Tag: Nihil

Upcoming High Republic Books I’m Excited For

The time is upon us, dear readers, when Phase 3 of the High Republic is near. And I don’t know about you, but I’m super excited! Here’s what we’ve got coming up:

Eye of Darkness, by George Mann, November 14th, 2023. Wave 1 of Phase 3 starts with the adult book The Eye of Darkness by George Mann. After the fall of Starlight Beacon, Marchion Ro has erected a Stormwall around a portion of the Outer Rim, called the Occlusion Zone, which he rules. All worlds within that section are subject to the whims of the Nihil leader. Those Jedi caught behind the Stormwall, like Avar Kriss, must fight to protect these worlds. Outside the Wall, Jedi like Elzar Mann and Bell Zettifar must find a way to tear down the wall and free those behind it from Ro’s reign of terror; all the while enduring the threat of the Nameless, creatures that feed off of Force-users and drain the very life from them.

Escape from Valo, by Daniel Jose Older and Alyssa Wong, January 30th 2024. This is the middle-grade book that focuses on Padawan Ram Jamoram and others, trapped behind the Stormwall in NIhil-controlled space.

Defy the Storm, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland, March 5th, 2024. This young adult novel focuses on Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and her scientist friend Avon Starros. They work to find a way through the Stormwall to save those trapped on the other side.

I’m looking forward to getting back to these Phase 1 characters after backtracking a hundred or so years in Phase 2.

And now for something completely different….there’s a pre-Phantom Menace novel coming out by John Jackson Miller in April of next year:

The Living Force, by John Jackson Miller, April 9th 2024. This one sounds really interesting; I’m just going to copy and paste Amazon’s blurb about it:

“In the year before The Phantom Menace, Yoda, Mace Windu, and the entire Jedi Council confront a galaxy on the brink of change.
 
The Jedi have always traveled the stars, defending peace and justice across the galaxy. But the galaxy is changing, and the Jedi Order along with it. More and more, the Order finds itself focused on the future of the Republic, secluded on Coruscant, where the twelve members of the Jedi Council weigh crises on a galactic scale.

As yet another Jedi Outpost left over from the Republic’s golden age is set to be decommissioned on the planet Kwenn, Qui-Gon Jinn challenges the Council about the Order’s increasing isolation. Mace Windu suggests a bold response: All twelve Jedi Masters will embark on a goodwill mission to help the planet and to remind the people of the galaxy that the Jedi remain as stalwart and present as they have been across the ages.

But the arrival of the Jedi leadership is not seen by all as a cause for celebration. In the increasing absence of the Jedi, warring pirate factions have infested the sector. To maintain their dominance, the pirates unite, intent on assassinating the Council members. And they are willing to destroy countless innocent lives to secure their power.

Cut off from Coruscant, the Jedi Masters must reckon with an unwelcome truth: While no one thinks more about the future than the Jedi Council, nobody needs their help more than those living in the present.”

As always, some great-sounding canon books coming up in the months ahead, and I’m totally there for it.

Are you planning on reading any of these books? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

High Republic Wednesday: My Ranking of the HR Books

It’s no secret that I LOVE the High Republic era of Star Wars. My favorite aspect of Star Wars has always been the Jedi, and the High Republic focuses on the Jedi of this time period–who they are and what makes them tick. It’s awesome.

Having said that, I do have favorites out of all the adult and young adult novels of Phase One that have come out this past year, and in this post I’m going to rank them and give my reasons for their position on the list.

I thought it would be fun to show the alternate covers of each book (if there are any), instead of the usual, often dorky, covers of Jedi holding lightsabers. Let’s get started!

  1. The Fallen Star, by Claudia Gray (Third adult novel)
The Fallen Star alternate cover. This is such a powerful image.

The Fallen Star is the third and final adult novel of Phase One, and it’s my favorite because 1. Claudia Gray is a fantastic storyteller, and 2. it’s a nail-biting, heartbreaking finale where the Jedi obviously lose in a big way, leaving you wondering where they’ll go from here. There are some painful deaths, a terrifying threat (to the Jedi themselves), some very sticky situations to get out of, and some really wonderful relationships that are explored. It’s truly a satisfying culmination to Phase One, while still leaving you breathless for more.

