February 2021 Canon Group Read: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

[Allyssa, Former Moderator/Group Founder]

I’m going to try to join in late, as my local library just got a hold of a copy,, and I managed to check it out!

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

Hailey wrote: "There were way too many characters introduced. Almost all of them felt like brief character sketches (the Jedi especially) from a character outline. Not developed."

This is my main problem with the book. Too many characters, too many places, too many events - they rushed to introduce all of the aspects of the High Republic at once. That's why nothing is developed properly. I'm interested to learn more about certain characters but overall I would have prefered a more focused approach to the first HR book.

I enjoyed Claudia Gray's Into the Dark a bit better.

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

Hailey wrote: "How in the world did Nib Assek, the human female Jedi master to Burraya the Wookie, learn how to physically speak the Wookie language? I thought I read somewhere, in a canon source, that it was physically impossible for the human vocal chords to pronounce Shyriiwook."

According to Wookieepedia both Sabine and Hondo spoke some Shyriiwook. So it's canonically possible.

In Legends it was "almost impossible" for non-Wookies to speak the language.

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

Akindle wrote: "I’m going to try to join in late, as my local library just got a hold of a copy,, and I managed to check it out!"

Welcome to the group read. I wonder whether your reading Into the Dark and A Test of Courage first will affect your enjoyment of this book and how.

[Allyssa, Former Moderator/Group Founder]

I loved all the characters in Light of the Jedi! While it may be a little confusing in parts, it’s still going to get 5 Stars from me. I have finished the book.
(view spoiler)[One of my favorite bits was the ending of the chapter just before we meet Mari San Teeka. We need to learn more about Mari San Teeka.
The navigation droid net was cool.
The ‘Oh, wait, that fragment has people in it’ was interesting, with the Wookie Jedi Padawan sensing that.
(hide spoiler)]
I need a sequel!
My one complaint was that the galaxy here is more primitive then in Deceived by Paul S. Kemp which was 4K years before Anh in Legends timeline. Really!

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

So we now know about the sequels:

THE RISING STORM

Publisher: Del Rey
Format: Adult Novel
Author: Cavan Scott
Artist: n/a
Cover Artist: Joseph Meehan
On-Sale Date: June 29, 2021

Following the dramatic events of Light of the Jedi, the heroes of the High Republic era return to face a shattered peace and a fearsome foe.

In the wake of the Great Hyperspace Disaster and the heroism of the Jedi, the Republic continues to grow, bringing more worlds together under a single unified banner. Led by Chancellor Lina Soh, the spirit of unity extends throughout the galaxy, with the Jedi and newly established Starlight Beacon station at the vanguard.

In celebration, the chancellor plans “The Republic Fair,” a showcase of the possibility and peace of the expanding Republic—a precept the Jedi hope to foster. Stellan Gios, Bell Zettifar, Elzar Mann, and others join the event as ambassadors of harmony. But as the eyes of the galaxy turn toward the Fair, so too does the fury of the Nihil. Their leader, Marchion Ro, is intent on destroying this spirit of unity. His storm descends on the pageantry and celebration, sowing chaos and exacting revenge.

As the Jedi struggle to curb the carnage of the rampaging Nihil, they come face to face with the true fear their enemy plans to unleash across the galaxy. The kind of fear that even the Force cannot shield them from.

TEMPEST RUNNER

Publisher: Del Rey
Format: Audio Original Novel
Author: Cavan Scott
Artist: n/a
Cover Artist: tbd
On-Sale Date: August 31, 2021

As one of Marchion Ro’s most trusted allies (well, as far as Marchion trusts anyone) Lourna Dee has carved out a place for herself as a leader among the Nihil. But it’s lonely at the top, and a Tempest Runner like Lourna is always watching her back for threats—whether those threats are from the Jedi or her fellow Nihil.

The second one is an audio dramatization.

[Todd]

I was not able to read the Light of the Jedi with the group, but just finished it today. Below are some of my thoughts.
---The hyperspace disaster starts book off with a bang and I liked the initial handling of it. It was also a unique situation for the Republic and the Jedi to have to deal with.
---Got a little slow in the middle and picked back up at the end.
---A lot of characters to keep up with and it was hard to get too invested in any of them. Would have preferred one or 2 main characters to follow and get to know better. And then maybe focus on some of the other characters in future books.
---I think my favorite of the new characters were Loden Greatstorm and Bell Zettifar. I got more invested in their story and relationship.
---(view spoiler)[The book described one chunk of the disaster debris containing liquid Tibanna heading to the sun. The reaction would cause the sun to expand and destroy the entire system. Tibanna seems unrealistically powerful if it can do that to a sun, but if one accepts that, then it is an incredibly dangerous material and has the potential to be used as another Superweapon in the Star Wars Universe. (hide spoiler)]
---Nihil are somewhat interesting marauder characters. They seem to be a pretty big organization.
---(view spoiler)[ Marchion Ro ultimately revealed that he instigated the hyperspace disaster on purpose to get the Republic to notice the Nihil, and he coordinated the kidnapping of the farmer family with ties to Alderaan in order to capture a Jedi (instead of to collect ransom for them as we were led to believe). This seems like a lot of effort where things had to work out just right to achieve those goals. And it was pretty evil as well. I am concerned his end goal (which was not revealed in this book) will be anti-climatic. We’ll see… (hide spoiler)]
---I have pre-ordered the next book in the series, The Rising Storm, so I look forward to seeing where the story goes.

