Trouble on Cloud City

Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights #13

by Kevin J. Anderson

When the young Jedi Knights, the children of Han Solo and Princess Leia, invite their mysterious new friend, Anja Gallandro, to join them on a vacation on Cloud City, they do not realize that they are helping her hatch a sinister plan. Original.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Adventure

183 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this penultimate Young Jedi Knights book: Stakes are raised, the dangers are deadly, and the themes are much more adult than in previous books!

Probably the best part of this book is the dynamic between Jacen and Tenel Ka. We have seen there friendship wax and wayne over the previous books, and we the audience recognize that there is an attraction between them, even if they don't see it. In this book, Tenel Ka wrestles with some jealousy she feels towards Anja with how she captivates Jacen, and she also realizes what regret she has for not telling Jacen how she feels. There storyline really had me happy, despite it not taking up much of the book.

First of all, this is by far the shortest YJK book. It's almost 30 pages (or almost 20%) shorter than the other books in the series. Those other books read quickly, but this one goes by REALLY quick. It really doesn't have as much down time as the others, really being economical with its dialogue and focusing on the action and the plot.

As I mentioned earlier, the dangers are quite deadly in this book. One character literally falls off of cloud city and the other characters think he's dead. One character flies a ship into a storm of horrifying creatures, and other characters deal with evil drug dealers and brutal thugs. Other books had dangers for our heroes, but man did the dangers in this book seem palpable. Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta did an excellent job of making the audience feel the dangers of the characters.

The book also deals with the dark themes of drug use and drug addiction. Something much more mature than the themes dealt with in the first books of the series. Anderson and Moesta do a great job of exploring these themes, but also leaving the story open for more exploration in future books.

The plot itself is quite thin and kind of self contained, even though it ties to the plot of the previous book and the next book. I think it shows that this "trilogy" really was put together as an afterthought rather than planned out significantly ahead of time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought the action scenes were great, I thought the character moments were great, and the themes were handled really well. The weakness is the plot, but that's ok when you have a book as enjoyable as this one is. 8 out of 10!

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this twice because I mistakenly started this trilogy out of order. XD

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entry that is far better than some of the middle of the series. Very good for what it is

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun romp. It was a little hard to get through the middle, but there were some cool moments.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

[Briar]

again, the action and adventure is fun. love this world and love the extra pieces that are added to it. I wish these books were a little longer so we could get more detail in the storyline. it's really nice to see the characters becoming more mature and starting to form more age appropriate relationships with each other.

I'm not sure I totally agree with the discussions on Anja's drug addiction but I do commend the authors for trying. I do think more adult topics are tackled in this story arc, which is a nice change of pace from the other storylines.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

And it's hologram funworld part 2!

It's an interesting adventure, but it seems less full than many of the other books. Like this book should have encompassed 2 books instead of 1 and so a lot of stuff was glossed over, and a lot of events happen. And since this last storyline encompasses only 3 books as opposed to the 5 of the earlier 2 stories that could well be the issue.

Still it was enjoyable, just a little more hollow than previous books.

[Zombie_Phreak · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute, nice to see the Solo kids on Cloud City. Also I like how the character of Anja is changing and growing. What I liked even better was that Tenel Kal finally had someone else that liked Jacen and was paying attention to him and suddenly then she admits to herself that she likes him and that he is her friend. And the ending where she finally attempts to crack a joke?

That did put a smile on my face. ;-)

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not inherently bad, this book was much more boring than it ought to have been which is unfortunate because Cloud City is always a place bristling with story telling possibilities. Do the authors know that constantly recycling OT lines for our lead characters is no longer charming after a point and actually makes the world feel smaller? A solid 2 1/2

[Tia Seitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5
This was a good YA book for the star wars fandom. It gave me a good perspective of what happens after the wars from the movies. It is also a good introduction into the Fate of the Jedi series

[Leah Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brings me back to the first set of books in that Lowie is standing out again. He has computer skills that haven’t been mentioned outside of piloting, and integrating his Wookie senses into the whole of how things work out was very refreshing.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fine. Feels a bit too Saturday morning at times but there's some pretty interesting and mature themes.

Also Jaina and Jacen on that front cover look like those kids in highschool that would buy weed for $50 a gram and casually drop slurs

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is ok, but not really any more than that. Plot is pretty thin, it sort of jumps around here and there in a way that the previous volumes don't do. But Anja is a great addition to the cast, with her unique struggles making her far more compelling a character than someone like Zekk has been.

[Amanda]

It has been over ten years since I read this novel, and all I remember about it was Jacen Solo falling off of Cloud City like a doofus. That was, IIRC, the only memorable thing about this book.

[jaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am GENUINELY trying my best not to ship jaina and zekk...WHY CANT TENEL KA AND JACEN JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

PERFECTLY SERVICEABLE.

I know I've said that a lot for this series, but it's true. It's hard to come up with new things to say about a series once you get thirteen books into it.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an okay read. I'm still not impressed with the character of Anja. She just seems kind of boring with her wishy-washyness.

[Don Minus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not as strong as ‘Trouble in Cloud City’. The story was slow for me! I love the connection of Jace and Jana. Zect is still my favorite character.

[Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

The entries in the Young Jedi Knights series up to this point have, for the most part, been fun and enjoyable reads. Trouble on Cloud City, unfortunately, doesn't live up to the standards set by previous books in the series. While the adventures in these books have been a source of entertainment for both young and old alike previously, even younger readers may not be able to forgive the book's many flaws.

