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cyris_reads's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jaredkwheeler's review
4.0
Star Wars Legends Project #96
Background: The False Peace was written by [a:Jude Watson|11912|Jude Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403530689p2/11912.jpg] and published in November 2004. It is the tenth (and final) book of the Jedi Quest series, following [b:The False Peace|359800|The False Peace (Star Wars Jedi Quest, #9)|Jude Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328869634s/359800.jpg|349949] (my review).
The Final Showdown is set shortly after The False Peace, 24 years before the Battle of Yavin. Obi-Wan and Anakin are the main characters, accompanied by Anakin's fellow apprentices (Tru, Ferus, and Darra) and their masters (Ry-Gaul, Siri, and Soara), along with (of course) Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega. A few Jedi Council members play small parts. Most of the book takes place on Korriban.
Summary: After narrowly averting catastrophe in the Senate, the Jedi Order is finally prepared to take the threat of Granta Omega seriously. Unfortunately, they believe he has attracted the attention of the Sith as well. Omega and his confederate, Jenna Zan Arbor, have fled to Korriban, ancient homeworld of the Sith. A team of Jedi is formed to meet them, despite the fear that some may not return. Meanwhile, Anakin's rivalry with Ferus Olin has reached a breaking point that may ulimately pose an even greater threat than Omega himself.
Review: Watson has to do a lot of heavy-lifting in this book, and for the most part she pulls it off, with the exception of writing a story that lives up to that title. The titular showdown is anti-climactic and incredibly brief, almost an afterthought to what this book is really about. I was expecting an epic conclusion to the Omega storyline that never quite materialized, and the small amount of resolution didn't really balance out all of the dangling plot threads. Happily, I'm pretty satisfied with what I got in its place.
This book is really about setting up the final pieces of the Anakin we see in Attack of the Clones and even, to some extent, in Revenge of the Sith. That includes not only his general turbulent mental state and anxiety to prove himself, but also the question of why we never see or hear about his friends and peers within the order. And she does a pretty good job of it, too. Anakin (as written across the prequel trilogy) is kind of a difficult character to understand and deal with, but she has managed it really well.
If I didn't know that there was a follow-up series to this, I think I'd be a lot unhappier with the ending of this series. It definitely feels like the story is far from done, and there are many major issues that haven't been resolved. As is, I'm somewhat satisfied but anxious to see how everything plays out in the next series . . . and I still have the whole Clone Wars to get through before I get there.
B
Background: The False Peace was written by [a:Jude Watson|11912|Jude Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403530689p2/11912.jpg] and published in November 2004. It is the tenth (and final) book of the Jedi Quest series, following [b:The False Peace|359800|The False Peace (Star Wars Jedi Quest, #9)|Jude Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328869634s/359800.jpg|349949] (my review).
The Final Showdown is set shortly after The False Peace, 24 years before the Battle of Yavin. Obi-Wan and Anakin are the main characters, accompanied by Anakin's fellow apprentices (Tru, Ferus, and Darra) and their masters (Ry-Gaul, Siri, and Soara), along with (of course) Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega. A few Jedi Council members play small parts. Most of the book takes place on Korriban.
Summary: After narrowly averting catastrophe in the Senate, the Jedi Order is finally prepared to take the threat of Granta Omega seriously. Unfortunately, they believe he has attracted the attention of the Sith as well. Omega and his confederate, Jenna Zan Arbor, have fled to Korriban, ancient homeworld of the Sith. A team of Jedi is formed to meet them, despite the fear that some may not return. Meanwhile, Anakin's rivalry with Ferus Olin has reached a breaking point that may ulimately pose an even greater threat than Omega himself.
Review: Watson has to do a lot of heavy-lifting in this book, and for the most part she pulls it off, with the exception of writing a story that lives up to that title. The titular showdown is anti-climactic and incredibly brief, almost an afterthought to what this book is really about. I was expecting an epic conclusion to the Omega storyline that never quite materialized, and the small amount of resolution didn't really balance out all of the dangling plot threads. Happily, I'm pretty satisfied with what I got in its place.
