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steph555's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
buriedinsatin's review against another edition
Just lost attention - it has been long enough I'll have to start over
maddiee's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
barbarakaterina's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The Jedi order in general and Qui-Gon Jinn in particular are guilty of reckless endangerment of children: the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery
emfed's review against another edition
don’t perceive this LOL this was pretty fun.. idt it’s canon anymore but it should be it’s a great background for obi-wan and qui-gon (who, in the grand tradition of jedi masters, kind of sucks????) i hope i can find the others somewhere 🙏🏻🙏🏻
berenikeasteria's review against another edition
4.0
As this particular series are children's books, I've rated them as such - and not against adult level novels with the same rating. My reviews for these are also a bit shorter; just a few comments here and there.
A good start to the series. The plotline of Offworld versus Arconan Mining wasn’t exactly the most thrilling drama in the world, but it was okay. The most engaging part of the story came mainly from following Obi-Wan and wondering if he was going to make it as a Jedi. Obi-Wan is the sympathetic character of the piece, and there are certainly hints of the young man he becomes here. Qui-Gon’s character seems a little harder and colder than when he appears in the film, but we discover that this is due to events in his past that are not yet resolved. A note: this book has about 50 pages more than the other Jedi Apprentice books, which allowed more time for description and to develop a slightly more complex plot. The other books could definitely benefit from 50 extra pages.
7 out of 10 (for a children's book).
A good start to the series. The plotline of Offworld versus Arconan Mining wasn’t exactly the most thrilling drama in the world, but it was okay. The most engaging part of the story came mainly from following Obi-Wan and wondering if he was going to make it as a Jedi. Obi-Wan is the sympathetic character of the piece, and there are certainly hints of the young man he becomes here. Qui-Gon’s character seems a little harder and colder than when he appears in the film, but we discover that this is due to events in his past that are not yet resolved. A note: this book has about 50 pages more than the other Jedi Apprentice books, which allowed more time for description and to develop a slightly more complex plot. The other books could definitely benefit from 50 extra pages.
7 out of 10 (for a children's book).
gapagrin's review against another edition
3.0
I rather feel sorry for Obi-Wan Kenobi. He wants to become a Jedi Knight, but if he doesn't find a master by the time he turns thirteen, he'll be assigned to the Jedi Corps to become a farmer. That seems to me like a flawed system - yeah, not everyone is cut out to be a Knight, but not everyone is cut out to be a farmer, either, and sending someone who desperately wants to be a Knight to the Agricultural Corps just sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Especially since a lot of it seems to be timing and lack of available masters - no one chose him, so oh well, there's nothing we can do, let's assign Obi-Wan to a job he's going to absolutely hate. That will solve his anger issues, right?
Qui-Gon failing to select Obi-Wan as his apprentice has far more to do with his own emotional hang-ups over his last apprentice than anything that is Obi-Wan's fault. No one in charge seems to see anything wrong with this scenario - that they're taking a student clearly not meant to be a farmer and shoving him into that role, throwing up their hands and saying 'sorry, nothing we can do, you'll learn to completely change your personality and like it'.
If this problem comes up a lot - students not getting Jedi Masters because there just aren't enough, you'd think they'd come up with some alternative for them to be able to choose a path that is more suited to their abilities and temperament. Obi-Wan Kenobi goes on to become one of the greatest Jedi Masters of all time and that almost didn't happen because of a rather arbitrary rule that had nothing to do with his abilities. How many other possible great Knights and Masters were wasting away in some dead-end position somewhere just because the timing wasn't right for a Master to pick them? The least they could do would be to remove the age limit. Thirteen is awfully early to be choosing your entire life's trajectory.
And then there's the fact that the student Obi-Wan keeps butting heads with, who tricks Obi-Wan into fighting him fairly only to turn around and lie about what happened for his own advantage, to try to get ahead by making sure Obi-Wan was punished, receives no punishment himself once the truth comes out. This squabble between younglings actually required the intervention of the Jedi Order's Grand Master to be resolved - you'd think some of the teachers would have looked a bit more thoroughly into the matter before just blindly believing the student who's had a grudge against Obi-Wan without ever giving Obi-Wan a chance to tell his side. That sort of back-stabbing and teachers looking the other way is pretty much what happens with Sith apprentices on Korriban - except maybe there's a bit more murder. I would have thought the Jedi would be better than that.
Once we got away from the Jedi Temple and all of the nonsense happening there, the book got loads better. The fight between the Arconan miners and the Offworlders wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but there had to be some conflict that would force Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to work together (naturally, they're both on the same ship - we know from the films that Obi-Wan does end up being Qui-Gon's apprentice, apparently thanks to Yoda, the master manipulator who manages to find time to meddle in the affairs of a single student while attending to the numerous duties he surely must have as the Jedi Order's Grand Master) so Qui-Gon will realise that Obi-Wan is really meant to be his apprentice.
