Review: STAR WARS: BROTHERHOOD is a Book That Captures the Feel of the Prequels in a Fun Read
Last month, Del Rey released Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen. This is a novel that follows Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at the start of the Clone Wars. You can read the 352-page book now and Del Rey was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to review, although all the thoughts that follow are my own. Also, there are going to be some light spoilers after the summary, so consider this your warning, although, I’ll do my best to not go too deep.
The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers.
After an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order’s most gifted diplomatic minds, to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard, he finds himself working against the Separatists who hope to draw the planet into their conspiracy—and senses the sinister hand of Asajj Ventress in the mists that cloak the planet.
Amid the brewing chaos, Anakin Skywalker rises to the rank of Jedi Knight. Despite the mandate that Obi-Wan travel alone—and his former master’s insistence that he listen this time—Anakin’s headstrong determination means nothing can stop him from crashing the party, and bringing along a promising but conflicted youngling.
Once a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal—but uncertain—footing with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the danger for everyone around them. The two knights must learn a new way to work together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers.
The time of the Clone Wars has been mined for a lot of content in the Star Wars universe including an animated movie, a 7-season animated series, and a (no longer canon) two-part animated series before that. Surely there’s nothing left to tell. Well, Chen decided there needed to be more. I think Chen did a really good job of capturing the feel of Attack of the Clones. Anakin is very awkward and at times feels a little superfluous. Meanwhile, the meat of everything surrounds Obi-Wan as he is tasked with solving yet another mystery and trying to serve up some diplomacy. I will say that the dialogue is much better than some of the stuff we got in Attack of the Clones and overall the book is a good read.
Now, I’ll get a bit more into it. The book shows us a bit more of Anakin and Padme’s married life including let us read about a date they have. This provides us a little more of a look at their dynamic and a slightly different glimpse into how Anakin thinks. That being said, I do still feel like it’s a little unnecessary. The core of Anakin’s journey in Brotherhood is him growing into his new role in the Jedi Order as a Jedi Knight. The book starts with him becoming a Knight alongside other Padawans because of the sudden onset of the Clone Wars. I think the most annoying part to me though was how often Anakin would complain about his new mechanical arm. In my opinion, it didn’t really serve the story except to explain why he flubs some moments.
On the other side of the book is Obi-Wan. Maybe it’s because he’s my favorite character or because of the recent launch of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+, but Obi-Wan’s story is the core of this book and it’s great to read. He has to figure out what happened on Cato Neimoidia, get the Neiomoidians to aid the Republic and not the Separatists, and survive his first encounter with Asajj Ventress. On top of this adventure and slight mystery, Obi-Wan has to adjust to Anakin no longer being his Padawan and also learning a bit more about Anakin’s relationship with Padme and trying to figure out how to address this as it very much concerns him.
Along the way, we also meet some Neimoidians that are interesting like the ex-commando Ruug and the youngling Mill. These characters are all interesting and at least the two that I’ve named could provide some interesting additional stories down the road. Overall, there’s quite a bit of fun to be had and the Anakin parts are more bearable in Brotherhood than in the movie that precedes it. If you want another story from the prequel era, this is a good book.
