In this case, the title of the series is Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights, which can be narrowed down to the Shadow Academy story arc, which is divided into six unique volumes, each with its own full-fledged adventure that fits into the overall story. Each book attempts to be an adventure on its own, with enough action and character to satisfy the person who will read it and nothing more. But each book also attempts to contribute something to the overall story, being only a single episode from the much larger tale.

In my opinion, it's that facet that makes these books, or any series of books for that matter, so intriguing. I love the idea of a story so grand in its scale that it must be split into episodes to be told. I think this style benefits novels as much as it does a television or movie series. It is also reassuring as a reader to know that the characters you will read about and maybe even grow attached to will continue to go on adventures and that the story will go on.

Another aspect of a series that I particularly find interesting is that the style of the individual novel is directly dependent on the position in which it exists in the chronologically ordered series of books. The first episode is always the set-up story, sacrificing action and suspense for character development, introducing the main heroes and enemies, and setting up the overall story. The set-up book always has the burden of introducing everything, will still retaining an a worthwhile story of its own.

The following book (or books, in this case) are filler and development books. These books, like the middle book of a trilogy, is reserved to develop the characters that were introduced in the first book. They go on adventures to find themselves, come to grips with the incoming climax, and have romantic interludes. Sometimes it may seem that the events that happen in these books are minor at best and don't truly add anything to the overall story, but others beg to differ. The middle books are usually the fan favourites, because they show the true sides of the characters, instead of introducing things or wrapping things up. For example, the middle film in the original Star Wars trilogy, 'The Empire Strikes Back', is a fan favourite, even though nothing major really happens in the movie that adds to the overall story. But the film is darker and intriquing because of that, and spends much of its time developing the characters, be it the Jedi training of Luke Skywalker or the budding romance between Han and Leia.

The last book, the finale, has the job of wrapping up all loose ends and sub-plots, and bringing the entire story to a satisfying conclusion. The credibility of the series is reliant on the satisfaction the reader gets from this book, because a sequence of books building up to nothing would not be good. It is up to the last book to leave the reader with a good taste in their mouth, just in case the series will continue with another story arc. Like all endings, the ending of the last book should be happy and make it clear that all of the adventures from the previous books was worthwhile.

The set-up book in the Shadow Academy series of Young Jedi Knights books, Heirs of the Force, gets everything right for what it is, a set-up book. Regardless of my opinion of the book, it's job is to introduce the characters and set up the story, and that's exactly what it does. Apart from that though, through further exploration, the book does fail on a few fronts. The story, while a story in itself, is not satisfying enough to merit being an entire book. When looking at the entire story and what happens throughout the series, nothing in this books stands out as being memorable. Many of the events are easily forgettable and seem like a way of combining the introductions of all the characters into a story. The authors could have easily tacked on the story to the beginning of Shadow Academy, as it really does not deserve to be in one entire book. As far as contributing to the series though, the book is successful, and contains a very clever point about the TIE pilot Qorl which will be discussed later on. But other than Qorl (and cameos by Han Solo and Chewbacca), there is not much that connects this story with the overall story about the Shadow Academy, becuase the Jedi don't even realize there is a Shadow Academy yet.

In the character development category, Heirs of the Force once again sets everything up perfectly. It distinguishes each character from the others by showing their unique personalities and habits and nothing else. Although their personalities may seem cardboard and almost too scripted at first, they will soon develop into much more well-rounded characters as the series wears on. As the set-up book, it doesn't have much to do other than introduce the characters and throw them into their first adventure together. Jacen is the pet obsessed, Jaina is the mechanical freak, Lowie is the 'new guy', Tenel Ka is strong but humourless, and Em Teedee is annoying. The characters are too basic and easily forgettable in this first book. When it comes to character development, Heirs of the Force leaves it to the next book to take care of that.

Shadow Academy

The following book in the series is Shadow Academy, and is probably the all-around best volume out of the three that I've read. It has its own great and satisfying story that is darker than usual and tests the limits of the characters, while contributing an exciting and essential episode of the series. It follows the aspects of the follow-up book very well, with no clear beginning or ending. The beginning of the book wastes no time, and dives into the story head on, not having the burden of introducing the characters for the first time. This book also does not have a happy ending, much like most middle books in a series. The Jedi may have won the battle, but the realization of an incoming war is upon them. They have learned of the invisible Shadow Academy's plan to train Dark Jedi to fight for the Empire, and the news frightens and disturbs most of them. The story from this book is one of the most important out of all the books in the series. It is the only book that explores the Shadow Academy and its motives in detail, explaining what their purpose is and why they kidnapped the twins. Without reading this book the events in the following books are less effective as the young Jedi Knights constantly refer to what happened to them in this book. The reason for everything that happens in the following three books, The Lost Ones, Lightsabers, and Darkest Knight, is introduced in this story. What is interesting about this follow-up book is that is also acts like a set-up book as well, as it introduces the Shadow Academy and its group of sinister bad guys. Since the first book concentrated mostly on introducing the good guys, this book explores the darker characters of the story.

The characters, as in all series', do a lot more growing in this book than in the others. Jacen, Jaina, Lowbacca are repeatedly tortured while being forced to train at the Shadow Academy, and a lot more is learned about them, especially the perserverance of the Jedi twins. They are no longer the one-dimensional characters of the first book, they have feelings and show many different sides of their character. Tenel Ka especially grows during this book, as she and Luke travel to her home planet of Dathomir. The main antagonist from the first book, the TIE pilot Qorl, is back and working for the Shadow Academy in this book, serving his Empire. At the climax of the book Qorl actually saves the young Jedi Knights by opening the docking bay of the Shadow Academy and allowing them to escape. It seems Qorl still remembers how the twins helped him rebuild his crashed TIE fighter and escape from Yavin 4, and how they had befriended him and been good to him even though he was holding them captive. But this would not be the last time Qorl would help the young Jedi...

Jedi Under Siege

The series' finale, Jedi Under Siege, is the book that all of the earlier books lead up to, the climax. Like all good finales, everything comes together in this book. As a book on its own, the story is really just the complete final battle between the Shadow Academy and Skywalker's Jedi Academy, complete with non-stop action and thrilling fight sequences. The story stands on its own as what is probably the most entertaining entry out of all the previous episodes in the Shadow Academy story arc, people who read this book first will definitely be inspired to read about the back story to the epic battle. There are so many branching plotlines and cliffhangers that the book contains more entertainment value out of the previous five books combined, albiet sacrificing a fleshed out story. Another interesting aspect of the book is that because of the countless sub-plots, each chapter focuses on a different character or battle. The variety of sequences that are going on at the same time keep things fresh and interesting and guarantees that the story never drags on or feels boring, which was a problem in the previous books. As the last book, this novel contributes what is most likely the most important part of the series, an exciting and satisfying ending. The action packed resolution definitely makes the other books worthwhile. Reading this book will give the reader a sense of satisfaction because it wraps up all of the sub-plots and mysteries raised in the last five books. One puzzle in particular that is answered is the mystery of the resurrected Emperor, and the true power behind his chilling holographic image. As the final book in the six book series, Jedi Under Siege pulls out all the stops, and leaves nothing to be desired.