By: Christian Corah
Descriptives
Page count: Kindle version, 368 pages
Author: Charles Soule
Timeline: High Republic era, which precedes the Skywalker Saga
Main characters: Avar Kriss, Loden Greatstorm, Bell Zettifar, Chancellor Lina Soh, Sskeer, the Nihil, and others (there’s a lot of characters)
Brief synopsis: In an attempt to bring the Republic to the Outer Rim territories, Chancellor Lina Soh plans the launch of the Starlight Beacon. However, this presents a new dangerous enemy to the safety of the Republic: the Nihil.
Gut Feeling
This is easily the most hyped up book in recent memory (perhaps of all time for Star Wars, but I’m not too familiar with Legends), so I had some pretty high expectations. This is our first glimpse into the High Republic era. I was immediately drawn into this book. I thought that the new Jedi and glimpse into the Force would be the most exciting part of it, but it is the Nihil that made the story gripping. They are a unique villain to the Jedi that I wasn’t really expecting. That’s not to say that Soule didn’t do a great job with expanding what we know about the Jedi, because he did. The Nihil were just my favorite part. This book certainly lived up to the hype, so let’s get into the details.
Characters (8/10 pts)
There were a LOT of new characters in Light of the Jedi. Mostly new Jedi, but it seemed like every different kind of character had many different types. Those that didn’t like this book mostly point to this as one of the issues. It really is difficult to say who the main character was (it may be easier to detect the main villain) because there are just so many. I do understand this critique because it really does take some intentional focus to keep track of all the characters. However, that being said, the point of this book is to introduce us to a whole new world of Star Wars characters. Because of that, I think it is OK to judge the characters more by their quantity instead of their quality. If the book just focused on developing a few characters, it wouldn’t have done as good a job as introducing us to these characters. That being said, there are still characters that I loved and want to see more of. These include two of my favorite new Jedi, Avar Kriss and Loden Greatsorm, and one of the best new villains in Star Wars, Marchion Ro. Having this many characters can be hard to keep up with, but Soule did a great job with them so I am giving 8 points.
Writing Style (9/10 pts)
Seeing as the High Republic is a prominent Star Wars book project, the best authors were chosen for it. I’ve only read Charles Soule’s comics, so I didn’t really know what to expect in this book. I was pleasantly surprised with how good Soule’s writing style was. He does a great job of establishing depth without using too many words. The book felt deep and intellectual while being able to flow well. This is sort of the gold standard for adult novels. Even for the high quality writing of all Star Wars books, Light of the Jedi is receiving an above average score of 9 points.
Plot (9.25/10 pts)
There really isn’t anything bad to say about the plot of Light of the Jedi, and there is a lot of good. From the very beginning of the book, Soule establishes the direction that the novel will take. There is a tragedy which represents a new problem that the Jedi of the High Republic must work to solve. It also introduces and establishes new characters in Star Wars amidst excitement, which completely bypasses the sometimes boring introductory parts of the book. The book did slow down a little bit about a quarter in, but it really did need some time to develop the world and story. The rest of the book was a series of peaks and valleys that all led up to an exciting and climatic finish. Even though this book wasn’t not the full story (as we know, there are other novels in this series), it felt like it could stand alone. The exception is the Epilogue which opened the door to continue the story. The plot was complicated, hard to predict, made sense, and very exciting. I am giving a nearly perfect score of 9.25 points.
Intrigue (9.5/10 pts)
Like many others, my intrigue for this book was basically peaked even before I started reading it. Especially because the release was pushed back, my excitement to read Light of the Jedi was high. This book probably could have been below average and my intrigue for it still would have been high. And this book was actually a really good book, even if it wasn’t establishing the High Republic era. This is fairly evident given the scores for the other sections. Soule just wrote a really good book. I was intrigued to learn more about the Jedi, fascinated by the complexity of the Nihil (whenever they start bumping music during a battle, I just get hyped), and compelled by the plot. 9.5 points for intrigue.
What does it add? (10/10 pts)
I expected this section to be the strongest for Light of the Jedi, and that is certainly correct. Now, I do want to mention that this book will obviously score well in this section. It quite literally establishes a new time period for Star Wars with many new Jedi. Because of that, I raise the bar a bit for this book. I think it is fair to expect Light of the Jedi to add even more to Star Wars to get the same score as other books. Well, it certainly did that. How the Jedi operate in this book is vastly different than what we see in the Prequel trilogy. We really see what it looks like when the Jedi are operating at their peak. With this, we get glimpses of new Force powers. There are many different Jedi who all have different perspectives of the Force. What this adds to Star War lore is awesome. Also, the Nihil build on some lore that was established in the new Thrawn book with how they create their Paths. If you have read both books, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about and probably agree that it is very cool. Light of the Jedi went above and beyond adding to the Star Wars universe, easily earning 10 points.
Logic (0 pts)
There is nothing in Light of the Jedi that adds to or takes away from the logic within the Star Wars universe So I am neither adding or taking away extra points for the logic.
Final Thoughts
My final score for Light of the Jedi is a 9.15 out of 10, or an A minus. This ranks it as tied for the fourth highest ranked book that I’ve scored so far (out of 30). I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this book was. I said it earlier, but it was a high quality book and would be even if it wasn’t about Star Wars or the High Republic. I don’t even think I have to say it, but you should really read this book (if you haven’t already). It really does have a lot in it for ANY Star Wars fan.
I hope you enjoyed this book review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now, I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).