Rogue Planet (Star Wars)

Obi-Wan Kenobi and his 12-year-old Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, embark on an unexpected adventure when they find themselves in a strange world full of mystery and power. But evil ship designer Raith Seinar has his own greedy uses for the planet they are visiting, and they must rescue the world or have untold lives on their hands–if they survive at all. Obi-Wan and Anakin have been uncertain allies until now–when they must forge a true working relationship that can carry them into the future!It's an unexpected combination: Greg Bear, author of so many ambitiously complex SF novels, writing about the colorful simplicities of the Star Wars universe. But he carries it off well, with a mix of action-adventure and thoughtful world building that entertains while keeping to the spirit of Lucas's saga.

A few years after the events of The Phantom Menace, young Anakin Skywalker is getting restless–sneaking away from Jedi Temple training to gamble his life in a flying game that's much more bizarre and dangerous than the movie's podracing, even before an alien Blood Carver assassin intervenes. Anakin's character is taking shape now:


But above all, he loved winning.

To turn the boy's frustrated energy to useful ends, the Jedi Council has Obi-Wan Kenobi take Anakin to investigate the remote, enigmatic world Zonama Sekot, whose organic technologies produce magnificent spacecraft, and where a Jedi has vanished without a trace. Secretly pursuing them is a battle squadron captained by the weapons designer who has already blueprinted the Death Star and is being double-crossed by his employer Commander Tarkin.

Rogue Planet's action climaxes as the Jedis learn to grow their own spaceship, the Blood Carver strikes, and two heavily armed fleets converge on helpless-seeming Zonama Sekot. Every faction has secret cards up its sleeve–and Anakin's is a very dangerous wild card indeed. There's final victory and heartbreak, but also loose ends (including even stranger, deadlier aliens) that suggest sequels to follow. Bear does a solidly workmanlike job. –David Langford, Amazon.co.uk


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