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"Book
5 of the Jedi Quest series sees Anakin
Skywalker and fellow Padawan Ferus Olin go undercover at an
exclusive school to investigate a disappearance.
"At first glance, there seems to be a lot of repetition here:
going undercover at a school has been done before by Obi-Wan; a
diplomatic dispute between neighbouring planets has been done before
by pretty much everyone; a group of youngsters doing their own thing
because adults are incompetent and annoying has been done before on
Melida/Daan (admittedly with very different motives and Watson does
at least acknowledge the link).
"However there is more to The School of Fear than first
appears. Watching the interaction between Ferus and Anakin as they
are required to work together independent of their Masters is very
entertaining, as is the mystery that surrounds the disappearance of
one of the students, which has an almost unexpected twist at the
end. Also, we get another tiny peek at Anakin's future, as he shows
a little more of what he is truly capable of. The way that Watson
keep giving only small morsels keeps the subtle tension going
throughout the series. And the way that he continues to make
decisions that he is convinced are the right ones, only to be told
that he was incorrect and cannot see that his motivations are wrong
- it builds a very complete and complicated picture of his character
as one who we know will become Darth Vader (I would say spoiler
alert, but I think this one is fairly universally known).
"The only other thing to say was that the cover was misleading
- why put a Togruta on the front and then never mention one in the
story? Particularly as she bears a striking resemblance to Shaak Ti,
which for me led to unfulfilled expectations. Generally, though, an
entertaining (if mildly repetitious) book."
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