Decide Your Destiny #1: Way of the Jedi
by Jake T. Forbes

Published by Grosset & Dunlap

Adrick's Rating:   4 out of 4

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Have you ever wanted to be a Jedi Knight? Well, here’s your chance. From the chambers of the Jedi Temple you can travel to the forest of Kashyyyk and fight alongside the mighty Wookiees, or you can fly through space and battle bounty hunters in your starfighter. With dozens of paths to choose from, and over twenty-five different endings, there will be a whole new adventure waiting for you with every read.

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Adrick:

    It’s not often that I give full marks to any Star Wars novel, so it may seem a bit odd that a minor juvenile tie-in to the new cartoon warrants a four out of four ranking. But Jake T. Forbes has done an outstanding job with The Way of the Jedi, turning what could have been a paint-by-the numbers assignment into an entertaining adventure that will appeal to both action-seeking younglings and hard bitten continuity loving old-timers.

The Decide Your Destiny series is obviously inspired by the legendary Choose Your Own Adventures books, and is notable for being the first Star Wars book in this format in over a decade. What makes this book more endearing than the mountains of other The Clone Wars tie-ins is that although Way of the Jedi takes place concurrently with the events of The Clone Wars animated film, Forbes’s book features an original story with a combination of new and returning characters.

You play as one of Ahsoka Tano’s padawan friends, who is assigned to a Jedi Master in the Kashyyyk system. With your master, a quirky astro droid, and a stowaway from the Jedi Temple, you must foil the plans of one of the Confederacy’s top scientists to create a Force resistant cyborg army.

Way of the Jedi is a well designed adventure that is true to the spirit of Star Wars. Depending on the choices you make, enemies can become allies, and vice versa. You can win by engaging in a starfighter dogfight, leading your army of clone troops to victory, turning your friend back from the dark side, engaging in a lightsaber duel, or even just negotiating with hostile aliens. By choosing different paths, you can learn different things about the characters. And of course, Way of the Jedi includes many entertaining ways for your character to fail on his mission.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the format, this book is still worth a look for a revisitation of minor characters like Bant Eerin and King Grakchawwaa, the introduction of one of the scientists behind Grievous’s resurrection, and the reappearance of the deadly terentatek.

I am very much impressed with the first volume of The Way of the Jedi, and I hope to see many future installments with Forbes’s cast of characters.

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Adrick:

    Forbes does make a few missteps here and there, such as referring to the Temple as the Academy and introducing a new wrinkle into the “did the Jedi know Darth Maul’s name” debate. But these are really only minor flaws in an otherwise excellent work.

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Adrick:

    Definitely the Frankenstein-like Project Krossen. Yikes!

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