Lit Books Star Wars: Padawan by Kiersten White (Kenobi novel)

That was a pretty quick/easy read. It started out a little rough but finished up halfway decently. But Obi-Wan is supposed to be 16 the whole time? He came off more like a 12-14 age range throughout at least the first 3/4 of it. His vibe was Years 1/2/3 Harry Potter trying to figure out if he belongs at Hogwarts or if he'd get banished and be stuck with the Dursleys the rest of his life. His jump to maturing with the Force and his advice for the kids etc. in the last 1/4 of the book was like a leap of several years worth of maturation rather than... a few days? This also could have easily been marketed as a mid-grade book instead of young adult.

Obi-Wan's constant internal monologue of whining about his place in the world was very repetitive and overbearing to the actual plot. I understand wanting to show his emotional growth through the book but it could have been done a lot more compactly.

I do believe it is the first chronological use of "Hello there" in canon as well as Obi-Wan's first battlefield kill.

Siri Tachi. Even though it's just a cameo, I was still excited to see that name for the first time in literal decades. I also picked up influences from Zonama Sekot, and more specifically, Rogue Planet. That was nice.

The group of kids creeped me out in the beginning. It could have easily turned into Children of the Corn very quickly. The story surrounding them was at least interesting (and tragic). They were incredibly frustrating, but that was the point. It was obvious very early on that they were doing something harmful to the planet when it was attacking them and not Obi-Wan.

Basically their parents got addicted to sentient meth or crack and taught them that chasing that high was the only thing that matters in the entire galaxy. I know that it was probably supposed to be some larger metaphor for drilling for oil and mining other resources and peoples' dependence on them and how we're all hurting our own planet, but it was such a small scale it gave more major-drug-addiction vibes than it did worldwide resource management.

The "power" was kind of confusing. I was under the impression for a good bit of the book that it only attacked the kids just after they stole some and/or while it was still in their systems after consumption. They seemed to go to its source mostly unimpeded and then were only attacked on the way back. At the very beginning they were jumping around and such after stealing Obi-Wan's lightsaber like they had just consumed some but they weren't attacked. Yet at the end they discuss how they were shocked to be able to walk around without being attacked by something. So I'm not sure how to reconcile those two things. Also, does it leave their system through expulsion of energy or through expulsion of, well, bodily waste? Does it return to the planet's ecosystem and help work towards balance again or is it gone from the planet forever? They also talk about how if they stop stealing the "power" they'll be able to build houses and roam the planet. Wouldn't cutting down trees or whatever to build their houses disrupt and piss off the planet again?

I don't think there was enough in the little interludes about the other mystery person with the "financier" for me to care much about who that was throughout the first half of the book, and since Uncle Loegrib was immediately shady, it was pretty obvious it was him. And it only took a couple pages for the "reveal." He wanted more of his drugs, and kids be damned if he couldn't get high. Desperate crackhead. Actually, he acted more like he was on PCP once he ate a bunch of power balls at the end.

Though I am now curious who the "financier" was. Scrolling back through this thread it doesn't look like anyone else is certain either. Weird.

Dex was a very strange character to include. Oh, just a mining explosives contractor who goes on to own a diner on Coruscant?

I liked the High Republic connection, but Orla having a line about being a rebellious Padawan in the Temple and the Force guiding her to the planet was way too convenient. Doesn't seem like something that someone would record in their field notes. Quick shout out to Elzar and Cohmac.

"Will Qui-Gon leave with Dooku?" I remember as far back as when AOTC came out, people speculated as to if Qui-Gon would have, at a minimum, taken him more seriously about his claims of a Sith controlling things and followed up on it, or more drastically, followed him away from the order. I've always wondered if Qui-Gon had lived, would Dooku have gone so deep into the dark side? Could he have still turned into a political activist for the Separatists without becoming a Sith? My brain always wants to place Dooku's departure as much closer to the events of TPM (I think that him being at the Temple during the events of TPM in TOTJ reinforces this) although I know canonically it was about 10 years before TPM. If he had left right before TPM, there may have been hope for him if Qui-Gon had lived, but with 10 years of festering in the dark side, perhaps not so much.

Overall enjoyable storyline, even if a little rough to get through Obi-Wan's whining at times.