The Evil Experiment by Jude Watson (Jedi Apprentice Series, Book 12)

 "How dare you question me!" Captain Yur T'aug sprang to his feet and stalked toward Obi-Wan and Astri. He came within centimeters of their faces. "Get out!" he bellowed.

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Qui-Gon Jinn, Jenna Zan Arbor, & Quint

  "Are you telling me I am not wise?" she asked.
  "You have intelligence. Maybe genius. But that is not wisdom."
  He had disturbed her. She covered it with a laugh. "I've heard of Jedi mind tricks. You are trying to get me to doubt myself. That is impossible."
  "Here is an example of what I mean," Qui-Gon said. "You do not recognize what truth is, so you call it a trick. That is why you are not wise, Jenna Zan Arbor. Wisdom is something you cannot identify because you cannot measure it with your instruments."

Conspirator by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner Series, Book 10)

Bren Cameron, Paidhi-Aiji

   The Foreigner series is... science fiction with a healthy dose of political thriller. You know, real-world politics are something I avoid like the plague, but make it politics with aliens, and somehow it becomes fascinating.

   Granted, C. J. Cherryh's writing plays a big part in making it so interesting. I love how immersive the point-of-view is in her books. When Bren Cameron (main character throughout the Foreigner series) is distressed about not knowing where those closest to him are, I'm distressed. When he's exasperated about Cajeiri's constant shenanigans, I'm exasperated, even while I sympathize with Cajeiri's point of view.

Rescuing the youngsters

The Captive Temple by Jude Watson (Jedi Apprentice Series, Book 7)

<---  Xanatos escapes once again, this time by falling back into a rush of water in one of the Jedi Temple's water tunnels...

Obi-Wan and Bant sit together in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.  --->

The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (Thrawn Trilogy, Book 3)

Luke on Honoghr

Noghri commando

   Isn't it great to revisit a book you love -- after a long enough period that you've forgotten all but a few major plot points / characters -- and find that it's just as good as the last time you read it? That's my reaction after this most recent read through the Thrawn Trilogy.

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I'm not quite satisfied with any of the depictions I've seen of the Noghri thus far. My attempt draws from several different versions, and it's at least... closer.

GAME TIME! -- Knights of the Old Republic

My Revan, Juhani, and Bastila

Wait, what? You're drawing stuff from a video game?!

Believe it or not, when I first came up with the idea for this blog, I considered included occasional game-related illustrations. Normally I read way more often than I play games. But then a few weeks ago I decided to finally play through Knights of the Old Republic. 

It's a great story... drew me in quite successfully. Let's just say I've done a lot more gaming than reading lately.

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My version of Revan... plus Mission for height comparison

The defeat of Darth Revan

The Dark Rival by Jude Watson (Jedi Apprentice Series, Book 2)

 It's funny how memory works, isn't it? It has probably been well over ten years since the last time I read this series.

There was one scene in this book which I remembered distinctly . . . Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on a boat, leaving the mining platform where Obi-Wan had been a prisoner... Obi-Wan's electric collar couldn't be removed, so Qui-Gon ever-so-carefully sliced it off with his lightsaber. Ooo, ahhh! What a great picture of how much Obi-Wan already trusts Qui-Gon even before becoming Qui-Gon's padawan! So dramatic!


Guess what? That never happened. What was actually in the book:
     Qui-Gon placed his large hands around the collar, searching for a catch or seam. He could not break the collar, or twist it apart. He set his lightsaber to lower power and tried to cut it, but could not.
  "I need a high power, and that would injure you," he said.
  "Or behead me," Obi-Wan pointed out cheerfully.

... And  no, that exchange didn't happen on a boat. It was on land. And Qui-Gon had already deactivated the collar using the Force before they even got onto the boat in the first place. Oops.

 

 Left: The, uh.. skinny, manga version of Qui-Gon?

Upper right: Xanatos introduces himself as representative for Offworld. 

Lower right: Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon battling dragons in front of a cave, from book 1

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Xanatos

Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1)

Joruus C'baoth (booo! hiss!) aboard the Chimaera, coordinating Thrawn's multi-pronged attack

   [Pellaeon] turned to look at C'baoth's strained face, an icy shiver running up his back. He'd never really bought into Thrawn's theory as to how and why the Fleet had lost the Battle of Endor. Certainly he'd never wanted to believe it. But now, suddenly, the issue was no longer open to argument. 
   And with the bulk of his attention and power on the task of mentally communicating with two other task forces nearly four light-years away, C'baoth still had enough left to do all this.
   Pellaeon had wondered, with a certain private contempt, just what had given the old man the right to add the word Master to his title. Now, he knew.

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Here, enjoy a sketch of one of my least favorite characters from one of my favorite book trilogies. He's not a bad character, mind -- rather, he's one of those villains you love to hate... I feel that way even more so after reading Timothy Zahn's Outbound Flight, which is set many years before this.