Star Wars The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
is the latest of the High Republic storyline. Every few weeks since January 5th
has seen new material released about the High Republic, a time a few centuries
before Anakin Skywalker is even born. The Outer Rim doesn’t want to join the
Republic. The Expansion Region remains a dangerous place and everything in
between tends to be worse. Each novel build on the one before it so if it feels
like you’re missing something, that’s why. How does Into the Dark measure up?
All of the authors picked for this project have prior Star
Wars experience. Gray has written several novels, including Lost Stars which
proved that Star Wars could have a Young Adult Romance. If only the characters
had been seen again. Alas, the romance is set to a bare minimum here although
it’s nice that Leox Gyasi is Asexual. Gray does excel at people discovering
their lives might not be what they thought they were. Perhaps that’s an
overarching theme of Star Wars in general, from Luke Skywalker to Din Djarin. The
inner angst and turmoil is exquisite especially when it comes to the Force and
how Jedi are trained. Most fandom knowledge comes from Luke or Kanan Jarrus,
training from limited knowledge. This book and others give firsthand insight
into the training before Palpatine can corrupt it.
Into the Dark is one of the fastest paced Star Wars novels.
Every five to ten pages is a new twist. The turns are great, but at times, it
suffers from too many character perspectives. It’s hard to keep track of
everyone even though Gray does try to give each a distinctive voice. On first
reading, the excitement and eagerness overpowered reading it carefully and two
characters had been confused as one character called different names at
different times. The second reading revealed the mistake and others made in
that first reading. The published version probably makes all of this easier by
having the proper format to chapters and Point of View changes while the
Advanced Reader Copy contained the book in one large file.
The main character, Reath, is the typical teenage male, even
with a lightsaber. Way more interesting is Leox Gyasi, who is sure to become a
fan favorite. Gray always reveals who she bases characters on, and Gyasi was
inspired by young Matthew McConaughey. Imagine him in Sahara, but more allergic
to clothing. Along with the secretly sweet disposition, Gyasi speaks in a
manner that could confuse even Gatalentans. ‘That sounds like Master Yoda on
spice,’ complains another character in their head, which has to be one of the
funniest lines ever written in a Star Wars book. He also smells like spice for
a very good reason. In this earlier time, it seems that spice is more like
marijuana than the harder versions that appear later.
There are far too many fandom questions to list them all.
The Star Wars universe feels like it was composed of contemporary literature
before a sudden discovery of a treasure trove of 19th century
manuscripts. Now fans get to study how their beloved universe came to be. Also
planned for the High Republic line along with the books are comics and at least
one television series. Hopefully, some of Gray’s characters will appear
especially Gyasi. Star Wars High Republic: Into the Dark is an enjoyable read
that whets the appetite for the other related material.
8 out of 10
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