"Anakin Skywalker, Meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."

I have to say, I think that's my favorite one-shot line in all of Episode I. Coming from a time when we knew so little about Anakin and Obi-Wan, hearing that simple introduction by Qui-Gon Jinn sent shivers down my spine for MONTHS every time that trailer ran on TV. Still kind of does to this day. Amazing how some things of such great import start so simply.

Anyway, we're still going through the EU in chronological order, and we're up to the time of Anakin Skywalker's Jedi Training. And, as I'm still well behind in my blogging, I'm going to lump almost 7 years of history together in one single entry. (I've also already used a whopping 10 percent of my Blog space already! Seesh, I may have to keep lumping stuff together even AFTER I catch up to where I'm reading.)

Anyway, Anakin and Obi-Wan team up on a number of "unofficial" missions before they really get going. One of them is chronicled in Jedi Apprentice: Deceptions, and another is The Followers, but as I've already gone over them, we'll skip ahead to Rogue Planet. Now, this story features Anakin and Obi-Wan traveling to Zonama Sekot in search of the missing Jedi Vergere, and running afoul of ANOTHER Tarkin (it's POSSIBLE that this is the same Tarkin we see in Episode IV, but I just don't feel it. He's too... smarmy for my taste). Rogue Planet also introduces us to our first hint of the Yuzhaan Vong who will terrorize the EU well beyond the end of Return of the Jedi. This story is... well, it's both fascinating and weak at the same time. Learning about Zonama Sekot and how they produce their ships is the fascinating part. Where it's weak is as a study in young Anakin and his early Jedi life. For that, we'll have to turn towards our young Jedi expert, Jude Watson (naturally). And we do, next.

Jedi Quest is both the name of a stand-alone book, and the series of adventures Jude Watson writes out dealing with Obi-Wan's efforts to train Anakin Skywalker. And, like her Jedi Apprentice series, it's geared towards younger readers, but is MORE than accessible to older EU fans. Seriously, if you haven't read these 11 books, you haven't read about Anakin and Obi-Wan's early adventures together. From age 12-17/18, Anakin's youth belongs almost exclusively to Jude, and she brings him to life almost as well as she brought Obi-Wan's youth to life. Jedi Quest, The Way of The Apprentice, The Trail of the Jedi, The Dangerous Games, The Master of Disguise, The School of Fear, The Shadow Trap, The Moment of Truth, The Changing of the Guard, The False Peace, and The Final Showdown all tell the story of Anakin's education, his early friendships, and Obi-Wan's quest to bring down a new enemy to the Jedi - Granta Omega. All of Jude's regular recurring characters are back - Didi and Astri Oddo, Siri Tachi, Jenna Zan Arbor - and she introduces us to several new Jedi Padawans, who are the closest things to friends Anakin Skywalker has in his time in the temple. Tru Veld and Darra Thel-Thanis are Anakin's closest friends, and the annoying Ferrus Olin is Anakin's rival. All three play important roles in not only Anakin's youth, but also, in my opinion, his ability to turn towards the Dark Side by the time Episode III hits. And, surprisingly (to me, anyway), Ferrus, of all people, turns out to be a major character in his own right. But that's MUCH later on.

Granta Omega is the main enemy in these books (though not the only one), and his obsession with attracting the attention of the Sith keep Obi-Wan and Anakin on their feet. Along the way, Jude makes sure Anakin spends time with Chancellor Palpatine (making it clear how he was able to talk so freely with Palps come Episode II), shows us more of the relationship between Obi-Wan and Siri, delves deep into Anakin's fears, and even shows us the death of Jedi Master Yaddle. A lot of fun is had along the way, though all of these stories are darker than most of the Jedi Apprentice Series. Still, if you're at ALL interested in Anakin and Obi-Wan's time together, READ THIS SERIES. You won't be disappointed.

