Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray
And my newfound bias for Qui-Gon Jinn
Welcome back to the Star Wars Book Club! The subject of today is Claudia Gray’s Master & Apprentice. This review will be entirely spoiler free, so read on at your leisure.
My rating: 5/5
Pub Date: April 16, 2019
Legends/Canon: Canon
Timeline: 40 BBY (32 BBY Epilogue)
The Elevator Pitch: When a political dispute erupts among a planet, their moon, and a not-so-moral corporation, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, are summoned to help resolve the situation. As conflicting evidence, wounds from the past, and trust issues start to arise, the mission takes a dangerous turn. Will an uncertain master and still young apprentice be able to work together to overcome the mounting danger and save the planet?
Characters
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a less secure bond than they have in Phantom Menace. Qui-Gon is perfectly prophetic, and Obi-Wan is a somewhat unsure seventeen year old just trying to prove himself worthy to his master. It was a wonderful preface to the events of Phantom Menace, and these two characters felt perfectly in line with on-screen counterparts.
Rael Averross: Count Dooku’s Padawan before Qui-Gon. Rael is a little bit different than other Jedi, a little more off-the-books, if you will, seeing as he wasn’t brought to the temple until he was 5 years old. Still, he becomes a friend and a kind of mentor to Qui-Gon. Then, he goes on a mission to Pijal where he serves as Lord Regent to Princess Fanry.
Pax Maripher: A boy raised by protocol droids. What he lacks in social graces he makes up for in technical smarts and jewel thievery.
Rahara Wick: A run-away slave of Czerka Corporation. She’s running from her past with the help of her piloting skills, mineralogy knowledge, and Pax’s need for a co-conspirator in his jewel thievery.
Princess Fanry: A fourteen year old about to inherit a monarchy.
Czerka Corporation: While not technically a character, Czerka Corporation is a big enough presence in the book to warrant a spot in this list. They’re a mining company who’s only goal is to get rich, no matter how many slaves they have to go through to achieve it.
The Plot and My Thoughts
Master & Apprentice is, to me, like reading an episode of Clone Wars. (Are lots of Star Wars books like this? I feel like they could be). It felt very familiar to me for two Jedi to be sent on a mission by the Council. Politics are at play. There are opposing factions, but this time on a planet wide scale instead of a galaxy wide one.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent to Pijal. While there, they make some friends, some enemies, and have some pretty big disagreements. We get to see the culture of a planet and its people. (And some varactyls, which was cool.)
What I loved the most, though, was getting to see Qui-Gon again. He’s quickly climbed my tier list of favorite Jedi, all the way to the top. He kind of stands out to me as a foil to the entire Jedi Order as it exists at this point in history, which, to be clear, this book takes place eight years before Chancellor Palpatine takes up the mantle. But even though Palpatine isn’t the entire controlling voice of the Senate, yet, the Jedi Order have already fallen away from their original purpose.
Sure, they’re following their mandate to the Republic and they still keep to the same religious ideals as the Jedi before them, but somewhere along the way they lost sight of their one true mandate: to follow the will of the living Force. This is why Qui-Gon is at such odds with the Jedi, and always will be. In attempting to follow the age-old mandate of the Jedi through following the will of the Force, he can never quite live up to their new mandate of essentially being the hammer wielded by the Republic. Because sometimes that Republic is wrong. Which leads me straight into my next topic.
Themes
Slavery: This topic is handled so well in the book. It directly impacts one of our characters, Rahara Wick, and somewhat more indirectly impacts everything else. Czerka Corporation is a private company whose charter gives it the right to use slaves on any world it chooses, even worlds where slavery has been outlawed by the Republic. Qui-Gon, quite frankly, dislikes this strongly. To the point of calling up Yoda and asking if the Jedi at large can basically go around and take down all the slavery left in the galaxy. Yoda, of course, makes some pertinent cultural references of where slavery is good in the galaxy, and then declares that this task is not in the mandate of the Jedi.
And isn’t that just cool? How Claudia Gray uses the theme of slavery, something we know is fundamentally wrong, to highlight where the Jedi have become a fundamentally different Order from what they were originally supposed to be. A people sworn to protect and spread light, with literal sabers of light if necessary, should always be willing to chase off the darkness, right?
I think Qui-Gon says it best, twice, in the course of a conversation with Obi-Wan, so here are my two favorite lines from the entire book:
“Not every disagreement with Jedi orthodoxy turns you into a Sith Lord overnight.” ~Qui-Gon
“When facts collided with ideals, Qui-Gon preferred to change the facts.” ~Claudia Gray
And that, right there, is why Qui-Gon is now my favorite Jedi. That, and the fact that he was trained by Dooku! How did I not know this? Clearly, I am still a Padawan, nay a Youngling, on my Star Wars lore journey, but with my planet and character guide slowly growing in the back of my notebook, and my collection of books rapidly outgrowing my shelf space, I think I’m well on my way to knowing all of these important-to-everyday-life details.
Quote Corner
“Darkness is a part of nature, too, Qui-Gon. Equally as fundamental as the light. Always remember this.” ~Count Dooku
“Qui-Gon had always been quick to admit his own faults and errors, a kind of humility rarer among the Jedi than it should’ve been. Obi-Wan had always respected this trait in his Master.” ~Claudia Gray
“It shocked him that he was that Jedi. That he could still find it in him to believe so profoundly, so unshakably, in pure mysticism. Qui-Gon had often felt out of step with the Order as a whole, but never to this degree. He had also never felt this close to the Force.” ~Claudia Gray
Last Second Thoughts
We got quite a few inside looks of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It was so interesting to have the different rooms and levels of the temple explored more fully. Qui-Gon visited the gardens a time or two and that really spoke to my horticulturist heart. When can I book a trip to visit?
Last, but certainly not least, I loved the little “Before” sections where we got glimpses of Qui-Gon during his days as Padawan to Dooku. Seeing his interest in the prophecies grow and change and take on deeper meaning was wonderful. His character was perfectly aligned with his portrayal in Phantom Menace, and this book gave some really great depth to his actions in the movie. Which made the “After” section in the book hit that much harder for me.
My Recommendation
I see why Claudia Gray is a popular Star Wars writer. I definitely want to reread Master & Apprentice, and would recommend it highly to anyone and everyone.
Inquiries for Discussion
Have you read Master & Apprentice? What did you think?
Is Qui-Gon an underrated or overrated Jedi?
Would you rather ride a varactyl or visit a Jedi temple?