Scott's Rating:   4 out of 4

This is the second book in the Jedi Quest series, the sequel to the Jedi Apprentice series.

Anakin and Obi-Wan go on a training exercise on the planet Ragoon-6. The purpose is to strengthen their bond as master and apprentice. They intend to track down a fellow Jedi using their special skills. However, when the trail of their Jedi friend leads into a couple of dangerous situations, they know something is up. They discover that they are the ones being hunted by a pack of bounty hunters hired by a mysterious enemy. Obi-Wan and Anakin must work together to survive and save their friend.

Scott:

    I liked this book because it wasn't another "save a planet from disaster" story. This was a more personal story about the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. While the first book focused primarily on Anakin's relationship with his fellow Padawans, this one focused on him and his master. Watson explores a lot of interesting questions. Is Obi-Wan resentful of having Anakin forced upon him? Does Obi-Wan care personally for Obi-Wan or is their relationship purely professional? And with such opposite personalities, can they ever work well together? It is much more character driven and helps us understand the Anakin and Obi-Wan we see in Attack of the Clones.

The Trail Of The Jedi has some fun action and interesting new characters. Watson introduces a whole new batch of bounty hunters along with a fun new Jedi by the name of Wren Honoran. He has an interesting mystique about him since he's a former active Jedi Knight who now spends his time training Padawans. His interaction with the cocky young Anakin is fun to watch.

I also like the fact that the Sith and their followers come into play with this story. Also look for the first appearance of Dexter Jettster. We find out that the diner he runs in Episode II is the one formerly run by Astri and Didi in the Jedi Apprentice series. It's nice to see Watson tie it all together.

You may also be interested to know that this comes in an audiobook version, too.

Scott:

    No real gripes with this one except for the rather uninteresting cover. This one is not going to catch the eye of the casual Star Wars reader.

Scott:

    Nothing to add here.