I, Jedi

Michael A. Stackpole, a New York Times bestselling author and celebrated master of imaginative storytelling, presents a captivating new tale set within the Star Wars universe. This is the story of Corran Horn, a valiant X-wing pilot who faces the ultimate challenge: grappling with his Jedi lineage and mastering the Force without succumbing to the allure of the dark side.

Before joining the New Republic, Corran Horn served as an officer in the Corellian Security Force. As the grandson of a renowned Jedi hero, he possesses dormant Force abilities that are yet to be unlocked. Nevertheless, he has distinguished himself as a member of Rogue Squadron, the elite X-wing fighter group that has become a formidable force against the Empire and the pirates who prey on Republic shipping.

When a new pirate organization begins to terrorize the space lanes, Rogue Squadron appears to have finally met its match. Led by a former Moff commanding an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the pirates exhibit an uncanny awareness of the squadron's plans and tactics, enabling them to detect and evade even the most meticulously planned ambushes. Either there is a security breach…or the pirates have access to a dark and unnatural power that only a trained Jedi could contend with.

When Corran's wife, Mirax, disappears during a covert mission to locate the pirates' secret base, Corran pledges to find her. He begins Jedi training at the Jedi academy, hoping to develop his untapped powers. But as he grows dissatisfied with Luke Skywalker's methods, he will break with the academy before his training is finished.

Drawing upon his Corellian undercover skills, he infiltrates the pirate organization. His plan is daring and dangerous. He will learn what he can, sabotage what he can, and use every means possible to find his wife. And his very survival may depend on a terrible choice—whether or not to surrender to the dark side.

I, Jedi_ immerses readers in the gripping and transformative journey of a young man with extraordinary potential who must somehow control his inner powers…or be consumed by them._

Told from Corran Horn's first-person perspective, I, Jedi commences in 11 ABY, shortly after the conclusion of both the Thrawn campaign and Operation Shadow Hand. The narrative opens with Horn participating in a Rogue Squadron operation: an ambush targeting a pirate raiding party believed to be connected to the Invids. Following the mission's partial success, Horn returns to his home on Coruscant, only to discover that his wife, Mirax, is nowhere to be found. Initially assuming she is simply delayed from a business trip, he goes to sleep, only to experience the sudden severing of their Force-based connection, a connection he is only vaguely aware of. Profoundly disturbed by this inexplicable event, Horn seeks guidance from his former Rogue Squadron comrade and General Wedge Antilles, as well as Luke Skywalker. After recounting his experience and describing the situation, the Jedi Master concludes that Horn has suffered a psychic trauma and requires time to heal. However, Horn insists that he alone must rescue his wife. Consequently, after careful consideration, he accepts an offer he had previously declined: to train in the ways of the Force under Master Skywalker at his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. Convinced that only a Jedi can save Mirax, Horn becomes one of Skywalker's initial students, one of only three to wield their own lightsaber; in his case, it is the weapon that once belonged to his grandfather, Nejaa Halcyon.

The novel provides a close-up view of the events of The Jedi Academy Trilogy from Horn's perspective. He trains under the alias Keiran Halcyon and gains deeper insight into the legacy of his bloodline. When the apprentice Gantoris encounters the spirit of Exar Kun and is ultimately consumed by the dark side entity, Horn assists Master Skywalker in the ensuing investigation. Utilizing his skills in Force sight and Force Illusion, Horn continues to play a role in thwarting Kun's spirit's attempts to destroy the Jedi on Yavin 4, even after Kyp Durron, under Kun's influence, separates Skywalker from his physical body. With Skywalker incapacitated, Horn assumes the role of de facto leader of the Academy until the arrival of Leia Organa Solo and her children, Jaina and Jacen. When Kun manipulates the old hermit Streen into using Force Whirlwind to attack Skywalker, the dark spirit also unleashes a number of battle hydras to finish the job. Taking possession of Mara Jade's Z-95 Headhunter, which had been stolen by Durron and then returned after acquiring the Sun Crusher from the heart of Yavin Prime, Horn eliminates the hydras, gaining further understanding of Kun's methods in the process.

