Lit Does Anyone Recommend the 'Jedi Apprentice' Series?

I was thinking about buying some more books. Is this series worth reading?

 

I think it's a lot of fun. Repetitive at times, but I really liked Jude Watson's writing, honestly.

 

Generally it was ok, and some of the books were better than others. They did a good job of showing how difficult Obi-Wan's apprenticeship was under Qui-Gon -- while a nice guy, he wasn't a stellar instructor (nor a stellar Jedi for that matter), so in that regard it supported the end-product of what we saw in TPM. They certainly weren't a chummy Batman/Robin team.

 

Thanks. Have either of you read Jedi Quest?

 

I read the pilot book. It was good as I remember it, but that was many years ago.

 

Which one, Quest or Apprentice?

 

Quest.

 

I read the first eight books of this series (the "Xanatos saga") as a teenager and really enjoyed them, and I think they've held up decently. I have a feeling I would have lost interest if I had stuck with the series, though.

 

*If* you can handle the somewhat lackluster characterization and somewhat obvious worship of Qui-Gon, Jedi Apprentice aren't bad books. They "suffer" from being kids books - i.e. they're okay for the target audience but I really wish they had been written for the adult market. That's not to say they are bad books - I enjoy them for what they are, but wish they were more. Qui-Gon is more focused on Tahl than Obi-Wan (well, oftentimes) and Obi-Wan is always wishing he could be more like Qui-Gon...kind of a repetitive theme throughout the series.

Jedi Quest, now, well, Anakin is pretty clearly a kid with issues and Obi-Wan a somewhat clueless, lackluster master who wishes desperately he were half the man and half the master his own was - i.e. Qui-Gon was "the be-all, end-all" of pure "Jedi-ness." In short, Quest holds little interest for a lot of fans. YMMV.

 

I've read all of Jude Watson's books. I much preferred the stories of Obi Wan's apprenticeship to those of Anakin's - there tended to be a great deal more melodrama (understandably) in the Anakin books and that tended to get old after awhile. Still, all of the Watson books are good in that fun adventure style...

 

I definitely wouldn't recommend Jedi Quest. When I've said in the past that TCW did a much better job than older EU material of portraying Anakin as a believable Jedi instead of a ticking time bomb, Jedi Quest was one of the things I'm thinking of.

 

My favorite series of all. For sure because it contains my favorite main characters in the GFFA. This includes Quest - which I liked even more. Watson did not try to show off the fore-knowledge all of the writers have regarding the fate of Anakin and later Vader.

I found other books very disappointing when they either had Anakin go rogue early on or have other Jedi characters sense that Anakin would go bad and bring about their ruin. One book went so far as to have a Master leave the Jedi after sensing such a future after meeting young Anakin.

The series stays away from that nonsense and just tells straight forward stories of something along the lines of what I feel Lucas had in mind for young Anakin. I think Watson's books were the closest we had to that until TWC which was right on the money.

 

Deeeeeeeerrrrrppp.

I was mixing up Jedi Quest with The Last of the Jedi. Forget what I said.

 

I enjoyed the pilot book of quest and maybe the first three after. Of course, I was in the target audience at the time. I have really fond memories of the apprentice series. It cemented Obi-Wan as my favorite character in this universe. My favorite was either school of fear or the hidden past.

 

Valairy Scot Well your "holds no interest" statements make me not want to read it

I'll probably stay away from the books since they are for kids lol

 

I'd say, read one or two and decide for yourself. There are folks who love 'em. I do reread Apprentice from time to time, but not Quest - too much Anakin on a hairtrigger and insecure Obi-Wan.

 

I read them when young and re-read them when older and enjoyed them both times through. I liked the Anakin/Obi-Wan dynamic. I thought it was done perfectly.

I agree everyone should read one and then choose for themselves whether they want to read more. Since I read all the EU, good and bad, it would be a no brainer for me.

 

I reccomend both Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest (And if the new canon never goes into detail they will remain how I view Anakin and Obi-Wan's time as Padawans to have occured) I think each does exactly what it says it will: Show two of the most important characters in the mythos developing throughout their lives, from the characters they are as children to who they are meant to become. For Apprentice, it does an excellent job at showing more of Obi-Wan's relationship to Qui-Gon in general; how they met, their first troubles interacting, Obi-Wan's thirst to become a great Jedi, etc. Quest in turn adds key notes to Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship, not only being another work to showcase good sides of Anakin (And i'd say balancing them out just fine with the bad), but also showing the difficulty that Obi-Wan himself had in dealing with Anakin, providing incidents that you can eventually see led to greater mistakes on the parts of both. They're each fairly simple and quick reads, but manage to always tell and interesting story nonetheless.

 

I recommend them. They're definitely YA, but they're basically a fun collection of small-scale adventures with solid characterization of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. They're the kind of thing I wish the PT era had done more of.

 

What's the series with Ferus Olin called? Last of the Jedi? I remember liking those. Never finished them though.

 

We're 100% sure that Alex Wheeler is another pen name for Judy Blundell (Jude Watson), aren't we?

 

awesome books, awesome. priceless even

 

I liked the first one, but the rest just kind of go downhill. I cannot, for the life of me, recall the events after Book 2 despite having only started reading them a few months back (and I follow everything Obi Wan religiously). Like Valairy Scot mentioned, I think it's because we don't really get a lot of moments for Obi Wan to prove his worth. I haven't read Jedi Quest yet (but I'd stay far away from the comic of the same name, the art is awful).

 

Yep. That's it. Last of the Jedi. From what I understand the focus shifts pretty hard to Ferrus Olin pretty hards towards the end.

 

these are the youth books with Qui Gon and young Obi Wan right? yeah i loved them