Into the Void

Into the Void by Tim Lebbon, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1

On the planet Tython, the ancient Je’daii order was founded. And at the feet of its wise Masters, Lanoree Brock learned the mysteries and methods of the Force—and found her calling as one of its most powerful disciples. But as strongly as the Force flowed within Lanoree and her parents, it remained absent in her brother, who grew to despise and shun the Je’daii, and whose training in its ancient ways ended in tragedy.

Now, from her solitary life as a Ranger keeping order across the galaxy, Lanoree has been summoned by the Je’daii Council on a matter of utmost urgency. The leader of a fanatical cult, obsessed with traveling beyond the reaches of known space, is bent on opening a cosmic gateway using dreaded dark matter as the key—risking a cataclysmic reaction that will consume the entire star system. But more shocking to Lanoree than even the prospect of total galactic annihilation, is the decision of her Je’daii Masters to task her with the mission of preventing it. Until a staggering revelation makes clear why she was chosen: The brilliant, dangerous madman she must track down and stop at any cost is the brother whose death she has long grieved—and whose life she must now fear.

Just last year I was introduced to the Star Wars fiction books and they have been treating me very well. All the books that I have read so far were written by different authors but they all have one thing in common they do a great job in showing the Star Wars universe in full color. Tim Lebbon does exactly the same but had perhaps a more difficult job.

Into the Void takes place 26.000 years before Star Wars IV: A New Hope and focuses not on the Jedi, but on the ancient organization called the Je'daii, who inhabit the Force sensitive planet of Tython. The Je'daii were the predecessors of the more well known Jedi, I haven't heard anything about these Je'daii and was therefore looking forward to finding out more of how the Jedi Order might have come to a beginning. What I found striking was that there was a different atmosphere surrounding this story, and for me not for the worse at all. This is really a book that tells about the early days of the Je'daii and Jedi's and gives more insight into this day and age. 
 
The story of Into the Void focusses on a Je'daii ranger called Lanoree Brock. She is one of the better, Je'daii fully adapted to using the Force in her favor. Lanoree is called back to the plant of Tython by the Je'daii Council who have an important mission for her, and instead of meeting at the usual temple she is called to a remote part to avoid any possible eavesdroppers, it's a matter of grave importance. It all comes down to one thing, Lanoree must take down the leader of the Stargazers, her brother Dal... He has gotten his hands on something powerful that can bring down planets. But no one knows where Dal hides out, it's first up to Lanoree to find out where he is and than take down her brother. Only Lanoree had assumed that her brother was dead... now that she knows that he still lives it brings back old memories. Memories that she rather not think about. Tim Lebbon plays into these old memories by introducing a second storyline into Into the Void, the past of Lanoree and her brother Dal when they were training to become Je'daii. In this past storyline you see that the relation between Lanoree and Dal isn't the loving and warm brother and sister relation. In her early years Lanoree is eager to master control of the Force and she is quite good at using this power, contrary to this stands Dal who just can't seem to let the Force into his life. I liked how Tim Lebbon showed the earlier efforts of both Lanoree and Dal to get acquainted with the Je'daii and all the hardships they got in not only their training but also on the personal level between them. Lanoree only wants to help Dal, but Dal sees this as that she in invading his life and bans the Force out of his life entirely. The story itself is very fun to read, especially given the fact that this isn't the standard Star Wars story with tight Lightsaber action but more the focus on the origin and perhaps basics of the Jedi. 

As for the characters the cast is quite limited but this did allow Tim Lebbon to fully develop the main protagonist of the series, Lanoree Brock. Lanoree is a young female Je'daii Ranger who is devoted to the Je'daii organization and has given up many things in her life to get where she is today. She is all about the practical things and has rebuild and equipped her spaceship for this purpose alone, but yes there is a but, she hasn't forgotten about her family and each time when she is back on Tython she reminds herself to visit her family, this strong allegiance to the Je'daii made here a very strong heroine in my opinion and when you see her fighting for the Je'daii cause it is without remorse. And the strong family ties made her character complete. There is a lot you can get from being devoted to a cause but lets not forget the people closest to you! When you look at the younger Lanoree, she is a little different than the older Lanoree and this is exactly what you want to see when you read a story with flashbacks to an earlier self, take for example the relation towards her brother Dal, in her younger persona she tries to do her best to connect with him and help him, but her older persona is more like, I'm sorry brother but you have gone to far and this is the last time. Dal's character is the second one that has a focus in the book though it is roughly a quarter of that of Lanoree's character, you don't get to meet up with his older person until the end and I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on how the Stargazers were navigating about their plans. The younger Dal is very interesting to read about, he doesn't want to let in the Force with a lot. He says he doesn't need it and instead focuses on other parts of fighting. These two characters do make the story come to life, though some parts did feel a bit static, on the whole it was one action packed adventure. 

Now for perhaps the most interesting part of the book, well at least for me, the Je'daii Order. The Je'daii doesn't have the division between the good and the bad yet. The Jedi and the Sith instead they live in a balance, and letting one overrule the other will disturb this balance and let you loose the path. There are many references all throughout the book that made me look different at the existing Star Wars universe, mainly on how several character react and with a lot of this background information and the actions of Lanoree and Dal you can already see something forming. I really liked that Tim Lebbon explored this organization in more detail, it nicely broadens the whole scope of the existing Star War universe. 

The ending of the book is one with some very fine action scenes, there wasn't the lightsaber action that I was perhaps anticipating but the final showdown between Lanoree and her brother Dal was shown in the cinematic scenes that I have come to enjoy in Star Wars, Lanoree's character has a definite plus on her side with the sword fighting and usage of the Force. After this final battle, a lot of the things seem to be resolved but there is the mention that this is the first in a series. I am definitely in for more of the stories that focus on the origins of the Star Wars universe!

Into the Void is a great addition to the growing Star Wars fiction. Instead of telling a story within the established story, Tim Lebbon tells the story on the early years when there wasn't a Jedi or Sith in sight (there is a comics series called Dawn of the Jedi, that also focuses in this time line but I haven't read those so I can't be the judge of that). I have always thought of how the early years of the Jedi must have been so for me Into the Void was a treat to read. The writing of Tim Lebbon is short and to the point with out letting out the details. He did a clever job with showing both a present and a past storyline in which he explored the main protagonist Lanoree and her brother Dal in full details, though the past storyline focused on the very early years, I never lost focus on the present storyline, most of the scenes nicely interplay with each other. If you are a Star Wars fan be sure to give Into the Void a chance I think you will be surprised with a lot of the things that you will read!