These scenes feel detached from one another. Rather than one flowing narrative we have a series of small scenes and minor problems. Soule’s a graphic novelist by inclination and this reads like the worst elements of a comic book mixed in with the worst of a novel. And the fundamental problem lies in the writing style. It’s not, like Rise of Skywalker, so bad it ruins any hope of future stories. Sad to say this is not a great start to a new series. It’s an idea with potential, and Lucasfilm certainly thought so because they created a series from it. A Jedi Order devoid of their self-serving involvement in politics. A Republic before the dark times, before corruption and evil reduced it to a shadow of what it once was. A new era in Star Wars with substantial free reign to decide what galaxy-spanning adventures to tell. This was a book I approached with great enthusiasm. TL DR: A fantastic Space Opera in conversation with the Star Wars we know and love but boldly telling original stories, and I have a feeling the best is yet to come. I can't wait to see what he does with the character next, and what his actions and their repercussions will mean for the characters throughout the High Republic books to come. I don't want to get too much into Marchion Ro for fear of spoiling what he's all about, but trust me when I say that Soule has added a wholly original, unpredictable and downright fiendish Big Bad into the Canon, which at this point can not be an easy feat. Their leaders are just reflections of this canny wantonness: they seek not to rule the Galaxy but to prey upon it at their whim. These Mad Max looking lunatics are the depraved flipside of the Galactic Republic: reavers, killers, pirates and wholesale hedonists who exist in the (metaphorical) shadows cast by initiatives like the Republic's Starlight Beacon space station in the Outer Rim, meant to bring unity, progress and fellow-feeling among the more rugged planets of that area of space. The do? Derring.īut what I most wanted to talk about in this review is the point on which most tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away live or die: the villains. The settings? Mostly original and well-developed. The characters? Quirky, well-defined and memorable. A threat hides in the darkness, far from the light of the age, and harbors a secret that could strike fear into even a Jedi's heart.Ĭharles Soule first came to prominence as a comics writer, including some Star Wars titles such as the extremely well received Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith series but, as proven by his excellent The Oracle Year, prose novels are equally within his wheelhouse.Īs the leadoff (adult) novel of Lucasfilm's High Republic publishing initiative he had a lot of responsibility with this one, both to the readers and his fellow Project Luminous authors, and he delivered in a major way. The hyperspace disaster is far more sinister than the Jedi could ever suspect. As the sky breaks open and destruction rains down upon the peaceful alliance they helped to build, the Jedi must trust in the Force to see them through a day in which a single mistake could cost billions of lives.Įven as the Jedi battle valiantly against calamity, something truly deadly grows beyond the boundary of the Republic. The scope of the emergence, however, is enough to push even Jedi to their limit. No sooner does the call for help go out than the Jedi race to the scene. When a shocking catastrophe in hyperspace tears a ship to pieces, the flurry of shrapnel emerging from the disaster threatens an entire system. But even the brightest light can cast a shadow, and some storms defy any preparation. With the Jedi at the height of their power, the free citizens of the galaxy are confident in their ability to weather any storm. Intrepid hyperspace scouts expand the reach of the Republic to the farthest stars, worlds flourish under the benevolent leadership of the Senate, and peace reigns, enforced by the wisdom and strength of the renowned order of Force users known as the Jedi. Long before the First Order, before the Empire, before the Clone Wars.Jedi lit the way for the galaxy in the High Republic.
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