2. Into the Dark, by Claudia Gray (First YA novel)

I haven’t seen any alternate covers for Into the Dark.

Again, Claudia Gray is at the top of my list, because she just handles the characters and the story so well. It’s hard to impress me with a YA book, but she does so here. Maybe it’s because Reath Silas is my favorite Padawan, and he is heavily involved in the storyline in this book. It’s also the only book that deals directly with the Drengir (a threat that is mostly dealt with in the comics). The Drengir are carnivorous, evil tree-beings, and have the potential to be very silly (and hence work best in the comics), but she handles them well here, at least as well as they can be handled. She also introduces the Vessel crew in this book, and Leox and Geode are some of my favorite minor characters in the whole era.

3. Light of the Jedi, by Charles Soule (First adult novel)

Light of the Jedi alternate cover. I love how Ember is front and center.

The very first adult novel, and first High Republic book to come out, is a great read and does a fantastic job at introducing this new era and its Jedi. It’s clear we’re in a very different time period here, and have Jedi who are very different from the prequel Jedi; Soule does a wonderful job bringing them to life in this story. The book begins with the Great Disaster and the fallout from that event, as well as introduces the new villains, the Nihil.

4. The Rising Storm, by Cavan Scott (Second adult novel)

The Rising Storm alternate cover. Striking, but busy.

For some reason, it was hard for me to get into this book on my first read; but on my second read, I loved it. This book deals with the Nihil attack on the Republic Fair on the planet Valo. It’s executed quite well, and I love Elzar Mann’s story arc. There’s a lot going on here, with multiple points of view, but it all comes together wonderfully.

5. Midnight Horizon, by Daniel Jose Older (Third YA novel)

Midnight Horizon alternate cover. Not bad, but I think the original is way cooler.

I was excited for this book, as it starred Reath Silas again (among others), but I found it to be a slow start. It was well into the third act before it suddenly got very, very good. I suppose you could call it a slow burn leading up to the explosion, lol. It concerns Reath and his master, Cohmac Vitus, along with Jedi Master Kantam Sy and Padawan Ram Jomoram going to Corellia to investigate a possible Nihil threat there. One thing Older did very well is characterization, and the relationships between the characters. As throughout all of the High Republic stories, this one’s central theme is how the Jedi should deal with attachment and love, and their struggle with their emotions. Oh yeah, and the Nihil threat, lol. (Check out my review of the book here).

6. Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland (Second YA novel)

Out of the Shadows alternate cover, which shows some Nihil, in particular Lourna Dee, instead of the usual Jedi.

I had a hard time with this one. I’m guessing it’s because it didn’t mainly concern the Jedi; rather, it was about a young woman named Sylvestri Yarrow, a cargo pilot who lost her ship to the Nihil and who goes to Coruscant, first to tell the Republic about the Nihil activity, and second, to try to get her ship back. She gets pulled into a scheme involving a wealthy young man from the Graf family, a Nihil plot to create some kind of gravity weapon, and how her missing and presumed dead mother is involved in it all. The only interesting part was when she and Vernestra Rwoh run into Mari San Tekka, and the old woman gives Vernestra some coordinates that are still a mystery.

I’ve read the middle-grade books of Phase One–A Test of Courage, Race to Crashpoint Tower, and Mission to Disaster. They’re all quite good, but I don’t really have a favorite out of them. I’d rank them equally.

By the way, here’s a few more alternate covers I found:

The Rising Storm additional alternate cover. Again, I love Ember up on the rock! (But it’s still kind of dorky, lol).
Out of the Shadows additional alternate cover. More Nihil.

I can’t wait for Phase Two, which reportedly takes place 150 years before the events of this phase. It kind of threw me at first, but I’m confident the creators know what they’re doing and there’s a very good reason for this. I believe Phase Two starts in October of this year.

Thanks for reading. For light and life!