Customer Reviews

The Only Witness (Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice, 17)

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"The Only Witness" packs it all: deception, trust, betrayal, violence, and emotion (and all within 118 pages too). After returning back to Coruscant and mouring the death of his true love, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn is anything but ready to go on another misson. But when the Jedi Council summons him and his teenaged apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, for another mission, the heart-broken Jedi won't say no. The Master/Padawan team have been requested to help widow Lena Corbal bring her villanous in-laws to justice, as her past husband intended to do. Lena is in hiding with her cousin, Mica, and intends to go to testify against her in-laws, led by her brother-in-law, in front of the Galatic Senate. But before she leaves, she must gather evidence to support herself, something she did not tell the less-than-pleased Jedi. But the mission is getting more difficult by the minute, especially when Lena asks her mother-in-law, Zanita, for assistance. Qui-Gon is not himself and is convinced that he is not being told the entire truth and Lena's old appartment has been ransacked, her potential evidence misplaced. Thankfully, that mystery was cleared when Mica admitted to Obi-Wan that she misplaced the information so that Lena could not testify. Obi-Wan is in over his head when he realizes that he is falling for Lena. And after a mysterious package arrive for Lena -- from her deceased husband -- and Lena disappears, Obi-Wan feels more compelled than ever to prove to Qui-Gon that Lena's quest is true. But it is more harder to convince him of that after Zanita is kidnapped. Now the Jedi are in over their heads with a kidnapping, a deception, and still no evidence. Is it too much for the Jedi to handle?

"The Only Witness": Qui-Gon Jinn is still grieving from the death of his loved one, Jedi Knight Tahl. Though still worried about his condition, the Council decides to finally send him on a new mission. Obi-Wan Kenobi is relieved to be on an assignment, but wonders if his master can handle it. They travel to the planet of Frego to find then escort witness Lena Cobral back to Coruscant. Since because her testimony could bring the downfall of an evil crime family on the planet, the Jedi must ensure her safety. The mission was supposed to be an easy one. Unfortunately, the two Jedi must keep their wits about them as they must try to distinguish truth from lies.

"The Only Witness" is book 17 of the 18 Jedi Apprentice books. Sadly, I must say that this book is one of the weakest stories of the whole series. The plot was interesting but never has the climaxes, twists and turns we have come to expect from Jude Watson. The whole first part of the story is not that intriguing though fortunately the ending was very well done. On the plus side to the story, Jude Watson vividly and beautifully writes down Qui-Gon's emotion and grief on paper exceptionally well. Obi-Wan's character is also well-written, his confusion and helplessness in giving support to his Master is expressed to the reader without feeling overdone. On the downside though, I just couldn't really like the character of Lena Cobral very much. She's very much of an uneven character, and I just couldn't keep up with her changes from a strong, noble woman to a weak and emotional one. Ah well, I just guess I've been spoiled from all the previous books. :-) I still do recommend Jedi Apprentice fans to read this book, for first timers, I suggest you read from the very first book then work up through the whole series.

A bit of info on the whole Jedi Apprentice Series. 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.

Plus 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".

The jedi apprentice seires books have always been my favorite, but for some reason, this book has not. I think it foucused too much on Thal's death rather than getting straght to the point. The story outline was very uncomfortable, because you didn't know which person is good and bad until the very end, which kept me quite nervous. I read these book in an hour. I sure wish it could be longer. May the force be with you always.

I thought that this book begins to wrap up the series. This may be the end of Qui-Gon's grief for Tahl. Even though I think this series will end well (I don't see why not), it will be too bad that it's over. In this book, the plot is sometimes confusing, but unlike with some books, you can't quite see how it ends. Overall, I think it was good and worth reading.

After Qui-Gon "recovers" from Tahl's death, the Council asks him to escort a witness who plans to testify before the Senate. It turns out that the witness wishes to expose the Cobrals (a leading crime family). She requests escorts because she think someone is out to kill her.

This gripping story is difficult to put down.

~ JFS

The Council has decided that Qui-Gon is finally ready for his next mission after grieving over the loss of Tahl. Even though Qui-Gon is heartbroken, he offers to go along with Obi-Wan in their current mission. They have been assigned to protect a girl who must testify against an evil crime family on her planet, and she is believed to be the only witness with the evidence to prove that her planet is corrupt. Lena lives with the fear that she will constantly be killed by those who will do anything to stop her, but she also lives with a fiery determination that is like Tahl's. Qui-Gon isn't so sure to trust her, but Obi-Wan is reluctant to trust her right away. He's certain that although they must simply escort her to safety, Lena has separate problems as well. It's up to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to protect her even more than they had imagined. Jedi Apprentice #17: The Only Witness is a dramatic but short book in the series, and is not as good as the previous books -- but it is still very enjoyable.

This book wasn't the best, but frankly it wasn't the worst either. The plot was a little less complicated than usual, and the emphasis was definitely focused on the characters, but I actually found that refreshing. Also, this book wasn't meant to be an epic, just a quick, one book adventure, giving Qui-Gon time to at last come to terms with Tahl's death, and repair his relationship and trust with Obi-Wan, and it accomplished these goals very well. Anyway, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan haven't been on a mission in months, because Qui-Gon is still deep in mourning over Tahl, so much so that he even feels burdoned by Obi-Wan's presence. The Force couldn't save the one he loved, so how can he constantly tell his apprentice to trust in it? Finally, the Council gets tired of waiting around for Qui-Gon to come to his senses by himself, so they decide to send him and Obi-Wan on a mission whether they like it or not, a fairly easy one that involves protecting beautiful young widow Lena as she makes her way to Coruscant to testify against her husband's potential murderer. When they get there however, Lena informs them that she really has no evidence to convict, but she desperately needs their protection from the numerous foes in her dead husband's crime lord family. Qui-Gon wants to leave immediately and let her fend for herself, but ever soft-hearted Obi-Wan (who seems to have developed a bit of a "crush" on Lena) begs him to let them stay and watch out for her while she collects evidence, and he reluctantly agrees. It's then that things start turning strange... Anyway, like I said this book isn't one of best in the series, but it does clear the ice for the next one, which unfortunately is the final book in this exceptional series.

The Jedi Apprentice books have been, for the most part, decent. Obviously written for a younger teen audience, adults who love the Star Wars universe could still find some enjoyment in reading these. 'The Only Witness' isn't a very good book. The story is cobbled together last minute and the plot is totally uninvolving. It may have something to do with Watson coming off a multi-book story arc that was very good, and this book comes off as a sad epilogue. The very fact that there was a birthday party in the SW universe just didn't seem right.

Granted that these books are meant for a young audience. But as we have seen with Harry Potter, you don't have to disintegrate into such simpering text. This particular book ranks as one of the worst books in this series.
Wish that Dave (the one who wrote book number one) could've written the whole series.