Kicking off the second mini-trilogy, Mission from Mount Yoda brings a new tenor to the series (as much as possible for a "kids book" series). The base of rebel operations moves from Yavin 4 to Dagobah, and the Empire is also making big changes. The Prophets of the Dark Side, seeing their opportunity to take control now that Trioculus is in carbonite, make a very drastic move and basically steal Trioculus's body and destroy it and Kadann declares himself the new ruler of the Empire. Time passes in a strange way in this series, but we get the basic sense enough time passes for information to get spread around where it needs to be spread. An interesting component of this entry is the antagonism between the Dark Prophets and Hissa, and while the whole Dark Prophets thing seems to contradict Tarkin in Episode IV (when he says Darth Vader is the last of the adherents to the Force, since he must not know the Emperor was Sith, too), it adds an interesting layer to the Empire, with the political moffs antagonistic to the Dark Force users. Hissa pays a heavy price for his loyalty shifts, but we almost feel sympathy for him, considering the terrible pressures upon him by all sides (almost).Another engaging aspect of this story, so to speak, is the relationship of Han and Leia: the authors add some friction to their relationship, slowing down Han's romantic fervor, even making him question his desire to marry her. While that sort of thing is usually irritating in a romantic comedy, its brevity and believeability come across very well, even for a "kids book." It adds just enough of a twist to prolong things without being nonsensical, and the rest of the story adds enjoyable components and moments that make their relationship a bit richer.Similarly, the "Ken is a teenager" subplot again threatens to diminish the enjoyable nature of this for older readers, what with the sort of inane "he has to start school" idea (which is inane, considering he has been raised in the secret Library of the Jedi - the boy knows almost more than our heroes; he's certainly had more formal education than Luke!), but it is again brief and ends quickly and we get back to better action soon enough. At least the authors came up with some slightly plausible reasons for why he has to go to school, indicating his Jedi Library education didn't cover everything (though, he is lacking in mostly practical things, which is a cautionary tale against the purpose of education).The Environmental Problem of the Week is toxic waste dumping, and surprisingly our heroes cannot solve the problem this time. Instead, they aid the sufferers and rescue a civilization's historic art treasures and basically abandon the problem. That gives the story a strange authenticity: they can't just magically counteract decades of toxic waste dumping. Let this be a lesson to you, First World countries.Finally, we meet Triclops, and his connection to Ken and knowledge of Ken's secret past are hinted at well without dragging the story down. The authors do a fine job of wrapping up this story while setting up eager anticipation for what comes next. This series is rather impressive, I must say.
