– Spoiler Review –
Written by Claudia Gray, who I believe to be the best author in Star Wars canon at the moment, Master & Apprentice focuses on the early days of training between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. With an impressive deep-dive into one of the most enigmatic Jedi characters, plenty of engaging secondary characters, and a smart, twisty plot, Master & Apprentice just gave the crown of best Star Wars book yet (previously Last Shot for me) back to Gray.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi aren’t having the easiest of times together at the start of Master & Apprentice (M&A here within), and when Qui-Gon gets offered a seat on the Jedi Council, he figures it’s the easiest and cleanest way to bring their time together to an end. But when they are assigned to one more mission while Qui-Gon debates joining or not, will what divides them set them up for failure or bring them even closer together? As much as this book is about both of the Jedi, Qui-Gon is the main character, someone I’ve been dying to see take center stage as we know so little about him, and Claudia Gray doesn’t disappoint in bringing him to the forefront, managing to both give readers a deeper understanding of the renegade and leave the mystery around him intact. Most importantly to the book, Qui-Gon’s journey takes him from practical, rational Jedi Master to the one we meet in The Phantom Menace, still rational, but a renegade will a staunch belief in the prophecy aspect of the Force, as he receives his first vision during their mission and it comes to pass, for better or worse. Qui-Gon’s POV is such a compelling glimpse into the less than orthodox Jedi’s feelings, past and present, it made me love Jinn even more than I already did. One of the best lines in the book is Qui-Gon’s, as he says the reason he turns to the light is because it is the light, which is both simplistic and complex, a perfect description for the Jedi himself. But what I appreciated the most about the book’s take on Qui-Gon was how many threads it still left open: we got juicy peeks into his time as an apprentice to Count Dooku, who both pushes him down the road of prophecies and backs him away from it, while we also got tantalizing reveals like Qui-Gon previously fell in love with a woman on Felucia, though it leaves the details open to be told another day. Even what it doesn’t touch on, like when Qui-Gon ever finds the time to visit the Force Priestesses and begin to learn how to retain his identity in the Force after death, helps add an extra dimension to what Gray does cover. It’s a very specific slice of his life covered by the book’s story, and that focus plus the open threads is what makes this time with Qui-Gon so compelling.
As much as the book focuses on Jinn while peeling back a few layers around him, M&A manages not to skimp on Obi-Wan. The Obi-Wan POV parts of the book are more narrow in their focus, concerned a lot with the tensions between him and his Master, and how it goes from nearly ending their partnership to making it into the teasing, well-oiled friendship in TPM. Like I said, this doesn’t short-change Obi-Wan in the slightest, as getting to watch him come to understand the shortcomings in his apprenticeship is both his and his Master’s faults, and finding how to bridge the gap, is really intriguing part of the character’s life. There’s the rigidness of his adherence to the mandates of the Order seen in full force here, but also how his Master’s uncanny way of finding loopholes sneaks into Obi-Wan’s actions as well. I read a good chunk of the Jedi Apprentice series growing up, which dealt with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s partnership in Legends, but I felt like Gray’s short visit into a similar part of the timeline was a better portrayal of a younger Obi-Wan, though the JA series started with Qui-Gon taking Obi-Wan. Here Obi-Wan admits his recklessness as a youngling, and later realizes how the Masters hoped to curb that, by making him rebel against a rebellious master, making Obi-Wan the ultimate rule follower, one of many, many lines I love from the novel. Gray offers shades of what will make Obi-Wan a great Master to Anakin, but also the shortcomings of his rigid stance about mandates that will hamper the Chosen One’s trajectory, while the reveal of Qui-Gon’s Felucia fling makes the Jedi Master sound like he would’ve been a little more nurturing about Anakin’s emotional complexities. There’s a real push and pull between the two Jedi as they come to terms with one another, and Gray not only captures it with aplomb, she does so with an intrinsic understanding of the two characters.
As much as this book helps readers begin to understand Qui-Gon, and only a beginning it truly is, it also gives us a better setup for Obi-Wan in the prequel trilogy as well; in fact, this entire book serves as an excellent prequel to the prequels. Beyond aligning the titular Master and Apprentice together, we get glimpses of how the Jedi have become complacent in their roles within the Republic, serving more as a police force than servants of the Force, the darkness within Count Dooku, the importance (or lack thereof) the Jedi place on prophecies and how they’ve become misguided about how to interpret them, and much more. It’s not as politically dense or as caught up in Darth Sidious’ plans like Cloak of Deception was, instead focuses more on the people who will be caught up in the conflicts ahead, making it a preferable way to approach setting up for the prequel trilogy.
But this book isn’t just about its titular characters, there are plenty of engaging, diverse new ones as well, which propel the plot forward, tell us more about our Jedi leads, give us new perspectives on the GFFA, and are compelling in their own right. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s latest mission takes them to Pijal, a planet in the middle of tremendous change: usually cut off from the rest of the galaxy, it’s now set to help open a new hyperspace lane, while its monarchy system is set to change to a rule by assembly, though it’s cozying up to Czerka Corporation to make it all come to pass, a company as old as the galaxy built off the back of sentient “property” aka slaves. The one helping Pijal get into Czerka’s bed is a very unorthodox Jedi named Rael Averross, who makes Qui-Gon look pretty tame in comparison, as a dark moment in his past regarding a previous Padawan has landed him the assignment of being a Lord Regent for Pijal during its time of transition. As a previous Padawan to Count Dooku, he and Qui-Gon have a history, which Rael believes will be in his favor for ratifying the treaty as he asks Qui-Gon to investigate a terrorist group named the Opposition ratcheting up their attacks as the treaty signing approaches. Rael is very complex Jedi, and definitely one of my favorites in M&A, as his looser adherence to the Jedi mandates offers a way to touch on subjects the shows and films haven’t covered explicitly, like Jedi having sex or being involved with ruling a planet, topics which Gray covers with tact and nuance.
