Light of the Jedi (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Charles Soule is a fantastic introduction to a new timeline taking places 200 before the Phantom Menace. This is the first book in the new cannon (that started when The Force Awakens came out) that has told a new story not involving events that film and television have touched on. Yoda is the only character from the Skywalker Saga. The book starts out introducing a dizzying amount of characters all dealing with a crisis, thankfully it slows down and lets you get to know the characters a little. This is an ensemble piece with no main character, which got on my nerves at first, but it worked well at the end. The villain’s plan is pretty genius, the way it unite people through manipulation and lies. The new Jedi I came away having some mixed feeling, just because you don’t spend that much time with them, sense it bounces around so much. I came away liking 3 out of the 7 that were introduced.

The Plot: The Legacy Run, a starship, is destroyed in a hyperspace accident sending shards and debris though out the galaxy. The Jedi and the republic work together to stop the debris that heads for stars, moons, and planets. The Jedi search for how this is possible as the responsible party , The Nihil, seek to destroy all evidence. The Nihil are space pirates operating on the outer rim, and see their reign come to an end as the Jedi set up the first of many beacons on the outer rim. The Nihil will do anything to maintain their power.

What I Liked: The intro was really intense and keeps ramping up the action, it felt like it was more of a Justice League crisis than Star Wars but I enjoyed it. The range of Jedi powers, we have seen them communicate through telepathy but not on this scale which was cool, also there is one Jedi who uses the force of nature which I liked seeing. The twist and turns with the Nihil’s master plan was amazing to see it work out for a leader I felt was weak at first to be so good at plotting and seeing the endgame. The character sacrifices are felt through out and did evoke a emotion from me.

What I Disliked: There was one line where forensic science was brought up that took me right out of the book, there could have been some made up word where we would have understood the science being talked about, but forensic science took me right out of the book. We don’t spend enough time with the characters to form a bond.

Recommendation: This book is a good intro to a star wars series with a lot of potential. I have read probably 15 Star Wars novels in my lifetime and this is one of the better ones. This is a Jedi of one mind which we haven’t seen before, and the villains are smart and pose a good future threat. I’m for sure going to check out the next book, I got a good sample the characters but now I want a taste. I rated Light of the Jedi (Star Wars: High Republic) by Charles Soule 4 out of 5 stars.