Jedi Apprentice - book 1  

'The Rising Force' by Dave Wolverton  

Published by Scholastic Books 1999  

Set 12 years before TPM 

 book cover
Story -- 12-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi will be unceremoniously chucked out of the Jedi Temple in 4 weeks if he doesn't find someone to take him on as a padawan, and he's starting to get a bit stressed out. So is it coincidence that he's sent on the same ship as a certain Master Qui-Gon Jinn? Or is Yoda just being devious? :-)

Movie characters -- Qui, Obi, Yoda and Mace Windu. All written well, although Qui is a bit morose (but that's just the plot).

New characters -- Bruck (conniving pain-in-the-butt), Bant (10-year-old Calamarian, only briefly mentioned in this book), Clat'Ha (human, female), and some horrible Hutt baddies.
 
Cover art -- very, very nice! Obviously it's not Ewan portraying Obi-Wan, but the model they've used does look kinda like him.

Chicks -- not many. Clat'Ha is a human on board the ship they travel on - she has a managerial job, is very resourceful and can handle a blaster. As a female role-model for young girls, she's pretty good.

Any good? -- aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds, the book is short (170 pages) and the language is slightly simplified, but not overly so. My 7-year-old could read all but the most complicated words, although I believe some of the concepts may be a little beyond her. But it's got a good plot and a real cliff-hanger ending (made me want to buy the second book straight away).

Read it? -- younger SW fans - most definitely. I'd make it compulsory! As an adult, I found it a quick, light read, not too taxing, and a good story (once I got my head round the basic English, etc.)

Rating -- 8 out of 10  (as a kid's book)
 

Return to Timeline