Book Review: 'Padawan's Pride'
Image Source: CultureSlate (from Jake Bartok on X.com)
To the surprise of many fans, Disney and Audible shadow-dropped an original Star Wars novel on September 19th called Padawan’s Pride. Set three years after The Phantom Menace, the story follows Obi-Wan and Anakin on a mission involving podracing that quickly grows more complicated when Obi-Wan is forced to withdraw from Anakin’s side early on. CultureSlate has its review for this unique novel!
WARNING: The following review contains spoilers about Star Wars Adventures: Padawan’s Pride.
As mentioned, Padawan’s Pride focuses on Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi three years after the events of Episode I and the two characters are at odds with each other. Anakin is beginning to resent his time on Coruscant, feeling confined and unchallenged or uninterested in the tasks assigned to him, greatly preferring adrenaline-filled fighter flights and other daring acts against the wishes of others. Obi-Wan, for his part, has been training Anakin but has also been devoting sleepless nights to trying to hunt down information about Maul in the wake of Qui-Gon Jinn’s death on Naboo. He is, in some respects, asleep at the wheel, and is thus surprised when the Council gives the pair a mission following an incident where Anakin went for a joyride.
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The mission involves helping Republic Senate Intelligence track down a missing spy who learned of a Pyke-led illegal podracing operation being run out of the moons of Varl, the ancient Hutt homeworld. Given Anakin’s unique experience and skillset, with time of the essence, the Jedi send Anakin and Obi-Wan to infiltrate the race, rescue the spy, and discover why he and several colleagues sent to look for him were made to disappear in the first place.
Image Source: StarWars.com
The core of the story is the response to and consequences of Anakin's pride. To avoid spoilers, this trait comes up multiple times, and there is a particular situation near the end of the novel where Anakin realizes his pride might have caused a serious problem. This, and the crescendo of action in his storyline, ends up further developing the character in a way this reviewer found very fitting. He is still Anakin at the end of the day, but he does learn a lesson, at least in the short term.
Obi-Wan, meanwhile, has a very different ongoing story. Much like in Attack of the Clones, while Anakin is engaged in the mission’s core objective, Obi-Wan is dealing with another facet of the assignment. He plays detective well, investigating a situation that unspools into a larger threat while interacting with the Republic intelligence officers sent to help him and Anakin. To avoid spoilers, Obi-Wan ultimately comes to view Anakin in a slightly different light and gains some insights into his Padawan that no doubt help their relationship in the short term.
Image Source: StarWars.com
Other positive elements of the story include the side characters, with a particular Hutt named Neyfig an intriguing addition to Star Wars canon. The location of the story is also a great element, Varl’s three moons as described in the story are a truly alien landscape with unique features that make the connected podracing elements thrilling to listen to. Finally, there is the narration, excellently performed by Kevin Kemp with great voices for Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the other characters. In conclusion, this short novel is an excellent experience, especially for the surprise release that it was.
Rating: 9/10
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