#Star Wars rogue planet

[soranatus]

Star Wars: Rogue Planet | New official cover illustration by Uzuri

[mrkestis]

Rogue Planet - Greg Bear

A Spoiler-Free Star Wars Book Review

Summary: three years after the invasion of Naboo and the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, young Anakin Skywalker and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent on a mission to find the lost Jedi Vergere. Their journey takes them to the mysterious and legendary planet Zonama Sekot, where the fastest ships in the galaxy are rumoured to be created.

On this planet Anakin will face trials that could shape the course of the rest of his life, and both master and apprentice will encounter some of the great mysteries of the known, and unknown, universe.

Rating: 3.25 ⭐️

My thoughts (spoiler-free):

Let me describe this book with one picture:

In this story we follow Anakin ”adrenaline junkie” Skywalker and Obi-Wan ”stressed parent” Kenobi, and their dynamic is the highlight of the book. Anakin dealing with his trauma by competing in all types illegal racing, and Obi-Wan patiently but exasperatedly becoming well versed in Anakin’s ”radius of potential mischief” in order to take care of him is the content I want. The angst is also never-ending because Anakin doubts his place amongst the Jedi (he thinks they don’t actually want him and just keep him around for his potential), and Obi-Wan doubts his ability to train the boy.

We get quotes like:

”He and Anakin might’ve been brothers separated by only a dubble handful of years, but Obi-Wan was the closest thing the boy could ever have to a father.”

”Obi-Wan had never felt such a strength of connection with any other being, not even Qui-Gon Jinn.”

”Are you ever cheerful, master?”

"Obi-Wan felt a strong urge not to wake the boy up, to let him sleep like this forever, to forever anticipate a great adventure, forever dream of personal triumph and joy. This feeling held too much sentiment and weakness to be allowed, but he allowed it nevertheless. This must be how a father feels, looking down on his son, worried about an uncertain future, Obi-Wan thought.”

This period of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is so underrated, and also severely under-explored in canon. I hope we get a new canon book about them with this type of dynamic soon! Another little detail from this book that I wish was explored in canon as well is Obi-Wan using Qui-Gon’s lightsaber for a significant time after his master’s death.

I’m very picky about Anakin Skywalkers characterisation in Star Wars books, and this story had both positives and negatives. I like that his extreme force sensitivity was emphasised. For example he describes that when he’s meditating it feels like plugging into a supernova, and Obi-Wan constantly mentions how Anakin senses thing more strongly and vividly than him. I also like that his childhood trauma is discussed and affects him deeply, and that it intertwines with his force sensitivity. For example Anakin describes that he dreads sleep, because ”it seemed like in his dreams that something inside was testing him. Something very strong, and it did not care wether it was loved or feared.”

What I don’t like about Anakin’s characterisation in this story was the description of his dark side. It was almost portrayed like an aspect of himself he had no control over, and when it came forth he had no agency over his actions. I don’t like this because while trauma and manipulation certainly played a major part in his turn to the dark side, it was ultimately a choice he willingly made. That’s important, because it makes his choice to turn back to the light so much more impactful in Return of the Jedi.

I also don’t like when Star Wars stories hint at Anakin’s fall to the dark side being inevitable, because it wasn’t! He was steadily on that path for many years, but it was still an avoidable tragedy up until the very end.

(This following paragraph has minor spoilers so you can skip to the next if you want no spoilers at all!). At several points in this book Qui-Gon Jinn speaks to Anakin and Obi-Wan. In one scene they both have to throw things into a fire and watch them burn, and Qui-Gon starts spouting a prophecy about how this is Anakin’s fate and that there will be heat, death and resurrection… So he basically describes that Anakin will burn to a crisp and become Darth Vader, and I don’t like that this is portrayed as his predetermined destiny. However, I do like the idea of Qui-Gon’s ghost floating around and whispering prophecies to people.

The plot of the book is kinda…boring. We spend a lot of time on Zonama Sekot and explore how its inhabitants build semi-living ships, which is an interesting concept, but when most of the book is explanations of the different stages and rituals in the building process it gets very tedious. There are also so many other interesting aspects of the planet but just get brushed over. The plot with Vergere introduces a lot of concepts that I know will become relevant in later legends books, but If you read just this one it feels unfinished and very confusing.

The trials Anakin are described to go on are also just…not that challenging. The events of The Phantom Menace were a hundred times more difficult for Anakin, and yet this book tries to say that this story sets up the path for the rest of Anakin’s life. These events actually shouldn’t have any significant impact in my opinion.

