Junior Jedi Knights 2: Lyric's World by Nancy Richardson (1996)

 Lyric's World

Fighting giant snakes with not very giant spears goes about as well as you'd expect.

I don't think there's really enough going on in these books to do my usual write up, so here's all of it in one chunk. Anakin and Tahiri go to one of Yavin's other moons to help one of the other Jedi candidates (padawan won't be invented for a couple more years) go through mermaid puberty at 20. While there, they find some Massassi writing that almost matches what was in the temple, and are able to (with help) translate it. It's written vertically, but an exact cypher for Basic. Peckhum makes his first Junior Jedi Knights appearance (he was in Young Jedi Knights first, but I'm putting those off). He's a freighter pilot who makes deliveries to the academy, ferries the kids around, and fails to supervise them (he leaves because he left some medical supplies behind).

This feels a little more like an actual novel than the previous book. Some parts are still very rushed (finding the symbols, the purpose of the last act, is over in about a sentence), but it at least has a semblance of multiple plots, structure, etc.

The last book is pretty non-violent, but we get some good 90s YA blood and guts when they stab a bunch of monsters. Probably the most stand out part of the book is when Anakin basically Force Chokes the giant snake on the cover to death.

Anakin and Tahiri trying to guard some of the Melodies (mer-people) who are transforming in a pond. They get attacked by a Reel (giant snake). They try to fight it off with rocks and spears (I guess it's so primitive and isolated they don't have blasters, even though the tech is a couple thousand years old and more or less universal). It goes poorly. The snake coils around and starts crushing Tahiri, but Anakin uses the Force to reach inside it and stop its heart with the Force.

Probably the biggest ongoing thread throughout this series (the Massassi/globe part will be wrapping up next book) is Anakin's concerns that he'll fall to the Dark Side like his namesake. It's a fair plot, if one that doesn't really go that far (it's not Animorphs...) You would think flat out killing something with the Force, and almost doing it the same way Vader did would provoke a bit of concern from Anakin (to say nothing of Luke, Tionne, and anyone else), but it doesn't really come up. Tahiri asks what happened and Anakin says:

“I found its heart and focused on slowing it to weaken the snake. I guess I slowed it so much that it stopped, and the reel died.”

Anakin fell silent. He was surprised at his own power. Sannah walked up to the two Jedi candidates.

Maybe it'll come up again later? Right now, it feels like a very laissez-faire reaction. It's probably okay to kill the giant snake trying to eat your friend, but doing it in such a Dark Side way feels like it should get some kind of thought.

Tomorrow, back to Tatooine. Again.