Missed a post? Catch up on The Year of Kenobi here.

The Story

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have returned to Coruscant. On their way back to the temple, Qui-Gon suggests they swing by a café to visit a friend of his who trades in illicit information. For those like me who got excited at the idea that we were going to meet Dexter Jettster, we don’t quite get what we want, but that’s ok. Instead we are introduced to café owner Didi, and his daughter Astri.

What is supposed to be a routine hello turns out to be far more than that (of course) when Didi tells Qui-Gon that he is being tracked by a mysterious bounty hunter who wants him dead, and he cannot figure out why. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are now officially on the case.

Thoughts and Impressions

This book is the first in the series that really suffered for how short it is. It understandably ends at the “appropriate” time, when Qui-Gon has been kidnapped by the bounty hunter, but I never felt like it had any internal resolution. Usually the “case of the week” that features in each book is resolved by the end, effectively setting up the next mystery, but I didn’t really feel the resolution this time around.

That said, I really did enjoy the political thriller nature of this book. The motivations of the bounty hunter were never 100% clear, but not in a frustrating way. Rather it was more like a “wait and see”. Not to mention this one involved some actual, real Star Wars politics, with the involvement of a senator, Uti S’orn, and a scientist Jenna Zan Arbor, neither of whom I find especially trustworthy. I’m finding it hard to have conclusive feelings on this one, because like I said, no part of it really “concludes”.

There were, however, two small moments I really enjoyed. The first is that the bounty hunter uses a whip as her primary weapon. Sometimes it’s just a whip. Sometimes it’s a light whip. Vernestra Rwoh would like a word.

The second thing is Senator S’orn had a Force sensitive son whom she decided to hold back from training. We learn that this is an option many parents choose. We also learn that the son in question was corrupted. The Force became difficult to control and it twisted him. It twisted his mind. Before he could get too dangerous, he was killed. The son’s name? Ren.

REN.

RENNNNNN.

It probably means nothing, but you better believe I sat upright in my seat when I saw that.

What’s Next?

Well, Qui-Gon’s been possibly kidnapped, and given what the cover for the next book looks like I’m going to hazard a guess and say it’s not going well for him. The question now is why? I guess it’s too much to hope that Xanatos has returned from the dead. How? Why, somehow of course.

***

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