Rating: 
Summary: The Approaching Menace
Review: Alan Dean Foster is an author long connected with the Star Wars universe. After all, he ghost-wrote the original novelization (a fact which for years was pretty much an open secret in fandom), and was also responsible for Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the very first 'original' Star Wars novel (and to many fans a classic, even if it was superceded by The Empire Strikes Back). Foster, I understand, originally had plans to write more SW novels, but shelved them when Lucas forbad the publication of additional original novels after Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, a position which continued for some ten years. But now that the original novels are a mainstay for the Star Wars universe, Foster was invited back and has now produced his take on the 'first' trilogy.Although billed as an exciting prequel to Attack of the Clones, The Approaching Storm does not fill in the gaps to that film as much as, say, Cloak of Deception does for The Phantom Menace. The story is more formulaic than original, and for that it unfortunately suffers. Obi-Wan and his Padawan Annakin meet up with another Jedi/Padawan pair, Luminara and Barriss Offee. The four of them are tasked with keeping the planet Ansion from seceding from the Republic, an event which would thereby set in motion a chain of events which would see other planets doing the same. Opposing them is a Hutt and his majordomo, while behind those two is the same shadowy galaxy-spanning conspiracy that is the backdrop for the entire first set of films. The problem with the story is that the plot is rather more haphazard than it should be. The Jedi and their Padawans spend most of the novel journeying across Ansion in search of a band of nomads in order to promote a peace treaty between opposing factions among the planet's population. Along the way they encounter one obstacle after another, from storms and natural predators, to double-dealing traders and tribal politics. In this way, the story is more of a quest novel than anything, with the Holy Grail being their sought-after peace treaty. But the problem with this is that at times the book seems to wander aimlessly, with the author searching for yet another challenge to pit his characters against after the previous one has been vanquished. Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible way to tell a story, but as a narrative it does get awfully repetitive. What saves the novel, though, is the heavy dose of characterization Foster provides, something for which Foster is rather good at. We learn quite a bit about Annakin and Obi-Wan, and especially about their relationship leading into Attack of the Clones. In this way we come to see even more that the coming fall of Annakin into Darth Vader is going to be an event of truly tragic proportions, as someone who is basically a good kid is forced by circumstances to be molded into something quite evil. A hint of what is to come can be found in The Approaching Storm, and it's made even more insidious by the realization that, under the circumstance of the deteriorating Republic, there are some very sound reasons why anyone might choose the path that Annakin is destined to trod. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here... Anyway, the new Jedi/Padawan pair that Foster creates is also quite interesting, and I for one would look forward to seeing them again in another novel in the future (as Foster clearly sets up). My only real complaint here is that the nominal villains of the story, the Hutt and his majordomo, are rather lackluster and pathetic, almost tacked on as an afterthought as an excuse to send the characters gallivanting across the countryside and to literally provide fodder for Jedi lightsabers. Foster has written better, but that isn't to say this book is not worth your time. If you're a fan of the first trilogy, this is an acceptable pit stop while waiting for the third film to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: A character study of... whom?
Review: I loved the character of Luminara. She is such a classy character, and I loved the subtle hints of attraction between her and Obi-Wan. Barriss was a decently-written character, and it was nice to see her mature a bit throughout the story.
However, if this was supposed to be a character study of Anakin, I feel this book just didn't deliver. Most of the story is told from Luminara's and Barriss' points of reference, so you really don't get in the head of Anakin much.
I agree that the author used too much passive voice, and it really became annoying when you'd feel like important parts of the story were just summarized.
Overall, I felt that the story was going along at a nice pace for the first 100 pages or so, and then the author just felt like cramming in a bunch of random encounters. How many times can the characters look to the horizon as *something menacing* approaches?
The story did finally pick up the pace toward the end, and the political intrigue of the last chapter was nice, but I felt like it was too little, too late. You won't be missing anything by skipping this one.
Rating:
Summary: Three and a half stars really .. .
Review: This was a good book. I think that it could have been better, but it was worth reading. I did like the Luminara and Bariss characters a lot. I have read complaints about the Dooku character being too vague. . . I thought that it was a great tease for the Episode II. I think that Dooku represented well, the sith, working in the shadows as a puppeteer. He pulled the strings and planted seeds. Being small in numbers, the sith must plant the seeds of deciept because they can't do all the work themselves. They prey on the insecurity, paranoia, and hatred of others. Anyway, it was a good book and well placed. A great preview of what was to come in Episode II.
