Star Wars: Master & Apprentice Review

It didn’t feel right to just leave Dooku: Jedi Lost by itself after being slightly disappointed by it so I figured reading the novel that came out around the same time might clear some things up.

Instead of following Dooku and Ventress, in Master & Apprentice we follow Qui-Gon, who featured briefly in Lost Jedi, and a young Obi-Wan.

This is the first novel I’m reading written by Claudia Gray but I think I’m in good hands. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about her writing and considering the next High Republic novel comes out soon that’s also written by her this is the perfect time to find out what the buzz on her is about.

Qui-Gon is a character I’ve alway been a little awkward about. Liam Neeson played him great in one of the worst Star Wars movies so the character was already off to a weird start for me. Surrounding everything though, the one thing that always bugged me about him was more the Jedi Council’s reaction towards him. He’s meant to be known as the bad boy of the Jedi Masters and, whilst Lost Jedi explained this a little bit, I never saw him as that.

Obi-Wan always came across as the loose canon whereas Qui-Gon was his rock. He was always this wise sage in my mind instead of a reckless rule breaker. I guess we’ll see if I change my mind.

The first few chapters do a good job in delivering that picture of Qui-Gon but what was more impressive was how Gray wrote the relationship between him and Obi-Wan in those moments. The novel treats Qui-Gon as if he’s Obi-Wan’s estranged Father that just wants to connect with his Son whilst Obi-Wan beats himself up for any issues the two share. In terms of the Council, it feels less like they despise Qui-Gon and more like they just have a minor misunderstanding, with Yoda fronting that opinion.

I really hope there will be some sort of Yoda central book at some point just I can get an angle on his inner thoughts. I swear each time I read any author trying to capture where Yoda is coming from I leave the book with more questions than answers. Half the time it seems as if he’s the strict headmaster following a series of rules that is great when you’re on his good side but he can shoot you a killer look if you screwed up and says “I’m disappointed in you” as if he just disowned your entire existence. And then sometimes he’s your best friend trying to tell you to follow your heart... but the two side contradict each other.

In Jedi Lost he’s all like “hand of god I will use to smack the crap out of you if disobey me you do” but here he’s like “sit you must and bong you must pass”...

Does he follow the rules of the Jedi or is he just screwing with everyone?

Ahem... sorry about that.

The character of Obi-Wan is done just as well as his Jedi Master. Reading of him in a more youthful mindset adds a nice layer of freshness to everything. It’s a character we know quite well in a way we haven’t experienced too much of.

He’s brash and naive but he’s still the same law and order dude he becomes later down the line.

The book does make a nice knot at the end in terms of their character arcs and bonds with each other and for that I was happy about.

Two characters which I was relieved to see and excited to read more of were Dooku and his first apprentice Rael Aveross, a character who appears in Jedi Lost. Thankfully they are both vital pieces to this story meaning Dooku’s story does continue somewhat here. It’s mainly done through flashbacks but what we get is essentially a few more chapters worth of his tale. With that being said, it still leaves things fairly unclear as to what was that tipping point for him but I assume it was a lot of contemplation by himself.

The story itself serves its purpose well enough but the relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is the star of the show here as it should be. It’s great. You can totally get where these characters came from and how they end up where they do in the future. Furthermore they actually act like family. You can buy that these two have sunk into a routine of brotherhood on each mission and I love that that’s the theme of this novel. A deep dive into what makes that Master and Apprentice relationship tick and how the Jedi laws they uphold affect it.

I am slightly disappointed that the actual narrative spends a lot of time going back on itself or nowhere at all. By the time things started to ramp up it abruptly concluded everything and sent everyone on their separate ways. I think this is down to it being a prequel book so Gray can’t really pull any big surprises out at anytime in fear of retconning anything in the future. Still I feel like the premise she’s going for is nowhere as entertaining as it could’ve been.

In terms of how it stacks up to Dooku: Lost Jedi, it’s sort of the reverse of how I felt about that. I wanted to see more of Dooku’s turn but it gave me lots of little moments from his life that ended up being fun and compelling by themselves. Here the story advances quite a bit without anything really happening and yet the dynamic of how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan grow to who they’ll be is incredibly magnetic.

Due to that alone I definitely have to recommend this book for anyone that wanted thee characters explored , along with their relationship, in a way that does them justice and wraps up near perfectly to the ones we already know.

8/10