Star Wars is my jam. Since Lucasfilm rebooted the canon post-Disney purchase, I’ve been reading all of the adult, young adult, and junior novels (and comics) released. Whenever a new Star Wars book is announced, I always go ahead and preorder it for my Kindle. Then, I wait for the book to be released with some anticipation depending on the topic of any particular book.
HOWEVER, when Star Wars announced the new publishing initiative set during The High Republic Era, I was super pumped. A well-thought out series of books and comics set 200 years prior to The Phantom Menace when the Jedi were at their peak? Yes, please! I was bummed when everything got pushed back to the beginning of 2021 due to COVID, but it’s a small price to pay considering *waves hands in the air* the year that was 2020.
The first adult novel released in The High Republic Era is Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi. It’s Soule’s first foray into Star Wars novels following his terrific work on the comic side of things. I’ve never read any of Soule’s books prior to this, but it’s likely that I’ll do it at some point now. Why?
Light of the Jedi is the best Star Wars book that I’ve ever read. Some spoilers ahead…
Soule has the responsibility of introducing the entire era to Star Wars fans. The first third of the book kicks off with “The Great Disaster” of the Legacy Run being destroyed in hyperspace. The fragments of the ship then began appearing randomly throughout the galaxy along the Outer Rim causing chaos and destruction.
Enter: the Republic and the Jedi.
Soule manages to introduce dozens of new heroes while, at the same time, giving extensive build to our major characters and not short-changing the minor ones. Avar Kriss. Loden Greatstorm. Jora Malli. Sskeer. Porter Engle. Burryaga. Elzar Mann. Bell Zettifar. And, that’s just some of the Jedi.
The first third of the book gave me such anxiety as the Republic and the Jedi worked to prevent the destruction of the entire Hetzal system. Millions of innocent people are dead before we are even formally introduced to our villains. Before the book is complete, the death count is in the billions.
Enter: the Nihil.
Leading up to The High Republic, the various writers involved in this project talked about how the Nihil were a villain unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in Star Wars. Our first real introduction to them is when they brutally decimate some ships evacuating from a planet that suffered destruction due to the “Emergences” from the Legacy Run disaster.
Marchion Ro is the “super villain” of this era, and his character is an incredibly interesting one. As “The Eye” of the Nihil, Ro is responsible for delivering the “Paths” that the Nihil use to get through hyperspace on lanes that the average person doesn’t know exist. What is Ro’s endgame? He clearly wants something and plans on using the Nihil to reach it.
Soule does a terrific job of delivering a great standalone novel, while setting up an entire era of storytelling in the Star Wars universe. The book is going to receive a lot of praise, and it’s deserving of it all.
(originally written January 2021)
