Literature / Star Wars: The Living Force

Mace Windu: Let us visit the outpost on Kwenn.
Adi Gallia: That could be difficult. But let me see who's available. Maybe someone can get away.
Mace: Not someone. All of us.
Oppo Rancisis: All?
Mace: We will reconvene there, in person. We will meet the people, learn about their lives, and show our support. Both individually-and collectively, in public commemoration of the outpost's founding.

Star Wars: The Living Force is a novel by John Jackson Miller that was released on April 9, 2024. It is part of The Phantom Menace's 25th anniversary celebration. It also marks Miller's grand return to literary Star Wars for the first time since 2014's A New Dawn.

Taking place in the year before The Phantom Menace, the book sees the Episode I-era Jedi Council taking a, for all intents, road trip off Coruscant after urging from Qui-Gon Jinn to step out of the Jedi Temple and aid one person directly. With the recommendation from Senate advisors to close the historic Jedi Temple on Kwenn, the Jedi Council decide to visit the world and see the impact that the closure of other nearby outposts has had on the region. However, when Zilastra, the leader of a gang of pirates known as the Riftwalkers, learns of their presence on Kwenn, her vendetta against the Jedi Order sets her on a mission to annihilate the Jedi Council.

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The Living Force provides examples of:

• Adaptational Comic Relief: With the exceptions of Depa Billaba, Oppo Rancisis, and Mace Windu (whose scenes are mostly serious) and the already eccentric Yoda, the Jedi Councilors get more whimsical or The Comically Serious moments than in their Legends limelight appearances (or most of their prior Canon appearances, for that matter).
• Asleep, Not Meditating: After Mace exits a meditation chamber, he finds Qui-Gon Jinn outside on a bench waiting for him, seemingly meditating. However as he gets closer, Mace realizes with some surprise that Qui-Gon has actually fallen asleep after not getting much rest on the mission he just returned from.
• Bittersweet Ending: On the sweet side, the Jedi succeeded in restoring a lot of hope and order to the region, redeeming a few criminals, and bringing down plenty of criminals without much loss of life. On the (far shorter but still meaningful) bitter side, the imprisoned Zilastra still hates the Jedi, Affably Evil Burlug and Unwitting Pawn Seneschal Voh are dead, and, worst of all, the Jedi miss one of their best chances to discover what Palpatine is up to and stop him in his tracks when they briefly investigate some missing Jedi texts that he stole (and would have had a hard time explaining his theft of) but ultimately assume the books were merely misplaced.
• Call-Forward:
  • Heezo is a mechanic for the Jedi, a job that would persist into the Clone Wars.
  • Palpatine whispers to Adi Galla that he wonders what the Chancellor's Office would look in red, which would eventually happen when he becomes Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.
• The Cameo: Darth Maul, who's literally the last thing Seneschal Voh sees before he's killed on Palpatine's orders.
• Clothing-Concealed Injury: Pirate Girl Zilastra rarely takes off her gloves due to having had her hands surgically remade after they were blown off by a thermal detonator that she set off to kill her first Jedi.
• Continuity Nod: The book title, of course, is a reference to the alternate Jedi philosophy of living in the moment (which Qui-Gon Jinn favored and it which made its debut in Episode I).
• The Creon: Most pirate gangs experience regular leadership changes and have little loyalty amongst the lieutenants, but Zilastra's right-hand man, Burlug, once led their gang before voluntarily stepping aside after recognizing her greater talent and ambition. He serves her faithfully even when their plans go poorly or her choices clash with his own morals and desires.
• A Day in the Limelight: For the Episode I-era Jedi Council. All of them get at least a couple of chapters from their point of view, with particular focus given to Depa Billaba, Oppo Rancisis, and Yarael Poof.
• Dramatic Irony: In the epilogue, Yoda and the others believe Seneschal Voh has left Kwenn to take his retirement on Corellia. They don't know that he's really dead and that the ticket purchased in his name was actually the Sith covering their tracks.
• Foregone Conclusion: The Jedi won't learn Palpatine's role in the theft of the Jedi texts or the events of this book.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Zilastra grew up in poverty, losing loved ones to various circumstances, and being surrounded by crime, becoming a brutal pirate. Depa is sympathetic to her circumstances but points out to Kylah that "All three of us came from this region^note Although Depa was raised by the Jedi Order before experiencing as much as the other two. It didn't make either one of us turn out like her."
• Irony: Two examples of situational irony occur regarding the Jedi Council and its journey.
  • Mace Windu is the one to propose that the Councilors go to Kwenn and meet its people but (due to being diverted investigating the disappearance of his former Padawan Depa) is one of the last to arrive there and spends most of his time there preparing for battle.
