Scott's Rating:   3.5 out of 4

This book concludes the Jedi Apprentice series and leads into the Jedi Quest series featuring Anakin and Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent out to investigate a Sith cult. They are a group of non-Force users who have studied the Sith and become enamored by them. The leader of the group is a historian by the name of Dr. Lundi. The Jedi discover that Lundi is on a mission to recover a Sith Holocron. Thus begins a chase to prevent him from getting it first. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are successful, but they fail to recover the Holocron themselves. Flash forward 10 years later, another opportunity has come to recover the Sith Holocron. Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to prevent Lundi's former students from recovering it this time. However, they are going to need the help of one individual to beat them to it - Lundi himself. Will the now insane professor help them or lead them to destruction?

Scott:

    It's nice to see the Jedi Apprentice series finally conclude. The Followers gives us a sneak peek at what we can expect in Jedi Quest, and it looks promising. Anakin brings that extra dimension of the Dark Side which should spice things up.

This story was one of the more entertaining to come along in a while. Rather than dealing with a political crisis on some planet, there's kind of a race and treasure hunt for the Sith Holocron. It keeps the pace moving more quickly and allows the reader to visit more of the Star Wars galaxy. We also get to learn more about the Sith in general.

The scenes where Obi-Wan and Anakin drag Lundi around really reminded me of The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers. Lundi reminds me of the crazy Gollum while Anakin is like Sam and Obi-Wan is like Frodo. You wonder just when Lundi is going to snap and betray our heroes.

As we draw nearer to Episode II, this book also features a few more clues as to what we'll see in that film. We get a glimpse of the new Jedi Kit Fisto as well as the Sith Holocron, Jocasta Nu, and more.

Scott:

    My first gripe is the cover. They made it holofoil which kind of ruins the nice artwork as seen above. The main character on the front page is hard to figure out, too. You'd assume it was Dr. Lundi, but he's the same species as Yarael Poof while the character on the cover is apparently not. So who is it?

The Sith Holocron is also submerged deep in an underwater geyser. Why not send a droid to go recover it if it is so valuable and dangerous? You'd think someone could find a way to get it out a lot sooner.

Finally, the end of the book hints at some ultimate Dark Side baddie trying to recover the Sith Holocron. However, there is nothing to hint at who this might be. Is it Palpatine? Someone new? The end of the book should have cleared that up in my mind.

Scott:

    Nothing to add.