Customer Reviews

The Rising Force (Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice, Book 1)

5 star:		(106)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Young Obi-Wan Kenobi has waited all of his life for the chance to become a Jedi Knight. With all of his training at the Jedi Temple, he believes himself ready to become a Jedi Master's Padawan. But his 13th birthday is drawing near, and before that time he must become a Padawan apprentice... or leave the Temple to become a healer or a farmer. Obi-Wan is becoming desperate and jumps at the opportunity to show his skills to visiting Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. But Qui-Gon has had a bad experience with his first apprentice and is reluctant to take a new Padawan, especially Obi-Wan whom he sees has a hard time controlling his anger and fear. Obi-Wan must leave the Temple to go to the planet Bandomeer to become a farmer. He is surprised to find that Qui-Gon is also on board the same barge which is also carrying miners. Obi-Wan is suddenly plunged into the middle of a war between the Arcona Mineral Harvest Corporations and the Offworld Corporation. Can Obi-Wan survive the journey to Bandomeer, and can he get Qui-Gon to trust him?

Unlike the rest of the Jedi Apprentice books (Books 2-18 and Special Edition 1 & 2), "The Rising Force" is written by Dave Wolverton, the others written by Jude Watson. Though I cannot complain about Dave Wolverton's marvelous job, I'm also pretty well-pleased about how well Jude Watson has been doing.

The first book 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; the strong-willed, hot-headed Clat'Ha, the faithful Arconan Si Treemba, and more.

Like I said the rest of the Jedi Apprentice books, altogether 20 books, are written by Jude Watson and are all very highly recommended from me. The books don't really 'end' at all, the books ends in either a cliffhanger or with a little glimpse into the future. Believe me, once you start reading them, you'll want to read the next one... then the next one...

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 opens up a whole new perspective on the apprenticeship between Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi, and once you read the first book in the Jedi Apprentice series, you'll immediately want to read the second. This is the only book in the series written by Dave Wolverton; the rest are written by Jude Watson. This is also the longest book in the series, and it gives a rare glimpse into the life of a young Jedi trainee. It's the only literature I've read that gives a clear look into what exactly happens to a student before he is chosen to be a Padawan (or, if he's unlucky, a farm assistant or healer). You can also see what Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan were like before their adventures in Episode I. This is truly an interesting book to read, but be prepared to shell out cash for the rest of the series, because each book seems to leave you wanting to read the next.

When I first saw this book come out, I figured I'd give it a chance and see what it was about. Now I am hooked. I loved this book from the first to the last page. I always wondered about the Jedi training, and this book gives you a look into the taining, as do the rest in the series. The young Obi-Wan is also my favorite character. I loved to read about the conflicts that he is trying to solve and his skill in tough situations. I also liked the way that it gave some insight from Qui-Gon's point of view. Even though I'm 13, I found this book very enjoyable and think that anybody intrested in Star Wars in the least, should pick up this book. I only wish it was longer!

I am 25 yrs old and I work in a bookstore. I read _all_ kinds of fiction in the SF/Fant genre, from Primer level all the way up to british imports and 10 book series' with page ranges of 600 and up! I have read MANY kinds of books also. I picked up Jedi Apprentice for my 12 yr old brother, originally, knowing that I would read it eventually, since I _LOVE_ Star Wars Stories. My brother, who prefers to read comics and listen to Novels on Tape rather than reading them, had the opportunity to read them on a trip the family was taking, once we actually got him to settle down and start, we couldn't PRY them out of his hands! As soon as he finished the first book, he began telling me that I _HAD_ to read them, I would absolutely LOVE 'em and he wouldn't leave me alone until I sigh aggitatedly, put my current novel aside and began reading it... And you couldn't PRY that book out of my hand until I was DONE. Neither my brother nor I could wait until the next set came out! We were throwing ideas at each other it was fun! A few nights later, I decided that the books were just TOO Good. My father reads many of my books and has read ALL of my SW books, where I still have a few to go. He told me that he needed a new book soon, so I gave him the two Jedi Apprentice books. My father is in his 50's and HE enjoyed them almost as much as my brother and I did.

My point here is that I totally agree with "A reader from Houston, Texas , June 18, 1999 Not Just For Children!" earlier in the list! This book should be mandatory reading, but not just for Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon Jin fans, but for anyone who loves reading about Jedi in general! I hope that eventually these books will be compiled into one story so that those too intimidated by it being a "CHILDREN'S BOOK" will have a chance to read the stories as well.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi student hoping to be chosen as a Padawan by a Jedi Master, particularly one named Qui-Gon Jinn. But after proving his anger can get the better of him, he is not chosen as a Padawan. Instead he is sentenced to be a farmer on planet Bandomeer (yawn!) But he is stranded on a mysterious planet with Qui-Gon and the ship passengers. It leads to an unexpected adventure with Qui-Gon... This is an extremely poignant adventure with action and peril. I'd recommend it for any kid over 10 years old, maybe for some adults. I'm serious! Even if you think Star Wars is the most stupid thing ever, you'll love this book. Probably the second best in the whole series. It just rocks! Why? Because author Dave Wolverton comes up with excellent alien characters and writes about them with great poignance. And the Jedi wisdom written down in the book rings true. Overall, a smart mini novel. It rocks.

