Also shows, Junior Novelization of Attack of the Clones [not reviewed]
Possible Spoiler Alert: I am going to attempt to review each of four Jedi Quest books that were turned into audiobooks together at the beginning of the review. I listened to them all in a row and there is little distinction between them in my mind and so I may, without intending to do so, give details away. I believe that the audio productions were all unabridged, but it is possible that they were abridged and there are parts of the story I am unfamiliar with. Following this paragraph is my review of the series, before I touch on my review of the individual book in future subsequent posts. At the end there is a link to the other books in the series that I listened to and reviewed.
My complaint about this, and most novels in the prequel/Rise of the Empire era, is that Anakin is too evil. I understand that in a young adult/children's novel that things need to be more black and white [although I do think that many children can handle more complexity that we give them credit for], but still over and over we see Anakin losing his temper or giving into fear and dabbling in the Dark Side. Also, almost constantly, Anakin and Obi-Wan are butting heads here. After recently re-watching the movies there maybe isn't as much camaraderie portrayed as I thought, but still there is a friendship of mutual respect, if not a father-son or even brother-brother relationship between the two. One of my favorite things about all of the prequels is Obi-Wan's sense of humor mixed with the seriousness with which he takes his duties- his lighthearted smile and quick wit are enjoyable. Frequently, he and Anakin trade jokes and tease or even harass each other. I love this, but over and over again in these books and the others around it there is nothing but tension shown and we don't get the chance to see the close relationship developing. Beyond that I don't have a lot of complaints. Too many of Anakin's peers, and the Jedi in general, are human rather than alien and his age seems to be in flux a little bit- at times Anakin is too mature and at times he is too immature. These books came out after Episode II and so they are written as prequels to that rather than as sequels to the young Anakin of Episode I and Rouge Planet. Overall, for a YA series the books aren't bad, but see my review of the fourth book for my other complaints/issues about the audiobook series as a whole.
Check out all my reviews of the audiobooks in this series:
1. The Way of the Apprentice,
2. The Trail of the Jedi,
3. The Dangerous Games, or
4. The Master of Disguise.
View all my reviews on Goodreads
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