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verkisto's review
2.0
I'm not going to lie: I got confused about where in the chronology I should have read this. Technically, this is volume nineteen of the Jedi Apprentice series, but it falls right after The Shattered Peace across the timeline of the books, and it falls right after The Dangerous Rescue according to the publication schedule. I now see that these books are intended to bridge the gap between Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest, so I expect I should have waited and read this in series order. Oh, well.
Deceptions is split into two parts, the first involving a senatorial inquisition into the death of Bruck Chun, who fell to his death during a fight with Obi-Wan in The Captive Temple. Bruck's father has hired a lawyer to determine Obi-Wan's culpability in the death, and the first half of the book covers that inquisition. Bruck's father and his lawyer have an agenda, and Watson does a great job of highlighting how unfair the inquisition is. Obi-Wan is cleared, but still feels guilt over his involvement in Bruck's death, even though he isn't the one who caused the death. It doesn't help that Bruck's brother, who has been a witness to the inquisition, tells Obi-Wan afterward that he holds him personally responsible.
Twelve years later, Obi-Wan is a master himself, with his own Padawan, Anakin. It's three years after Qui-Gon's death, and they go on their first mission together, and of course it involves Bruck's brother. He's started a Utopian society on a massive starship, his intent being to live outside of society and governments. The only problem is the Jedi Council gets word that not everyone is there willingly, so they're sent to investigate.
The book ends a bit too neatly for me. Everything is resolved, grudges are cast aside, and characters realize the errors of their ways. That's par for the course when it comes to Star Wars, but it doesn't feel earned in this book. I think it's because each portion of the book is relatively short, and the characters aren't given enough room to develop. Instead, Watson seems more focused on Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship, giving us hints toward what we know is its conclusion. In addition, in the first half of the book, Qui-Gon doesn't support Obi-Wan the way he had in earlier books. The whole thing felt tone-deaf.
The story is engaging and compelling, but Watson falters here. I think her trying to force the two series together is the cause, but the two foreshortened stories that make up the book don't help, either. It's certainly not the worst Star Wars book I've read so far, but it's far from the best. Based on the earlier books in the series, I know Watson can do better than this.
Deceptions is split into two parts, the first involving a senatorial inquisition into the death of Bruck Chun, who fell to his death during a fight with Obi-Wan in The Captive Temple. Bruck's father has hired a lawyer to determine Obi-Wan's culpability in the death, and the first half of the book covers that inquisition. Bruck's father and his lawyer have an agenda, and Watson does a great job of highlighting how unfair the inquisition is. Obi-Wan is cleared, but still feels guilt over his involvement in Bruck's death, even though he isn't the one who caused the death. It doesn't help that Bruck's brother, who has been a witness to the inquisition, tells Obi-Wan afterward that he holds him personally responsible.
Twelve years later, Obi-Wan is a master himself, with his own Padawan, Anakin. It's three years after Qui-Gon's death, and they go on their first mission together, and of course it involves Bruck's brother. He's started a Utopian society on a massive starship, his intent being to live outside of society and governments. The only problem is the Jedi Council gets word that not everyone is there willingly, so they're sent to investigate.
The book ends a bit too neatly for me. Everything is resolved, grudges are cast aside, and characters realize the errors of their ways. That's par for the course when it comes to Star Wars, but it doesn't feel earned in this book. I think it's because each portion of the book is relatively short, and the characters aren't given enough room to develop. Instead, Watson seems more focused on Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship, giving us hints toward what we know is its conclusion. In addition, in the first half of the book, Qui-Gon doesn't support Obi-Wan the way he had in earlier books. The whole thing felt tone-deaf.
The story is engaging and compelling, but Watson falters here. I think her trying to force the two series together is the cause, but the two foreshortened stories that make up the book don't help, either. It's certainly not the worst Star Wars book I've read so far, but it's far from the best. Based on the earlier books in the series, I know Watson can do better than this.
casbah's review
2.0
So that...happened. There is nothing particularly objectionable about the book, it is just bad. The first half was the standard "Obi-Wan is in serious trouble and yet Qui-Gon goes off to do his own thing anyway BUT IT ALL WRAPS UP NICELY YAY MIDDLE GRADE EU (but Obi-Wan still has angst)" but the time skip was awkward and Watson has zero control over Anakin's voice and actually LOSES control over Obi-Wan's. Anakin is all over the place and there is very little that makes Anakin the kid from the movies besides some heavy-handed references to slavery and feeling ~alone at the Jedi temple. Obi-Wan is like some kid trying to be a grown up, which, okay, fair, he totally is, but we lose the charm he gains that the series built up to. I know this book is meant to be a bridge to the Jedi Quest series but Watson does not do a very good job of selling the authenticity of Anakin and giving us any reason to care about adult Obi-Wan.