This book is really about setting up the final pieces of the Anakin we see in Attack of the Clones and even, to some extent, in Revenge of the Sith. That includes not only his general turbulent mental state and anxiety to prove himself, but also the question of why we never see or hear about his friends and peers within the order. And she does a pretty good job of it, too. Anakin (as written across the prequel trilogy) is kind of a difficult character to understand and deal with, but she has managed it really well.
If I didn't know that there was a follow-up series to this, I think I'd be a lot unhappier with the ending of this series. It definitely feels like the story is far from done, and there are many major issues that haven't been resolved. As is, I'm somewhat satisfied but anxious to see how everything plays out in the next series . . . and I still have the whole Clone Wars to get through before I get there.
B
hstapp's review
3.0
The Jedi Council is taking the threat of Omega seriously now. They send 4 groups of Jedi to Korriban to deal with the wily businessman.
How many will return? Will Anakin be tempted by the dark side on the ancient Sith homeworld? Will they finally defeat Omega?
This wasn't the most exciting of the Jedi Quest stories, but it was still really solid. It's full of action and adventure, and overall a pretty good ending for the series. It does leave some threads open. I don't know if they're ever addressed. The most pressing question the series leaves me with is what happened to Fergus.
How many will return? Will Anakin be tempted by the dark side on the ancient Sith homeworld? Will they finally defeat Omega?
This wasn't the most exciting of the Jedi Quest stories, but it was still really solid. It's full of action and adventure, and overall a pretty good ending for the series. It does leave some threads open. I don't know if they're ever addressed. The most pressing question the series leaves me with is what happened to Fergus.
sabrinas_shelves's review
3.0
a good mission-based story although the end was kind of ‼️ and I think this pushed anakin too much towards the dark/was too heavy on the foreshadowing considering this is all before aotc. anakin takes everything SO personally and is so singleminded that sometimes it’s frustrating to read and lol i have even deeper respect for obi wan for keeping it together for a decade+. loved particularly getting snarky asshole obi wan in his one liners with omega. this doesn’t tie up really any loose ends and anakins character continued to nosedive in this like in book 9 too which is frustrating after the high of books 7&8
verkisto's review
4.0
Watson brings the Jedi Quest series to a close with an aptly-titled novel. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Siri, Ferus, Soara, Darra, Ry-Gaul, and Tru travel to Korriban, the ancient home-world of the Sith, to face down Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega. Granta has finally done enough against the Jedi to gain attention of the Sith, and it's there that he and Jenna will finally meet them and hope to become a part of their order. All of the main characters that began this adventure in The Way of the Apprentice return to bring it to a close.
Watson tried to parallel the events of The Way of the Apprentice, reigniting the rivalry between Anakin and Ferus, though in truth, the bulk of that rivalry is due to Anakin provoking Ferus. It's still hard to be sympathetic with Anakin, since his ego gets in the way of his being a Jedi. He still feels the need to be the best, to make everything a competition, and it's that characteristic that makes things go so terribly wrong on the mission.
I get it: Anakin isn't supposed to be a fully sympathetic character. Watson balances a fine line of making his character compassionate enough for us to like him, but self-centered enough for us to recognize how unprepared he is to be a Jedi. With The Final Showdown, Watson isn't just referring to the Jedi versus Omega; she's also referring to Anakin versus the rest of the Jedi Order. In the end, it's clear that he's not ready, and since we know the movies, we know he'll never be ready. It's Obi-Wan's insistence at training him and the sudden need for more Jedi that ultimately play into how Anakin becomes a Jedi.
At different points in the series, I got frustrated with Obi-Wan for giving Anakin so many breaks in his training, but in retrospect, what was the alternative? To throw him out of the Order with all that power and let him fend for himself? I'm wondering now if Obi-Wan was always well-aware of Anakin's limitations, but figured he could serve as a positive influence on him in the hopes that some training would be better than none at all. How much faster would Anakin have fallen to the Dark Side without that guidance?
I still feel that the Jedi Apprentice is a better series than Jedi Quest, since Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan make for a more interesting relationship than Obi-Wan and Anakin, but I'm pleased with how Watson winds up the series. She doesn't make things easy for Anakin, and she creates a clearer picture of how Anakin changes so much between Episode I and Episode II. I still wish she would have put a bit more focus on how he became so arrogant, but she makes strong enough suggestions as to not make it a complete mystery. I just would have preferred it being more on-stage.
