Underworld Review

ALL TIMELINES


		UNDERWORLD A novel by Jude Watson (2005, Scholastic Paperbacks) The Last of the Jedi, Book 3 19 years before and Star Wars: A New Hope In a search for more Jedi, Ferus Olin returns to the Jedi Temple, and into a trap.

		Read March 9th to 19th, 2015 in hardcover
		These books are getting darker and darker, especially for kids novels. But in a way, they are a little better for it, too. It shows a difficulty in living under an oppressive regime that is expanding into the galaxy. But it also shows a lack of focus at the Empire’s core, which allows people to find ways to hide in plain sight. The author continues to write well-developed books with thoughtful and exciting parts to them. Spoiler review: This book remains very simple in terms of story, which I think helps the author to develop the characters. Ferus and Trever infiltrate the Jedi Temple, search for the Erased, search for Solace, and return to the Temple. But without Obi-Wan, the author gets to delve into these non-movie characters like she hasn’t really had a chance to do in the previous books. Ferus has become an adult, though he is rather idealistic. Trever shows a gruff independent attitude, but in reality, he is just a scared boy trying to find his way. I think the trip through the Jedi Temple was something that needed to be done, in some form or another, no matter how little sense it makes. Ferus falls into a trap by believing the rumors that Jedi are being held in a prison inside the Temple. He takes Trever, who helps him blast inside from one of the topmost towers. I have trouble believing the Imperials don’t have a better surveillance system outside, that they wouldn’t at least pick up the taxi driver for questioning, and at worst blow him up without questions. In either case, they should know that two people were dropped onto the building, not the rat that they find tripping sensors at the top of the tower. Ferus leads Trever through the Temple, though we don’t see as many interesting sights as I would have liked. I think the flashbacks of his time with Siri and Anakin were wonderfully done, as was his dismay at seeing the Room of a Thousand Fountains dried up and apparently used for target practice. Ferus thinks he knows where the Jedi would be kept if they were prisoners, but once he finds that they are not in that area, he concludes that the story is a trap. It is a trap, but his conclusion is not based on real evidence, as he would have to search the entire Temple to know for certain. Regardless, they are discovered in a storeroom that houses the collected lightsabers of all the killed Jedi (he even recognizes one of them), but give the stormtroopers the slip. But as they attempt to search Malorum’s office (which used to be Yoda’s quarters), Vader arrives. After scolding Malorum, Vader actually collapses several walls, including the one Ferus and Trever are hiding behind –which means that Vader (Anakin) now knows that Ferus is alive. Strangely enough, Vader lets Malorum try to take care of the Jedi, and leaves the scene. I’m sure they will meet again. Of course, they manage to escape, Ferus beating himself up for getting caught by the trap. He decides to go to Dexter Jettster to ask for help in tracking down his missing Jedi. But the diner is gone, though somebody knows where to find Dex. It’s a good thing Ferus and Trever were on his side, as the information was given pretty freely. Dex is one of the leaders of the Erased, people who have erased their existence within the Imperial system –people like senators, investigative journalists, possibly clones, and others. He tells them the rumors of Solace, a place where people can go to safety. So they take a group of Dex’s people and go all the way to the surface of Coruscant, and find Solace- a person, not a place. She was the Jedi Ferus was looking for, and she has been gathering people into the remains of the former underground subway system of Coruscant’s pre-space-faring society under the crust. I’m not sure I liked the way the surface was described; it seemed rather underwhelming. It was also strange that they could encounter the support beams for the Jedi Temple. I’ve often wondered how the upper buildings were supported. Unlike Trantor (of Foundation), it is still fairly easy to get to the bottom of Coruscant, as it is still open to the air. On Trantor, the roof of one area would be the floor of another, acting like a gigantic apartment building. On Coruscant, do the supports for all the upper buildings really go all the way down? When they build a new skyscraper, do they travel all the way to the surface to install new supports? It seems unsupportable… Solace is unconvinced by Ferus’ organized resistance, and judging by the inept way Jedi have tried to take out Vader, such as in Dark Lord, I don’t blame her. But she finally agrees, convinced that they need to at least rescue the lightsabers so they have a fighting chance. Lucky for Ferus, she has been building a spacecraft with mining equipment built in, so that they can eat through part of the Temple wall and not have to use the front door to get back in. It is the explosives expert Trever who notices that something is wrong. The Temple is obviously abandoned, and he sees indications that Malorum is trying to blow it up. Ferus thinks it is an obvious ploy for Malorum to discredit Vader, since Vader made a comment to that effect on their earlier visit. Why does blowing up the Temple seem like such an absurd suggestion to everybody except me? After searching it top to bottom for secrets, the Emperor would certainly want to vanquish his foes by destroying their place of honor. The real-estate alone would probably make him a fortune! It goes without saying that they stop the explosion, but then as they begin their escape, Ferus is forced to sacrifice his freedom to get Solace and Trever out of the Temple. And so he is captured, and the book ends there –a true cliff-hanger. There was definitely a lot more intensity to this book than the others in this series so far. The books seem to be getting darker, as well, which is unusual for a young reader series. The lack of regular characters from the movies meant that the author had to develop those who will presumably be the protagonists for the rest of the books. She did a good job with both Ferus and Trever, allowing both to grow throughout the book. Ferus now understands a lot better what Siri was always trying to teach him. I don’t like the fact that he keeps rejecting his old self, ridiculing the rule-follower that he used to be. But at least now he can see the shades of grey. It is because of his former self, combined with the life he lived outside the Jedi, which allows him to deal with the unexpected. He is a much more fleshed out character, now.