hstapp's review
3.0
The Jedi Council is taking the threat of Omega seriously now. They send 4 groups of Jedi to Korriban to deal with the wily businessman.
How many will return? Will Anakin be tempted by the dark side on the ancient Sith homeworld? Will they finally defeat Omega?
This wasn't the most exciting of the Jedi Quest stories, but it was still really solid. It's full of action and adventure, and overall a pretty good ending for the series. It does leave some threads open. I don't know if they're ever addressed. The most pressing question the series leaves me with is what happened to Fergus.
How many will return? Will Anakin be tempted by the dark side on the ancient Sith homeworld? Will they finally defeat Omega?
This wasn't the most exciting of the Jedi Quest stories, but it was still really solid. It's full of action and adventure, and overall a pretty good ending for the series. It does leave some threads open. I don't know if they're ever addressed. The most pressing question the series leaves me with is what happened to Fergus.
sabrinas_shelves's review
3.0
a good mission-based story although the end was kind of ‼️ and I think this pushed anakin too much towards the dark/was too heavy on the foreshadowing considering this is all before aotc. anakin takes everything SO personally and is so singleminded that sometimes it’s frustrating to read and lol i have even deeper respect for obi wan for keeping it together for a decade+. loved particularly getting snarky asshole obi wan in his one liners with omega. this doesn’t tie up really any loose ends and anakins character continued to nosedive in this like in book 9 too which is frustrating after the high of books 7&8
verkisto's review
4.0
Watson brings the Jedi Quest series to a close with an aptly-titled novel. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Siri, Ferus, Soara, Darra, Ry-Gaul, and Tru travel to Korriban, the ancient home-world of the Sith, to face down Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega. Granta has finally done enough against the Jedi to gain attention of the Sith, and it's there that he and Jenna will finally meet them and hope to become a part of their order. All of the main characters that began this adventure in The Way of the Apprentice return to bring it to a close.
Watson tried to parallel the events of The Way of the Apprentice, reigniting the rivalry between Anakin and Ferus, though in truth, the bulk of that rivalry is due to Anakin provoking Ferus. It's still hard to be sympathetic with Anakin, since his ego gets in the way of his being a Jedi. He still feels the need to be the best, to make everything a competition, and it's that characteristic that makes things go so terribly wrong on the mission.
I get it: Anakin isn't supposed to be a fully sympathetic character. Watson balances a fine line of making his character compassionate enough for us to like him, but self-centered enough for us to recognize how unprepared he is to be a Jedi. With The Final Showdown, Watson isn't just referring to the Jedi versus Omega; she's also referring to Anakin versus the rest of the Jedi Order. In the end, it's clear that he's not ready, and since we know the movies, we know he'll never be ready. It's Obi-Wan's insistence at training him and the sudden need for more Jedi that ultimately play into how Anakin becomes a Jedi.
At different points in the series, I got frustrated with Obi-Wan for giving Anakin so many breaks in his training, but in retrospect, what was the alternative? To throw him out of the Order with all that power and let him fend for himself? I'm wondering now if Obi-Wan was always well-aware of Anakin's limitations, but figured he could serve as a positive influence on him in the hopes that some training would be better than none at all. How much faster would Anakin have fallen to the Dark Side without that guidance?
I still feel that the Jedi Apprentice is a better series than Jedi Quest, since Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan make for a more interesting relationship than Obi-Wan and Anakin, but I'm pleased with how Watson winds up the series. She doesn't make things easy for Anakin, and she creates a clearer picture of how Anakin changes so much between Episode I and Episode II. I still wish she would have put a bit more focus on how he became so arrogant, but she makes strong enough suggestions as to not make it a complete mystery. I just would have preferred it being more on-stage.
Watson tried to parallel the events of The Way of the Apprentice, reigniting the rivalry between Anakin and Ferus, though in truth, the bulk of that rivalry is due to Anakin provoking Ferus. It's still hard to be sympathetic with Anakin, since his ego gets in the way of his being a Jedi. He still feels the need to be the best, to make everything a competition, and it's that characteristic that makes things go so terribly wrong on the mission.
