Jedi Readers: Attack of the Clones: Anakin: Apprentice

Anakin: Apprentice

Author: Marc Cerasini

Illustrator: Tommy Lee Edwards

Medium: Picture book

Publication Date: April 2002

Timeline Placement: 22 BBY

 

This story takes place during the opening of Attack of the Clones, in between the assassination attempt on Senator Amidala that opens the film and the elevator scene that introduces Anakin and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan has just gotten the assignment from the Jedi Council and he tells Anakin to pack his things. Anakin stumbles across an old sketch of Padmé that he drew in his journal some years ago. I think that this is some uncharacteristically thorough promotional synergy, as there was another Episode II tie-in released around this same time called Anakin Skywalker: A Jedi's Journal. Rather than a storybook, it was a facsimile of Anakin Skywalker's in-universe journal, featuring notes and doodles from him, as well as space for the reader to write entries of their own. I'm pretty sure that this is that same journal, here in Anakin: Apprentice! Hurroar, hurroar!

Anakin reminisces about his past adventures, including events from Rogue Planet and Jedi Quest, but also a shocking amount of original story content as well. We see Anakin constructing his lightsaber, littering the Jedi Temple with his pet droids, and participating in various illegal street races. Finally Obi-Wan returns, jarring Anakin from his reveries. The book ends with the two of them stepping into the elevator that will take them to Padmé's apartment, seconds before Obi-Wan utters the immortal line "I haven't seen you this tense since we fell into that nest of gundarks."

The story itself here isn't that remarkable, the whole book takes place over the span of about ten minutes, but I'm still impressed by the multiple levels of continuity at play here in this random one-off children's book. There's the promotional tie-in in with A Jedi's Journal, direct continuity references to other Expanded Universe stories, and then multiple pieces of all-new backstory introduced to further fill the ten-year gap between Episodes I and II. So far these picture books haven't been especially connected to anything in the greater EU, so it's cool to find one that actually feels like a piece of a larger whole.