The Ties That Bind by Jude Watson is the fourteenth in a series of young reader novels called Jedi Apprentice. All the books in the series are written by Jude Watson, except for the first book, Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force, which was written by Dave Wolverton. The series explores the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi prior to Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.