Rating: 
Summary: There's a reason you can get this book for half price
Review: This book is terrible. It's 352 pages of character development, much like The Phantom Menace. The plot isn't too bad in concept, but other than Obi-Wan and Anakin, the characters are made very uninteresting, and they spend the whole time doing boring things that I didn't really care about. At one point, the four Jedi involved take turns entertaining their hosts with singing, dancing and storytelling. Foster spends many pages on this. It was boring and meaningless, other than for character development, and why is he developing characters halfway through the novel? Foster doesn't paint the inhabitants of Anison very well. It was very hard to get a mental picture of any of them, which was frustrating. I had to force myself to finish this novel, promising myself that it would get better, but it never did. Very boring. I expected much better. Save you money and time.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: The events of this book take place right before Episode II of the continuing Star Wars saga. The Jedi Council has sent two Jedi Knights, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli, to resolve the conflict on Ansion between the city dwellers and the fierce independent nomads of the planet. Ansion is a strategic planet in the growing secessionist movement. If the conflict is not resolved and secessionists win then a long list of alliances with join the movement. Obi-Wan and Luminara, along with their Padawans Anakin Skywalker and Barriss Offee, set out across the wilderness filled with many perils, natural and otherwise. Darker forces are behind a number of enemies bent on seeing the mission fail. This is a great book to understanding the events in Episode II that soon follows. Keep in mind we see here the beginning of young Anakin's growing awareness of the Force and his role with it. Alan Dean Foster's book will not disappoint the avid Star Wars fan.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK [DISAPPOINTED ME]
Review: A.D. Foster is capable of writing well. "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" was a great novel. "The Approaching Storm" is not. The writing is sloppy, he uses waaaay too much passive voice and he leaves out too much detail. Whole days and whole conversations and essential dialog happen off-screen. And he's very repetitive! It's almost as though he's writing for 10-year-olds. Where're the freakin editors?! I saw misspellings and typos in this book!!! The way our four Jedi work with the Force is inconsistent; the characters are all one-dimensional; the plot is predictable; the dialog is terrible (but Lucas is just as guilty of that); the story is too neat and clean and not nearly compelling enough to warrant 350+ pages. This book was a waste of my time. ...
Rating: 
Summary: A Nice Set-up for Episode Two
Review: I thought this was a very good book. I agree with a review that said Foster was endless in his descriptions of the journey, but it was well written and therefore easily read. The plot:... Overall review: I thought this was a good story and helps to explain all of the political stuff going on in Episode Two. However, my favorite thing about this book was the character development. I liked seeing Anakin trying to be a good padawan and not always succeeding. He may be the "Chosen One", but he's still a teenager. I also liked seeing how Obi-Wan has grown. He's managed to step out of Qui-Gon's and Anakin's shadows and find a place for himself where he is seen and respected for who he is in his own right.
Anyway, if you liked Episode Two, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Your bad reviews are so funny. ha ha ha ha ha
Review: ... Now to the book. I like this book because It's the prelude to Attack Of The Clones. I like how it got me anxious to see the film of Attack Of The Clones. I like how the Jedi are sent to a planet to negociate for it to stay in the republic. I like how Anakin and Obi-wan are part of the picture. This is a very good book. Alan Dean Foster is a good author who wrote this book. The bad reviews are all Count Dooku's falt. I'm glad I bought this while there was enough time to get ready for Attack Of The Clones. I highly recommend this audio book to future fans.
Rating:
Summary: Secession threatens tottering Republic control.
Review: Alan Dean Foster's first Star Wars novel in almost twenty-five years is a direct lead in for Episode II: Attack of the Clones, so it reads more like the first part of a trilogy rather than a stand alone novel. The story begins as Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are sent out to aide another Jedi Knight and her Padawan in negotiations with the planet Ansion,... Readers expecting a more action packed Star Wars adventure might be disappointed with the amount of world building that Foster does in the narrative and the conclusion leaves the reader hanging (like I said, it's meant to flow right into Episode II), hopefully Foster will write a sequel to this tale and interpolate the narrative events of Attack of the Clones, thus creating a book-movie-book trilogy within the arc of the prequel trilogy. Recommended to ADF fans more than SW fans.
Rating:
Summary: What a frustrating waste of time.
Review: It's hard to describe in 1,000 words what a disappointment this book was. Alan Dean Foster must have been paid by the word. That's the only thing that explains the endless, pointless descriptions of alien animal life. Every dialog is three times longer than it needs to be - the author says the same thing three times in different ways, adding no insight. I'm a big fan of Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice series. This book is nothing like those. It has no plot and offers no insight into the Jedi world or the political situation that leads up to AotC. It doesn't even focus on Obi Wan and Anikan. Rather, it focuses on a different, superfluous, obnoxious, condescending Master/Padawan team. If you are going to read this book, you can safely skip chapters 7 through 14 (inclusive) and miss absolutely nothing important. Better yet, read all of the Jude Watson books instead.
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