Star Wars: Rogue Planet - Softcover

Bear, Greg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099410303 ISBN 13: 9780099410300

Publisher: Arrow, 2001

Synopsis

Rogue Planet is an unforgettable journey stretching from the farthest reaches of known space to the battlefield of a young boy's heart, where a secret struggle is being waged that will decide the fate of billions. That boy is twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker. The Force is strong in Anakin so strong that the Jedi Council, despite misgivings, entrusted the young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi with the mission of training him to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan - like his slain Master, Qui-Gon - believes Anakin may be the chosen one, the Jedi destined to bring balance to the Force. But first Obi-Wan must help his undisciplined, idealistic apprentice, who still bears the scars of slavery, find his own balance. Dispatched to the mysterious planet Zonama Sekot, source of the fastest ships in the galaxy, Obi-Wan and Anakin are swept up in a swirl of deadly intrigue and betrayal. For there are others who covet the power such superfast ships could bring. Raith Siener, a brilliant but unscrupulous weapons and ship designer, has the brains to decipher the Zonama Sekot ship design. Commander Wilhuff Tarkin has at his disposal the forces of the mighty Trader Federation with which to extract the secret. Together, they make a formidable foe, one a small and undeveloped planet can hardly hope to stand against. But as Tarkin's fleet strikes with all its brutal power, Obi-Wan and Anakin sense a dist

About this title

Review:

It's an unexpected combination: Greg Bear, author of so many ambitiously complex SF novels, writing about the colourful simplicities of the Star Wars universe. He carries it off well enough, with a mix of action-adventure and thoughtful world-building that entertains while keeping to the spirit of Lucas's saga.

A few years after the events of The Phantom Menace, young Anakin Skywalker is getting restless--sneaking away from Jedi Temple training to gamble his life in a flying game that's much more bizarre and dangerous than the movie's podracing (even before an alien "Blood Carver" assassin intervenes). Anakin's character is taking shape now:

But above all, he loved winning.

To turn his frustrated energy to useful ends, the Jedi Council has Obi-Wan Kenobi take Anakin to investigate the remote, enigmatic world Zonama Sekot, whose organic technologies produce magnificent spacecraft and where a Jedi apprentice has vanished without trace. Secretly pursuing them is a battle squadron captained by the weapons designer who has already blueprinted the Death Star and is being double-crossed by his employer Commander Tarkin.

Rogue Planet's action climaxes as the Jedis learn to grow their own spaceship: the Blood Carver strikes and two heavily armed fleets converge on helpless-seeming Zonama Sekot. Every faction has secret cards up its sleeve--and Anakin's is a very dangerous wild card indeed. There's final victory and heartbreak but also loose ends (including even stranger, deadlier aliens) that suggest sequels to follow. Bear does a solidly workman-like job. --David Langford

Synopsis:

A journey takes place three years after the events of The Phantom Menace. It stretches from the farthest reaches of known space to the battlefield of a young boy's heart, where a secret struggle is being waged that will decide the fate of millions.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0099410303
• ISBN 13: 9780099410300
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352