Rael’s past with his Padawan hang over his entire relationship to the current Pijali Princess Fanry, who thanks to Rael’s efforts, will rule as Queen but answer to an Assembly, something the young, uninterested Princess doesn’t seem to mind. She’s surrounded by many others beyond Rael: her overly loyal Captain Deren; Minister Orth, who distrusts Czerka and Rael’s decisions; Meritt Col, head of the local Czerka presence who is all too happy to profit from the new hyperlane and have a hand in ruling the planet; and Cady, a servant in the vein of handmaiden. On the opposing side there’s Halin Azucca, the leader of the Opposition group terrorizing the planet…or are they, as would a performance trope really turn as violent as these attacks are getting? All of these characters’ stories resolve in great twists and turns, leading to a surprise I didn’t quite see fully coming and thoroughly enjoyed. Pijali culture is also a unique, intriguing one, mainly because they choose to hide their opulence beneath common, muted colors and clothes, as they believe one only gets to appreciate what’s beneath when they are willing to discover what’s within. Not only was it different than any other royalty we’ve dealt with in SW, Gray manages to make the culture’s philosophy important to every character as they learn to appreciate what’s within themselves, for better or worse. I also really like how the whole plot with the Pijali treaty and their culture felt like a complete inverse of Naboo/TPM, from the Pijali hiding their opulence instead of flaunting it like the Naboo, to how the Queen-to-be must avoid a treaty to keep her planet free from a corporation, but in this case the young ruler does it for personal gain, not for the good of the people like Padmé.
Last, and definitely not least, are jewel “procurers” Rahara Wick and Pax Maripher, my two favorite characters from the novel that aren’t Jedi. Pax Mariphers’s history involves being raised by protocol droids on a derelict ship, and plenty of hilarity ensues from his Threepio-like attitudes and rationale, but the real delight is seeing him learn to embrace his humanity. Rahara Wick is a complicated woman with a dark past, but she’s still all of us fangirling over dealing with Jedi when Qui-Gon recruits her and Pax to help them investigate the Opposition. Her history ties into Czerka in a very sad, and disturbingly real way, and how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan move forward with the Pijal treaty, effectively giving Czerka more power if they ratify it, makes Rahara a face for the problem of indentured servitude they can’t avoid. Rahara is my overall favorite new character in the novel, especially thanks to her cathartic arc, and I really hope we’ll get to see her and Pax again someway, somehow.
Here are a few other things:
- Going into Master & Apprentice, this was one of my most anticipated book releases in years, so I had hyper expectations for it, especially since it was Claudia Gray writing. Even after the blurb revealed the book wouldn’t quite cover what a lot of fandom (including myself) was hoping for (i.e. the mission to Mandalore and Obi-Wan’s time with Satine), I continued to have high expectations. And despite the fact I didn’t get to read it quite as fast as I normally like to, I exponentially grew anxious about returning to read it between breaks. Gray has managed to beat every single expectation, and then some, which is why this manages to beat out Last Shot for my new favorite canon novel; LS is #2, without a doubt, and it was a much closer race than I imagined it would’ve been.
- Other little things I loved: Obi-Wan bonding with varactyls/loving riding more than flying; there was a female Chancellor…and Togrutan at that!; seeing Dooku as a Master and the darkness already creeping in, saying such struggle is eternal; Yoda admitting he didn’t want Qui-Gon on the council, and Qui-Gon realizing it’s not a shortcoming on his end; lots of little comments on the Jedi Order and how it has lost its way; the story behind Pax’s ship’s name, the Meryx; slicer darts are terrifying weapons; dealing with the complicated mess of the Republic not allowing slavery but allowing a company like Czerka to practice it; Abafar name drop!; Shenda Mol was QUITE the character; and Obi-Wan saying the Guardian of the Whills’ phrase, as we memorably heard from Chirrut in Rogue One, “I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.”
- There are plenty of prophecies read throughout the book, including the entirety of the Chosen One prophecy, but one really stuck out to me in light of Palpatine’s laugh being featured at the end of the first The Rise of Skywalker trailer: “He who learns to conquers death will through his greatest student live again.” Could this be a hint at how/why Palpatine might appear in some form in Episode IX? Or nothing whatsoever?
- In the From a Certain Point of View book, Gray wrote a story called “Master And Apprentice,” though its set during A New Hope and involves Qui-Gon contacting Obi-Wan from the netherworld of the Force, and it was a great showcase of why Gray would be perfect for Master & Apprentice.
- No spoilers, but Gray has a nice little chat with the official site about writing the book.
Master & Apprentice is another case of master class writing from Claudia Gray, who finds a way to explore the complexities of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn’s history, give nuance to some mature subjects, introduce compelling new characters, and divulge new Qui-Gon details while leaving him still quite the mystery.
+ Qui-Gon Jinn revealed…but still a mystery
+ Obi-Wan’s understanding of their friendship/partnership
+ Twisting, turning plot
+ New characters shine, especially jewel thieves and risque Jedi
+ Better prequel for the prequels than anything before it
+ Tackling mature subjects with tact and nuance
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
ALSO BY CLAUDIA GRAY:
Leia: Princess of Alderaan (Novel) | Bloodline (Novel)| Lost Stars (Novel) | “Master and Apprentice” – From a Certain Point of View (Novel)
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