A little better than the last book, but still a bit sloppy,
and it didn't do much for me. The characters don't seem to have the
depth that they should, especially after six books. But the adventures
are still pretty fun.
I liked the part on the droid manufacturing center of Mechis
III best. There, the young Jedi find Raynar's uncle, and IG-88, who
was under his control the whole time. It was his plan to draw his
brother out by staging his own kidnapping. He tells the story of
IG-88's transfer into the core of the second Death Star, which I kind of
enjoyed, which we learned about in the Tales of the Bounty Hunters.
Finally, Em-Teedee gets an upgrade, and can move on his own,
and speak more languages. But Lowie isn't around to appreciate the
upgrades, because he has followed his friend Rabba to Kashyyk, where they
co-opt his sister Sirra, and then went off to Ryloth, the headquarters
of the Diversity Alliance. There, he is uncomfortable, but he should
realize what is going on right away, when he meets Nola Tarkona in person,
and she says outright that humans are the enemy. Even without Jedi
senses, he should know by that. This escapade is totally out of character
for him.
Meanwhile, Zek is out bounty hunting. He accepts a new
bounty from a disguised person, who he figures out is Bornan Thul, the
most wanted man in the galaxy. He sends a message for the man to
his wife, then goes looking for his brother. On the way, he runs
into Dengar, whom he outwits and outfights, similar to the way he outfought
Boba Fett in the first book. Humiliating, at the least.
Unsure about what to do about Bornan Thul, he seeks help from
Boba Fett, who still talks too much, but offers him some very sound advice.
Zek heads for Mechis III to look for Raynar's uncle, and is followed
by Dengar. Of course, he finds the young Jedi there, and Dengar starts
shooting up the factories. Once again, Zek is able to defeat the
bounty hunter, with the help of Tenel Ka's ship.
So all in all, while Boba Fett was done better, Dengar was brought
down, Lowie was out of character, Zek was fairly well done, and the rest
of the young Jedi were neither interesting nor dull. The series seems
to have drifted away from them, really, and focused on their friends.
by Warren Dunn, all rights reserved.