I get it: Anakin isn't supposed to be a fully sympathetic character. Watson balances a fine line of making his character compassionate enough for us to like him, but self-centered enough for us to recognize how unprepared he is to be a Jedi. With The Final Showdown, Watson isn't just referring to the Jedi versus Omega; she's also referring to Anakin versus the rest of the Jedi Order. In the end, it's clear that he's not ready, and since we know the movies, we know he'll never be ready. It's Obi-Wan's insistence at training him and the sudden need for more Jedi that ultimately play into how Anakin becomes a Jedi.
At different points in the series, I got frustrated with Obi-Wan for giving Anakin so many breaks in his training, but in retrospect, what was the alternative? To throw him out of the Order with all that power and let him fend for himself? I'm wondering now if Obi-Wan was always well-aware of Anakin's limitations, but figured he could serve as a positive influence on him in the hopes that some training would be better than none at all. How much faster would Anakin have fallen to the Dark Side without that guidance?
I still feel that the Jedi Apprentice is a better series than Jedi Quest, since Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan make for a more interesting relationship than Obi-Wan and Anakin, but I'm pleased with how Watson winds up the series. She doesn't make things easy for Anakin, and she creates a clearer picture of how Anakin changes so much between Episode I and Episode II. I still wish she would have put a bit more focus on how he became so arrogant, but she makes strong enough suggestions as to not make it a complete mystery. I just would have preferred it being more on-stage.
groundedwanderlust's review
5.0
This book was painful and frustrating. The future is set in stone. Anakin falls, but the lead-up to that fall is so important, and this series does a really good job of exploring it.
toggle_fow's review
4.0
Well, I knew this was coming. It was just as much of a mess as I feared.
After being generally mellow for the last two books, the news that the Jedi Council is planning to accelerate knightings and has chosen Ferus Olin as a test case makes Anakin straight up lose his mind. He is so threatened by Ferus and by the Sith and by literally anyone or anything that might be better than him. He is partially responsible for getting a girl killed and mostly gets away with it, aside from alienating his only friend.
We're all set up for Attack of the Clones now.
What's GOOD about this book, on the other hand, is that Obi-Wan really gets to shine. While Anakin is in the foreground wilding out, Obi-Wan is in the background quietly and firmly pulling off feats of physical daring and mental strength to finally defeat Granta Omega. I think Jenna Zan Arbor got away, but surely she must be old by now anyway. I hope she doesn't crop up again.
Another plus is that we actually got to SEE Korriban. They spend almost the entire book on that planet, which is great. It does make me wonder why Kit Fisto and Bant were even on Korriban in The Followers. It was never explained and there seems no reason for them to be there. Anyway, they get to climb through booby-trapped tombs and fight Sith beasts and literal zombie armies animated by Sith magic.
After being generally mellow for the last two books, the news that the Jedi Council is planning to accelerate knightings and has chosen Ferus Olin as a test case makes Anakin straight up lose his mind. He is so threatened by Ferus and by the Sith and by literally anyone or anything that might be better than him. He is partially responsible for getting a girl killed and mostly gets away with it, aside from alienating his only friend.
We're all set up for Attack of the Clones now.
What's GOOD about this book, on the other hand, is that Obi-Wan really gets to shine. While Anakin is in the foreground wilding out, Obi-Wan is in the background quietly and firmly pulling off feats of physical daring and mental strength to finally defeat Granta Omega. I think Jenna Zan Arbor got away, but surely she must be old by now anyway. I hope she doesn't crop up again.
Another plus is that we actually got to SEE Korriban. They spend almost the entire book on that planet, which is great. It does make me wonder why Kit Fisto and Bant were even on Korriban in The Followers. It was never explained and there seems no reason for them to be there. Anyway, they get to climb through booby-trapped tombs and fight Sith beasts and literal zombie armies animated by Sith magic.
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