Jedi Apprentice #17 - The Only Witness
by Jude Watson

Published by Scholastic

Scott's Rating:   3.5 out of 4

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Qui-Gon continues to mourn the death of Tahl, but he accepts a new assignment from the Jedi Council. He and Obi-Wan are sent to the planet Frego. It is a world controlled by a powerful crime family. A member of the family decided to testify on their criminal dealings in the Senate, but he was murdered. His wife, Lena, takes up his crusade to clean up the planet and agrees to testify in his place. The Jedi are sent to escort her to Coruscant. Unfortunately there's a minor hitch - she must find the evidence her husband has hidden or else there will be no case. Qui-Gon soon finds himself frustrated by the delay while Obi-Wan develops a crush on the beautiful young widow. Of course the crime family doesn't sit idly by and let them find the evidence, so a complicated and deadly game ensues.

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Scott:

    I thought having Obi-Wan fall for the woman he was protecting was a nice touch. You know that as Jedi run around the universe saving damsels in distress there had to be a couple of romances develop. It didn't go very far in this story, but it was nice to see Watson address the issue.

The Only Witness also features the first appearance of Episode II character Madame Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian. She plays a role in this book like she does in the film. She informs Obi-Wan on the planet he is about the go to and the political situation there. Her role is so important to the world hopping Jedi that I'm suprised someone like her hasn't appeared before.

I also liked the fact that this was a single issue adventure. While some of the storylines have carried over multiple books, this one was neatly wrapped up at the end. It was nice not to have to wait for the story to be resolved.

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Scott:

    The cover is an interesting departure from the other covers in the series, but it is not terribly exciting. Other than that, I don't have much else to complain about with this book. The Only Witness is a good Jedi Apprentice story, but not the best and that's why I rated it 3.5 out of 4. I guess after 17 issues, I'm a little burnt out on Jedi Apprentice. It was a great series, but I'm ready to see what Jude Watson does with the Jedi Quest series featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin.

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Scott:

    Nothing to add here.

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