But there's a lot of time between certain adventures in Jedi Quest, and some of that time is taken up by my favorite Star Wars Author's earliest EU book. Timothy Zahn was my first introduction to the Star Wars EU back when Heir to the Empire hit, and since then, he's remained my favorite. Now, finally, we find some of his Star Wars work, and it's worth the wait. Outbound Flight was a throw-away creation Zahn used way back in Heir, and here he's given the chance to flesh out this grandiose effort to explore beyond the edges of the Star Wars galaxy. But, really, that's not what the story is about. It's really about introducing us to the Chiss who will eventually become Grand Admiral Thrawn (also known as my avatar - go figure). We also meet up with Jorus C'Baoth, Jorj Car'das and actually set the stage for not only Zahn's Survivor's Quest novel, but also get ANOTHER hint at the coming Yuzhaan Vong threat that won't hit for something like 40 years from this point. I love Zahn's method of storytelling, and can find no fault with this book outside of one nit-pickey little fact. In Dark Force Rising, we learn a little about Jorus C'Boath's history, and it clearly states at one point he was Senator Palpatine's Jedi Advisor. There's no mention at all of this in Outbound Flight, and I find that a bit of an oversight. Not enough to make the book anything less than blissful to read, but it makes me feel like Zahn could return to the prequel era easily and tell another story.

Two comic series take place between Jedi Quest stories, as well. Starfighter: Crossbones is a rare look at a strictly Video Game character, the Pirate Nym. Now, I'm a BIG fan of both Starfighter, and it's sequel, Jedi Starfighter. But apparently, I'm the only one, because they never followed up on it for Episode III (despite all the lovely new Starfighters I still want to fly). Nym is a fantastic character, and this story actually sets up events for Jedi Starfighter - though you'd only know that if you played the game. This three-shot has (to my knowledge) not been available for years, and I'm not even certain it was ever put into a TPB. A shame, really, but I guess Nym has fewer fans than Quinlan Vos or Jango Fett. Speaking of Jango, the two comics Jango Fett and Zam Wessell bring back our favorite bounty hunter and his shape-shifting almost-squeeze for a little jaunt that's really rather dull, save for the fact that it kills off Jedi Master Yarael Poof. I actually find the flirtatious relationship between the bounty hunters more fun than the story itself (which revolves around some alien artifact that may or may not be able to destroy Coruscant).

Finally, just before Episode II comes The Approaching Storm, which is that "Border Dispute on Ansion" Mace Windu remarks on early on in Attack of the Clones. The book is the first of what I consider the "Themed" Star Wars books. The theme for The Approaching Storm is "The Star Wars Western Book." This story really is nothing more than Anakin, Obi-Wan, Luminara, and Barriss traveling through the old west of Ansion, looking for a Native American Tribe (Ansonians are apprently cat people, not native Americans, though you could've fooled me most of the time in this book), in an effort to, uh, be cowboys? Seriously, there reason for them being cowboys for so long (Admittedly riding on lizards instead of horses) is pretty thin - "border dispute" is giving it a little too much credibility. Still, the wonderful political reasoning behind how Ansion is so important as part of the Republic is nice. This story is also the last "Jedi being Jedi" story. I say this as it's the last adventure before the Jedi became generals in the Clone Wars, and they no longer travel from system to system, righting wrongs, and serving as peace keepers. When you read the book with that in mind, it's almost sad - the end of an era. Now, don't get me wrong - The Approaching Storm is a decent book - and as a lead in to Episode II, it's a must read. But had I my druthers, I'd rather see more Jedi adventures. And there's plenty of room for more, as long as writers are smart enough to work around Jude Watson's work. I do hope someone does go back to this time frame eventually.

Next up, shockingly, is Attack of the Clones. But movies get their own post, so we'll hit it another day - not tomorrow, but maybe Wednesday... Gosh, the Prequel era's going by fast...

Also, why are there no good pics of Anakin and Obi-Wan together in the picture options? Seems like an oversight...