Customer Reviews

The Evil Experiment (Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice, Book 12)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

She's done it again! This book was great. Jude has caught me on the edge of my seat several times before, but this one put me there quicker than I can remember. When I recieved the book, I found myself jumping ecstaticly up and down, which is not particularly normal for me. That's what these books can do to you!

The book is about Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, but there are a few sinister faces poking around. Who? A skilled bounty hunter and an evil(and extremely crazy)scientist who has captured Qui-Gon and is holding him hostage in a tank(full of some kind of gas). His blood is extracted daily, and he must use the force to make the scientist happy and get an hour of freedom each day. As he gets weaker, Obi-Wan hopes that Qui-Gon's friend, Didi, will live. Didi has been shot by a blaster that carried an infection of some sort. The healers at the Jedi Temple at first can not identify the infection, but then realize that the only antidote is carried by only one supplier-the scientist who invented the antidite. That scientist's lab has mysteriously closed down. No one knows the scientist's whereabouts at this point.

It is up to Obi-Wan and Didi's daughter Astri to evade the bounty hunter and find the scientist's secret lab(with some help from a couple of strange creatures)before it's too late for Didi and Qui-Gon. But if he should meet with the bounty hunter, will Obi-Wan be able to win the battle without Qui-Gon at his side? The bounty hunter is not about to forgive Obi-Wan about the injuries from their last meeting...

Qui-Gon has been captured by Jenna Zan Arbor, a twisted scientist on a quest to discover the secret behind the Force. She plans to slowly drain Qui-Gon of his blood until he weakens and dies. Obi-Wan is desperately searching for his master, and gets stuck investigating with Astri, the teenage daughter of the man Qui-Gon was captured trying to protect. Astri wants to find Jenna Zan Arbor just as bad as Obi-Wan, for Jenna is the only one with the medicine needed to save the life of Astri's dying father. This was an excellent addition to the Jedi Apprentice series, and a great improvement over #11, The Deadly Hunter, which was the previous book. I highly reccomend this book to all Star Wars fans.

Qui-Gon is being held prisoner by Jenna Zan Arbor, a scientist who plans to find out the secret of the force and will stop at nothing to do it, while she slowly drains his blood until he dies. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is desperately searching for him with the help of Astri, the daughter of one of Qui-Gon's friends. Astri wants to find out who's behind this just as much as Obi-Wan because her father is dying, and he needs an antidote that only Zan Arbor can supply and because she needs the reward money that is on the bounty hunter's head. This book was way better than the previous one and I recommend it to all Star Wars fans.

This was a great book. Actually I haven't read it yet. But this series is the greatest and I know this book will be great. My fave is # 2 The Dark Rival. I can't wait till I get this one. I'm 13 and the reading level is 9-12. I'm not that far over it but it is still odd. But I can't help it, they are great!! My sisters make fun of my "Lameness" for reading these. But I don't care. I recommend this book to everyone who is or isn't a Star Wars fan. Anyone could like them. Jude Watson is a great writer.

Jude Watson delivers yet again with The Evil Experiment. The novel is excellently paced and marks a true turning point in Obi-Wan's development. With Qui-Gon held prisoner by a mad scientist, Obi-Wan must head the search for his missing master and take command in situations where previously he followed Qui-Gon's lead. Here, we for the first time see the fully-mature Jedi that Obi-Wan will become by Episode I, and yet this Obi-Wan is also true to the Kenobi who has been growing through the first eleven books. Nobody has ever captured Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan better than Watson at her best, and probably nobody ever will.

As for the rest of the novel, it is a treat for all. There is a compelling bad guy (bad woman, actually), an enigmatic, powerful bounty hunter, heroism, courage, sacrifice, and a few philosophical discussions to boot. This may very well be the best entry in the Jedi Apprentice yet. It is so good, I immediately reread most of it once I had finished. I haven't done that with a book in a long, long time.

The evil scientist, Jenna Zan Arbor, has kidnapped Qui-Gon Jinn, using him as an experiment to study the nature of the Force. As his life Force dwindles, he must keep hope in that his young apprentice will save him. And Obi-Wan Kenobi is doing exactly that, desperately searching for his master along with a friend, Astri. And not only Qui-Gon's life is hanging by a thread, Astri's father, Didi, is dying of poison and the only antidote is in Jenna Zan Arbor's secret lab. Will Obi-Wan and Astri be in time to save Qui-Gon and Didi before it's too late?

"The Evil Experiment" is the second of three books following one story arc. In my opinion, this is one of my most favorite story lines! The book is extremely exciting, following the adventures of both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. I love how though Obi-Wan is in a way following the clues on his own, he handles himself very well and is very efficient. Astri is a great character, both funny and serious, giving help to Obi-Wan whenever she is needed (and when not needed!). Read "The Deadly Hunter" before this book or you won't have a clue what's going on. Also have "The Dangerous Rescue" on hand if you want to find out how the story ends since "The Evil Experiment" end in a cliffhanger!

This series explains a lot about how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan first meet. Their beginning is far from simple and all smooth-sailings, which would be pretty monotonous if it was. Though the books are said for ages 9-12, like many other reviewers I agree that the Jedi Apprentice Series are for anybody. Extremely well-written, the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of the main characters are very well put down into words. I also like the different array of humans and aliens which are portrayed, both good and bad.

