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A review by jaredkwheeler
The Evil Experiment by Jude Watson
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #52
Background: The Evil Experiment came out in February 2001. It was written by [a:Jude Watson|11912|Jude Watson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1403530689p2/11912.jpg].
The Evil Experiment begins almost immediately after [b:The Deadly Hunter|359810|The Deadly Hunter (Star Wars Jedi Apprentice, #11)|Jude Watson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374774230s/359810.jpg|349927] (my review), 43 years before the Battle of Yavin and 11 years before The Phantom Menace. Didi Oddo's daughter, Astri, returns to play a major role, along with Tahl, the scientist Jenna Zan Arbor, the bounty hunter Ona Nobis, and various others from the previous book.
Summary: Qui-Gon Jinn has been taken prisoner by a ruthless genius obsessed with studying the Force, Didi Oddo lies at death's door from an infected blaster wound, and Obi-Wan and Astri will stop at nothing to save them. Tracking a faint trail left by the deadly bounty hunter who captured Qui-Gon, they race across the galaxy in search of a secret lab, hoping against hope that they aren't already too late.
Review: Where Qui-Gon first started to take shape as a character a couple books ago, here Obi-Wan finally starts coming into his own. This is definitely his book, as he takes charge and takes action to go to Qui-Gon's rescue. I like that we hear the Jedi are fully mobilized in the search for Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan is still allowed to pursue his own leads. Makes so much more sense than if the Jedi left it all up to him, but it lends plausibility to his involvement and ultimate success, as well.
The best part is the unexpected role played by Astri. Where Qui-Gon would have seen her value immediately, Obi-Wan (and the readers) expect her to be something of a liability when she insists on tagging along, but her particular skills come in handy in clever and entertaining ways, and she is well-written and serves as a good partner for Obi-Wan. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more of this pairing.
The bits with Qui-Gon in captivity generate a little suspense but mostly feel like a wasted opportunity, or like pointless filler to break up Obi-Wan's desperate hunt. At the very least, this segment could have done a better job explaining how he is rendered so helpless. I don't really buy the "he's weakened" explanation. He deliberately decides not to use the Force to heal himself so that his captor can't study him, which seems short-sighted, particularly given his insistence that this research isn't going to go anywhere. If he's sure this is a research dead-end anyway, then what's he playing at? And wouldn't it be way harder for her to study him if he, like, heals himself with the Force and then turns the tables on her?
Anyway, I'm saving my extra-special super nitpicking complaint for a trio of minor criminals who play a small but significant role late in the book. Their names are Cholly, Weez, and Tup . . . I'm sorry, are these Star Wars characters, or Victorian street urchins? What is this nonsense? They just felt like refugees from a totally different genre of YA lit.
Other than that, this story clips right along with some nice twists and turns, and none of the head-scratching maybe-plot-holes of the last story. And then it still doesn't resolve, although this feels like a bit less of a major cliffhanger and a bit more like an arbitrary place to split this volume off from the next. I really think that we could count on the audience this is aimed at to keep going through the whole story if it were all compiled as one book. Accelerated Reader classifies this at a 4th-grade reading level. I think they could handle it. Ah, well. On to the (I hope) stunning conclusion.
C
Background: The Evil Experiment came out in February 2001. It was written by [a:Jude Watson|11912|Jude Watson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1403530689p2/11912.jpg].
The Evil Experiment begins almost immediately after [b:The Deadly Hunter|359810|The Deadly Hunter (Star Wars Jedi Apprentice, #11)|Jude Watson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374774230s/359810.jpg|349927] (my review), 43 years before the Battle of Yavin and 11 years before The Phantom Menace. Didi Oddo's daughter, Astri, returns to play a major role, along with Tahl, the scientist Jenna Zan Arbor, the bounty hunter Ona Nobis, and various others from the previous book.
Summary: Qui-Gon Jinn has been taken prisoner by a ruthless genius obsessed with studying the Force, Didi Oddo lies at death's door from an infected blaster wound, and Obi-Wan and Astri will stop at nothing to save them. Tracking a faint trail left by the deadly bounty hunter who captured Qui-Gon, they race across the galaxy in search of a secret lab, hoping against hope that they aren't already too late.
Review: Where Qui-Gon first started to take shape as a character a couple books ago, here Obi-Wan finally starts coming into his own. This is definitely his book, as he takes charge and takes action to go to Qui-Gon's rescue. I like that we hear the Jedi are fully mobilized in the search for Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan is still allowed to pursue his own leads. Makes so much more sense than if the Jedi left it all up to him, but it lends plausibility to his involvement and ultimate success, as well.
The best part is the unexpected role played by Astri. Where Qui-Gon would have seen her value immediately, Obi-Wan (and the readers) expect her to be something of a liability when she insists on tagging along, but her particular skills come in handy in clever and entertaining ways, and she is well-written and serves as a good partner for Obi-Wan. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more of this pairing.
The bits with Qui-Gon in captivity generate a little suspense but mostly feel like a wasted opportunity, or like pointless filler to break up Obi-Wan's desperate hunt. At the very least, this segment could have done a better job explaining how he is rendered so helpless. I don't really buy the "he's weakened" explanation. He deliberately decides not to use the Force to heal himself so that his captor can't study him, which seems short-sighted, particularly given his insistence that this research isn't going to go anywhere. If he's sure this is a research dead-end anyway, then what's he playing at? And wouldn't it be way harder for her to study him if he, like, heals himself with the Force and then turns the tables on her?
Anyway, I'm saving my extra-special super nitpicking complaint for a trio of minor criminals who play a small but significant role late in the book. Their names are Cholly, Weez, and Tup . . . I'm sorry, are these Star Wars characters, or Victorian street urchins? What is this nonsense? They just felt like refugees from a totally different genre of YA lit.
Other than that, this story clips right along with some nice twists and turns, and none of the head-scratching maybe-plot-holes of the last story. And then it still doesn't resolve, although this feels like a bit less of a major cliffhanger and a bit more like an arbitrary place to split this volume off from the next. I really think that we could count on the audience this is aimed at to keep going through the whole story if it were all compiled as one book. Accelerated Reader classifies this at a 4th-grade reading level. I think they could handle it. Ah, well. On to the (I hope) stunning conclusion.
C