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

Todd Eggleston wrote: "---A lot of characters to keep up with and it was hard to get too invested in any of them. Would have preferred one or 2 main characters to follow and get to know better. And then maybe focus on some of the other characters in future books."

Todd, this was my main complaint, too.

Interesting observation about the potency of Tibanna. Maybe it will come into play later in other HR books.

BTW I pre-ordered The Rising storm audiobook and I plan it for the July Group read.

[Todd]

Zuzana wrote: "BTW I pre-ordered The Rising storm audiobook and I plan it for the July Group read."

Great! Looking forward to it!

[Zuzana, Jedi Apprentice]

I listened to Light of the Jedi audiobook. I wanted to refresh my knowledge of the High Republic.

I finished the audiobook in two days. I was stuck at home spring cleaning and this improved my mood a lot.

**My thoughts after re-reading (re-listening):**

-- The choppy style of the first part of the story works for me. It's fast-paced and thrilling. There's tension and a sense of danger. The disaster is imminent, we don't know any of the characters yet so we have no idea who ends up on the chopping block and who's most likely safe.

-- There's too much exposition. The author wrote the first book in the new never-before visited era of SW. He tried to set up too many things about the era at once to the detriment of the flow of the narrative. It manifests in way too many infodumps in the story. Every single HR character gets mentioned by name and a meaningless couple or so sentences about their appearance/what they are doing are dropped even if it doesn't make any sense and doesn't move the story one bit.
----e.g. The three sentences about Vernestra Rwoh and her padawan Imri. Why? She doesn't do anything in the story. She's just one more Jedi who attends the Starlight beacon opening ceremony. She doesn't do anything interesting. She doesn't even speak to the MCs. She just appears and we are told she's a prodigy, she's become a Jedi Knight recently at 15 yo and got a padawan not much younger then herself. Those facts have no connection to the story. They are just infodumped on us because Justina Ireland had a YA story featuring Vernastra in the pipeline at the time. There are more than dozen other expamples of this in the book. It's frustrating.

-- The book is way too long. This is tied to the point above. The editor should have been more strict and cut much more. For the story the book tells it could/should have been easily about 80-100 pages shorter.

-- First time I read the book I complained about all the characters being shallow except for Bell, Loden, Avar and Elzar. This time round I have to say that only Bell feels like a real character. The rest is not properly developed. There are snippets or atributes of other main characters we are either told about or that are shown (rarely) , but the characters themselves are just archetypes. Loden - a wise teacher, Avar - a super-talented conservative Jedi, Elzar - a maverick. Too much teasing and not enough meat on the bones. But to be fair the crumbs we got are enticing enough I would want to read more about these people.

-- Marchion Ro is an enigmatic villain. Once again we're teased a lot, but in the end shown too little. At least I am intrigued and want to know more about the character, his past and motivation.

-- The rest of the Nihil are cheap Mad Max rip-offs. Crude, sadistic drug junkies too stupid to recognize they are being exploited by the Nihil leaders. I rolled my eyes at their "rave orgies" (anybody remembers the weird Zion party in Matrix Reloaded?) Lorna is the only one that has potential. The last scene she had with Marchion redeemed her in my eyes.

-- I didn't pick up on this the last time: The Chancellor Soh is a parody of a character. I get it, she's a politician. Everything she says is a political statement. That I could forgive, unlikely as it is. But every inner thought she has reads like a political speech. A "political sermon" using hillariously bombastic language. Are we to believe that she holds a political rally in her head 24/7?! Who is she trying to convince? Herself? It's painfully unrealistic and quite frankly silly.

-- Another new observation: I paid more attention to how the action was depicted. Every action scene (event/Jedi skill/death etc.) in the book is described in over-the-top dramatic language. It works in the first part of the book. It's the Great Hyperspace Disaster after all. But it carries to the rest of the book and it's ludicrous. It culminates in Loden's attempt to save the family. To be fair, the narration of the audiobook amplifies this issue. It's easier to notice when the narrator umps the drama factor by adding urgency to his voice. At first I thought he was overacting but listening to the words I came to the conclusion he just went with what was in the text. So this ones on the author. (BTW Marc Thomson is a fantastic SW narrator.)

Despite all the criticism, I enjoyed this book. Not as much as the first time round but it's a fine starting point for readers who want to learn more about the HR era.

It's a nice appetizer.