Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi Review

Originally published 23/02/21 on Wordpress for the blog Cheeseman Begins

In 2018, Lucasfilm were at a crossroads. Work had begun on the final instalment in the Skywalker Saga. In order to keep the franchise going, they would need some original ideas. Original ideas like Jon Favreau’s excellent space western, The Mandalorian, but also original ideas like the ambitious new publishing initiative known then as ‘Project Luminous.’

In the Disney era of Star Wars, the function of the books and comics has been to fill in the gaps between the movies, video games and animated shows. However, with Project Luminous, the main tale would be conceived in print. A group of authors, execs, experts and concept artists were given free reign and met at Skywalker Ranch to come up with their own, brand new interconnected Star Wars story. The High Republic is the result; and the first instalment, Charles Soule’s novel, Light of the Jedi, was finally released in January 2021.

Project Luminous ideas board

As long as you aren’t a bigot or a snob, its a great time to be a Star Wars fan. At Disney’s recent investor day, a new film and nine new TV series were announced. On top of all that, we now have The High Republic. Initially, this subseries will feature purely in books and comics, but a TV show is in development as well.

If you’re a casual fan or somehow new to Star Wars, The High Republic might be perfect for you. When you watch The Mandalorian, do you have someone nearby explaining the backstories of Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze and Boba Fett? There’s always someone, somewhere, with a big nose who knows the continuity better than you do. Its not easy to commit the lore of every franchise to memory. With The High Republic, it doesn’t matter what you know about Star Wars, because the series is set two hundred years before Star Wars: Episode I.

That means a brand new story, with brand new characters. The writers aren’t straightjacketed by the continuity of the existing films, books, comics, video games and TV shows. Anything can happen.

The new Star Wars timeline, from Star Wars: The High Republic #1

That said, the Project Luminous team didn’t want fans to feel like the stories didn’t have consequences. In his interview with Star Wars Explained, Charles Soule clarifies that if they’d gone too far back in time, there would’ve been no connection to the Skywalker Saga, and the galaxy wouldn’t have felt like the Star Wars we know and love. Going back only two hundred years means the galaxy’s slide towards war isn’t far off, and characters with long lives like Yoda, Maz Kanata and Jabba the Hutt are already out there somewhere. By my maths, its still another thirty years until Chewbacca will be born; maybe he could make an appearance? Can you imagine how cute Baby Chewie would be?

Of course, if you’re an aficionado of all things Star Wars, there’s loads here for you as well. Aside from catching references to the Ataraxia, Bastion, Bacta, Umate and Omar Berenko in Light of the Jedi, you can also discover the Star Wars galaxy at an unfamiliar time, visit planets old and new, and learn more about hyperspace than you probably need to know. You won’t encounter a lot of droids or scoundrels yet, but there are a lot of exciting new Jedi to meet. Fans haven’t previously had much opportunity to see the galaxy in peacetime, and we’ve never met a noble, uncompromised chancellor, with genuine plans to help everyone. Chancellor Soh wants to make the Republic ‘see one another as people. As brothers and sisters…in the shared goal of building a galaxy that welcomed all, heard all, and did its best to avoid hurting anyone.’ Our own world is tumultuous to put it mildly; it’s nice to fantasise about a galaxy being led with optimism.

Its a new year here on Earth; it feels like the right time to reinvigorate escapist series (with the same attitude, I’ve also been exploring DC Comics’ Future State initiative, with mixed results). The High Republic marks itself apart from the Galactic Empire featured in the original trilogy, not just in ethos, but aesthetically; unless it relates to the new villains, everything Soule describes in Light of the Jedi seems to be lavishly constructed. The lightsabers, the ships and the architecture are all exquisite, sleek and ornate. Golden hues even feature in the High Republic branding and the Jedi attire on the book’s cover, signifying a golden age. Of course, the name of the franchise is Star Wars, which promises that peace will only ever be fleeting in the galaxy far, far away, and a story without conflict is no story at all. As the High Republic project develops through its three planned phases, I think it will be interesting to see how the Republic slides from its golden age to the mess its in two hundred years later.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Naturally, its exciting thinking about the future of The High Republic, but the principal joy in reading Light of the Jedi is getting to know the characters in the here and now. The book features a large cast, and almost all of them are brand new. For an author or a reader, this should be daunting, but Soule gets in the head of every unique character so deftly that you’re unlikely to confuse or forget anyone. They all feel as if they have a distinct backstory, with opinions and attitudes of their own. With his humble, logical approach, technician Keven Tarr muses that he’s ‘closer to a droid’ than a Jedi, while the adept but anxious Padawan Bell Zettifar comes to some insightful conclusions on why the lightsaber is the civilised weapon of choice for the Jedi Order. Although they all feel like individuals, some of the names are tough to remember so I still found it useful to keep a picture nearby reminding me who was who; there are some excellent pieces of fan art out there that serve this purpose well. If you want to take this method to the next level, the first quarter of Light of the Jedi has been released as an illustrated children’s book, called The Great Jedi Rescue.

(Of course, not all readers have fallen in love with the heroes of Light of the Jedi. Right now, it seems like Star Wars is plagued more than any other fictional universe with prejudiced zealots giving the rest of the fandom a bad name. Social media abuse towards Krystina Arielle and support for bigot Gina Carano are just the latest in a long string of awful things these supposed fans have done. The High Republic itself has already been the target of many reviews and video essays by attention-seekers and discriminatory fanatics complaining about the rich diversity in the cast of characters. Personally, I thought representation in Light of the Jedi was wonderful, and the less said about these dickheads, the better. They do not speak for us, the greater part of the Star Wars fandom.)