This is the beginning of the "new" starwars stories, about 45 years before 'StarWars - A New Hope' and dozens of centuries after the fierce Sith-Wars. It shows very interesting, though sometimes not so detailed, the way how young force-sensitive children become jedi-knights. They are brought as soon as they're discovered to be force-sensitive to the jedi temple on the galaxy's capital planet Coruscant. Here they achieve wisdom in all cases of the bright side of the force. They're taught to serve the weak and to help all beings who are in need of this help. Young Jedis will become Padawans (Jedi apprentices) of the older knights after they gathered enough knowledge and wisdom.. Knights without Padawans, visiting the temple, can choose a young being to become their Padawan. But the laws of the Jedi codex are strict: the knights can only choose a child who's under the age of thirteen. The young Jedis who didn't have the luck of being chosen are normally sent to work as a healer or farmer... Among all these Jedis lives an almost thirteen years old Obi-Wan Kenobi. And this age makes him afraid of having to face the fate of becoming some sort of farmer. But he gets a last chance of becoming the Padawan from Qui-Gonn Jinn who's just at the temple, but he's not the only one trying to become Jinn's Padawan - and so he has to fight against his old enemy Bruck, another Jedi of Obi-Wan's age, who's also trying to attract Jinn's attention. But both too often show their impatience and that's the cause for Qui-Gonn to refuse them. But fate causes Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn to travel together on a spaceship with different missions. Obi-Wan, with no chance of becoming a Padawan, has to help the agricultural corpse on the planet Bandomeer where Qui-Gonn is sent by the senate to watch over an escalating conflict between the mining companies there. But this conflict explodes already aboard the ship, transporting rivaling workers for the mines on Bandomeer. And so both Jedis have to use all their powers and abilities to survive. Furthermore, the ship gets attacked by pirates and is in danger of being blown apart...

This is the only book of the Jedi apprentice series that was written by Dave Wolverton. It is by the way the biggest one and with 171 pages almost 1.5 times bigger then all the others. All other books are made by Jude Watson. The reading age is set to be about 9-12 years. and written in large letters That means unfortunately that they're all quite short and the language is simple. Furthermore the really large letters are nice to read, but they decrease the possible length of the story even more. But nevertheless all these books feed the hunger for more stories and more background of this amazing Starwars-universe. All these apprentice-series books more or less describe one big story of young Obi-Wan's adventures and so they all continue where the previous book end. This is really nice, but you always want to read more and more. It seems to me that children should get addicted to these books to sell more of them - which might get really expensive. Normally there could easily be three or four books packed in one. Well, this seems to be the biggest flaw of this series. But nevertheless these books must be read by any starwars-fans, no matter what their age! I can only recommend you to read them, because I really like them after all.

Regards, (c) Suburp

I know this is a book intended for children, but I am 19 and I enjoyed it more than a lot of other Star Wars books. The entire series is fantastic. I am now reading the fifth book, and every book is better than the last.

One of my favorite characters in the Star Wars Episodes I, II, III, and IV has been Obi-Wan Kenobi. My second favorite character is Qui-Gon Jenn. The Jedi Apprentice Series answers many of the questions that one might have wondering through their minds about these two characters. Some of these questions being how do you become a Jedi Apprentice, what was Obi-Wan like growing up, how does he learn to use the force and did Obi-Wan ever get to experience falling in love etc...? Dave Wolverton starts this series off with Book 1 and Jude Watson writes Book 2 -18. Both writers are good but Jude Watson is the one who bringing to light the emotions and bonding experiences between the Jedi Knight and his Apprentice. Their adventures together are interesting and imaginative leaving you wanting to know what's in the next book.
The Jedi Apprentice series was written for young teens, but it is enjoyable for all ages. These books are what I call easy reading, because you can finish it in just a few hours or faster if your a quick reader. I personally bought the Rising Force out of curiosity about Obi-Wan's character and to find answers to the questions that ran through my own mind after seeing episode III. I decided to buy the whole series to keep for my future grandchildren, so they too will know what isn't told in the movies about the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jenn, his Apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi and the force that souranded their lives.

12-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi is headstrong and cannot control his temper. He longs to become a Padawan, in other words, become a Jedi Knight, before his thriteenth birthday. Since he would be too old if he is 13 to become a Jedi Knight, he tried desperately to become Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice. Unfortunatly, he does not control his temper and Qui-Gon decides to not take him as his Padawan. But their path cross as they both go to Bandomeer with each of them on a different mission: Obi-Wan to become a farmer and Qui-Gon for a mission for the Senate. Trouble brews on the ship Monument as the evil Hutt called Jemba steals dactyl, causes sabotage, and lots of more brutal things. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan has to work together along with a fierce woman named Clat'Ha to stop Jemba and his evil Whiphids.
This book is exciting and you can't put it down until you read the whole story. If you read this book, I think that you would definently want to read the 2nd one, the 3rd one, and so on. "The Rising Force" is definently a great book to read!

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. I never was. I saw Phantom Menace and I absolutely loved it (all 5 times!) and when I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. Obi-wan is my favorite character in the entire SW universe. I love the way this book (and the rest in the series) explore Obi wan and Qui gon's relationship. When you watch Phantom Menace and you see Qui Gon die you know that he and Obi-wan have a very deep relationship. These books let you get to know the history of that relationship and for me that's allll worth it! They are intended for a younger audience (I'm 18) but I think that almost anyone will enjoy them. My only problem is that they're too short!