Obi-Wan's Foe

I have a large collection of Star Wars books and I love each and everyone. Adult to children. I am a big fan of this. I will add this to my collection. Marianne Shinmon [email protected]

My 7 year old grandson is a huge Star Wars fan. He loves these books. They seem to be written on a level where he can read by himself with some help from me. The illustrations are great and the stories are just long enough to hold his interest.

OBI-WAN'S FOE is a book written for young Star Wars fans that describes the final battle between Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Separatist military commander, General Grievous. Like all sci-fi books oriented towards young readers, there are some words in the book that the target audience might have difficulty in understanding. There are a few differences between this book and REVENGE OF THE SITH and the REVENGE OF THE SITH novelization, e.g. there is no mention of a giant metal windmill in the movie or novel. Those few discrepancies aside, OBI-WAN'S FOE does contain a treat that is difficult to come by: an illustration of what General Grievous looked like before he became a cyborg trained in the Jedi arts. Speaking of illustrations, those are what make this book so different from many of the other young reader STAR WARS books on the market. Most of STAR WARS books aimed at kids are full of pictures from the films. OBI-WAN'S FOE takes a different route and instead of being filled with digitalized pictures, is full of brilliant and exciting drawings illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards. Overall, a fairly exciting episode from REVENGE OF THE SITH told in a way that young fans will enjoy that includes some great illustrations, including one of a pre-cyborg General Grievous.

"Obi-Wan's Foe" is a fast paced and enjoyable read. It primarily features the part of Episode III when Obi-Wan Kenobi faces General Grievous on Utapai. The young reader may be a bit disoriented to read that author Jane Mason tinkered with some of the plot details, so there are minor discrepancies when compared to both the film and Matthew Woodring Stover's novel. Perhaps being the only "Revenge of the Sith" book in the Jedi Readers that is not composed of film stills, Tommy Lee Edwards' original illustrations are beautiful. After combing through extensive Star Wars literature, I believe that this title features the only visualization of what General Grievous looked like before his cyborg surgery. To realize that Grievous looked scarier before his operation is by itself worth the $3.99 retail cost! While it will never win any awards, "Obi-Wan's Foe" is an entertaining and action packed book.

Kids will love this novelization of Obi Wan's adventures from Episode III. Novelizations aren't great literature but if you want your child to love to read - especially if you have a boy -- you want to keep his interest. On a side note, the illustrations are amazing. The blurb says the book includes photos but my son loved looking at Tommy Edwards' astonishing, realistic yet fantastical artwork.