At this juncture, Kun himself appears to Horn, offering him the means to rescue his wife and destroy the Invids, the only price being the assassination of Skywalker. Horn rejects the offer. Enraged, Kun vows that Horn will eventually seek him out before vanishing for the night. Subsequently, Leia is called away to address the attempted kidnapping of her youngest child, Anakin Solo, personally entrusting Horn with the responsibility of protecting her brother. Eventually, Horn devises a plan to deal with Kun, which he presents to the other Academy students. While Horn attempts to destroy the Temple of Exar Kun using nergon-14 explosives, the remaining Academy students prepare to confront Kun's spirit upon its arrival. Unfortunately for Horn, he underestimates Kun's power. The disembodied Dark Lord proceeds to subject Horn to both physical and mental torture, until Mara Jade's timely intervention, distracting him with a few well-placed taunts. Boasting, Kun departs for the Great Temple, where the combined power of the other students' light side energy finally annihilates his spirit. With Master Skywalker restored to his body, he announces that Kyp Durron will be welcomed back into the Jedi Order. Corran, however, is disgusted by this decision, viewing Kyp as irredeemable due to his deliberate murder of 25 million sentients, and resigns from the Jedi Academy.

Horn departs the Academy and visits his father-in-law, Booster Terrik, aboard the Errant Venture to enlist his assistance in reaching Corellia. There, he visits his step-grandfather, Rostek Horn, to learn more about his biological grandfather, Nejaa Halcyon, a Jedi. He discovers that Rostek, a freelance horticulturist, has encoded Jedi lore in binary form within the genetic sequences of his famous hybrid flowers. Following what appears to be a prophetic dream, Corran concludes that he must rely on his CorSec training to rescue Mirax. With Rostek's help, he adopts the alias "Jenos Idanian" and sets out to infiltrate the Invids.

Leaving Corellia aboard the Tinta Palette, intending to rendezvous with the Tinta Rainbow, Corran finds himself caught in the middle of an Invid raid led by the Invidious itself. After narrowly escaping the pirate attack aboard the shuttle Tinta Blue Seven, he meets with Booster again, this time armed with data about the Invids involved. Learning that they are staging out of Courkrus, in the Khuiumin system, Corran takes the appropriated shuttle to Vlarnya, offering it as a prize in his attempt to join one of the pirate gangs operating on that world. He joins the Khuiumin Survivors, starting at the bottom, flying a clutch starfighter in Rock Squadron. After participating in several raids, culminating in an ambitious raid on Xa Fel, Horn soon finds himself leading Bolt, a high-ranking position within the Survivors. Simultaneously, Corran attracts the attention—and lust—of former Moff Leonia Tavira, further intensifying the already bitter rivalry with fellow Survivor Remart Sasyru. During the fight, however, he comes dangerously close to blowing his cover as a Jedi

Shortly after this, Corran and the Survivors join the Invidious in raiding the Caamasi Remnant colony Morymento, located on Kerilt. The raid is interrupted by the arrival of the Thalassian slavers and their ship, the Harmzuay, which is quickly destroyed by the Imperial Star Destroyer's superior firepower. On the ground, several of his Bolts, led by Sasyru, go missing. Corran lands and searches for the pirates, only to find them amidst a group of Caamasi gathered around the fallen Trustant Elegos A'Kla. When Horn attempts to intervene on the Caamasi's behalf, a fight erupts, leaving Sasyru battered, his wingmates stunned by A'kla, and his own blaster carbine pointed at him. At this point, A'kla adopts Corran's idea to have him serve as a bodyservant to maintain the pretense that had sparked the brawl. With Sasyru killed by Tavira for his insubordination, the Admiral announces her intention to have Horn—as Idanian—serve as her consort, promising to dedicate all her resources to fulfilling the cover story he created to justify his desire to join the Invids.

