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

The Story

Told in two parts, Deceptions begins following up with the end of the Xanatos arc, where Obi-Wan’s temple rival Bruck Chun was pulled into Xanatos’s scheme, and dies in a confrontation when Obi-Wan tries to rescue Bant from drowning. The first half of the book follows Obi-Wan and Bant reeling from those events, especially when Bruck’s father Vox and his brother Kad arrive on Coruscant ostensibly to find out what happened, but really to have Obi-Wan tried as a murderer. While this is happening, Qui-Gon is reaching out to Tahl and trying to get her to return to the temple and consider taking Bant on as an apprentice.

The second half follows Obi-Wan and Anakin 3 years into their master-apprentice relationship, with Anakin slowly retreating into himself and becoming less of the happy-go-lucky kid he was in The Phantom Menace, with Obi-Wan worried about what will become of him. The two of them are sent on a mission to a ship called the BioCruiser, which houses people from planets lost to corruption and devastation. What is supposed to be a simple fact-finding trip quickly turns more complex when figures from Obi-Wan’s past begin to pop up and Anakin worries his master doesn’t trust him.

Thoughts and Impressions

First things first, I really think I should have read this in order. Not that the experience was particularly diminished by reading it late, but I think the scenes in the first half would have been better served falling where they were supposed to, emotionally. It’s not as though the back half makes reference to anything past the Xanatos arc anyway.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed getting a look into early Obi-Wan and Anakin, since this is a part of the story that I still feel is really underserved, even to this day. Those 10 years before Attack of the Clones have such interesting potential, and they’re rarely touched on!

With Obi-Wan being the consistent emotional through line in the book, it’s also clear how much he has grown as a Jedi, and as a friend, and how he’s moved from hot-headed apprentice to level-headed master whose apprentice is karma’s way of getting back at him for what he put Qui-Gon through.

It is clear, though, that the second half of the book is setting up the Jedi Quest series, and I do not need another hyper fixation. I don’t. I do not.

What’s Next?

The grand finale to the Year of Kenobi and this whole project. Why yes, I am a little emotional about it.

***

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