vectors below.

-Loden Greatstorm and his Padawan Bell Zettifar's mission on Hetzal is described as follows, "A group of desperate farmers were trying to get into a starship hangar so they could escape the disaster, but they were being stopped by stubborn guards who didn't realize the danger everyone was in." 1) It was a compound with fencing surrounding a ship sitting in open air, 2) the ship was owned by a rich family, 3) the rich family didn't want anyone but their family on their ship--they were just mean and selfish...not stubborn/didn't realize the danger. As the story continues, it details when Loden and Bell attacked pirates who were headed for the compound and after the pirate's defeat it says, "The guards couldn't believe it. The Jedi had risked their lives for a bunch of strangers. Maybe they should help their neighbors after all." What?? No! The guards ended up giving in because Loden got a feral look in his eyes and insinuated he would come after the guards with his saber...

-This book says that the Jedi came up with the plan to lasso one of the compartments from the Legacy Run with cables...no, it was Joss and Pikka Adren's idea, two contractors who were volunteering their services in the effort to save Hetzal Prime.

-The compartment heading toward the sun contains hyperfuel in this book, but in Light of the Jedi it was tibanna gas... And, it says this compartment was knocked off course by the Jedi after the first try...it actually took two tries. 

-The timeline between the end of the Hetzal crisis and the Starlight Beacon dedication ceremony is instantaneous...it actually was a couple of weeks or more.

---

So, take it or leave it. If you have a young one and want to get them into this new era of Star Wars storytelling, go for it!...if you're okay with them reading/listening to a story that is factually incorrect. You'll just have to keep in mind that the story they're reading is not the story you're reading in Light of the Jedi. I mean, I guess at its core it shares the same general gist. But I'm a stickler for canon trivia and this one threw me way off. I still am very much so looking forward to what Cavan Scott has in store for us in future High Republic works!