He is a studious Padawan whose connection to the Force is not as strong as most but he makes up for it by working harder. She asks her Padawan a key rhetorical question about the Kyber arch in the Jedi Temple, and Reath takes it literally. Reath Silas, a seventeen-year-old human Padawan is our main hero of the story and he is set up perfectly in the prologue through a conversation with his Master, Jora Malli. New canon characters (left to right): Leox, Orla, Reath and Affie | credit Lucasfilm ltd. And by this point, the story loses steam for most of the characters, but it does pick up for one of them. There is a convenient plot point midway through, almost as if it was willed by the Force itself, where the four main characters (Reath, Affie, Cohmac, and Orla) have revelations about their respective experiences on the Amaxine station and each decides they must return. The pacing was not consistent and I found myself much more engrossed with the first half of the novel than the second. In fact, Into the Dark spends a little too much time trying to set up additional character arcs for future content rather than completely focusing on the YA characters, Reath and Affie, which has worked so well in previous Gray novels. The flashback sections are a few too many and, while I understand the choice to space them out so they parallel the lessons the two seasoned Jedi Knights are still learning, they pull focus from the main story and I am not sure the payoff is there to warrant them overall. Also, we get reoccurring flashbacks to a mission involving Orla and Cohmac 25 years ago that mirrors their journey through the events on the Amaxine Station. Some of the other perspectives include three other Jedi headed to the frontier: Cohmac, Orla, and Dez Ryden, the pilot, Leox Gyasi, co-pilot Affie Hollow and navigator Geode, a sentient rock (yes, a sentient rock). While not abnormal for a YA novel, it is more than most Star Wars YA Novels. ![]() The novel stays in Reath’s POV for the first few chapters but then the novel toggles between at least six POVs. Since this takes place at the time of The Great Disaster, you can imagine that things don’t go smoothly on their way to Starlight Beacon and they find themselves, along with a caravan of many other ships, waiting off the shutdown of hyperspace lanes on a seemingly abandoned space station full of Amaxine technology (the Amaxine being an ancient group of warriors mentioned in other Claudia Gray novels). Reath is headed to the Galactic frontier under a new assignment from his Master, which he is less enthusiastic about and is hoping for a miracle to get out of it and remain Coruscant-based. We meet Reath Silas in the beginning as he is running a mission with his Master Jora Malli, who if you have read Light of the Jedi, you have met as we see her Padawan (his strengths and weaknesses) through her POV before we step into Reath’s POV for Chapter One. The novel starts off, like all The High Republic novels thus far, with a prologue. ![]() ** Spoilers for Light of the Jedi and mild spoilers for Into the Dark** The Story The Great Disaster is more of an afterthought here as our characters struggle with new evils and challenges that arise from being temporarily stranded with many strangers on a strange space station. For both Elzar and Bell, their failures and losses weigh heavily upon them as they search desperately for a solution.īut even if the Republic and Jedi forces manage to breach the Stormwall, how can the Jedi ever fight back against the Nameless creatures that prey on the Jedi’s connection to the Force? And what other horrors does Marchion Ro have in store? As desperation for both the Jedi and the Republic grows, any hope of reuniting the galaxy could be all but extinguished….The High Republic added more canon material this past week with the release of Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark, introducing many new characters to canon and one of the main villains. But every attempt to breach the Stormwall has failed, and even communication across the barrier is impossible. ![]() Outside of the Nihil’s so-called Occlusion Zone, Elzar Mann, Bell Zettifar, and the other Jedi work alongside the Republic to reach the worlds that have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy. ![]() Jedi trapped behind enemy lines, including Avar Kriss, must fight to help the worlds being pillaged by the Nihil while staying one step ahead of the marauders and their Nameless terrors. Following the shocking destruction of Starlight Beacon, the Nihil establish an impenetrable barrier called the Stormwall around part of the Outer Rim, where Marchion Ro rules and his followers wreak havoc at his every whim. One year after the tragic events of The Fallen Star, the Jedi fight to break the Nihil’s control over the galaxy.
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