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culuriel's review against another edition
5.0
A great intro into the series! There are many characters, and there’s plenty of time and plot to develop them, some more than others. The plot is a space disaster story, unfolding over multiple star systems on the edge of the galaxy, where the Republic wants to establish itself. The story combines equal parts intro to the Outer Rim, intro to the Jedi Order at its nadir, and intro to the Republic as it attempts to spread its ideals despite numerous obstacles.
charleslane's review against another edition
2.0
Sprawling and boring. No fleshed out characters. Just lots of bouncing around and mild cliff hangers that made me put it down about halfway through
justadisneygeek's review against another edition
4.0
A great introduction to this new era of the Star Wars timeline. At times it was difficult to follow all the new characters, but I really enjoyed the last several chapters and can't wait to see how much of a threat the Nihil will really be throughout this era!
franklc29's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. . . . Right? Sigh . . . I don't know. This is probably the freshest Star Wars has felt in such a long time. The new characters, the new tech, the new ideas, etc. it is all a lot of fun and I actually am excited to see where The High Republic goes from here.
That being said . . .
The way this story handles cataclysmic events is absolutely wild. Now I am aware that Star Wars has a history of handwaving incredible loss of life but this book is on a whole different level. The first third is all about saving Hetzal and then, immediately afterward, the book is like "oh yeah and then several billion other people died somewhere else". What? So many characters are introduced just to die that it feels like the author is doing a really weak GRRM impression. The shock isn't because someone with a name died, the shock is because someone we loved and thought was safe died.
The other issue I had is that the world just seemed too similar to the Star Wars world we know despite taking place 200 years before the prequels. America is pretty different now then it was in the days of Andrew Jackson. Except for the fact that women and minorities are STILL second-class citizens! BOOM! Roasted America.
. . .
Ugh . . . the Supreme Court sucks. I hope an emergence hits Clarence Thomas
That being said . . .
The way this story handles cataclysmic events is absolutely wild. Now I am aware that Star Wars has a history of handwaving incredible loss of life but this book is on a whole different level. The first third is all about saving Hetzal and then, immediately afterward, the book is like "oh yeah and then several billion other people died somewhere else". What? So many characters are introduced just to die that it feels like the author is doing a really weak GRRM impression. The shock isn't because someone with a name died, the shock is because someone we loved and thought was safe died.
The other issue I had is that the world just seemed too similar to the Star Wars world we know despite taking place 200 years before the prequels. America is pretty different now then it was in the days of Andrew Jackson. Except for the fact that women and minorities are STILL second-class citizens! BOOM! Roasted America.
. . .
Ugh . . . the Supreme Court sucks. I hope an emergence hits Clarence Thomas
rikuwuzhere's review against another edition
5.0
4.6 stars for this gamer. Very good book, fun read.
00thefool's review against another edition
5.0
A good book about one of my favorite settings, this book portrays Jedi and the Republic in a way I think they were always meant to be, idealistic paladins seeking to do good, no matter the cost. The only issue I had with it was that it had too many perspective characters, which made it hard to follow at times. I'm still not positive who the main protagonist is supposed to be
sunshine_mayfield's review against another edition
5.0
TikTok Review: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJ7B6P6k/
aerellia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
mysteriousnorse's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I like Soule's comics, and I do not envy his task of setting up a new era of Star Wars history. I like the idea of the disaster, though it took me a little bit to really get into it. The Jedi Vector ships are a great idea, being light on tech with the Force being required to fly them. I also like the idea of a functioning Republic with the Jedi being slightly less stodgy. In particular, the force tinkering Elzar Mann, the ever-smiling Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm, his put-upon Padawan Bell Zettifar, the sensitive Wookie Burryaga Agaburry, the legend turned cook Porter Engle, and the adorable techs Joss and Pikka Adren. It's nice that each got little moments of humanity and that the focus was on what made them different Jedi, which I'd argue was a problem in the prequel era. As you can tell from my list, there are a ton of characters; Soule treats this more as establishing the setting than telling a focused story, though he does put the new enemy, the Nihil, into play as the central plot. The Nihil are fine. The thing I like most about them is that they do what good prequels do and question established conventions of a story/universe rather than just show the viewer things they've heard about. I actually have more interest in this and plan to check out Claudia Gray's [b:Into the Dark|51733546|Into the Dark (Star Wars The High Republic)|Claudia Gray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582663291l/51733546._SX50_.jpg|76256227], some of the comics, and that Acolyte show. It's a neat era, and while I wish we'd gotten more away from Yoda, it is a nice addition to the galaxy.
I like Soule's comics, and I do not envy his task of setting up a new era of Star Wars history. I like the idea of the disaster, though it took me a little bit to really get into it. The Jedi Vector ships are a great idea, being light on tech with the Force being required to fly them. I also like the idea of a functioning Republic with the Jedi being slightly less stodgy. In particular, the force tinkering Elzar Mann, the ever-smiling Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm, his put-upon Padawan Bell Zettifar, the sensitive Wookie Burryaga Agaburry, the legend turned cook Porter Engle, and the adorable techs Joss and Pikka Adren. It's nice that each got little moments of humanity and that the focus was on what made them different Jedi, which I'd argue was a problem in the prequel era. As you can tell from my list, there are a ton of characters; Soule treats this more as establishing the setting than telling a focused story, though he does put the new enemy, the Nihil, into play as the central plot. The Nihil are fine. The thing I like most about them is that they do what good prequels do and question established conventions of a story/universe rather than just show the viewer things they've heard about. I actually have more interest in this and plan to check out Claudia Gray's [b:Into the Dark|51733546|Into the Dark (Star Wars The High Republic)|Claudia Gray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582663291l/51733546._SX50_.jpg|76256227], some of the comics, and that Acolyte show. It's a neat era, and while I wish we'd gotten more away from Yoda, it is a nice addition to the galaxy.
benwagnerphotos's review against another edition
4.0
At one point in the Legends days I prided myself on having read every Star Wars novel. That streak was killed by the New Jedi Order series, which I finished out and more or less gave up on Star Wars novels. I was sick of the Darth of the week, the prequels broke the legends continuity long before Disney did, and every character went back and forth from dark to light so many times I couldn't keep track.
I've enjoyed Soule's comics work, and while I've only dabbled in the Disney era Star Wars books (notably last years in retrospect disappointing Resistance Reborn), but the newer books have always seemed handicapped by the sequel trilogy's development and were unable to tell many meaningful stories.
This seemed like a worthwhile jumping on point to try and get back into it. And I was right, this was an absolute blast and felt like a fresh approach to the Star Wars book genre. We've got a great large set of new characters, a totally new and wildly different antagonists, an open point in the Star Wars timeline to tell a story with little constraints to pre-existing continuity, solid writing, and even a dash of timely commentary sprinkled in. I'm now very curious to see where the series goes, and if they have the vision to thematically connect this story to the saga's larger arc in relation to the rise and fall of the Jedi.
I've enjoyed Soule's comics work, and while I've only dabbled in the Disney era Star Wars books (notably last years in retrospect disappointing Resistance Reborn), but the newer books have always seemed handicapped by the sequel trilogy's development and were unable to tell many meaningful stories.
This seemed like a worthwhile jumping on point to try and get back into it. And I was right, this was an absolute blast and felt like a fresh approach to the Star Wars book genre. We've got a great large set of new characters, a totally new and wildly different antagonists, an open point in the Star Wars timeline to tell a story with little constraints to pre-existing continuity, solid writing, and even a dash of timely commentary sprinkled in. I'm now very curious to see where the series goes, and if they have the vision to thematically connect this story to the saga's larger arc in relation to the rise and fall of the Jedi.