Scott's Rating:   3 out of 4

After the death of Tahl, Yoda sends Qui-Gon on a mission to get him out of his depression. He, Obi-Wan, Siri, and Adi Gallia are to protect a brilliant young teen named Taly who has information about a bounty hunter plot to assassinate some politicians. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters now are trying to kill the electronics genius. As the group makes one harrowing escape after another, Obi-Wan and Siri find themselves falling in love. But will they be willing to leave the Jedi Order for their newfound love?

Flash forward 20 years later, Obi-Wan again finds himself assigned to meet with an adult Taly. Joining him are Siri, Padme, and Anakin. Taly has developed a universal code breaker that could tip the balance of the Clone Wars, but he’s only willing to give it to the highest bidder. Can Padme convince him to sell it to the Republic? Will old feelings resurface between Obi-Wan and Siri? And can Anakin stay focused on his mission when Padme is put in jeopardy?

Scott:

    A main focus of this novel is forbidden love and duty for the Jedi. Not too many novels have focused on that conflict of interest and the reason behind the ban, so that alone makes Secrets of the Jedi unique. But it’s also noteworthy because it elaborates more on Anakin and Padme’s secret marriage and how it affects him as a Jedi, how they hide it from everyone else, and how Padme regrets pulling Anakin away from the Jedi Order. Despite being a young reader’s novel, it covers a lot of heavy emotional material. I think Jude Watson handles it well. It’s quite interesting to see three generations of Jedi deal with forbidden love and how they react to it differently. Qui-Gon was prepared to bail on the Jedi for Tahl. Obi-Wan buries his feelings and sticks with the Jedi. And Anakin secretly marries Padme. They are three dramatically varied reactions that speak a lot about the characters.

As for the rest of the book, it’s about average. There’s some decent action and a few cameos by other characters like Yoda. But it seems like a nice wrap up to the Jedi Quest and Jedi Apprentice series. Secrets of the Jedi wraps up some loose ends about Obi-Wan and Siri that were big parts of both of those series.

As side notes, it’s nice to have another hardback book to add to the collection. The cover is decent, too, even if Siri looks out of place with the photos of the film actors.

Scott:

    I don’t really have anything to add here. I wish the events in the novel would have been a little more landmark to the series, but otherwise it’s decent entertainment if you liked the other young reader books.

Scott:

    Nothing to add here.