Star Wars Visions: Ronin

A Visions Novel (Inspired by The Duel)

By: Emma Mieko Candon

Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

National best seller

A mysterious former Sith wanders the galaxy in this stunning Star Wars tale, an original novel inspired by the world of The Duel from the Star Wars Visions animated anthology.

The Jedi are the most loyal servants of the Empire.

Two decades ago, Jedi clans clashed in service to feuding lords. Sickened by this endless cycle, a sect of Jedi rebelled, seeking to control their own destiny and claim power in service of no master. They called themselves Sith.

The Sith rebellion failed, succumbing to infighting and betrayal, and the once rival lords unified to create an Empire...but even an Empire at peace is not free from violence.

Far on the edge of the Outer Rim, one former Sith wanders, accompanied only by a faithful droid and the ghost of a less civilized age. He carries a lightsaber, but claims lineage to no Jedi clan, and pledges allegiance to no lord. Little is known about him, including his name, for he never speaks of his past, nor his regrets. His history is as guarded as the red blade of destruction he carries sheathed at his side.

As the galaxy's perpetual cycle of violence continues to interrupt his self-imposed exile, and he is forced to duel an enigmatic bandit claiming the title of Sith, it becomes clear that no amount of wandering will ever let him outpace the specters of his former life.

©2021 Ballantine (P)2021 Random House Audio

A Decent Read

Overall the book is a decent read—albeit one that will neither bore you to death nor keep you on the edge of your seat. For the most part, my only complaints are, first, that I felt there was a slight lack of character development and, second, that not enough context was given in the story for me to fully understand the plot’s positioning in the Star Wars universe and it’s history.

CRAZIEST STAR WARS EVER.

One of the craziest Star Wars stories ever made. Absolutely brilliant. Parts can get confusing at times but eventually you figure out what happened. It is basically Star Wars set in a Japanese like culture. Ranks up there with Rogue Squadron and Heir to the Empire!

Wow simply.. wow

Ronin, is a phenomenally different story than most of current Star Wars canon and is absolutely brilliant. I throughly enjoyed it from start to finish, I absolutely recommend it for any and all who want a fresh take on Star Wars that’s actually good and exciting

solid addition to my collection

you know this is a refreshing take on star wars. It strives to be alot and I think it could've been much longer or much shorter but the ending got me good and I enjoyed finishing it. I'd watch this if they animated it like in the beginning

I absolutely loved this story from start to finish

it's so cool how they expanded an already awesome story into such a beautiful story.

great just great from start to finish.

One of the best Star Wars Books written in a while. Great reads or listens engaging, depths of characters fluid with the backstories.

truly great expansion

if you enjoyed Star wars visions this is a great expansion on the Duel story.

‘They’ don’t belong in an Audio Book!

Ok, as I always state, I try to be fair in all my reviews on here. I so wanted to love this book; Feudal Japan in Space; the basis of Lucas’ idea of Star Wars.

Early on I started getting confused with the ‘they’ thing as it relates to The Traveler. Or Fox, or his 3rd name. But since it was space and Star Wars, I was like, maybe he has two heads or something? Makes sense, right? Nope.

I finally look at the book description and see that the author is ‘queer’ and is she/they. Which again, I am fine with. However, if the Traveler was ‘her’ in this book, she screwed the pooch. Too confusing.

I found myself asking to often who ‘they’ were or what ‘they’ she was talking about. Jesus! Not everything has to be about identity.

Narrator was amazing. Found the Ronin a compelling character at times and at others a sissy? IDK.

Also, the Sith seemed like the ‘good guys’ in this book and the Jedi bad. I guess as Obi-Wan would say ‘from a certain point of view’ that’s OK, but not really to me. Has anyone else who has read this come to the conclusion of whether the ‘witch’ is alive or dead?

Lastly, Chapter changes were weird and interrupted much of this story. Glad I listened but cannot see myself listening again.

It's Star Wars. I liked it.....uhm...

TL;DR : Great characters and cool Edo-era inspired world are held back by flowery rhetoric and abstract world building. Star Wars fans will enjoy it, but I think they'd rather it had been a visual adaptation.

So, before getting started. I'll preface this by letting you guys know I listen to this on my way to work or shopping and I have been known to let my mind wonder. So let's get into it.

This is a continuation of the NON-CANNON Star Wars Visions story "The Duel" and barrows heavily from the likes of Akira Kurosawa and Samurai films of old. Thus leads to some interesting things with Star Wars. On one hand they have the liberty to do new things that hadn't been done and don't need to be bogged down by tons of exposition to world-building because... Well it's Star Wars. We know how it works.

The downside??? It's Star Wars and there are fundamental things that are different in this world that I feel could be better explained. The world... and the entire story for that fact is very abstract. I'm sure some of that is intentional. But it often left me confused on what was happening at any given time. The larger plot beats are easy enough to follow and the characters are great! But I very often didn't even know we're the characters need until I heard something like "and then they ran down the stairs of the Temple". When did they get to a temple?

I don't like a story that spends a lot of time "painting the picture", but this book spent so much time explaining how things felt and waxing poetic that I got lost in the minutiae of it all. Even I'm the Star Wars audio dramas you which are pretty much exclusively dialogue better balance grounding the scene without having characters spout of "we are on the bridge of the ship now".

Like, I said. I listen to this while going to work or doing other miscellaneous tasks, so it may just be me. And I think the characters are super strong and have fantastic chemistry! Learning about them through the way they interact is my favorite type of character writing. I just don't quite understand how we got from one plot point to the other. or quite how this world works vs the normal Star Wars one.

I think any Star Wars fan will like it. Samurai and all! And it does build and interesting world that I wish was a bit more clear to see.

great book and great universe

love the way the book combined the star wars universe with it's own twist that made it truly great.