The High Republic: Light Of The Jedi by Charles Soule

The Outline

Light of the Jedi is the first novel set in the era of the High Republic and Soule has done a wonderful job of laying the first bricks for what promises to not only be a truly engaging series, but a whole chunk of the timeline yet to be touched upon by the current canon material.

The publishing synopsis sets up the story and the setting with a heavy dose of mystery, and the first few chapters really build on the possibilities, feeding us little tidbits as we follow the Republic's attempt to stop a devastating series of events from unfurling. It's exciting, well laid out and really got me guessing what the next turn of events would both be and bring with it.

The Story

At the heart of it, Light of the Jedi is a tale of a mostly unified galaxy in its hay-day, full of hope and dreams of a greater tomorrow. The plans of the Chancellor take a few blows over the course of the story, as the real threat of the Nihil, the stories main antagonists, becomes painfully apparent. I'm actually a really big fan of how they are set up here. While the galaxy of Star Wars has always had its fair share of scum and villainy, but there is something quite unique about the Nihil. There general character and structure may not strike you as being so different at first, but the way the operate is rather ingenious, and it makes them a real threat to the republic, and the Jedi.

The fact that the threat feels real is one of the crowning jewels of this story, making the reader truly wonder just how much damage the Nihil will cause this woefully unprepared government. Not only this, but they are full of character, using dirty tricks, political manoeuvring and all sorts of delightful backstabbing along the way.

As I said, this is the surface of the story. When we look at things a little deeper, we start to see that there are two very powerful ideologies at play here. Not quite in the way that we see in the movies were there is a more obvious clash between the theologies of the Jedi and the Sith, the good and evil of the Rebels and the Empire. Here we are seeing a war of social concepts - the unified potential utopia under the slogan of 'we are all the Republic', and the chaotic self serving independents of the Nihil.

While there are still the obvious good and evil motif layered within this tale, there is a lot more going on in the philosophies of both sides than has been seen in the original material, and I am really looking forwards to seeing how it plays out.

As for the writing itself, it's strong and descriptive, delivering a full cast of characters whom I am sure we will be seeing a lot more from in future parts of the series. It's also not afraid to kill off some of these characters, building real engagement and investment from the reader before dealing an emotional gut punch when you least expect it.

The Summary

As you have probably been able to deduce from the above, it's a strong start to the series and sets things up for book two without feeling like you are being left hanging. Yes, there are questions to be answered, people to be rescued and deaths to be avenged, but stage one in the grand plan, of both the Chancellor and the Nihil's mysterious leader Marchion Ro, have been played out to their conclusion. Bring on book two - The Rising Storm!