Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star was written by New York Times best-selling author, Claudia Gray. This is the 3rd High Republic novel published by Del Rey. (A big thank you to Del Rey for sending out this copy for me to review.) The Fallen Star is the 3rd and final novel for the first phase of The High Republic.
SUMMARY: Starlight Beacon, the Republic’s physical symbol of peace and loyalty, is the next target of the Nihil. Marchion Ro has spread the Nihil across the galaxy to strike at random, to cause discomfort and fear. Many Nihil victims have made their way to Starlight Beacon for medical aid and ship repair as it hangs in space above the planet Eiram.
Soon, chaos will irrupt on Starlight Beacon as Marion Ro sends a crew to sabotage the station and unleash a Jedi killing, force hungry beast. The light of Starlight Beacon… will be snuffed out!
CHARACTERS: I’ve picked two characters to briefly mention.
The controversial Vintian character, Geode, brings in some comic relief. While the rock character does provide a few laughs, this living rock’s abilities alter an important plot point that we spend a lot of time with… by just sweeping the climax of said particular plot under the rug. It was a funny thing, but also a let down.
Bell Zettifar shines in this tale. While he’s still mourning the loss of his master, Loden Greatstorm, he doesn’t hesitate to jump into action when the world is burning around him. He and the wookie padawan, Burryaga, have become great friends and work well together.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: So far with the High Republic, I’ve really enjoyed the Del Rey novels. The era has been pretty hectic as the villains, the Nihil cause disaster throughout the galaxy. The previous novels introduced excellent characters with simple plots but excellent details. This novel, I hoped I wouldn’t have had to say it… falls short of my expectations. Here’s why…
It truly feels that Claudia Gray could not break the mold of the YA novel structure. The one thing this story lacks more than anything else, would be details. There are no aspects of the story that are heavily detailed, so there are a few situations that happen in the book that are muddled down and slightly confusing, because the details aren’t there! The story is shallow and simple.
The characters did not feel consistent with who they were in previous books, not just original characters created by Gray, but the characters created by the other authors writing in the High Republic Era. Claudia Gray brings in a few characters from her previous YA novel, Into the Dark such as Affie Hollow and her crew.
Some of my favorite characters in the High Republic are Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann. However, sadly, I wasn’t thrilled with either one of them in this book. They lacked the leadership and strength they displayed in past novels. Elzar has disconnected from the force for fear of sinking into the dark side. He comes across as too fearful and weak, I understand that he, as well as all Jedi, are students of the Force; they are always learning and growing. Elzar acts like a first time force user. Stellan Gios is suddenly very prideful and a tad spiteful. He is acting by Marshal of Starlight Beacon, replacing Avar Kriss. He has this childish grudge against Avar that doesn’t feel appropriate to his character in previous stories.
The relationships between the Jedi, as slightly mentioned already (with Stellan & Aver) all seemed out of line, with the exception of Bell & Burryaga. The dialogue wasn’t that bad, but there were many tacky lines and, much like the story structure, shallow. Previously, we’ve had a galactic disaster, billions have lost there lives during the events of Light of the Jedi, thousands more in The Rising Storm… but Chancellor Soh believes that the destruction of Starlight Beacon is the most tragic event in the history of the Republic? Yeah she believes that. I’m bummed out too that what was building up to some very intriguing political happenings in The Rising Storm, was completely absent in this book.
Do I recommend this book? Yes. Even with all the negative things I had to say about it, it is the continuation of a much larger era. This is the final adult novel in the first phase of the High Republic.
RATING: This book receives a C minus.