Star Wars: Jedi Quest

This article is about the young-reader novel series. You may be looking for the comic book series or other uses of the title.
, the series' introductory story

Jedi Quest: Path to Truth, the series' introductory story

Star Wars: Jedi Quest is a series of young-reader novels written by Jude Watson and published by Scholastic. A follow-up to the Jedi Apprentice series, the series follows Anakin Skywalker and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi between Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and on the back of the book, above each story's synopsis, it says "Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker. Master and Apprentice. Chosen by fate. Destined for Conflict."

While originally scheduled to be a full line of toys and a multimedia event like Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Clone Wars, Jedi Quest was reduced to a series of novels and comics along with a couple of leftover action figures released from 2000 to 2001.[1] While the series includes eleven titles and two special editions, the introductory novel, Path to Truth, is unnumbered, leaving the last ten books of the eleven-book series numbered 1–10. The series was succeeded by the Last of the Jedi series which starred Jedi Quest supporting character Ferus Olin as the protagonist.

Development

The hardcover release launched a new young reader book series focused on Anakin Skywalker’s early teen years apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi. In 2000, the publishing and product development teams at Lucas Licensing first planned the Jedi Quest banner to encompass books, comics, toys and roleplaying games. An internal Lucasfilm memo dated March 13, 2000, described six possible action figures from Hasbro: a “full body tattoo Darth Maul,” Obi-Wan in Jedi pilot training outfit, Anakin Skywalker in cold-weather gear, the pirate Krayn, a Wookiee pirate, and “a possible prototype battle droid.” The memo also listed two Action Fleet vehicles for the Micro Machines line (though it did not elaborate on their type), a roleplaying book from Wizards of the Coast for October 2001, a six-part Dark Horse comic series, and tentative plans for an online interactive comic (possibly included as a CD-ROM with the action figures), as well as an audio drama.

The Jedi Quest multimedia project ultimately did not come to full fruition, though the Scholastic young reader series proved popular enough to carry on without any ancillary product support. Dark Horse only adapted the first book, Path to Truth, as a four-part Jedi Quest series by writer Ryder Windham and artist Pop Mhan in 2001. That year, Hasbro did release several Expended Universe Star Wars action figures – the shirtless Darth Maul; training gear Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul; and a cold-weather gear Obi-Wan – but none bore any mention of the Jedi Quest series. Hasbro did use the Jedi Quest name for a Kids Club, an online promotion for kids aged four through twelve that included a short-lived magazine spotlighting Hasbro Star Wars toys. The roleplaying, interactive, and audio tie-ins never materialized.

The Jedi Quest series was also meant to offer glimpses of Episode II, but only Path to Truth arrived in advance of the 2002 Episode II tie-in titles. The insectoid Colicoid aliens featured in the book were at one point planned to be the first appearance of Geonosian aliens prior to the Attack of the Clones.[1]

Continuity

The adventures experienced by Kenobi and Skywalker in the ten-year gap between Episodes I and II (32-22 BBY) are alluded to in the Episode II novelization by R. A. Salvatore, Attack of the Clones, when Jedi protector Anakin Skywalker has escorted Senator Padmé Amidala back to Naboo after two assassination attempts on her life in the galactic capital of Coruscant.

Retiring to the seclusion of the Naberrie family's island retreat of Varykino in the remote Lake Country of Naboo, Anakin and Padmé, after an enjoyable meadow excursion, meet at dusk on the lodge's dining terrace that looks out over the lake for their evening meal. It is then, after the pair has settled in at the table, that Skywalker begins "recounting some of the adventures he had known over the last ten years, training and flying with Obi-Wan."[2]

The working title for Secrets of the Jedi was Jedi Quest Special Edition.

Media

Installments

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Essential Reader's Companion
  2. ↑ Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones novelization

External links

Star Wars: Jedi Quest
The Way of the Apprentice (unabridged) · The Trail of the Jedi (unabridged)
The Dangerous Games (abridged) · The Master of Disguise (abridged)
The School of Fear · The Shadow Trap · The Moment of Truth
The Changing of the Guard · The False Peace · The Final Showdown
Tie-in media
Path to Truth
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