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"Jude
Watson takes the reins of the Jedi Apprentice
series from Dave Wolverton and runs away with it. This second
instalment is an improvement over the first in several ways.
"The first is just the simplicity of the text. Watson
effortlessly conjures up exquisite scenes with her precise use of
language and manages to constantly induce empathy with the
characters. Speaking of characters, her portrayal of Qui-Gon and
Obi-Wan seem more believable than in The
Rising Force: Qui-Gon is more stoic than detached and Obi-Wan is
more patient and mature, but still maintaining the childish
inexperience that one would expect from an apprentice of his years.
Xanatos is an intriguing villain, at first catching you completely
off guard with his apparent sincerity, but the parallels with Anakin
are evident. It would seem the Jedi have had many problems in the
past with training apprentices who skirt painfully close to the dark
side – you would think they would learn from past mistakes.
"There are negatives to the story besides the somewhat
repetitive themes. There is a mention of a cloaking device at one
point, which contradicts The
Empire Strikes Back. Additionally, this book contains the rather
inexcusable typo “bevause”. How someone didn’t notice it is
uncertain, given that it tore me from the flow of the prose. It
could just be an error in the specific print of my edition, but it
was very jarring (typos are quite a bugbear of mine).
"The book is more than adequate as a chapter in an episodic
series. Watson’s style carries the story nicely and develops the
bond between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan sensitively."
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