Although you’re bound to like the characters of Light of the Jedi, you may not want to get too attached. Since the original trilogy, Star Wars has confounded expectations; The Empire Strikes Back is often cited by cinephiles as a landmark film, in part because it doesn’t have a happy ending. This unpredictable treatment of the characters has remained in most Star Wars projects since. When watching the prequels for the first time, fans knew the destination but not how Lucas would get there. For example, we could be sure that Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda and the Emperor would survive. Because The High Republic is set hundreds of years before the rest of the canon, none of the main characters are safe.

Loden Greatstorm & Bell Zettifar, by me

In Light of the Jedi, the titular Order are stronger than we’ve ever seen them. Through them, we gain a greater understanding of the Force. We’re even told that each Jedi perceives it differently; ‘What she heard as a song, Elzar Mann saw as a deep, endless, storm-tossed sea. The Wookie Burryaga was a single leaf on a gigantic tree…Douglas Sunvale saw the Force as a huge, interlocked set of gears…Bell Zettifar danced with fire. Loden Greatstorm danced with wind.’ Their abilities are wide-ranging and undiminished as the Sith are not present at this time. The downside of the Sith’s absence is a lack of lightsaber duels (though lightsabers are put to plenty of other uses throughout the novel) and fancy black cloaks, but on the other hand, we’ve seen plenty of the Sith in previous Star Wars media; its time for a new villain.

Lots of series keep the villain(s) at arms length, but this has never been the case with Star Wars. As far back as A New Hope, we saw Darth Vader bossing subordinates around, chatting with Grand Moff Tarkin, throwing rebel soldiers like ragdolls and strangling an irritating colleague in the middle of a meeting (please don’t attempt this in your place of work, or you may be reported to HR). The heroes weren’t on-screen at this time, so you could argue these moments were unnecessary to the plot – but Lucas clearly knew how engrossing and entertaining the bad guys could be with the extra screen-time.

Following this example, Soule gives us ample opportunity in Light of the Jedi to get to know the new villains, The Nihil. In fact, you spend so much of the novel with them, there are moments in which you might find yourself rooting for them. The Nihil are interesting from their first introduction, but they get more intriguing as the book goes on, particularly their ruthless and complex leader, Marchion Ro (I was surprised to learn that Soule and Krystina Arielle pronounce it ‘Mark-ee-on’. I guess I’d better stop saying ‘Mar-chee-on.’). The Nihil have no discipline, doctrine or unity, which makes them much more chaotic and unpredictable than most Star Wars villains. They wield a dangerous power, but its very different to the power of the Empire or the Sith.

I’d like to take a moment to discuss the quality of the writing in Light of the Jedi, and the Nihil are a great place to start. We meet the Nihil all at once so there’s plenty of exposition to get across; who they are as a group, who they are as individuals, how they relate to one another, etc. Soule skilfully and subtly weaves this information into a tense scene; its an impressive balancing act.

Of course, not every moment in the book is this perfect. There are some clunky sections, such as ‘If she were not a Jedi Knight, she might have inadvertently fired her weapons. But she was indeed a Jedi Knight, and did not fire.’ and ‘The woman’s name: Avar Kriss, and for most of her three decades or so, a member of the Jedi Order. As a child, she came to the great Temple on Coruscant, that school and embassy and monastery and reminder of the Force.’ This latter is a shame as Avar Kriss is an awesome character who deserves a better introduction. There’s also a paragraph that made me cringe, in which a pilot fantasises about having sex on the beach, which no doubt makes the character more relatable, but doesn’t feel particularly true to the tone of Star Wars.

Many authors say its important to show the audience what’s happening, never tell them (e.g. ‘his hands were shaking’ instead of ‘he was nervous.’). Soule tends to break this rule from time to time, but frankly most authors do, and only a snob would let it affect their enjoyment of the book. Also, one of the storylines takes place in one day, while another being told concurrently takes place over a matter of weeks, but again this won’t be a problem for the majority of readers.

Most authors also struggle when they have to describe what’s happening in space; the action is happening in 360° and usually involves a lot of (fictional) technical jargon. This is something I’ve noticed many times reading other Star Wars books, even from the most celebrated of authors. This isn’t an issue for Soule; its always clear what’s going on.

In fact, even though we’re being introduced to a new era and a large cast of characters, Light of the Jedi is the most accessible and comprehensible Star Wars book I’ve read. Each chapter helpfully and efficiently opens with a subtitle telling us where we are in the galaxy. The chapters themselves are lean enough to hold the attention of modern readers, and like the Game of Thrones series, they aren’t wasteful; each chapter is treated like the act of a movie or play in which a character must make a choice or take an action that will have consequences. This short chapter method also allows us to drop in on a multitude of characters over the course of the first few chapters. Rather like an alien invasion film, the tension builds as we witness different people slowly realise what’s about to happen.

Avar Kriss, by me

A lot of the big themes in Star Wars, such as overcoming fears, Jedi grappling with emotional attachments, and whether an act of war can be justified, reappear in Light of the Jedi, but it never feels as though Soule is repeating old stories. This novel feels fresh, which is a huge challenge when writing for such a prolific series. Although Light of the Jedi sets other stories in motion, it’s not to the detriment of the story being told. The main narrative reaches a satisfying conclusion, but not everything is resolved. The reader is left hungry for the next instalment of the ‘main’ story, The Rising Storm (due out in July 2021). In the meantime, several other High Republic titles have been released; after such a positive experience with Light of the Jedi, I can’t get enough of this series so I’m reading the High Republic comic and have just begun Claudia Gray’s Into The Dark novel (which came out on 2nd February in the US, but as with all such releases, arrived nearly a month later in the UK).

Do you have any questions for me about Star Wars or The High Republic? Have you read any of the Star Wars books? Let me know in the comments, and may the Force be with you.