JA2 - The Dark Rival

Jedi Apprentice - book 2

'The Dark Rival' by Jude Watson

Published by Scholastic Books 1999

Set 12 years before TPM

Story -- follows from Jedi Apprentice 1. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are still officially on separate missions on Bandomeer. Qui still hasn't taken Obi as his Padawan, and has been shaken by the note he received from Xanatos at the end of JA1.

Movie characters -- Qui and Obi. Cameo appearance by Yoda.

New characters -- return of Clat'Ha and Si Treemba (from book 1), SonTag (where do they get these names from? Can't they come up with something more original than German for 'Sunday'?!) and VeerTa (locals). Introduction of Xanatos (oooh - has he truly reformed or is he still a baddie??). Also introduced Guerra (isn't that Spanish for 'war'?), a really irritating Phindian.

Cover art -- so that's Xanatos? Wouldn't like to meet him in a dark alley!

Chicks -- Clat'Ha is only in this one briefly. SonTag and VeerTa are female Bandomeerians, but I found their characters a little shallow.

Any good? -- not quite as long or well-written as JA1, but still a rolicking adventure, with some nice lightsaber duels. Minor point - I spotted at least two typos (including Qui-Gon called 'Obi-Wan' at one point); this should be as unacceptable in children's books as it is in adults'.

Read it? -- not the greatest in the series, but a nice introduction of Xanatos.

Rating -- 6 out of 10 (as a kid's book)

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