With A'kla's assistance, Horn is able to make the choice between the dark and light sides of his quest. With the Caamasi's help, he constructs a new lightsaber and plans to combat the pirates of Courkrus's Aviary. Launching a subversive campaign of terror to undermine the morale of the various groups, Horn attacks bands of pirates who prey on the planet's indigs, ambushes groups of would-be Jedi hunters, and assaults the headquarters of the Blackstar Pirates. Eventually, the Hutt crime boss Shala attempts to expose the "Ghost Jedi", luring him into a trap at his own lair. The trap turns out to be a double-cross, and using his abilities with Absorb Energy, Horn manages to survive, though narrowly. Shortly afterward, Admiral Tavira learns of these events and deploys her own force to deal with the mysterious Jedi, a team of five Jensaarai. The team corners Horn in an alleyway, but he is rescued by Luke Skywalker, accompanied by Horn's longtime wingmate Ooryl Qrygg.

After interrogating the captured Jensaarai with the help of an ysalamir, the two Jedi learn about the hidden community on Susevfi and Mirax's location. Traveling there with Qrygg and A'kla, Skywalker and Horn immediately set out to rescue her, encountering no resistance until they reach Tavira's headquarters in Yumfla. The group infiltrates the palace, facing a large contingent of stormtroopers, and securing Horn's wife's release. As they attempt to escape, the two Jedi, Qrygg, A'kla, and Mirax are confronted by more Jensaarai, led by the Saarai-kaar, who claims that Horn's arrival as "the Halcyon" foreshadows their doom. After a brief skirmish, Skywalker neutralizes the Jensaarai Defenders, while Horn distracts the Saarai-Kaar with an illusion of her master, Nikkos Tyris, long enough to defeat her. All of them are taken into custody just as the Invidious and the Errant Venture, accompanied by Rogue Squadron and Pash Cracken's A-wing group, arrive in the system. Delving deeply into Tavira's mind, Horn implants a vision of the Venture as the infamous Super Star Destroyer Lusankya launching the Sun Crusher at her ship. Terrified by the illusion, Tavira flees the system, leaving the Jedi and the forces of the New Republic to reconcile with the Jensaarai and the Khuiumin Survivors. Shortly afterwards, Corran uses his X-Wing to destroy Exar Kun's temple on Yavin 4--not so much out of petty revenge on the dead Sith Lord, but because he'd realized a connection between the Sith inscriptions on Kun's temple and the Jensaarai Sith texts, and he wanted to do his part to keep Sith knowledge from corrupting more people.

Stackpole has expressed that I, Jedi holds the position of his preferred Star Wars novel among those he has authored. In the acknowledgments section of the novel, Stackpole extends his gratitude to fellow authors Timothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson, and A. C. Crispin for their assistance in integrating various story and character elements.

Within the initial chapter, the luxury cruise liner is identified as the Glitterstar, however, in the subsequent chapter, the same vessel is referred to as the Glimmerstar on multiple occasions. In chapter 32, Chempat Engineered Defenses is erroneously spelled as Chepat, and in chapter 36, warlord Blitzer Harrsk is misspelled as Harssk.

When Corran Horn intentionally jumbles the names of the Red Squadron pilots responsible for the destruction of the first Death Star to feign ignorance about the Rebellion, he includes the name "Luke Starkiller." This was the original name of Luke Skywalker in the second and third drafts of the Star Wars screenplay.

The novel's cover illustration depicts an X-wing starfighter in the bottom right corner with its upper right laser cannon missing.

I, Jedi stands out as one of the few Star Wars novels that actively retcons events presented in another novel. Specifically, the sequence of events surrounding the early days of the Jedi Academy and Exar Kun's incapacitation of Luke Skywalker are revised to incorporate Horn, who was not originally involved.

• ISBN 9780553108200 ; May 4 , 1998 ; Bantam Spectra ; US hardcover [1]
• ISBN 9780553578737 ; June 1999 ; Bantam Spectra; US paperback [2]
• ISBN 9780553506020 ; July 1999; Bantam Spectra; New Ed Edition paperback
• ISBN 9780307796424 ; June 28 , 2011 ; Del Rey ; US eBook [3]
• ISBN 9780593722183 ; October 24, 2023; Random House Worlds ; Trade Paperback [6]

• ISBN 9780593042243 ; May 4, 1998; Transworld Publishers ; UK hardcover
• ISBN 9788863551969 ; 2013 ; Multiplayer.it Edizioni ; Paperback