“The Approaching Storm” (2002) has a heckuva hook: It’s the first “Star Wars” novel from Alan Dean Foster since the late 1970s, when he wrote the “A Nope Hope” novelization and “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye,” the first Expanded Universe novel. And it’s a lead-in to “Episode II: Attack of the Clones.”
The end result is a disappointingly boring novel. Granted, I do like some things about it. I think it’s cute that Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee are essentially female equivalents of Obi-Wan and Anakin. Luminara, a staunchly traditional Jedi like Obi-Wan, sometimes struggles to keep her motherly feelings toward her Padawan at bay. And Barriss, like Anakin, is headstrong and finds galactic politics to be mind-boggling and illogical. While Anakin is known for being loving and caring (to a fault), Barriss similarly possesses the ability to heal. She’ll notably flex those muscles in the “MedStar” duology, but here she uses the Force to heal the brains of two mentally challenged nomads.
If one considers “The Approaching Storm” to be the starting point of their arc (although Luminara had a small role back in “Cloak of Deception,” she was ignored throughout the post-“Episode I” stories, and this is Barriss’ first appearance), then the finale of “Clone Wars” Season 5 could be seen as the end. In that story, an initially well-intentioned Barriss falls to the dark side when she turns on her friend Ahsoka, the Jedi and the Republic – very much a sneak-preview of what Anakin will do in “Episode III.” Luminara and Barriss will both pop up in the Battle of Geonosis in “Episode II” and in the “Clone Wars” novels, comics and TV incarnations, and I’m looking forward to revisiting them.
“The Approaching Storm” takes place on Ansion, which we’re told is a pivotal planet for the sake of the Republic’s stability. The Jedis’ goal is to get the planet’s nomads to agree to peace with the planet’s city-dwellers and for the whole planet to stay in the Republic. The set-up is contrived, but I’ll allow it as launching point for a “Hobbit”-like quest novel.
Similar to “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye,” a group of seven – the four Jedi are joined by two outcast nomads and a quirky member of a more primitive species (in “Splinter,” we got Luke, Leia, the droids, the quirky Jedi woman Halla and two Yuzzem) – journeys to find the prominent society of nomads in order to present their case. “Splinter’s” Mimban was an evocative swamp/jungle planet with mysterious ruins, bottomless pits, underground rivers and cave-dwelling natives. Ansion is much simpler – kind of like Old West, with the various nomadic groups standing in for Indian tribes.
Foster, who writes in a third-person omniscient style that will annoy some readers although I’m OK with it, comes up with one “wow” idea: The lead nomads reside in a massive mobile city, complete with streets. But a lot of the Jedis’ tests are yawn-worthy, silly or both. One tribe asks the four Jedi to entertain them as part of their tradition. I’m willing to put up with prose about Luminara’s Force-assisted dancing, Barriss’ swordsmanship display, Anakin’s singing (!) and Obi-Wan’s storytelling (although I would’ve liked to be told the actual story, rather than being told that he’s telling a story). Sure, it’s slow, but sometimes with quest novels the feeling of satisfaction comes at the end more so than at any given point.
Unfortunately, it gets worse. The silliest test is when Luminara must navigate a herd of massive and dangerous animals to clip a tuft of fur from the rare albino animal in the middle. If she accomplishes this, the lead nomads will agree to hear out the Jedi. While some nice bits of philosophical discussion among the four Jedi help to refresh the novel every now and then, “The Approaching Storm” too often feels like watching someone else proceed through clearly defined stages of a game.
Despite chapter upon chapter of hand-wringing about the upcoming Ansion secession vote by players on all sides, I never doubted that the Jedi would accomplish each task set before them and ultimately achieve their goal of keeping Ansion in the Republic. And even that is a minor accomplishment, as it only delays the inevitable secessions that happen at the end of “Attack of the Clones.” Count Dooku, who is revealed on the final page to be the string-puller, is unfazed: “I consider this nothing more than a temporary setback. The eventual outcome is inevitable, no matter what the irksome Jedi do.”
While Foster obviously was not allowed to shake up the galactic game board, “The Approaching Storm” could’ve been salvaged if it had dug into the politics of secession a bit more. It would’ve been nice to have one character speak about the inherent right of secession and freedom of association. Or it could’ve been a meatier character novel, perhaps with Barriss – who is closer to his age — noticing things about Anakin, or bringing out new aspects of his personality, that Obi-Wan doesn’t.
In “Episode II,” Mace Windu mentions that Obi-Wan has just returned from a border dispute on Ansion. It’s a throwaway line. Too bad the adventure he’s referring to is a throwaway novel.