Light of the Jedi by Charles SouleMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A long time ago in a high school and college far away, I spent a large chunk of my reading time on Star Wars novels. This was in the days of the old Expanded Universe prior to the current Disney era. Back then, the series that really grabbed buy attention was The New Jedi Order, a bold push forward into Star Wars’s future after the “Return of the Jedi” that included a fascinating new villain very different from the Sith and the other Dark Side Force users the EU had made its bread and butter. And while my interest was always engaged, no other Star Wars novel series quite piqued my interest again. That is, until now. Set 200 years before the prequel trilogy, the High Republic series will explore an interconnected story in a period of Star Wars history never covered before, not even during the pre-Disney EU era. After reading this first novel in this new series, I can say that I am incredibly excited and looking forward to more tales from this era.
As said above, The High Republic is set about 200 years before “The Phantom Menace” movie. This is a time when the Sith are believed to have been destroyed at least 800 years before and are in hiding, so there are no Darths to speak of (though you never know if there might be a connection between this series’ villains and those wielders of the Dark Side). At the same time, it’s about 200 years before the birth of Anakin Skywalker, so there are no Skywalkers either. No Sith, no Skywalkers, no Solos, no Kenobis. That may not sound particularly enticing to a new comer, but it is actually quite refreshing. While a few characters such as Yoda and a few deep cut members of the Jedi Council from the prequel trilogy are name dropped, almost none of them make an appearance of any kind of significance. Yoda pops up at the very end, but he doesn’t even have a single line of dialogue. That means that almost every character is new and, most importantly, their water is uncertain. Indeed, without any connection to major characters in the Star Wars movies, any one of these characters can fail, be hurt, or die at any moment. And many of these characters do, including a few characters that readers might grow attached to.
Another fascinating aspect of this story is the just the era it is in. With the Jedi-Sith Wars 800 years in the past and the Clone Wars, Galactic Civil War, and the First Order 200 years in the future, the High Republic is a golden age for the Republic and the Jedi with both of them at the peak of their power and influence. The galaxy is largely at peace, the Republic is led by a seemingly wise and benevolent Chancellor Lina Soh, and the Jedi have never been more powerful, influential, and numerous throughout the galaxy. And the first third of this book is, in effect, a showcase of just how powerful they are at this point. When an accident in hyperspace obliterates a large space ship and the wreckage threatens billions of lives in one particular system and throughout the Outer Rim, the Republic and the Jedi work together to save as many lives as they can. The Jedi in particular, show off an incredible amount of Force abilities in this first third of the book, put into sharp relief just how powerful they are at this point in Star Wars history. Whereas the movies always have this dark undercurrent of authoritarianism, rebellion, and evil, the High Republic is an incredibly hopeful period in Star Wars history, best summed up by Chancellor Soh’s slogan that becomes a kind of mantra for Jedi and normal people in this novel, and one that could even speak to our current troubled times in America: “We are al the Republic."
The last two thirds of this novel deals with the mystery of what caused this happened and introduces the new villains of this series, the Nihil. This is, perhaps, the weakest part of the novel and what keeps me from giving this book a full five stars (I would give this 4.5 stars, but Goodreads does not allow for half stars). Currently, the Nihil are just a riff on the “Vikings in space” caricature. Using some rather mysterious technology, the Nihil are able to raid planets and ships throughout the Outer Rim at will. Sadly, at present they are just not as interesting an adversary for the Republic and Jedi as say the Sith, the Empire or even the First Order. That said, there seems to be a bit of mystery behind the Nihil’s sinister leader, Marchion Ro, that has yet to be fully revealed. The Nihil may not be super interesting right now, but with Marchion Ro beginning to enact a grand plan to cripple the Republic and the Jedi and his motivations for doing so not completely clear, it will be interesting to see these villains develop.
One last gripe I have with this series thus far is how exactly everything fits together. Unlike the previous Star Wars EU, while adult, YA, and middle grade/children books were all connected, they also operated within their own bubbles. But the High Republic series appears to incorporate adult, YA, and middle grade/children books into one overarching interconnected series. But since I don’t always have the money to buy every single book in the series, which books are the most important to read. Can one just stick to the adult novels and be satisfied or will the YA and middle grade/children’s books have significant plot points too? For all the online media Star Wars has been generating since announcing the High Republic, that question has not been answered in a satisfactory way.
Overall, I am incredibly excited about this new publishing event. The High Republic showcases the Republic and the Jedi at their peak and with this series set far enough away from other major characters and events in Star Wars, there is a level of uncertainty and unpredictability that is absolutely refreshing for Star Wars novels. Whether you are a lifelong fan of Star Wars or new to it, I would highly recommend this first novel in the series to you.
“We are all the Republic!”
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