A listing for the expanded universe novel Heart of the Jedi by Kenneth C. Flint has been removed from Amazon after the book had placed in the top 10 on Amazon’s best sellers list for Science Fiction Adventures.
YouTuber Not My Star Wars revealed in a recent video the book was removed from Amazon on May 9th when it was ranked 37th on Amazon’s best sellers list for Science Fiction & Fantasy.
At the time of its removal it was the second highest ranked Star Wars book behind Timothy Zahn’s newly released Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy, which was ranked 36th at the time.
According to The Expanded Universe, the book ranked as high as third on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Science Fiction Adventures on May 4th. Zahn’s Thrawn book was ranked fifth at the time on that list.
It’s unclear why the book was removed from Amazon and neither Disney nor Amazon have issued a statement on the matter.
Not My Stars claims, “It is unclear as to why it has been removed. Most likely Disney/Lucasfilm has claimed a copyright on the book to Amazon. Naturally that is the excuse they will use.”
However, he adds, “What they won’t tell you is they removed the book because it is outranking all of their other books in particular all of The High Republic media.”
As he shows in his video, no High Republic book was in the top 100 on Amazon’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Best Sellers list.
The Expanded Universe does note that the Light of the Jedi climbed above The Heart of the Jedi between May 4th and May 7th when it was on sale for 90%.
If you are unfamiliar with The Heart of the Jedi, Star Wars Timeline details that the book was originally commissioned and approved by Lucasfilm to be released in 1993. However, it never made it to print.
At least until recently when it was available for purchase on Amazon.
Not only was it recently available for purchase on Amazon, but Star Wars Timeline has published an edited version of the book that puts it into the ‘existing Expanded Universe, taking place a short time after The Truce at Bakura and the end of issue #107 of the Marvel series, but before the X-Wing comic-book series.”
This edited version of the book also includes a behind-the-scenes look from Flint about how the book came about.
In that behind-the scenes look, Flint details that he was told Lucas personally selected him to do a Star Wars book and that the book would be the first in a series taking place following the destruction of the second Death Star.
Flint explains, “I would be writing Book One of the proposed series, taking place immediately after the second Death Star is destroyed.”
He adds, “I was given pretty much free rein on developing my plot, other than that it should take place immediately after the second Death Star is destroyed. I up front figured it would be most logical to deal with a defeated but not destroyed Empire, its military desperately trying to regroup and retaliate against the Alliance, while other elements sought to make peace.”
“Along with this was my assumption that I had to deal with what Luke Skywalker had become, and where he was going as a Jedi,” he concluded.
What do you make of The Heart of the Jedi being pulled from Amazon?