Andrew's Review of The Approaching Storm

2/5 Rancors - Alan Dean Foster's The Approaching Storm is his third entry in the Star Wars universe, but his first in the modern era of EU. He was the ghostwriter for the novelization of A New Hope (credited to George Lucas) and also wrote the vintage Splinter of the Mind's Eye, one of the handful of novels from the days of the original trilogy. The book's front jacket proclaims "An exciting prologue to Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," while the back mentions two Jedi and their apprentices fighting "impossible odds" while "the entire galaxy watches and waits."

Unfortunately, I must charge the dust jacket with over-hyping the scope of this tale. Though the book tries hard to convince us that Ansion is critical to preventing the breakaway of many systems to the Separatists, the story itself just feels too leisurely and the planet too insignificant to carry this weight. Essentially the two Jedi and their apprentices take a long field trip to find some nomads out in the plains of Ansion and convince them to make peace with the city folk, thereby ensuring Ansion's continued loyalty to the Republic. The aspect of this I found most frustrating? After reading in extreme detail about their journey there, Foster totally glosses over the actual negotiations between the two most powerful nomad factions facilitated by the Jedi - there's no payoff! One minute they're about to go to war, the next they've sat down and rapidly become old friends.

I also found the writing to be curiously stilted. Star Wars is certainly not noted for snappy dialogue, but most of the conversations in here don't even read fluidly on the page, let alone if they are read aloud. Like Rogue Planet, this book seemed rather like a non-Star Wars science fiction tale re-skinned with Star Wars trappings and published as such.

Despite the book promising more, I did enjoy seeing the Jedi on a small-scale, personal mission. There aren't many books dealing with Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship pre-Clone Wars, so it's good to see that explored. Since the book is set immediately before Attack of the Clones, their dynamic is very similar to what we see in the film. Visually, Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee are a terrific pair, and it's fun to see their personalities fleshed out. Separatist scheming is always welcomed as well, and I have a weakness for Hutts as characters: Soergg's repartee with Barriss in the climax was easy to visualize and quite entertaining. Also, the creatures of Ansion were diverse and well-realized and the planet itself vividly described.

I would have liked to see more from The Approaching Storm; I love Attack of the Clones and was very excited to read a book setting up the events of the film. While it's a fleetingly cool feeling to know all the details of the "mission to Ansion" Mace Windu mentions early in the film, I think this book missed an opportunity to try for something more.