Knight Errant: Star Wars Legends

By John Jackson Miller

A thousand years before Luke Skywalker, a generation before Darth Bane, in a galaxy far, far away . . .

The Republic is in crisis. The Sith roam unchecked, vying with one another to dominate the galaxy. 

But one lone Jedi, Kerra Holt, is determined to take down the Dark Lords. Her enemies are strange and many: Lord Daiman, who imagines himself the creator of the universe; Lord Odion, who intends to be its destroyer; the curious siblings Quillan and Dromika; the enigmatic Arkadia. So many warring Sith weaving a patchwork of brutality—with only Kerra Holt to defend the innocents caught underfoot.

Sensing a sinister pattern in the chaos, Kerra embarks on a journey that will take her into fierce battles against even fiercer enemies. With one against so many, her only chance of success lies with forging alliances among those who serve her enemies—including a mysterious Sith spy and a clever mercenary general. But will they be her adversaries or her salvation?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307796530

John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements, Star Trek: Discovery: Die Standing, Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War,  the acclaimed Star Trek: Prey trilogy (Hell’s Heart, The Jackal’s Trick, The Hall of Heroes), and the novels Star Trek: The Next Generation: Takedown, Star Wars: A New Dawn, Star Wars: Kenobi, Star Wars: Knight Errant, Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith—The Collected Stories; and fifteen Star Wars graphic novels, as well as the original work Overdraft: The Orion Offensive. He has also written the enovella Star Trek: Titan: Absent Enemies. A comics industry historian and analyst, he has written for franchises including Halo, Conan, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and The Simpsons. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and far too many comic books.

Reviews for Knight Errant

[slothman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It started with the computer games Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, The Sith Lords: excellent Star Wars tales set in a period four thousand years before the era of the movies. The games apparently absorbed all the available awesome before Lucas could snare any to work into the scripts of the second three films, and now John Jackson Millar has tapped the same vein with tales set a few years before the games, using unrelated characters against the same backdrop of a galaxy in chaos with the Mandaloreans battling against the Republic.Zayne Carrick is a padawan with a great deal of luck, both good and bad. He screws up in a big way on a regular basis, but manages to survive it each time; he despairs of ever becoming a Jedi Knight. And then he gets caught up in intra-Jedi intrigue, falls in among unsavory characters, and finds that when his back is up against the wall, there is some heroism in there after all.

[dmcolon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the BioWare game Knights of the Old Republic and as I continue my journey into graphic novels, I pick up the first of the Knights of the Old Republic series. I thought it was a novelization of the game, but it is, in face, an entirely new storyline. It tracks the story of a Jedi padawan who is framed for the murder by a group of Jedi knights. The padawan is forced to flee and along the way, he assembles a group of assorted sci-fi stereotypes to join him. The story starts off pretty slowly with a rather goofy protagonist, but the action picks up about midway through. It never really hits any sublime moments, but this is an enjoyable and serviceable read.

[zare_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not so talented Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick finds himself targeted by the very Jedi masters that trained him. At first sight Zayne would be considered a Padawan with very weak link to the Force – but is that truly the case? He miraculously manages to stay alive no matter the dangers placed in front of him. Now with his allies, rag-tag group of smugglers and exiles, he is set to clean his name and expose the secret group that think that any goal justifies the means.Great introduction to the story placed at the beginning of the infamous Mandalorian Wars.Recommended.

[jrashk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great look inside the various machinations of sith lords and how they each choose to rule their empires. I also like the realizations that Kerra (main character) made during her dealings / battles with the various sith she encountered. I enjoyed reading about a classic bothan spy again even though he was a sith agent (double, triple, ???). I've now have to go find Kerra's continued adventures in graphic forms.

[porfinicle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

John Jackson Miller is an amazing author, which is why this novel was so disappointing. I've read the Knight Errant comic series that precedes this and was hoping to get into the head of Kerra more. What is the role of a Jedi alone in Sith space, or how does Kerra deal with her desire for vengeance, were some of the questions I was hoping the novel would address. Instead we follow Kerra on a series of adventures across Sith space, but along the way are not given a clear indication of the larger plot. During the last third of the book everything eventually comes together, but I could see a less determined reader dropping out much earlier in the book. While this book takes Kerra on quite a wild ride, where one event leads right into another, any momentum gained is lost whenever the focus transitions to a variety of secondary characters. This happens a lot and personally I would have preferred the entire novel from Kerra's point of view. Kerra is an interesting character that could have been more fleshed out in the novel format, and have been part of a much more interesting story.

[revan97 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Star Wars Knight Errant is perhaps one of the most action packed Old Republic novels ever written. The story takes place a thousand years before Luke Skywalker and a generation before Darth Bane, in a galaxy far, far away. Of course the rule of two has not yet been initiated and thus hundreds and hundreds of Sith roam the galaxy unchecked. But there is one lone Jedi, whom this story revolves around, that dares to defy them. Her name is Kerra Holt. If you are looking for an intriguing tale full of wild adventure, awesome new worlds, crazy plot twists, Sith vs Jedi and every thing you've come to expect from Star Wars, this is your book.

[capiam1234 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Characters weren't too interesting. The final antagonists didnt even seem like it was worth developing a storyline around at all. I was very disapointed and I was looking forward to checking out the comic that this was based off of, but this has me wary to do so now.

[smcamp1234 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Characters weren't too interesting. The final antagonists didnt even seem like it was worth developing a storyline around at all. I was very disapointed and I was looking forward to checking out the comic that this was based off of, but this has me wary to do so now.

[adambourke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is everything that "Cloak of Deception" should have been. It has fast flowing action, greatcharacters, and layer upon layer of political mystery and intrigue. In essence, it contains almosteverything I look for in a book.The one thing that I don't believe it has is a strong plot. I expect that this is because, while it IS astandalone book, it follows the story-arc started in the two Knight Errant comic series (Aflame andDeluge). However this didn't seem to be that much of a problem, since despite not knowing where thebook was going, I couldn't put it down.While it isn't the earliest book in the star wars timeline, it almost is, being set in the dark ages of theRepublic. That means it's pretty different from the films (lots of Sith, one Jedi) and as such, it's probablynot the best to read as an introduction to the expanded universe (try Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter for that), butit IS an incredible book, and one that should be read by every star wars reader.The Sith in this book are written particularly well. There is quite a few of them (Seven Sith Lords makean appearance, as well as their minions), and they are all unique. Each of them adds a new aspect to thebook, and in some ways, each Sith Lord represents a different story. This is part of what helps it flow sowell, the story is constantly changing, there isn't a dull moment. And that's just the bad guys.The main character herself is... Not the greatest. She feels a little under-developed, but again I feel thatthis is due to the fact that half the story is in comic form, and we don't know a lot of what's happenedto Kerra. The one thing we do see is that she's not the model Jedi, which is refreshing after many idealJedi in the Expanded Universe. But my favourite characters are the artillery captain, Rusher, and themysterious demolitions expert, Narsk.These two characters are the two that really add depth to the book. They work for the Sith, but only because the Sith are the only people around. This idea is an interesting one, because it allows the author to show prejudice against them (working for bad guys), while also showing that there are just ordinary people in the star wars universe. Too often the main characters in the star wars books are all "professional heroes", or fighter pilots, or basically full-time good guys. It's nice to see more realistic people.This is probably one of my favourite books in the Star Wars universe (and given the general quality of the books, thats saying something). As I mentioned earlier, not the best book to start your expanded universe experience. But once you've read a couple with the movie characters in, read this. It's easy to read, while still being complex, and a great addition to the Star Wars series.