Can't believe I spent 45 minutes on this review. Bye.
Can't believe I spent 45 minutes on this review. Bye.
justabean_reads's review
It was interesting to see Anakin and Obi-Wan interact after 13 books with Qui-Gon, and the overall plot was decent, but man it really felt like Qui-Gon had regressed on his mentoring skills. He kept sort of going, "I know Obi-Wan will work this out on his own," and ditching him at crucial moments. You're supposed to be supportive. Step up, dude.
toggle_fow's review
4.0
Well, THIS was important.
I debated whether or not to read this, since it's not part of the "core" JA series, but boy am I glad I did. This is the most important content I've stumbled across since No Prisoners.
First of all, the Senate conducted an inquiry into Bruck Chun's death at the request of his family members, and brought Obi-Wan to testify. I repeat, they brought fourteen-year-old Obi-Wan and twelve-year-old Bant in front of a Senate committee to testify. If Obi-Wan had been found guilty, he could have been tried in criminal court. I guess this is what happens when you turn over children to a pseudo-governmental organization and give fourteen-year-olds deadly weapons and even deadlier responsibility... but wow.
This entire process was horrible. The Jedi are terribly naive, Qui-Gon saying that the Jedi chose not to use a legal representative because truth was on their side. Obi-Wan likely would have been convicted of wrongdoing, if Qui-Gon hadn't shown up at the last second with some never-before-seen security footage. Qui-Gon, in particular, is crazy. He told Obi-Wan he was busy and might or might not make it to the trial. He might or might not make it to the trial where an experienced prosecutor would be cross-examining his padawan for attempted murder in front of the Senate.
What a mad lad. He's nuts, and it makes me a little angry on Obi-Wan's behalf.
The other thing we learned from this is that, apparently, the Jedi Temple doesn't have security monitors. You're telling me this entire drama went down with Xanatos and Bruck, and there's NO video evidence from any Temple security system????
The other half of the book is a parallel adventure following Obi-Wan and twelve-year-old Anakin. There's a little Garen content in the first half, but the second half is where we get the real primo stuff. Garen is almost as cool as Ferus Olin, though nobody really can match him. I could see Garen and Anakin having a really neat relationship.
As always, Anakin shines. He and Obi-Wan have such a great dynamic, and it's so interesting to me to see the Jedi way of treating young padawans. Anakin is twelve, and Obi-Wan is clearly protective, but he treats Anakin almost like an equal, theorizing and running plans by him, and allowing him to fight a dogfight on his own while Obi-Wan was occupied elsewhere. There's such a tension between the clear care in how he treats Anakin and the belief that "no Jedi is ever truly a child."
I debated whether or not to read this, since it's not part of the "core" JA series, but boy am I glad I did. This is the most important content I've stumbled across since No Prisoners.
First of all, the Senate conducted an inquiry into Bruck Chun's death at the request of his family members, and brought Obi-Wan to testify. I repeat, they brought fourteen-year-old Obi-Wan and twelve-year-old Bant in front of a Senate committee to testify. If Obi-Wan had been found guilty, he could have been tried in criminal court. I guess this is what happens when you turn over children to a pseudo-governmental organization and give fourteen-year-olds deadly weapons and even deadlier responsibility... but wow.
This entire process was horrible. The Jedi are terribly naive, Qui-Gon saying that the Jedi chose not to use a legal representative because truth was on their side. Obi-Wan likely would have been convicted of wrongdoing, if Qui-Gon hadn't shown up at the last second with some never-before-seen security footage. Qui-Gon, in particular, is crazy. He told Obi-Wan he was busy and might or might not make it to the trial. He might or might not make it to the trial where an experienced prosecutor would be cross-examining his padawan for attempted murder in front of the Senate.
What a mad lad. He's nuts, and it makes me a little angry on Obi-Wan's behalf.
The other thing we learned from this is that, apparently, the Jedi Temple doesn't have security monitors. You're telling me this entire drama went down with Xanatos and Bruck, and there's NO video evidence from any Temple security system????
The other half of the book is a parallel adventure following Obi-Wan and twelve-year-old Anakin. There's a little Garen content in the first half, but the second half is where we get the real primo stuff. Garen is almost as cool as Ferus Olin, though nobody really can match him. I could see Garen and Anakin having a really neat relationship.
As always, Anakin shines. He and Obi-Wan have such a great dynamic, and it's so interesting to me to see the Jedi way of treating young padawans. Anakin is twelve, and Obi-Wan is clearly protective, but he treats Anakin almost like an equal, theorizing and running plans by him, and allowing him to fight a dogfight on his own while Obi-Wan was occupied elsewhere. There's such a tension between the clear care in how he treats Anakin and the belief that "no Jedi is ever truly a child."
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