In spite of the obvious unhappy nature of the plot of this book, it still manages to live up to it's predeccesers as far as plot development and scene description go, and I would say that it even surpasses many of them as far as character development goes. I won't give away the whole book, but basically this book begins almost immediately after Qui-Gon discovered that Tahl had been kidnapped. He and Obi-Wan immediately chase after her captors, their urgency intensified once they realize that the longer they take, the more of a potentially lethal paralyzing drug Balog (Tahl's captor) will pump into her body... Anyway, all else I'll say is that things are NOT what they seem! I noticed some people were irritated that this book focused mostly on Qui-Gon while Obi-Wan faded to the backround. I wonder why this is, since this series has ALWAYS (unlike Young/Junior Jedi Knights and other kiddy Star Wars books) focused almost equally on Obi-Wan (the child) and Qui-Gon (the adult) I always found that to be one of the better aspects of this series, since it provides a wider range of view for the story, and greater oppurtunity for
character development. However, if my fellow Obi-Wan fans would look hard enough, they would see that in fact this book holds more character development for Obi-Wan then ever before. Sure, he gets his leg mashed under a boulder, and messes up a few other times, but where do you think Qui-Gon would have been without Obi-Wan to take up his slack, and take charge of things, and be the master when Qui-Gon's determination to save his beloved gave way to panic? To me, this shows how far he has truly come. Anyway, as to the death of ____, I was quite devestated, but I was also prepared, since she wasn't present in Episode 1, I
could only assume that by then they had broken up (not likely) or ____ had died. Even so, I liked this new twist in the story, and the portrayal of Qui-Gon as a man in love, so I will certainly miss her, being that she was one of my favorite characters. Anyway, I recommend this book to fans of Star Wars in general, particulerly those twelve and under, thought don't get me wrong, those of us who are older (I'm almost sixteen) can love them too! May the Force be with you!