“Your overconfidence is your weakness.” – Luke Skywalker
The Republic has launched Chancellor Soh’s first great work in the Starlight Beacon station. The Jedi have helped the Republic navigate “The Great Disaster” as well as worked to contain the Drengir threat. In light of these things, it’s time for Chancellor Soh’s next great work, the Republic Fair which is to be held on the planet of Valo.
The Rising Storm picks up from the first phase of The High Republic. Chancellor Soh is keen to see the Republic Fair go forward, even with warnings that the Nihil could see this as a prime opportunity for attack. The theme of arrogance overshadows everything in this story. The Chancellor is a prime example, in not taking the threat of the Nihil seriously and thinking that the Jedi can handle them alone, even if they were to attack. The Jedi come face to face with their own arrogance. It’s been some time since anyone has challenged their power in the galaxy and they find themselves learning the foolishness of disregarding threats or thinking themselves powerful enough to handle anything.
The Jedi are also find themselves having their role in the Republic questioned. As the threats increase, are they enough to hold back the tide? The Jedi are peacekeepers, not soldiers. Therefore shouldn’t there be a defense force to help guard against threats to the Republic so that it is not solely relying on the them for everything in that regard? Plus, with the Jedi finding themselves in the role of soldier more and more, they are also finding the temptation of the Dark Side easier to give into, which will create a whole new set of problems.
The Rising Storm is one of the better books in The High Republic series. Cavan Scott’s writing is crisp and his character work, especially between the Jedi is great. The book does still suffer under the weight of having too much going on. The first half of the book is full of movement between characters and places that can leave the reader feeling a bit lost. The High Republic series has thrown so much at readers in the first phase plot wise, that it’s been hard to actually get invested in many of the character since there are just too many to keep track of. And in all honesty, splitting the series between adult, young adult, middle grade and comics has made it difficult to keep up with the story as a whole. Star Wars has done massive series before in literature and so far, The New Jedi Order was much more successful. One, because it was only in the adult novels and two, because the story was able to take its time building, using series within the series to focus on different characters or situations individually while still building the whole.
Ultimately, The High Republic has so much going on with the Nihil, the Drengir, the Jedi and the Republic that it just feels too scattered. Hopefully, as this second phase kicks off, the series will find more focus in the plot and invest in the characters, by spending time with fewer of them, allowing readers to connect more deeply. The Rising Storm is rated 3 out of 5 stars.
This review was completed using a copy of The Rising Storm provided by Del Rey Press.
Author: Matt Rushing
Matthew Rushing is the host of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and co-host of TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations: A Star Wars Podcast. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.
[…] This review originally appeared on The Star Wars Report. […]