One of my least favorite Star Wars characters is in this book. Tarkin…the racist and fascist with no redeeming qualities. So that didn’t really make the book more enjoyable for me. A character I did like however is one named Charza Kwinn. He’s a Priapulin (a worm basically) pilot working for the Jedi with a ship full of water and aquatic creatures. He’s a fun character that I think would translate very well into animated Star Wars content.

Overall the plot of this book was confusing and a bit boring, and while I really loved Anakin and Obi-Wan’s dynamic I had mixed feelings about Anakin’s characterisation. I would only recommend you read this if you crave deeper legends lore content, because I think it might become relevant in much later books, or if you’re desperate for more Obi-Wan and Anakin angst.

[currentlyonstandbi]

not sure exactly how canon the legends novels are at this point (whether it's maybe an 'until proven otherwise' situation) but the revelation in rogue planet that anakin deliberately tests the boundaries and patience of those closest to him in order to gauge whether their love for him is real or not was too much to handle

[teaandjumpers]

Finished Rogue Planet and my favorite part is in the first chapter where we get a glimpse of Anakin’s early life in the Temple.

He’s building droids no one wants, sneaking out to race, and making Obi-Wan run around Coruscant after him. Meanwhile, Masters are looking on fondly, saying things like, “He will bring you wisdom!”

[finnsdameronss]

Rebelcaptain Fix-It-Week day 6

-> how they live after the war

I think if Jyn and Cassian had survived (which they DID! Gareth Edwards told me so himself) that they would have become parents one way or another.

Maybe they would have children of their own, but I like the idea of them adopting war-orphans. And that they would see each other in their children’s eyes.

[banjodroid]

Obsessed with how rogue planet introduces us to anakin and obi-wan, three years post phantom menace and I think this blurb describes both their dynamic and mentality very well

[skywalkr-nberrie]

Somewhere in that life would be a woman, though Jedi did not often marry. [Anakin] imagined the woman to be like Queen Amidala of Naboo, a powerful person in her own right, lovely and dignified, yet sad and shouldered with great burdens--which Anakin would help lift. [Star Wars: Rogue Planet by Greg Bear]

[the-boroughh]

the part of the Rogue Planet book where Obi-Wan tells of preteen Anakin repairing a droid, dressing it in Jedi robes and sticking it in the corridor outside his door which he then ended up talking to it for what? like 5 minutes before he realized it was a fucking droid is sending me😭

[brazen-kenobi]

“Anakin suddenly jumped out of his chair and hugged his master with a fierceness that took Obi-Wan by surprise. Obi-Wan held the boy gently, and let the moment flow into its own shape. Some padawans were as simple as quiet pools. Only in training did they aquire the depth and complexity that showed maturity. Anakin had been a deep and complex mystery from the first day they had met. And yet, Obi-Wan had never felt such a strength of connection with any other being – not even Qui-Gon Jinn.”

- Greg Bear, Star Wars: Rogue Planet

[darthskys]

"Obi-Wan ... felt a strong urge not to wake the boy up, to let him sleep like this forever, to forever anticipate a great adventure, forever dream of personal triumph and joy. This feeling held too much sentiment and weakness to be allowed, but he allowed it nevertheless.

"This must be how a father feels, looking down on his son, worried about an uncertain future, Obi-Wan thought. I would hate to see him fail. But I would hate far more to lose this boy. I would almost rather freeze time here, and freeze myself with it, than face that.

"[L]ost in this un-Jedi emotion, self-critically, wonderingly, Obi-Wan murmured, 'He is no more special than any other child, is he?'

"Like a whisper in reply, 'To you, he is. And now you know.'"

Greg Bear, Rogue Planet (2000)

hahaha OW OW OW OW OW

~if you tag with øbikiñ, i will block you!~

[sudden-stops-kill]

a planet killer?

[reyturnofbensolo]

Baby Obi/Ani!!

@uzuriartonline

[currentlyonstandbi]

finally finished sw: rogue planet, which details, among other things, anakin's first confirmed canon kill as a jedi. and unless i'm misinterpreting what's described, he essentially takes out his opponent by using the Force to smush this dude's internal organs like an empty soda can . and then proceeds to almost do the same thing to Tarkin lmao

[banjodroid]

There exists a HUGE amount of fic in which obi-wan avoids medical which has long since been proven more fanon than canon but I think people who write that trope are missing the wonderful potential that is twelve year old anakin skywalker

[kyberkanan]

remembered this passage after watching rots oh i need to be buried