By: Christian Corah
Descriptives
Page count: Paperback, 248
Author: Justina Ireland
Timeline: High Republic era, which precedes the Skywalker Saga
Main characters: Vernestra Rwoh, Avon Starros, Honesty Weft, Imri, and J-6
Brief synopsis: While aboard a luxury ship, disaster strikes sending a brand new Jedi Knight grouped with inexperienced, yet talented, children on a dangerous mission.
Gut Feeling
In the first phase of the High Republic novels, A Test of Courage brings with it much excitement. While it may not have been hyped up as much as Light of the Jedi or Into the Dark, this book is still set within the new period of the Star Wars universe. So, I was expecting something good from it. Admittedly, I was not a fan of the other book I’ve read by Justina Ireland, Spark of the Resistance, but that didn’t hurt my expectations. Even though this book was intended for the middle school age, I still enjoyed the read. I figured it wouldn’t have the depth of Light of the Jed, but that is ok. For the most part, it was just a fun, exciting, and self-contained adventure. Nothing about it was very complex, but it was still a good read and I’m interested in what score it is going to get.
Characters (8/10 pts)
A little bit surprisingly, characters were the strongest section of the book. The story follows a brand new Jedi Knight (who is actually the youngest to ever be a Jedi Knight, very cool!), three children, and a droid. In many ways, this felt like a classic coming of age story. These kids are all brimming with talent and wanderlust, but also feel anxious about being on their own and not being able to live up to their own expectations. Even though these characters have these similarities, they are all unique in their own ways as well. We get to see the classic internal conflict of good and evil, the immediate attempt to cope with trauma, the feeling when one is thrust into a leadership role when they don’t feel ready, and we get to see all of these personalities interact with each other. None of the characters themselves were overly complex, but the character development done by Ireland was still excellent. I even enjoyed J-6. While a droid being reprogrammed to attain some sentience isn’t overly unique in Star Wars, J-6 was still a nice compliment to the group dynamic. I couldn’t really expect characters to be better in a novel intended for a younger audience, I am giving eight points.
Writing Style (7.5/10 pts)
After reading Spark of the Resistance, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing. Because the book is intended for a younger audience, I thought that the writing style was going to be a major downside. However, I was wrong. I feel similarly when it comes to A Test of Courage. While the style does lack some depth and complexity, it isn’t to a point that makes it distracting from the story. Plus, the lack of depth does add to the readability of the book. It just flows really well. When details are added, it can take away from this (although, the best books have flow and depth). I will be giving a slightly below average score of 7.5 points, but that is great considering I am grading it for young adult to adult readers.
Plot (7/10 pts)
The plot is where the score is going to take its biggest dip. While I did expect most aspects of this book to be simpler than a book intended for my age, the plot was just a little bit too simple. It was just a little bit too linear. The entire plot consisted of just a few different events that were delved into. While it was exciting, most parts of the plot were high stakes, just not enough happened in this book. Spark of the Resistance is the other junior novel by Ireland and its plot was much more complex. While that is my biggest critique of the plot, the foundation of the story was still decet. What was in the book was good, I just wanted a little bit more. I am giving 7 points for the plot.
Intrigue (8/10 pts)
There are a couple of things that really worked for the intrigue of A Test of Courage. The simpler writing style made it easy to read. It never felt like it took effort to read large portions of the book at a time. And shorter chapters really keep the book moving. With a faster paced novel, the excitement just keeps coming. Also, most of the book’s plot was high stakes. From the beginning to end, the main group of characters were tasked with tackling danger. The threat was always real and I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. There were also a few twists and turns that kept me on my toes. The only critique that I have again is the complexity. With a little more depth, I wouldn’t be even more invested in what was going on. However, I am still giving 8 points for the intrigue.
What does it add? (8.25/10 pts)
Because A Test of Courage is set in a new time period of Star Wars, there is a ton of potential for what it could add to the universe. While it certainly doesn’t add as much as Light of the Jedi (this book did the most world building of this first trilogy of High Republic novels), it still added something pretty cool to Star Wars lore. While there were some cool additions unique to the time period, the coolest thing has to be Vernestra’s lightsaber whip. For the most part, most lightsabers are effectively the same. While some can have different hilt designs, colors, and even multiple blades, this is the first time (to my knowledge) that we’ve seen a lightsaber like hers. It is certainly something that I think would look great in live action, and I hope that one day we will. I am giving 8.25 points.
Logic (0 pts)
There is nothing in A Test of Courage 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 A Test of Courage is a 7.75 out of ten, or a C plus. Keep in mind that I am giving this score for a young adult to adult audience, which is outside of the intended audience of the book. I understand that when read by a junior audience, this book should be received better. Still, it is a book that I enjoyed. It was a fun and easy read that added a little bit to the Star WArs universe. The common theme is that it needed some more depth but it is still a good read. I know many of you are excited about the High Republic universe, so this book is worth a read. But if you just have the time to read one or two, I would recommend Into the Dark or Light of the Jedi over this one.
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).