Jedi Quest #6 - The Shadow Trap
by Jude Watson

Published by Scholastic

Scott's Rating:   3.5 out of 4

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This review contains some spoilers, so don’t read this if you’re avoiding them.

This is the sixth book in the Jedi Quest series. It takes place between Episode I and II.

Anakin has a vision of something terrible that’s about to happen, but neither Yoda nor Obi-Wan can interpret what it means. When Anakin’s next mission is assigned to him, he’s a bit apprehensive. The planet Mawan has been devastated by civil war. The civilian populace has gone into hiding underground while the surface has been looted by three warring crimelords. The Jedi are sent to pave the way for Republic troops to come in and secure the planet for aid to arrive. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Yaddle are sent to handle things. However, things are not entirely as they appear and a dangerous situation arises that may cost a Jedi their life.

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Scott:

    This book will be most notably remembered for the death of Yaddle. Jedi Quest #6 explains the character’s absence from Episode II by giving her a pretty good excuse for not being there. While I didn’t think her death was as poignant as it could have been, I did like the fact that Anakin felt responsible for it. It helps to further his self-doubt and sense of helplessness. This, of course, fuels his descent into the Darth Vader persona. That’s an important aspect of this whole series. It helps bridge the gaps between the films and better explain how a good kid turns bad. I hope Jude Watson continues to emphasize that and give us a glimpse of what’s going on in Anakin’s mind during Episode II.

This book also does a good job of tying the Jedi Quest and Jedi Apprentice series together. In this book we discover that the recurring villain Granta Omega is really the son of Xanatos, the dark fallen Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn. This revelation helps to explain why he has been harassing our heroes through the last couple of books and why he’s so desperate to learn about the Force. It also helps to further explain why Jedi shouldn’t have kids. There’s a tremendous gap between a parent with Force powers and a child without them. It’s an interesting aspect of the Force, midi-chlorians, and Jedi which has yet to be fully explored. Kudos to Watson for venturing into this new territory. I hope more is discussed in the next book.

This book has some other stuff that makes it entertaining. We see Yoda in action (as seen on the cover), Obi-Wan and Anakin singing in a band (I’m not kidding), and more. This book should satisfy Jedi Quest fans.

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Scott:

    While this was a solid book and a good Star Wars adventure, the only parts of the story that really engrossed me were the death of Yaddle and the revelation about Granta Omega. Everything else just seemed like buildup to that and it didn’t interest me as much. I started to get this kind of disinterest towards the end of the Jedi Apprentice series, but it seems a little early for me to get this feeling in only book 6 of the Jedi Quest series. I suppose I’m more interested in the Clone Wars era than this time between Episode I and II. I think I’m more interested in where we’re going than where we’ve been. None of this means it’s a bad book, though.

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Scott:

    Nothing to add here.

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