I realized the other day that I've kind of abandoned my first love in reading, Science Fiction! I love fantasy, but I decided it was high time to work some Science Fiction back into my reading diet. Why did I start with Star Wars? I have no clue. I just was randomly looking for books and decided that a book about Yoda was a GREAT way to restart reading Science Fiction.

"Yoda - Dark Rendezvous" by Sean Stewart is a Clone Wars novel. I was a little nervous about it because I've never really liked the Clone Wars novels as much as the rest of Star Wars canon, but it's about Yoda! I'm glad I picked it up, because I definitely was not disappointed!

In this book Count Dooku has decided to try and take out Master Yoda by inviting him to his hideout under the guise of forming a treaty. Yoda, knowing this is probably a trick, decides to go anyway, and takes along two Jedi Masters and their Padawans.

Stewart took the time for us to get to know the young Padawans before they left for Dooku's hideout. We meet them as they prepare for a Force Tournament. Scout is nervous as she faces the tournament because, while she's always worked hard, the force has never been strong in her. This is her last chance to prove her worth, and if she doesn't she knows she will probably be reassigned to the Agricultural Corps.

Whie doesn't have as much to worry about. He has a close relationship with his Master, and the force has always been strong with him. He does, however, occasionally have prophetic dreams that can be well, disturbing, to say the least. One of his most recent one's has left him distractable, and that will affect his performance.

We learn a lot about both Padawans through the tournament, and Scout amazes everyone! But no one is more astounded than her when she's assigned a Master and told she's going on a trip with Master Yoda!

One thing Stewart did a magnificent job with was his portrayal of Yoda. He did an incredible job at recreating the beloved Master, and he threw in a great mix of laughter as well. Both from Yoda, and through out the rest of the book! If you like Star Wars at all, I recommend this book. ( )

This book was disappointing in both quality and in the story itself. It was such an interesting concept to explore the apprentice relationship for Yoda, but the plot did not deliver and location and other details seemed even less real than other expanded universe Star Wars stories. I eventually sold it off. ( )

This book was pretty entertaining. While not the best of Star Wars books, it was far from the worst of them. The author absolutely butchered Yoda's speech patterns, but I think he did a very nice job of capturing his personality, especially his humor.

The story itself was just okay. Needlessly complicated, but at least part of that pays off in the end. What really makes the book are the characters and the way they interact. Some of the dialogue may have been clunky in places, but the spirit behind it was true, for the most part. The last scene with Yoda and Dooku was particularly intriguing, and any passages with Asajj Ventress are riveting.

If you're looking for a Star Wars novel to read, you could do a lot worse than this one. ( )

Let's face it: most Star Wars books are atrocious. Every once in a great while, however, there's a really great one that makes the whole series worthwhile. This book really surprised me by being one of those. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.a... ( )