In The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker had a very cynical attitude about the Jedi Order. Now, as fans eagerly anticipate The Rise of Skywalker, the words from the teaser trailer seem to indicate a softening in Luke’s heart towards these mystic monks when he says, “We’ve passed on all we know, the thousand generations live in you now, but this is your fight”. In steps Mark Sumerak and his new book The Secrets of the Jedi to help show the transition that Luke makes as we near the end of the Skywalker Saga.
The book is told from the perspective of Luke, after Rey has left in The Last Jedi to try to save Kylo and after he’s had his heart to heart with Yoda. Luke admits his failures in blaming the Jedi for his mistakes as well as his regret for not carrying on the tradition better when the challenges came.
Luke walks readers through the basics of the Jedi, the Order, the Force, the Sith, prominent members of both sects and much more. The art in the book by Sergio Gómez Silvan is outstanding and luckily for readers there is a pullout-poster in the back of the book just begging to be framed. Many of the pages also have pop-outs that expound on the Jedi such as, the Code, lightsaber stances and letters from Jedi. There are also Aurebesh quotes on almost every page and a translation card so that you can uncover the sayings from prominent Jedi and Sith along the way.
The Secrets of the Jedi does a wonderful job of merging things that have been learned about the Jedi from The Original Trilogy, The Prequel Trilogy, The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and The Sequel Trilogy. It helps tell the history of the Jedi from the Old Republic all the way to the most current period of the Sequels. It’s written in a way that will appeal to children and the child inside all of us. The book is the perfect introduction to the Jedi and the Force for young fans, new fans and older fans. The Secrets of the Jedi will make an excellent holiday gift for any Star Wars fan, it is rated 4 out of 5 stars.
This review was completed using a copy of The Secrets of the Jedi that was provided by Insight Editions.
Author: Matt Rushing
Matthew Rushing is the host of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and co-host of TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations: A Star Wars Podcast. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.