The Ghostling Children

Star Wars Episode I Adventures #5

by Dave Wolverton

The Ghostling children live on a beautiful isolated world, safe from harm... until they are captured by an evil trader. Soon they find themselves on the harsh planet of Tatooine, about to be sold to the terrifying Gardulla the Hutt.

Their only hope of survival is a young slave named Anakin and his friends.

Can the Ghostings be freed?

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Gamebooks

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dave Wolverton (born 1957) is a science fiction author who also goes under the pseudonym David Farland for his fantasy works. He currently lives in St. George, Utah with his wife and five children.

(Wikipedia entry: Dave Wolverton)

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is 2.5 stars.

This is part of a series that is meant for children. This is the beginning of a new arc to this series so one could use this as a starting point. In this one, a young Anakin and his friends discover a crate full of children that is going to be sold as slaves. Anakin and his friends are determined to rescue these children.

These books are very quick reads and I would liken them more to an essential scene that just ends and the next book will pick up the action. I did think that this one is the best one so far but as you can tell by my rating that really isn't saying much. Finally, one of these books delve into exploring characters as we see how potential slaves affect slaves that are already in custody. Up to this point, these books have focused on the action sequences with very little characterization. This book is a little more spread out between the characters and the action. I also liked having Selbulba in this book as I only know about his character from The Phantom Menace.

I still say all of these book should have been combined into one omnibus collection. This one was a little better so maybe the authors of these books have finally figured out what to do with these quick reads. I will read the next one to see if my assumption is correct.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in 32BBY

If you want a Star Wars story that will make you hate Star Wars, then this is your jam. Go crazy!

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. But unlike the previous books, it didn't have a set main character. I know it starts off the Anakin-based arc, but he didn't feel like the main character. I did enjoy learning that Anakin has more friends on Tatooine than were shown in Episode I. I loved getting to know his best friend Kitster better and meeting his friends Pala the Twi'lek and Dorn the Bothan. I wasn't surprised that Sebulba is involved in the slave trade with Gardulla the Hutt. It was interesting to learn more about Gardulla. The Ghostling children, especially Princess Arawynne could have been further developed. I loved the rescue plot and how the kids adapted when things went wrong. Dressing up as Jawas, including wearing simulated glowing eyes, was smart. I was intrigued by the cube that Anakin bought off the Jawa trader at The Market. I was convinced that it was a Jedi Holocron, until Anakin was getting evil vibes off of it. Despite having read quite a few Star Wars books that took place on Tatooine, I feel that this book does a great job in describing the different settings.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little adventure. It's interesting that this one doesn't focus on the more actiony adult characters but instead focuses on a young Anakin skywalker and his friends.

I really like the feel of this one, especially when we get into the section that the gamebook is covering. You can see a lot of the choices that the player of the game is making and feels a bit like a choose your own adventure despite the fact that you're not making any choices.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm shocked. This book was really quite good, especially given that it's only part of the story. The extra handful of pages (it was slightly longer than Windham's contributions to the series) might have helped with the pacing. Wolverton is also a much better writer (which isn't a slight against Windham - Wolverton is just brilliant).

[Swati Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this little gem and think it’s perfect for kids first venturing into Star Wars. The writing is fantastic and engaging. I loved how thoughtful and resourceful Anakin and his young friends are.

One caveat for very young readers - slavery is really horrifying and these kids are slaves so that could be tough

[Zuzana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anakin and his friends attempt to rescue a group of Ghostling children kidnapped by Sebulba and sold to Gardulla the Hutt. What starts as a nighttime rescue quickly escalates into a full-blown action sequence with fights and chases through Gardulla’s desert fortress. Frankly, the whole thing doesn’t make much sense.

[Cat {Pemberley and Beyond} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this one for the first time since 2000(!) Still a quick, light read aimed at kids. Still enjoyed it.

[Kat V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the last few books. The story was more interesting and the writing was leagues better.

[Barbara Oudová Holcátová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than most of these tbh. Even quite exciting. Also longer.

[Gary Varga · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too simple, predictable, and not a lot of interest with regards to either the story or the characters.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the back cover - Now flashback to the time before Episode I.
The Ghostling children live on a beautiful, isolated world, safe from harm ... until they are captured by an evil trader. Soon they find themselves on the harsh planet of Tatooine, about to be sold to the terrifying Gardulla the Hutt.
Their only hope of survival is a young slave named Anakin and his friends.
Can the Ghostlings be freed?

This is a fun kids book that includes young Anakin and three of his closest friends (all slaves as well). While checking out Sebulba's latest 'improvements' to his podracer, the group stumbles upon the captured Ghostling children. The princess of the Ghostlings happens to be one of the captives and begs for Anakin and his friends to help free them. The group decides that they have to at least try to help and end up sneaking into Gardulla's fortress to try and free the Ghostlings before the slave transmitters are implanted in them. They have a whirlwind adventure in their effort to free the Ghostlings. There is a role play book that goes along with this where you can actually chose Anakin or one of his friends to play in an effort to free the Ghostlings, but it isn't necessary. Overall my students loved it and I enjoyed reading it to them. Great kids book :)

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Spoiler Warning)
Anakin and his friends find out that a group of children known as Ghostlings have been kidnapped to be sold as slaves to Gardulla the Hutt. One of the slaves is the princess of the Ghostlings. She pleads with Anakin and Kitster to rescue them. At first the children don't think it is possible, but then decide to make the effort. Disguised as Jawas they sneak into Gardulla's fortress and after a series of narrow escapes from guards, droids, and Gardulla herself, they finally reach the Ghostlings. Unfortunately the Ghostlings are very frail and come from a planet where the gravity is much lighter, so they aren't able to run far. Kitster comes up with a plan to hide them within the fortress itself and come back to finish the rescue when the heat dies down.

This was a very enjoyable story. Written for children, it was still action packed and a fun read. I liked how it included all the children working together with their individual abilities to free the Ghostlings.

[Shawn Fairweather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pet Peeve #Does it really matter at this point? Why does a character of significance require a backstory of any magnitude? I get Darth Vader came from somewhere, thats a valid concept and story, but at this point, anything prior to Qui Gon discovering him is overkill. Anakin doesn't have to have a heroic storyline dating back to creation for crying out loud. Just let him emerge out of nowhere and allow the mysteriousness of his nature define who he is.

Fluf piece of Anakin saving the world at what 5 years old? sheesh.

[Iman Susay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was amazing