Plust check out the new Jedi Quest series, dealing with the master and apprentice duo of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Another Star Wars Series I recommend and like a lot are the Young Jedi Knights series. The stories are about Jacen and Jaina Solo (twins of Han and Leia Solo), and their friends as they journey on the road to becoming Jedi Knights. More on the teenager level of reading. For adult readings, a few selections I enjoy reading are "The Thrawn Trilogy", "Rogue Planet", "The Jedi Academy Trilogy", "The Corellian Trilogy", and "The Truce at Bakura".

This book was fantastic! Unlike some of the other books, this one has it's share of action. Obi Wan is desperatley searching for his master, and along the way he has to make some pretty tough decisions. Meanwhile, Qui Gon is being held captive by a certain "mad scientist" (guess) and is having his blood drained daily. This book is a great edition to the Jedi Apperentice series. But I hate the way Watson always ends the book. It practically forces you to read the next. People, if you love star wars you'll love this book. Read it and you'll see what I mean.

This book is my favorite. It starts out exciting, and ends exciting. Qui-Gon was captured by a psyco bounty hunter and was taken to a extremely crazy scientist, who wants to study the Force. Qui-Gon's blood get analyzed and he gets only 1 hour of freedom a day. Meanwhile, Didi suffers from a deadly infection which the only cure is at the scientists lab, which nobody knows where it is! Obi-Wan and Astri go in search of the lab, and have lots of troubles. This is a great adventure full of exciting twists and turns and if you love Obi-Wan (Like me), this book is almost all about him. Obi-Wan talks to the Masters like he is one of them! It is so cool! Read this book! It is excellent!

This book was good, much better than the last one, which was slow at times. This book was basicly a more exciting story, though at times it still felt like some key elements were missing, such as good character development, scene discriptions, and a conclusive ending. The series does however seem to be getting better, and perhaps soon it be back up to it's previous calibre. This book does however have something that many of the previous books didn't have, such as strong female characters, namely, the bounty hunter, Astri, Tahl, and the scientist whose name I don't remmember at the moment. The preview of the next book indicates that Adi-Galia and Siri may be returning for another adventure, which will please me, since I liked both of them instantly, and hoped they would return eventually. I hope Tahl soon returns to the action also, since she is an awesome character, and she should still be able to fight even though she's blind. Didn't Obi-Wan himself say in A New Hope to a young Luke Skywalker 'your eyes can decieve you, don't trust them'? Therefore there is no reason for Tahl not to fight again. Anyway, in this book Obi-Wan And Astri are waiting to hear about Didi, who was wounded and diagnosed with a strange infection. The healers determine that the only antidote is on an obscure planet, so naturally Obi-Wan and Astri head there to try to get it, and try to rescue Qui-Gon who is being held prisoner by an evil scientist, though they don't know this yet. Meanwhile Qui-Gon is not doing so well, as the scientist keeps him locked in darkness, as she repeatedly drains the blood from his body. I would recommend this series mainly to kids thirteen and under, but older Star Wars fans such as myself can enjoy them also.

As part of the story, I found the book as enjoyable as I found the whole series, but there are things about the book that leave me feeling less enthousiastic than I should.

The first trilogy of the series were three separate books merging into one great story. The books all had very individual stories that could be read individually, different settings, but they blended perfectly all the same.

This trilogy are three chapters of the same story. The 2nd book picks up where the 1st one leaves off, and so (if I read the preview of the 3rd part right) does the 3rd book. The parts 2 and 3 do give a summary of what happened previously, but you really can't appreciate the story unless you really read the previous books. Where the 1st part did give you some kind of closure, this book only makes an attempt to it, the preview of the next book makes the end feel even more unsatisfactory.

As a story, the book seems farthest away from the original theme 'Jedi Apprentice'. In this book Qui-Gon seems to be the learner, having to learn patience, and endure his torment without the conscious help of the Force, while Obi Wan is following all the correct leads, virtually unaided (at least by the Jedi), while other Jedi Knights are sent on fool's errants.

There is a bit of explanation towards why he is allowed to do so, but considering his recent past as an apprentice on probation, this too seems insufficient.

Qui-Gon's thoughts of help are directed towards Obi Wan, not the members of the Council, or its most powerful: Yoda. Obi Wan thinks and acts on his own initiative most of the time.

The earlier books's greatest points: Obi Wan's continued doubts and fears, his blend of a Jedi-to-be and an impulsive and rather irresponsible 13 year-old, and his often bumpy relationship with Qui-Gon are non-apparent in this one.

There is little suspense in the book, where there could be a great one, considering that Qui-Gon kept his suspicions about the evil scientist to himself, while Obi Wan thinks the scientist is above suspicion, and might have even have sought the scientist out in order to find a cure for Astri's father. Plenty of trap and pitfall possibilities, but the suspect is named very early in the book.

The scientist could have been a great successor to Xanatos, but considering the way the story is going, she's manoevered into a corner, and there doesn't really seem to be a way out. Also the mix of brilliance and madness leans too heavily on madness towards the end to make it a durable character. The same thing happened to Stackpole's Ysanne Isard.

The bounty hunter could be the other character to take over Xanatos's role as main villain, but somehow she lost a bit of her mystery and strength for me, when I learned her name and her background.

It really is too bad, because the plot of this book was full of potential and oportunities, but the book feels as if those were not fully exploited. The book could have been so much better.