Watson tried to parallel the events of The Way of the Apprentice, reigniting the rivalry between Anakin and Ferus, though in truth, the bulk of that rivalry is due to Anakin provoking Ferus. It's still hard to be sympathetic with Anakin, since his ego gets in the way of his being a Jedi. He still feels the need to be the best, to make everything a competition, and it's that characteristic that makes things go so terribly wrong on the mission.
I get it: Anakin isn't supposed to be a fully sympathetic character. Watson balances a fine line of making his character compassionate enough for us to like him, but self-centered enough for us to recognize how unprepared he is to be a Jedi. With The Final Showdown, Watson isn't just referring to the Jedi versus Omega; she's also referring to Anakin versus the rest of the Jedi Order. In the end, it's clear that he's not ready, and since we know the movies, we know he'll never be ready. It's Obi-Wan's insistence at training him and the sudden need for more Jedi that ultimately play into how Anakin becomes a Jedi.
At different points in the series, I got frustrated with Obi-Wan for giving Anakin so many breaks in his training, but in retrospect, what was the alternative? To throw him out of the Order with all that power and let him fend for himself? I'm wondering now if Obi-Wan was always well-aware of Anakin's limitations, but figured he could serve as a positive influence on him in the hopes that some training would be better than none at all. How much faster would Anakin have fallen to the Dark Side without that guidance?
I still feel that the Jedi Apprentice is a better series than Jedi Quest, since Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan make for a more interesting relationship than Obi-Wan and Anakin, but I'm pleased with how Watson winds up the series. She doesn't make things easy for Anakin, and she creates a clearer picture of how Anakin changes so much between Episode I and Episode II. I still wish she would have put a bit more focus on how he became so arrogant, but she makes strong enough suggestions as to not make it a complete mystery. I just would have preferred it being more on-stage.
groundedwanderlust's review
5.0
This book was painful and frustrating. The future is set in stone. Anakin falls, but the lead-up to that fall is so important, and this series does a really good job of exploring it.
toggle_fow's review
4.0
Well, I knew this was coming. It was just as much of a mess as I feared.
After being generally mellow for the last two books, the news that the Jedi Council is planning to accelerate knightings and has chosen Ferus Olin as a test case makes Anakin straight up lose his mind. He is so threatened by Ferus and by the Sith and by literally anyone or anything that might be better than him. He is partially responsible for getting a girl killed and mostly gets away with it, aside from alienating his only friend.
We're all set up for Attack of the Clones now.
What's GOOD about this book, on the other hand, is that Obi-Wan really gets to shine. While Anakin is in the foreground wilding out, Obi-Wan is in the background quietly and firmly pulling off feats of physical daring and mental strength to finally defeat Granta Omega. I think Jenna Zan Arbor got away, but surely she must be old by now anyway. I hope she doesn't crop up again.
Another plus is that we actually got to SEE Korriban. They spend almost the entire book on that planet, which is great. It does make me wonder why Kit Fisto and Bant were even on Korriban in The Followers. It was never explained and there seems no reason for them to be there. Anyway, they get to climb through booby-trapped tombs and fight Sith beasts and literal zombie armies animated by Sith magic.
After being generally mellow for the last two books, the news that the Jedi Council is planning to accelerate knightings and has chosen Ferus Olin as a test case makes Anakin straight up lose his mind. He is so threatened by Ferus and by the Sith and by literally anyone or anything that might be better than him. He is partially responsible for getting a girl killed and mostly gets away with it, aside from alienating his only friend.
We're all set up for Attack of the Clones now.
What's GOOD about this book, on the other hand, is that Obi-Wan really gets to shine. While Anakin is in the foreground wilding out, Obi-Wan is in the background quietly and firmly pulling off feats of physical daring and mental strength to finally defeat Granta Omega. I think Jenna Zan Arbor got away, but surely she must be old by now anyway. I hope she doesn't crop up again.
Another plus is that we actually got to SEE Korriban. They spend almost the entire book on that planet, which is great. It does make me wonder why Kit Fisto and Bant were even on Korriban in The Followers. It was never explained and there seems no reason for them to be there. Anyway, they get to climb through booby-trapped tombs and fight Sith beasts and literal zombie armies animated by Sith magic.
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