While the post-traumatic fallout from Anakin Skywalker’s tragic turn to the ominous dark side will be front and center in Disney’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, the grief behind this inevitable rift of two prolific Jedi is further amplified by a wide range of emotional depth in Mike Chen’s “Star Wars: Brotherhood” (Del Rey, 352 pp., ★★★★ of four, available now).
Set between the events of “Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002) and “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005), “Brotherhood” is one of the best “Star Wars” novels to date. , exploring the family bond between two of the central characters of the Skywalker saga.
“Brotherhood” takes off at the start of the Clone Wars, with Skywalker and Kenobi at a crossroads in their evolving relationship as Skywalker transitions from Padawan to Jedi Knight and Kenobi transitions from master to alternate member of the Jedi Council. Chen develops the two characters in separate arcs before fully focusing on their bond. The overriding message of “Brotherhood” is tied to many close relationships: individuals must grow on their own to thrive consistently.
Exclusive excerpt:Mike Chen Reunites Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in ‘Star Wars: Brotherhood’
A terrorist attack on the planet Cato Neimoidia catapults Kenobi on a mission that turns “Brotherhood” into a partial sci-fi mystery as the cerebral Jedi master unravels a plot. Cato Neimoidia, a jewel of the Trade Federation, has remained neutral in the war – neither on the Separatist side nor on the Republic side – but the latest attack threatens that neutrality. Chen does a great job of linking macro to micro, wisely using Neimoidian culture to unpack the emotions of being a prejudice of being a cog in a machine, bringing a humanity to Neimoidians who question their place, and adding nuance through pleasant characters like soldier Ruug Quarnom.
The novel’s greatest achievement is its portrayal of Skywalker, whom Kenobi described as “a good friend” in “Episode IV – A New Hope.” But fans haven’t had this elaborate portrayal of the future Darth Vader’s good side – until now. Anakin’s goodness is on full display here, from his raw connection to Padmé Amidala to his vulnerability when talking about his mother in a teaching moment. It’s done in a polished way, especially from the perspective of Kenobi, who gets lost in conflict films, with his mission in the narrative to guide young people to grasp the gravity of war.
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There’s still internal conflict, of course, with Skywalker’s secret marriage to Padmé (as Kenobi’s sense of their affection is smartly executed so he doesn’t seem so indifferent now when he watches “Episode” again. III”). As “The Clone Wars” series focuses on Anakin’s training of beloved character Ashoka Tano, Chen traces Skywalker’s rise through a new character, Mill Alibeth, a young Force user who finds herself overly empathetic to the effects of war on the people around him.
What’s most impressive about “Brotherhood” is how it vastly improves on the oft-maligned prequel era by implementing an emotional connectedness that two movies and seven seasons of the animated series have only slightly exploited.
As “Episode II” gets bogged down in the wooden romance between Anakin and Amidala and “Episode III” speeds up the narrative to show that Skywalker and Kenobi have become close companions, “Brotherhood” fills in emotional voids and taps into moments of lightness and brotherhood. love. More so, it reinforces the timeline discrepancies between Episodes I and II – when Kenobi trained Skywalker but took on much more of a role as big brother than father after Qui-Gon Jinn died in his arms at the end of ” The Phantom Menace”. “
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Chen takes readers deep into the “fire and ice” intricacies of the duo that lead them to face off like brothers and care for each other that way as well. He achieves this to climax by leaning on a key character in Jinn, claiming that the late master of Kenobi, who begged him to train Skywalker, trusted the two Jedi to chart great paths. This common thread helps Kenobi accept Skywalker as an equal and final master-apprentice dynamic.
A challenge with some of these narrative-filling novels that tie timelines together is that there apparently isn’t enough real estate for new storytelling or for an author to get creative with. Chen’s knowledge of “Star Wars” is interspersed with plenty of callbacks and character appearances for die-hards (ahem, Asajj Ventress), but he more impressively finds a way to stand on his own. This is largely because of the emphasis on relational dynamics and less on action. Chen focuses on a fascinating and complex relationship, drawing on his skills in “science fiction with sensations” from previous stand-alone novels such as “Here and Now and Then” and “Light Years From Home”.
Much of the review of the final film in the Skywalker series, “Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), argued that the writers didn’t take many risks and played it safe in trying to link nine films. Thankfully, Chen doesn’t get too involved in piecing together the details and instead makes “Brotherhood” feel very original with age-old characters.