The problems start with the story arc's main conflict. While the Shadow Academy and Diversity Alliance arcs offered interesting and multi-dimensional antagonists whose evil schemes threatened multiple species and civilizations, Czethros isn't an intimidating villain and his evil plan seems mild in comparison. The odds just don't seem to be stacked very highly against the heroes. It's like watching Spider-Man or Batman taking down regular street thugs when we'd rather see them do battle with Doc Ock or The Joker.

The characters present another problem. They've become static, growing and changing little (if at all) throughout the course of the book. While Anja does provide some interesting moments of exposition throughout the story, the other characters have become repetitive and boring (with the exception of one touching moment involving Tenel Ka).

While the book's target audience my be willing to forgive the above complaints, I doubt they wouldn't find issue with the lack of action in the story. I can count on one hand how many times a lightsaber is ignited in the book. I don't mean to say that nonstop action is necessary to create entertainment, but the lack of it certainly doesn't help this already boring book.

In the past, I've raced through the Young Jedi Knights books eager to find out how each ends. In this case, however, I really had to force myself to finish Trouble on Cloud City. Only doing so because I've already gotten so close to the end of the series that I might as well finish it.

[Jaime K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars.

The cover is done very well. The twins actually look 16, which wasn't the case with the previous book. They could easily be my students.

I don't know why Leia would be aghast at Jaina's disheveled appearance. She was a Rebel and trudged through forests. Geez.

I like how Jaina and Tenel Ka understand each others' jealousy over Anja's behavior with Zekk and Jacen. The fact that Raynar even recognizes it says a lot about the teen! Kudos to him for not saying anything.
But I like how Jaina, Zekk, Tenel Ka, and Jacen still gravitate towards each other, how they're being ab it more open about their feelings, whether or not they realize it.

Lando comes for the teens' help on Cloud City - and his devleopment of an amusement park there with his partner Cojahn. I love how "Hologram World" from the 'Galaxy of Fear' subseries was mentioned! Though I still don't understand how Tahiri (and Anakin's training) are never brought up!
And what about Tendra?!

Jacen, of course, wants to bring Anja. So she goes, and learns a lot about herself.
I still am not a fan of her character.
However, she does learn (the hard way) the consequences of her actions - related to both Czethros and the andris spice. I like her turmoil because it's REAL.

The word suicide is jarring to read in a Star Wars book. Cojahn's death is very sad to read.

I love seeing more of Cloud City, from the thrantas (and their riders) and their air show to the levels within the gaseous atmosphere to the different restaurants. Lando's sway holds firm in most of the city and there is even some influence in the bad "underground" areas.
We learn more of Ugnaughts which is neat.

I actually like reading Czethros' point of view.

It's unnecessary to write of Lowie's powerful Wookiee muscles. No duh; he's a Wook.

TK and Jacen echoing Han & Leia from ESB made me roll my eyes.
But I love the two together.

[Jamie Lott · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was a boy, this was the first extension of the beloved film series that I became aware of, and that served as the initial allure for my purchase. The problem was, the novelty existed purely in its appeal to my nostalgia. The characters, beyond the spice addicted Anja, felt flat and rarely distinguishable from one another. All but the mentioned character lacked a great deal of inner conflict, outer conflict, and contradictions in their established values. It was enjoyable to delve deeper into the surreal city introduced in the films, but nothing beyond my appreciation of the films motivated my desire to finish the book. I wouldn't recommend it, as there are far better entries not only into the Expanded Universe, but the Young Jedi Knights series itself.

[Snickt Snackt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall ride was enjoyable despite the slow start. Combat doesn't really seem to be the focus in this volume, instead the group is stuck trying to figure out a mystery for the most part, with what I found interesting lying with the characters.

Anja (as much as I'm not a fan of her) gets good coverage for the issues that she faces and develops quite nicely throughout the course of the book and Tenel Ka has some gorgeous bits, more revealing than anything else in this entire series. The latter alone is the only reason that I would recommend reading this volume, because otherwise, none of the other characters actually get any development.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this whole series several times when I was a kid. These were a lot of fun and easy to read. They really helped me along my way to enjoy reading and becoming obessed with Star Wars. We meet alot of charaters that became close frinds to the reader. I feel Anderson was able to identify what a young adult would be lookig for in characters and hit it bullseye. Kudos for a great series.

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another installment in the Young Jedi Knights saga. I'm liking Anja's character a lot. The way that she's conflicted is portrayed pretty well. So far, she hasn't made her complete shift to being a good person, which is refreshing. The Solo twins' amazingly positive influence hasn't completely succeeded. Yet.

[James Davis]

When Lando Calrissian asks the young jedi knights if they would like a vacation on cloud city they gladly accept. what they didn't know was that their " vacation " was more of a fight to remain alive.


I thought it was an execelent book and if you havn't read the young jedi knights series you are missing out on a great series of books.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

At this point the series had really gone on too long without any real progression to keep my interest. I remember being sad to hear the series was ending after this story-line, but it was time.

[Melkirdin · Rating 3 out of 5]

most definately not amazing. but still cool-ish. good basic plot and the andris spice addiction is well-described.

[Marci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these books, and still do. There is no other way to put it.

[Phoenix]

I thought it was exciting because of the ups and downs the danger at every turn and thats whhy I liked this book.