Published: February 1, 2022
Publisher: Disney-Lucasfilm Press
Author: Daniel José Older
ISBN: 978-1-3680-6067-7
Formats: Hardback (496 pages), eBook (496 pages)
Timeline: 230 BBY
The synopsis;
Centuries before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, in the era of the glorious High Republic, the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy!
After a series of staggering losses, the Republic seems to finally have the villainous Nihil marauders on the run, and it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Until word comes of a suspected Nihil attack on the industrial cosmopolitan world of Corellia, right in the Galactic Core.
Sent to investigate are Jedi Masters Cohmac Vitus and Kantam Sy, along with Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jomaram, all fighting their own private battles after months of unrelenting danger. On Corellia, Reath and Ram encounter a brazen young security specialist named Crash, whose friend was one of the victims of the Nihil attack, and they team up with her to infiltrate Corellia’s elite while the Masters pursue more diplomatic avenues. But going undercover with Crash is more dangerous than anyone expected, even as Ram pulls in his friend Zeen to help with an elaborate ruse involving a galactic pop star.
But what they uncover on Corellia turns out to be just one part of a greater plan, one that could lead the Jedi to their most stunning defeat yet…The New York Times best-selling series continues… For light and life!
The review;
It has been an incredibly long year for The High Republic. This series has had a mountain of releases since it came out at the start of 2021 with The Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. From ongoing comic series, miniseries, young adult novels, audio dramas, there has been so much that has been able to completely immerse fans of the series. The fact that it has all been perfectly coordinated, that every piece fits into one another seamlessly has really help to cement this as one of the greatest endeavours ever to be set in a galaxy far, far away. The possibilities are endless in these stories yet feel like Star Wars through and through.
One of my favourite parts of this project has been Daniel José Older’s The High Republic Adventures from IDW. The series is supposed to be aimed at younger readers, but the care and attention that Older gave to this series made it some of the very best Star Wars I have read. The mirroring of it to the Original Trilogy, the ‘Yoda’ type moments explaining the force, the raw emotion that is having to be dealt with by the characters, it was the Star Wars I had fallen in love with as a child but presented to me in a new and different way. It got me to think, which for me, is what the best pieces of work always do. Older also released the young readers story Race to Crashpoint Tower, introducing the reader and the series to the character of Ram. The series came to an end on its thirteen issues, but Midnight Horizon feels like the worthy sequel to both the book and the comic series. While it can stand alone, if you have followed High Republic Adventures, the payoff is so much more.
Let’s start with the main characters. As with everything The High Republic, there are a lot of characters, yet somehow Older (and the rest of the High Republic authors) are able to provide each with enough time that none feel left out. For me, the three characters that really stand out in this novel are Reath, Ram and Crash. Crash was a character introduced in the High Republic Adventures Series, a very unique individual who allowed readers to see Corellia from a completely different perspective. The paths of these three characters verge together for the story. I always find links that Older makes between his work and the original movies, and I can’t get away that this set up is very much like A New Hope. A damsel (but not really, both Leia and Crash know what they’re doing) need help and along come two men, one more inexperienced than the other, to help rescue said damsel. It’s a formula that has worked many times even outside of the Star Wars universe but Older makes great use of it here; using what we know and changing it so it still feels like Star Wars.
Crash is character that you can’t help but like. When I first saw her in The High Republic Adventures, she was a little quirky, I wasn’t too sure why she was there and that was the end of it. Here, Older brings her to life, showing us a character whose job in security is not as simple as it would seem. Equally, Crash herself is not what she seems. She presents a front to those all around her, but as the story progresses, we get to see the real Crash. Her vulnerability and her desire to do what is right makes her such a strong and moving character. Again, it is easy to draw similarities to her and Leia, both presenting strong fronts to those who work for them to try and protect them, while they have a much softer side that is kept away. Crash is certainly one of those characters that I’m really hoping returns in this era.
Ram and Reath, what a pair! These are two characters who work so well together, one might almost say it’s…wizard (on that note, Older is very determined to bring the word “wizard” back into Star Wars, in fact this book is setting the record for the use of the word- every time it is used you can almost hear Older giggling)! These are two padawans who have become friends, finding themselves caught up with the story’s events. What I love about Older’s work is the way his younger characters get involved in events. A lot of stories outside of Star Wars have children in perilous situations that make me wonder what on earth are their parents doing, how have they raised the children to do that! It takes the reader out of the story. Older never makes this mistake, the padawans get themselves into situations because of their youth and their inexperience to realise what is really going on. Not only that but we get to see them being young, with all the joys (and sorrows) that that brings. Seeing Ram getting excited about a tour around some shipyards is the perfect example. If a master was there, it would never happen, but of course if someone is going to show you a really cool ship, you are going to go!
