Master and Apprentice
Ratings70
Average rating4.1
Reread notes: 2.5 years later, I've read many more Star Wars books and am much more familiar with the universe. This book only gets better with more knowledge! Moving rating from 4 stars to 4.5.
First read notes: This was my first Star Wars book and my first book by Claudia Gray, but it won't be my last of either!
Qui-Gon was my favourite part of my least-favourite Star Wars movie, so I appreciated getting to read more about him. Beyond that,this was a well-told story but not something that especially impressed me.
Qui Gon Jinn was my second favourite Jedi, and Obi Wan Kenobi my third, so of course I was excited to read this one. REALLY excited. And I'm glad that I wasn't disappointed. It added a lot more depth to they're dynamic and relationship. On top of that it added more depth to Qui Gon's relationship with Count Dooku. All while giving me the sass and action I come to expect from a Star Wars story. I'm not always crazy about the Star Wars books, because despite my bias they can sometimes seem like watered down stories, but this one left me happy. Woo!!
The first true novel of my Star Wars Canon Adventure! (Well, it maybe shouldn't have been, considering the end of it takes place during The Phantom Menace and therefore, according to my own rules, that's where it should have been placed). And a good way to start out!
It was fun, zippy, offered a lot of cool characterization for the Jedi (and in particular Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon) are are just cardboard in the Prequel Trilogy and therefore have no depth. Loved the extrapolations on why the Jedi Council was flawed, loved the subtle Dooku origin going on here. The problem is that it doesn't feel TOTALLY cohesive because of the way the movies are, but it fits in well enough.
I really liked the supporting cast for this book. Rael, Fenry, Pax, and Rahara were all interesting characters I really hope we get to see again in future books or comics or shows, but I highly doubt it, and that's okay. Fenry in particular I'm a little disappointed with - her sudden turn near the end was really cool, but then immediately became a case of "she's power hungry and doesn't really care for anyone but herself" which is WAY less interesting than "she's rightfully angry because her people were taken advantage of by a huge corporation for a very long time and the only way she can see to let them free is through violence. I can imagine a world where we got THAT twist instead, and she's a pivotal figure in later stories as, like, a bastion of hope against slavery or corporations, or maybe even a leading figure in the separatists! You know, in a world where the Separatists weren't just evil fodder for the Sith and instead were a legitimate political group that needed to go to war with the Republic in order to obtain the freedom or change they wanted. That would be so dope.
Overall, though, it was a fun Star Wars read that I would definitely recommend to friends interested in the universe, particularly this time period, and probably one I would willingly read again in the future.
My knowledge of the Star Wars canon outside of the films is extremely limited. The dawn of Disney+ and the excellent debut of The Mandalorian have sparked my interest to see what else was out there in this faraway galaxy... I've never read any fan fiction or media tie-in novels, so it was a bit of an adjustment to read new stories about established characters like the Jedis Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Author Claudia Gray does some excellent character work in this novel – she adds depth to existing characters while introducing several new characters to the story. Each individual is given agency, clear motivations, and satisfying arcs across the board. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic Gray establishes between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Their seemingly incompatible personality traits and frequent head-butting paired with their respect and mutual admiration for one another made for a nicely nuanced portrayal of master and apprentice.
I had a few minor quibbles about the use of modern day language disrupting my immersion and some dragging in the middle of the book, but all in all I found this to be an engaging and enjoyable interplanetary adventure story.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.