Dad, please. I've seen a lot of unbelievable stuff in this galaxy, but it's been four thousand years. Surely she's become one with the Force by now.
—Ben Skywalker, about Laera Reyolé
The Great Leap Forward is the fifth completed fan fiction work, and the second full-length novel, to be published on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki by author and administrator Sean "Goodwood" Nash. It is also the first story that is not a part of his earlier Tales from the Corps series. Taking place during the Legacy era, the work switches between multiple viewpoints, including an overarching third-person perspective intermixed with alternating first-person narratives from within the minds of several characters.
Following the adventures of Laera Reyolé and Silas Dan'kre in the wake of their attempted escape from their mission to capture Darth Revan, the story begins with Luke and Ben Skywalker attempting to find the two Marine officers, long since presumed dead. After making their way to T'lessia, the two Jedi Knights soon find who they are looking for, setting off events that help to shape the destiny of the native Sa'ari people.
Publisher's summary[]
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Excerpt[]
| Source: The Great Leap Forward | Attribution: Sean "Goodwood" Nash |
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It was at that point that Luke decided to start doing. Relaxing into the embrace of the Force, he let it guide him toward the future, to suggest the place where he ought to be in order to find the next step on the path he had set for himself. It was something he had done before with great success, and he was confident that the same would occur now. The cockpit of the Jade Shadow vanished around him as he closed his eyes, swallowed up in a riptide of images and feelings. Suddenly, his mind blazing with clarity, the Jedi Master's eyes snapped open and, exerting his will, he brought the ship out of hyperspace. "Dad, what the—!" "It's okay, Ben," Luke reassured his son. "How long was I under? "About five and a half hours. I'd just finished eating and was bringing you something when you nearly made me fall face-first to the deck. Here you go." Ben tossed a foil-covered dish of food into Luke's lap. He caught it easily, ripping the cover away and stuffing down the nuggets with his fingers. Barely a minute later, he handed the empty plate back to his son, who pulled a face. "Let's get an idea of where we are," he said, as though he was asking about the weather on Coruscant. Still trying to come to grips with what had just happened, Ben complied in silence, transferring the data to the console before Luke. "This is interesting," the Jedi Master said, smiling to himself. "What, that you just happened to yank us out of hyperspace within spitting distance of a habitable world?" Ben asked incredulously. "Do that again and I might have to revoke your pilot's license." | |
| This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work asserts that this qualifies as fair use of the material under United States copyright law. | |
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| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
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Behind the scenes[]
The Great Leap Forward is the fifth completed fan fiction work by Sean "Goodwood" Nash and his second full novel. A departure from his Tales from the Corps series, the narrative continues to follow the adventures of Laera Reyolé and Silas Dan'kre. It also includes Nash's first attempt to write for an original film character, in the form of Luke Skywalker who, along with his son Ben, is a central character to the overall plot; in addition, another version of HK-47 is introduced. Though the story takes place during the Fate of the Jedi series, it aims to clash as little as possible with established canon. However, as with Nash's other works within his Tales series, significant departures are also made. The most prominent example of this is the canon Jedi Exile, substituting Vima Sunrider instead.
Though the work's title has literal connotations within the story itself, it is also very loosely based on the Chinese period of the same name. Originally conceived as a way to get two of Nash's original characters into the Legacy era from the Knights of the Old Republic time period, the novel developed into an experimental piece that explores the concepts of multiple points of view. Though major portions of some chapters use a third-person perspective, large first-person narratives take place from within the minds of several characters. Among the novel's major themes was how the arrival of a being from the Galactic Republic, who is used to high technology and interstellar matters, might impact a civilization that has not yet achieved faster-than-light travel on its own.
A number of elements within the story were drawn from other media and real life. The Sa'ari species, introduced in the novel, are based on the asari from the computer and video game Mass Effect and its sequel in terms of physiology, substituting the Force for their natural biotics. The Leeward-class helicopter and Monitor-class gunship were both based on the vehicles from the 2009 film Avatar, while the Ellipse-class interceptor is derived from the Saab 37 Viggen jet aircraft.