Without their masters. It is a difficult time during this series, all the authors keep showing us that everyone is busy, too busy. Older continues this theme that the masters themselves are going through a lot and it is taking them away from their padawans. The padawans are in need of guidance, it is why they’re not knights. But they are unable to learn from their masters who have gone through this, who could offer them the words of their experience. Instead, the padawans are having to teach themselves and learn from one another. It means mistakes are being made in their training, that they’re not fully understanding how to deal with a given problem. We really get to see Reath trying to find his place in the galaxy but really unsure of where that is and Older echoes this throughout the other padawans. Even Cohmac is having this same problem, a problem that if everyone sat down and spoke about, would probably be able to be resolved. However, there is never any time, the masters and the padawans are always on the move. It is this that is the real tragedy for the Jedi in this era. From a writer’s point of view, having the masters split from the padawans, allows Older the chance to explore each group separately, to each have their own trials to come to different conclusions. Because one thing that Older examines, is how different the Jedi are. They are united by their use of the force, but there is, even now, operation between them. There are Inner Rim Jedi and Outer Rim. The Outer Rim Jedi have a tougher time, having to deal more with violence. Their response to a situation is much more different to that of a Jedi who has grown up in relative peace. It leads Cohmac down a much darker route.
Of course, there are lots of links back to The High Republic Adventures. The relationship between Lula and Zeen that is hinted at in the comic series is much more obvious here, with Older able to use prose rather than dialogue to show just how much these two care for each other. We see the capture of Krix and the very quick (see my review of The High Republic Adventure #13 to why this is so good) resolution of this character. We see Zeen rushing off (much in the same way Luke does in The Empire Strikes Back) to help her friends. But the greatest link is that of Kantam. This character really comes into their own in this book. While out with Cohmac, Kantam retells of a time when they left the Jedi Order. With how the Adventures series ended with Lula, the revelations in these flashbacks make so much more sense and provide far more understanding for the ending of that series. Just like int he films, there is a poetic repetition that works so well and I’m excited to see where it heads. Older also uses these flashbacks to bring out the myth that is Yoda back. As Kantam’s master, we see Yoda full of understanding and providing force lessons in true Older fashion. The explanations of attachment, of how Yoda himself is still learning (and showing a vulnerable side himself), that we sometimes need to lose ourselves to find ourselves, it’s what I have come to expect from Older and he doesn’t disappoint. But much like the padawans, the masters themselves don’t have the wise Yoda to guide them and are having to rely on each other. Cohmac needs Kantam’s guidance to fully understand what is happening to him.
The setting is one that really sets this book apart. There was a Corellia that we knew from The Legends days, but Solo: A Star Wars Story showed us that it is very different now. To have the story take place here allows Older to shows us why this is such an important and grand place. It is by itself its own character in this book. The different settings, the way the government is run, to how the tunnels are inhabited by grindalids (and a specific one also shows up), the manipulative side to it all. Older creates this amazing backdrop to the story that really shows Corellia in all its glory.
All of these things combine together into a wonderful story that sees characters grow and develop. But one of the main reasons this story is so enthralling is because of the danger. This series from the very first book has not been afraid to do what it wants. From disaster after diameter, death after death, I’m sure the five main writers for this era owe us readers a few hundred hours of therapy for the ordeals (as just the reader) we have had to suffer. The result of this is that you are never able to relax into thinking the characters are going to be safe. There is this very real danger that any point something may happen to them. It makes the reading, in some ways (note Older and co. some ways, we are happy for everyone for wave two to have everyone relaxing on a beach for each story) more enjoyable to read. With the film eras of Star Wars, there are a lot of characters of fates we know, but here there isn’t, anything can happen at any point. We get to see how the effects of The Fallen Star (by Claudia Gray) are felt by our characters, how this event does not escape their notice. Again, it shows the sheer perfection of the coordination between the authors to create stories that fit so seamlessly together.
The High Republic has not made a wrong move. Considering the sheer output for wave one, that is quite an achievement. Midnight Horizon is no exception. It builds on everything before it and then takes it further. The interaction between characters, the sharing of their problems and worries and the growth we see from them is both inspiring and enjoyable. Crash, Reath and Ram really steal the show, the humour, the situations they get themselves into but most importantly, the love they have for one another is heartwarming and really has you caring for these characters. Older showed with The High Republic Adventures just how much he understood Star Wars. With full prose now available to him here, he cements that even further by showing us even more of what he does best. The characters, the lessons in the force, the incredible exploration of Corellia, there is something here for everyone to let their jaw drop to the floor to. For fans of the comic series, for fans who wished it hadn’t quite ended, this is definitely the book for you! I mean it’s Older, it’s going to be so wizard!
Availability;
Star Wars: The High Republic – Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older is published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press. It is available in hardback and eBook formats from local high street book stores and online, including Amazon UK and Amazon US.
