I wanted this book to be a great bridge between Episode 1 and Episode 2. I bought it years ago, not long after Episode 1 was released, but didn't get around to reading it back then. In retrospect, I missed little.
The story itself isn't complex. It honestly feels like a pretty good first novel of a trilogy introducing the dynamics between the major players. It wasn't that however. The ideas and most of the personalities of this book end up rejected a year after this book is published in the Episode 2 movie.
Ok... about the book itself... the characters with the most character development were Anakin, Senier, and Obi Wan. They had depth and character and really showed not only actions, but great reasoning throughout. I also liked the description of Mace Windu and why he has such prominence in the Jedi order. Utterly lacking I'm development were Tarkin and pretty much any other character mentioned. The story was interesting but, as I said, felt incomplete and like it was a beginning to a longer, more complex story. Having read Greg Bear in the past, I know he works with big ideas, so this was a bit of a surprise.
All in all, because of the dismissal of the boom in later works, it is a book which could be skipped. If, however, if you are curious about another direction the saga could have taken this is a book you don't want to miss.