Scott's Rating:   3 out of 4

Qui-Gon mourns the loss of Tahl from the previous book, but his desire for revenge starts to consume him. Mace Windu and Bant join Obi-Wan to track down the murderer Balrog, but Qui-Gon ditches them to hunt him down alone. How can they find Balrog when they don't know who his allies are? And can Obi-Wan keep Qui-Gon from going to the Dark Side and killing Balrog?

Scott:

    This book does a bit to help answer the question of why Jedi are not allowed to love (as the Episode II promotions say). In such a dangerous profession, the Jedi are likely to be killed. If the person killed happens to be someone a Jedi loves, then they are even more likely to lose their calm judgment and fall to the Dark Side. That's exactly what happens in this book and Jude Watson depicts it well.

The cover is also nicely done. Interesting to see Qui-Gon in beserker mode.

Scott:

    Though this is a solid story, I didn't find it really engaging like some of the other books in the series. I can't really put my finger on why that is. Maybe it's because there really aren't any new characters, environments, or technology. Maybe it's because there have been so many books in the series.

I also felt that Mace Windu was underused. He could have easily been left out of this story since his involvement was so inconsequential. I would have liked to have seen him in more action. He's a character that hasn't been explored very thoroughly yet.

Scott:

    The Absolutes murder some miners and their children. It's probably one of the more intense scenes in the Jedi Apprentice series. .