I am not sure what to think about this book.

I have to admit that blurb on the book cover had me struggling a bit especially in time when diversity is the word of the day and gets pushed everywhere just for the sake of it.

Being sort of a reader that reads books based on the description of book's contents and not on life preferences of authors (I am not trying to figure out who are they and how they live their lives and what they believe in privately - I am reading author's works, not living with the author, if you understand me) I was little bit put off so I placed this one on afterburner and last week I was thinking, why not and started on it.

Story wise novel is extension of episode 1 from Star Wars Vision series (which I did not watch). First chapters are basically re-telling of that episode and I have to admit that it is very cinematic and filled with action so I believe that it is very true to the animated series.

From here ... novel itself goes in the strange directions (yes, you read right, I mean it in plural).

First, the setting. As far as I can see setting is true to original concept of Star Wars (there was a graphic novel couple of years back) with Jedi's being for all means and purposes warrior class for the Republic (here called Empire). Author manages to place all the factions into political system that is basically copy of Japan middle ages, before Shogunate - thousands small states/princes vying for ultimate control of the galaxy using their own Jedi clans as foot soldiers in almost never ending wars (for all those more into cyberpunk, imagine this as dystopian cyberpunk future with various zaibatsu fighting for control). Jedi are warrior's first, loyal to their clan and ready to fight other Jedis in feuds between their lords (that also can be someone from Jedi ranks). We have Jedi knights, that are actually wielding the lightsabers and those that wash out from training but have their use as Force wielders to protect their Lords and commanders. So in this regard Jedis are portrayed as Jedi's from Knights of the Old Republic, that origin story of Jedi's (series published by Dark Horse), Legacy series (post Jedi Academy) and finally Eternal Throne knights - warriors walking the line between Light and Dark, keeping the balance and trying to do the right thing, even in midst of inter-Jedi-clan fighting. They are not ultimate baddies nor ultimate goodies - they are warrior caste in service of the government.

This again brings us to Sith which are not the ultimate baddies as is generally case, but are presented as rebels, Force wielders that want to be independent and bound to no clan leader of Imperial forces. This of course brings them into conflict with the Jedi and entire novel is more or less about how this conflict culminated and ended, and consequences following it.

So, setting wise, great setup. Author's portrayal of technology, customs, everything is perfect blend of Star Wars and Japanese culture. Even the weird lightsabers that pop up from time and time, they are wonderfully presented.

But character wise story is .... lets say unique :) If we take eponymous Ronin aside, all other characters have very serious psychological issues. OK, we can even take Chie aside too. But everyone else is in dire need of psychoanalysis and few years worth of sessions.

Author's style is rather heavy in general - I think editors did not do their job as best as they could because there are chapters where structure of sentences is so difficult it is incredible. I literary had to use finger to track the progress of paragraphs, otherwise I could just skip this (around 20%) part of the book, and unfortunately lose the thread completely. It is not the pronouns (this was pleasant surprise because only alien Traveler was treated as they and this came up better than I expected) but just structure of sentences...... it was like reading psychotic break of a character, only this was not the case, it is just that structure was difficult, man so difficult to go through.

And in all of this we are given characters that cover more or less your usual adventure team - errant knights, smuggler, nosy droid, and battle hardened veteran. Unfortunately besides the veteran and our Ronin (and droid, I forgot about the droid), all of the others seem to suffer from such angst that I felt like grabbing them by the shoulders and tell them to get themselves sorted out, take a vacation, visit family, friends whatever, go to sea, walk in the bloody woods to release the stress - just do something for crying out loud and then return to the novel. This made reading these parts of book like trying to walk through molasses up to your neck. I spent literary two days to get through this slough but thankfully I persisted and truly enjoyed the rest of the book.

Rest of the book is full of action and ending is truly satisfying, I can even say epic. I just wish editors did better job and made book more readable.

Highly recommended to fans of Star Wars, very interesting take on the universe. But do keep in mind it might take you some effort to go through it but it is worth it. It definitely got me interested in the Visions series. ( )

A bit clunky at points but the setting is great. Star Wars would benefit greatly from broader perspectives and alternative universes. ( )

Star Wars: Visions--Ronin is not a Star Wars book in the traditional sense. It's set in a completely alternate universe where the Jedi are patterned on samurai (serving lords in clans) and the Sith are Jedi who rebelled against that control. It also doesn't feature any familiar characters from the movies, so you are introduced to an entirely new cast of characters. And, honestly, that's a really hard task to pull off. For an AU with no familiar characters to work, the story itself has to feel really compelling and draw the reader into a universe and characters they aren't previously invested in while still feeling true to "Star Wars." Ronin, unfortunately, really doesn't pull this off. The 'Star Wars' of it all is limited to calling the magic system "The Force" and having characters fight with lightsabers instead of swords. This might not have been a problem if the characters/plot were good enough, but the story doesn't really work on that level either. The main character, Ronin, feels one-note (he's guilt ridden and grumpy but has a heart of gold) and the side characters aren't much better. No one really has any meaningful flaws (they have trust issues but its because they have trauma, they are also grumpy with a heart of gold, etc.) and their relationships develop way too easily. The plot is also pretty predictable and the 'twist' at the end is telegraphed well in advance. Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this to Star Wars fans or to traditional fantasy fans, since it just doesn't work on either level. ( )

Like with Asimov's Foundation, I have to confess I would read this at night when I was tired, a chapter a day, and a lot of the narrative pieces eluded me. It is probably the most unusual and daring Star Wars novel given how it does not hold the reader's hand and much of the plot and revelations are only elliptically disclosed. While I liked Candon's vision of corrupt Jedi defenders of empire birthing the evil religious order of the Sith, I did not feel myself drawn into the proceedings. Maybe it warrants a second, closer reading, but there is so much else to read that I probably will not. ( )