A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a great war raging between Jedi and Sith.

This was a long time before Luke Skywalker was even the hint of a gleam in his great-great-great-granddaddy's eye. Back then, there were a lot of Sith -- not just two, as conventional wisdom seems to dictate in more modern times. And in this story, a handful of young children recruited for the war effort will have a great impact on the future of both Jedi and Sith.

This book, written by Darco Makan, is a very different perspective on the Jedi and Sith philosophies. Coupled with fine -- if not outstanding -- art by Ramon F. Bachs, Jedi vs. Sith is an interesting look backwards in the Star Wars universe. Still, I can't help but feel it might have been so much more. Too much rides on the shoulders of untrained children (Didn't we all learn a lesson from little Anakin??) and some young readers might be disturbed by the amount of violence, particularly enacted against children and, uh, gentle green flying empathic cottonballs. Also, the personalities of various Jedi and Sith characters never develop enough to become distinct from one another.

At 144 pages, Jedi vs. Sith is too short and the transitions too abrupt to adequately tell the story. Perhaps with a little more room to grow, this could have been a much better chapter from the days before the Old Republic.