Jedi Apprentice: The Captive Temple
Jedi Apprentice: The Captive Temple by Jude Watson
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At the end of The Uncertain Path, Obi Wan and Qui-Con return to Coruscant to the Jedi Temple from Melida/Daan after an attempt is made on Yoda’s life. In The Captive Temple, we catch up with that story, where we learn more about that attempt, and what Qui-Gon and Obi Wan so to try to stop the assassination and sabotage. Underlying the events is the broken trust that exists between Obi Wan and Qui-Gon, as well as the trust Obi Wan has broken with the Jedi Council. It’s up to him to prove himself, not just to his Master and the Council, but to himself.
Once again, the overarching, connected stories of this series make the individual novels stand out. The first couple of books were interesting in that they were a part of the Expanded Universe, but as the series continued, and developed further into its own mythology, it took on greater shape, and greater depth. The stories are still simplified (examined from an adult reader’s standpoint, they rely heavily on coincidence to keep the plots moving and to resolve them), but they succeed because of the recurring characters. Despite each individual book being too short to allow for one character’s development, Watson uses multiple books to draw a clearer picture of the secondary characters.
It’s still not a perfect system. Xanatos comes across as a bit too cartoonish, being evil just to be evil, going so far as to have one of those “You can catch me, but only at the cost of your friends’ lives! BWAHAHAHAHA!!” moments near the end of the book. At the beginning of the book, Obi Wan is a bit too whiny and immature, but he’s thirteen at the time, still learning his discipline, and by the end of the book, his outlook has changed, and he shows maturity.
Overall, I’m understanding why this series is appreciated by adult readers. I feel like I’m setting the bar fairly high for future juvenile EU books, but I guess I did the same thing when I started reading the Thrawn trilogy first in the adult EU.
Shelf Indulgence 