  • In his last scene, Ki-Adi-Mundi has the biggest Ignored Epiphany viewpoint about how the Council should conduct itself around others but is also the only Councilor to experience a nagging sensation that, based on their experiences on Kwenn, there might be other dangers that hide behind something so routine the Jedi overlook them (a perfect description of Palpatine), only for his more open-minded friend Yarael to dismiss the theory and convince him that It's Probably Nothing.
• Let Them Die Happy: A local whom Yoda befriends asks him to deliver a med droid and some credits to his sick father, who idolizes the Jedi. Yoda does so and engages the old man in happy conversation until he dies, while carefully withholding any mention of how his beloved son is in the hospital with a serious wound after becoming involved with a crime syndicate to pay his father's medical bills.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Mace withheld crucial evidence about Xaran Raal's murder from Depa. He did so out of concern for his former Padaway and a desire to protect her from doing something foolish that could endanger her ascension to the Council. Depa's not happy when she learns this.
• The Man Behind the Man: Unsurprisingly, it's revealed Palpatine had a hand in the events of the book.
• Old Retainer: Seneschal Voh has been the caretaker of the Jedi waystation on Kwenn for nearly a century and is on familiar terms with every Jedi Councilor, although he is more loyal to his community and/or keeping his job than to the Jedi themselves.
• Prequel: To The Phantom Menace, taking place a year before the kickoff of the Prequel Trilogy.
• Road Trip Plot: Literally; Miller even pitched it as such.
• Saved by Canon: The entire Episode I-era Jedi Council will, of course, survive the events of the novel since they'll all go on to appear in the first Prequel film. Though in Yaddle's case, she's Doomed by Canon.
• Slice of Life: Much of the book focuses on how the people of a once prosperous but now struggling planet live their lives, and how the Jedi can affect those lives in different ways than their usual Knight in Shining Armor heroics (like by providing counseling, repair services, and labor dispute resolution, looking for misplaced texts, or spending time with a dying old man).
• Small Name, Big Ego: The Lobber is a cocky pirate who delights in responsibility and getting to act smart, but he is a Butt-Monkey and (according to his friends) Know-Nothing Know-It-All (although he is ultimately more likable than most examples of the trope).
  Wungo You're not the brains, and you're not the boss, Lobber. You're not anything. You're just louder.
• Spanner in the Works: Zilastra is preparing to kill Depa Billaba when a Holonet News interview of Yaddle airs, and she is inspired to go after the whole Jedi Council instead and rig a voice-activated bomb to blow up when Yaddle utters a phrase she mentioned the Councilors would utter at a later date during the interview. This plan, in turn, probably would have gone smoothly if not for Guilt-Ridden Accomplice Kylah alerting the other Jedi that Depa needs rescuing, allowing them to figure out Zilastra's plan once Depa and the others poll information.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: With the entire Jedi Council leaving the Temple and being out in the open, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their enemies to strike.
• Those Two Guys: Plo Koon and Saesaee Tinn get paired together for much of the book, as do Ki-Adi-Mundi and Yarael Poof, with the differences in their outlooks and methods being used for a lot of humor.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Qui-Gon Jinn for urging the Jedi Council to get off Coruscant results in them and thousands of civilians around them being put in danger as Zilastra pursues her agenda against them.
  • It's also eventually revealed Sifo-Dyas unwittingly is responsible for Zilastra's Start of Darkness thanks to his unorthodox and maverick recruitment of her childhood friends into the Order.
• Uriah Gambit: The Lobber, Ghor, and Wungo evoke so much Enraged by Idiocy sentiment from Zilastra that she keeps sending them on dangerous jobs where they are likely to be killed. When they keep surviving, she eventually gets so fed up that she prematurely arms the explosives she sends them to plant at a bureaucrat’s office in the hope that by the time they find the place, the timer will count down and blow them up. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan figure out what is happening and save the trio, who then help them hijack Zilastra's dropship.
• Villain Respect: When Palpatine's role in the entire affair is revealed, he admits that while he doubted Zilastra would succeed, he nonetheless admires the ruthlessness with which she carried out her scheme. Despite her capture and imprisonment, Palpatine remains interested in Zilastra and intends to keep her in mind as the Revenge of the Sith continues to enter its final stages.
• Watch the Paint Job: During the final battle, Saesee ominously tells the Mooks he is facing that the vintage starfighter he arrived in is a loaner, and none of them had better dare scratch it. None of them do.

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