Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram has always assumed that his life would be spent in the garage on Valo, working with the machines that he understands so well. Little does he know his life is about to be forever altered as the Nihil launch their attack on the Republic Fair held on his planet. Daniel José Older’s book fits nicely into the larger story that Cavan Scott’s The Rising Storm tells, while being more accessible for a younger audience.
One of the strengths of the young adult and middle grade novels in The High Republic series has been their smaller focus. With that smaller scope there is more room for character building and Race to Crashpoint Tower is no exception. Older brings back Vernestra Rwoh, who was last seen in A Test of Courage, which allows him to add to her growth as a character. As fun as it was to have Vernestra in the book, it would have been nice to see her and her padawan have a larger role, instead of adding so many new characters to the story. There are just so many characters in The High Republic, it would be good for the stories to focus on the ones already created.
He does creates a fun new character in Ram. Ram is unlike any Jedi we have seen before, he is much more comfortable with machines than he is with living beings. He is able to use the Force to help him understand how things work. This fits nicely into the theme that Older has in the novel, “The whole for the whole, each part for the role it plays.”. Ram is able to learn about his place in the galaxy and that opens his eyes to wanting to see more of it. It is really nice to see these books not abandon Lucas’ mission of using Star Wars to help teach important lessons about life.
One major downside of this book is its treatment of the Drengir. Frustratingly the way they are portrayed in this book strip any menace that had been build in Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark. It is hard to see them as a true threat in light of this book.
Race to Crashpoint Tower is a fun tale and has some good themes for younger readers. With the criticisms about the Drengir and too many characters, the book is rated 3 out of 5 stars.
This review was completed using a copy of Race to Crashpoint Tower provided by Disney Lucasfilm 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.