My favourite parts of the book were honestly the interactions between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Each benefits from their interactions with the other - Obi-Wan learns patience and to think before he acts, while Qui-Gon gradually grows less guarded, until he's willing to trust an apprentice again. I'm really interested to know exactly what happened with Xanatos, his previous apprentice, that was so awful that Qui-Gon would see the disappointment and complete and utter loss of any kind of hope in Obi-Wan, knowing full well that he is the boy's last chance at being a Knight and that he himself thinks he'd be wasted as a farmer, and then still refuses to do anything about it.
I found Obi-Wan to be much more relatable. Yeah, he's impatient and headstrong and makes mistakes, but that seems about normal to me - he's twelve years old, and he's a student. He's still learning, and indeed does learn, and improve, a lot over the course of a single short book. I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses from struggling to master anger and fear into one of the greatest Jedi Masters ever.
Qui-Gon failing to select Obi-Wan as his apprentice has far more to do with his own emotional hang-ups over his last apprentice than anything that is Obi-Wan's fault. No one in charge seems to see anything wrong with this scenario - that they're taking a student clearly not meant to be a farmer and shoving him into that role, throwing up their hands and saying 'sorry, nothing we can do, you'll learn to completely change your personality and like it'.
If this problem comes up a lot - students not getting Jedi Masters because there just aren't enough, you'd think they'd come up with some alternative for them to be able to choose a path that is more suited to their abilities and temperament. Obi-Wan Kenobi goes on to become one of the greatest Jedi Masters of all time and that almost didn't happen because of a rather arbitrary rule that had nothing to do with his abilities. How many other possible great Knights and Masters were wasting away in some dead-end position somewhere just because the timing wasn't right for a Master to pick them? The least they could do would be to remove the age limit. Thirteen is awfully early to be choosing your entire life's trajectory.
And then there's the fact that the student Obi-Wan keeps butting heads with, who tricks Obi-Wan into fighting him fairly only to turn around and lie about what happened for his own advantage, to try to get ahead by making sure Obi-Wan was punished, receives no punishment himself once the truth comes out. This squabble between younglings actually required the intervention of the Jedi Order's Grand Master to be resolved - you'd think some of the teachers would have looked a bit more thoroughly into the matter before just blindly believing the student who's had a grudge against Obi-Wan without ever giving Obi-Wan a chance to tell his side. That sort of back-stabbing and teachers looking the other way is pretty much what happens with Sith apprentices on Korriban - except maybe there's a bit more murder. I would have thought the Jedi would be better than that.
Once we got away from the Jedi Temple and all of the nonsense happening there, the book got loads better. The fight between the Arconan miners and the Offworlders wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but there had to be some conflict that would force Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to work together (naturally, they're both on the same ship - we know from the films that Obi-Wan does end up being Qui-Gon's apprentice, apparently thanks to Yoda, the master manipulator who manages to find time to meddle in the affairs of a single student while attending to the numerous duties he surely must have as the Jedi Order's Grand Master) so Qui-Gon will realise that Obi-Wan is really meant to be his apprentice.
My favourite parts of the book were honestly the interactions between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Each benefits from their interactions with the other - Obi-Wan learns patience and to think before he acts, while Qui-Gon gradually grows less guarded, until he's willing to trust an apprentice again. I'm really interested to know exactly what happened with Xanatos, his previous apprentice, that was so awful that Qui-Gon would see the disappointment and complete and utter loss of any kind of hope in Obi-Wan, knowing full well that he is the boy's last chance at being a Knight and that he himself thinks he'd be wasted as a farmer, and then still refuses to do anything about it.
I found Obi-Wan to be much more relatable. Yeah, he's impatient and headstrong and makes mistakes, but that seems about normal to me - he's twelve years old, and he's a student. He's still learning, and indeed does learn, and improve, a lot over the course of a single short book. I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses from struggling to master anger and fear into one of the greatest Jedi Masters ever.
thebookslayer's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
ida_py's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
wingfooted's review against another edition
5.0
Although this book is written for young kids, I still found the writing to be engaging, and the story, while somewhat simple, was still an enjoyable and fun read. I know this series is technically not canon anymore, and I do plan to read the new Master and Apprentice novel that covers the new version of canon, but I still love the way this series sets up the relationship between Obi Wan and Qui Gon. I enjoy the looks into the lives of the Jedi, and I find the characters as they are presented to be very recognizable as younger versions of their canon counterparts. This book is a wonderful start to a fun series that really gives me everything I want from a book meant to give insight into the pasts of several of my favorite characters. The new canon will definitely have a lot to live up to if it wants to enchant me the way these books have.