I hav read Bertayl and Bloodlines and am in the middle of I, Jedi and Tempest and well am I the only one who has noticed that he seems very dull, I dont mean he's not interesting but he's just so unpassionate and passive in all the books, he's like an all powerful Grand Master Jedi but he just seems like he's trying not to let it be known.

I haven't read all the EU books, I agree that Luke does seem very passive in many that I've read. It's sort of to be expected in "I, Jedi", given that it's Corran's story (and he definitely likes to live on the edge). I wonder if some authors thought that making Luke less active was a way of showing him as more mature, as the wise and stable mentor to the next generation of Jedi?

I dont know, I just seem him as a passionate spiritful warrior in the movies, now yes he has calmed down in ROTJ but he still kept this dangerous edge, in the books he just seems too tame to me.

I'm sure you will find many who agree with that.
IMO Luke was just starting to get interesting in RotJ.
Have you tried Truce at Bakura or The Courtship of Princess Leia? Both books take place shortly after Endor and have quite a bit of Luke action.

I'll give them a try thanks!!

I haven't noticed before, but now that I think about it he does seem that way. except for when he was falling for Mara in VOTF of in other books when he's with Mara. I think it might be because Mara is soo Firey and active that Luke just steps aside and leaves it up to her and the future generations.

I think he's fine, in some Legacy books it's a bit unnerving, but other than that his character is all right.

i do agree that he is too passive in the books and especially in the LOTF. at moments his characterization was really unrealistic, with what we know about him from the movies in mind

For me the turning point in Luke's (EU) life occurs around 10-11 years after A New Hope - upto this point Luke was literally the only Jedi in the galaxy, the sole remainder of a legacy vanquished by the Empire, and as such he alone carried the "light". But without mentors, without anyone else to guide him and keep him in the "light", Luke's previously reckless path (i.e. rushing to Cloud City in Episode V against the warnings of Yoda and Obi-Wan) will lead him into further trouble.

In Dark Empire Luke is confronted by the reborn Emperor and lacking proper guidance, he succumbs to the Dark Side in a false reasoning that he could control it. It is only through Leia, his sister, that Luke is brought back into the "light" and begins his quest to search for other force-sensitives and build his Jedi Academy.

Fully understanding the power and lure of the Dark Side and his own lucky escape from its clutches is what, IMO, calmed Luke and gave him a sense of maturity. Similar I believe to Qui-Gon's attitudes in Episode I, and those of Yoda in the prequel films.

As a Jedi Grand Master, Luke had to be seen to be a leader and behave like a leader, he was also more diplomatic in his actions, but at the same time he had to be calm, collected and in control. All of his temptous behaviour as a youth was now both a thing of the past and a lesson for his own students.

Old topic I know, but I just finished reading Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor and I thought it was horrible, but anyway Luke or Leia weren't written well in it at all. They were way too held back, Leia wasn't her "get this giant walking carpet out of my way" person. The author tried way to hard and failed on both of them.

Glad I got this with my own money as, yes--don't hit me--hides--I'm giving this book away with M. Falcon as well.

Oh shoot, I've been waiting for that books for ages How bad is it? I-want-to-use-it-as-a-kitty-litter-bad, or just bad-but-can-be-read-if-you-have-nothing-else-to-do ?

Well I meant in a sense where the bad guy does stuff that's bad, but isn't very scary or frightening at all. When you read some books you get the feeling that Thrawn or the Vong are really scary and ruthless, with this character you don't get that and it was sometimes confusing to read. That's why I didn't like it at all.

This is if you want to of course, I can send it to you by package. That way you don't have to wait for it. The only thing I did with it was wite out a few things I wrote down b/c at the time I didn't know I was going to give it away. It's up to you as I said.

Aww thanks hon, but it will cost you loads to ship it to UK. It comes out around 20th January in here, so it's not a problem, I can wait. I just wanted to hear someone's opinion on it to make sure it's worth buying (and it seems now it's not). Why people can't write a decent SW book is beyond me

Where can I read about Luke going to the darkside with an emporer clone? They referred to it a lot in later books, but I dont know where to find that original story.

gotenx
It's not a book, it's a comics called "Dark Empire"
You can read about it here.

Never knew that. Thanks.

I agree with some of you here. luke is a stiff but. Hes so cold and boring. When i read the jedi academy trilogy, i thought about giving up because of luke!!

I said earlier on this topic that I agree, but I just finished reading Inferno and I must say Luke somewhat comes back to his old character, only a little bit, but still I feel Luke holds much promise for the future of these books. This next part may be a bit spoilerish. . . I think fighting a new sith is really bringing out his edge now.

I actually liked Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor a lot (except for the simile overload...but that was explained in the end). I thought the depiction of all the main characters, especially Luke, was very strong.

He wasn't too bad in the Thrawn trilogy.

Maybe the authors don't want to do too much with Luke out of respect for the original story line. Like he's too sacred to work with or sthg.

Hm, that's an interesting point. Maybe so.
There are readers who don't like them to stray from the movie qualities, I know that for sure.