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How do!

So Disney have now kicked off their pre-prequel era works “The High Republic” with its first novel, The Light of the Jedi.

I’ve just bought it on iBooks, but don’t really know much about it, or the setting. And possibly of interest, I’m also not at all familiar with the Old Republic stuff which is now of uncertain canon (as in its officially legends, but seems little to none has actually been superseded).

I’m making a start on it now, as I need to wind down before sleepy snooze times.

If anyone else has grabbed it, or would like to read along, please feel free to chip in on the thread.

Huh. Not sure on this one (or the author).
There is a sample version of the first three [edit: four, increasingly smaller] chapters

Interesting things of note:

The tech reading 'Jedi romances,' tales of unrequited love, longing glances and lightsaber battles that were clear a substitute for what the characters really wanted to do' got a laugh out of me. Glad even in universe the 'loveless Jedi' doctrine is absurd.

Bacta is just starting to become a thing.

Cross-species romance is a thing, and seems tied to the cultural shift of the high republic ('We are all Republic' is called out as a slogan, the scanner tech uses to justify his interest in a Twi'lek bartender, and 'attitudes were evolving')

Commuting daily from the system edge to the habitable planets in the system seems like no big deal.

Hyperspace is explicitly a 'dimension,' but ships travel at near-lightspeed within it. Hyperspace lanes are badly mapped and hyperspace itself is 'untrustworthy'

Some contradiction between the opening crawl (consensus, peace, inclusion, etc) and some of the characters thoughts:
nobles are apparently usually still jerks
'frugal' people (ie, poor) migrating to the rim to 'scrape out of a living'
'attitudes are evolving' (which implies all this is new, rather than established.
And the crawl itself basically sounds like a stratified society- Core is best, then Inner, Mid and Outer Rim are steadily worse.

Thanks for the reminder, I was iffy about picking it up but I have three audible credits rattling around so might as well give it a shot.

Up to page 24 (it was late!).

Pretty fine and dandy so far. Though nothing to really indicate exactly when this is taking place?


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Pootling along, and so far it’s a pretty decent read. Writing style is easy to follow, and it does feel like Star Wars.

The descriptions of the ships could be better, but that’s probably more a failure of imagination on my behalf than an issue for the author. And they might get further description later in the story.

Plot wise, it’s not especially crunchy at the moment, but each chapter is building on the situation. But importantly, it does feel like a different era, one of hope in the future etc.

The descriptions of the ships could be better, but that’s probably more a failure of imagination on my behalf than an issue for the author. And they might get further description later in the story.

Except for the fact that they're clean (the first one obsessively so), they felt almost like 40k ships in some ways.

The cargo hauler seemed to be a 'classic scifi' ship: a bridge at the front, engines at the back, and central 'pole' connecting them, to which modules are attached. Sort of like the protagonist's Precursor ship in Star Control II.

The big Jedi ship is sort of a crystal(?) cathedral looking thing (once again, very 40k). The smaller ships that launch from it... aren't described at all. Just class names.

Well, I am just about done with my current audio book. Maybe I need to spend one of my last couple credits on it so I can listen along with y'all

Some pretty cool descriptive of the Force, and how individuals sense it.

I’ve not read many of the old EU books (none of the Old Republic era at all), so whilst it may not be new to you, Dear Reader, it’s new to me.

Really quite gripped by it now.

Voss wrote:

The descriptions of the ships could be better, but that’s probably more a failure of imagination on my behalf than an issue for the author. And they might get further description later in the story.

Except for the fact that they're clean (the first one obsessively so), they felt almost like 40k ships in some ways.

The cargo hauler seemed to be a 'classic scifi' ship: a bridge at the front, engines at the back, and central 'pole' connecting them, to which modules are attached. Sort of like the protagonist's Precursor ship in Star Control II.

The big Jedi ship is sort of a crystal(?) cathedral looking thing (once again, very 40k). The smaller ships that launch from it... aren't described at all. Just class names.

The ships that do get described in detail (so far) seem to be holding very close to the designs they were talking about being reuse of sequel trillogy concept art.

Without detracting too far from the topic in hand....

Seems there is artwork of some of the ships. Makes me wonder if the novel’s descriptions were kept out because a design hadn’t yet been settled on for the comic books.

I mean, that’s no criticism, it’s just a pondering on observation.

Anyways.

On to the second chunk of Light of the Jedi, and it remains pretty enjoyable.

Baddies have been introduced, as have their motivations. Bit of mystery remains in certain areas, but it feels intriguing rather than a frustrating mystery in the context.

Remains to be seen if it’ll come to a satisfying conclusion of course. Whilst not Star Wars specific, I hate it when books have a solid start and middle, only to deliver a flaccid, wet “thhhhhrrrrrp” as the ending.

I just started the audiobook last night. Maybe an hour into it. The Jedi characters are just getting introduced. I like the idea of the Jedi Starfighter not really being "good" ships because they were designed with the expectation of the force users' abilities making up for it.

Because of how my brain works, this is how I’m reading Keven Tarr’s voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBN5XQMAVc0

Getting close to the end, and thoroughly enjoying the journey.

At the moment, without knowing anything about the era barring what’s in this novel, I couldn’t accurately predict the ending.

Possibilities are in mind, but hard to say which at the moment will pan out.

Quite the treat for Star Wars.


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Also nabbed the first comic. Nice to have the visuals for this new era, but defo read Light of the Jedi first, as the comic carries the story on directly.

Currently unsure if I’ll bother with the young adult stuff. I’m not adverse to such age targeted reading, so will come down to whether it expands the plot at all.

Well, it definitely stuck the landing, which I’m pleased with.

Bit of a wait until the next one, but will probs grab it on release day.

I've made more progress. I'm liking the characterization of the Nihil and their leader, moreso than I thought I would.

Also:

Can’t remember if it was this book, or the first comic, but the Sith War is mentioned in passing.

Anyone familiar with old Republic knowledge able to say when that was? Seems the Jedi Order is at its post-Sith War peak, following a rebuilding project.

I just finished the book. I really liked the way it ended, but also don't like that now I have to either start reading the comics or wait for the next book to come out for more on the story. I still really want the Nihil to end up owing their name to Darth Nihilus in some way shape or form. Especially with the mask worship they seem to have.