User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
**4.5-stars rounded up**Into the Dark is a Disney
Star Wars Canon YA novel, set during
The High Republic era; known as the golden age of the Jedi.
The events in the three recent
High Republic books all take place concurrently in the year 232-BBY.
As you discover in this novel, this is the year of the
Great Disaster, a catastrophic event that caused numerous ships galaxy-wide to be suddenly, and violently, launched out of hyperspace.
It also destroyed moons and created a great amount of debris, causing major problems for ships and navigators.
To be clear, the events in this book take place before any previous media you may have watched or read.
We're talking all new
Star Wars goodness, people! Now with that bit of timeline info out of the way, let's get into the review, shall we?
Jedi Padawan, Reath Silas, dreams of days spent pouring through the archives versus deep space adventures. He's comfortable in Coruscant, known to be the center of the Core System and home to the Jedi Temple.
When his Master, Jora Malli, gets assigned to the new space station, the
Starlight Beacon, in the Outer Rim territories, he has to go with. An assignment he's not happy about.
Malli takes off early, leaving Silas to travel aboard
The Vessel, a civilian transport ship, with three other Jedi: Master Cohmac Vitus, Orla Jareni and Dez Rydan.
The only other passengers aboard
The Vessel include its Captain, Leox Gyasi, Co-Pilot, Affie Hollow, and Navigator, Geode.
It's during their journey to the
Starlight Beacon that the aforementioned
Great Disaster occurs, virtually ejecting them from the hyperspace channels and stranding them in deep space.
As you can imagine, that's not good.
The group discovers an ancient space station, the
Amaxine, that seems to be abandoned. Unfortunately for the intrepid crew and passengers of
The Vessel, they aren't the only ones to discover the station and not everyone else is friendly.
Making matters worse, the dilapidated Station may not be as abandoned as it first appears.
Claudia Gray, surprising no one, did an exceptional job bringing this story to life.
It was an absolute joy to read and learn about this earlier era of Star Wars history. The characters were incredibly well done. I loved their interactions with one another and getting to read from all of their perspectives.
My favorite character was obviously Geode. If you read the book, you will quickly discover why. He was the best and I loved every scene that he was in.
There is a ton, a ton, a ton of action, with some very serious baddies, known as the Nihil, that need to be stopped. A lot of the action focuses on some ancient idols that were discovered on the station, thought to have been left there by the Sith.
I would highly recommend this story to any
Star Wars fan, or really even someone who is just looking to get into the books. This is the literal beginning. What better place to start?
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney LucasFilms, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. It was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it did not disappoint!
I cannot wait to pick up the rest of
The High Republic materials!
Rating: really liked it
This is a great book. Claudia Grey and Rae Carson have been the gold standard of the new Star Wars authors for me. This book is a great companion to the Light of the Jedi book, but adds a great deal to the High Republic era.
The book focuses around 4 new Jedi characters and the crew of frontier "vessel". The characterisation and character development is great. For continuity as well I really like how the event of this book fit together with other book in the series and the honorable mention of characters used in the other book.
I really like the conflict in the Jedi of finding their own paths in life and the force. I also find it interesting how the Jedi are more political, philosophical, and when need militaristic in this time. Depending on which route a Jedi decides to go though they are given combat training the vast majority of them have not and don't expect to use it. Part of the is also explained very well in this book.
After reading this book I would really like to see what is next for everyone in this book and really hope turn up in other book. I already main characters of A Test of Courage will be returning I hope these so as well. This era has suddenly got a lot more interesting.
Rating: really liked it
This was so fun, and I got surprisingly emotional over it!!
RTC.
Rating: really liked it
This took me FOREVER to read.
Its plot is fine. The characters are fine. Overall, I wasn't too invested. The most important thing here was that they RECANONIZED THE SITH SHRINE AT THE HEART OF THE JEDI TEMPLE.
Sometimes I think "maybe I should stop reading EVERY new Star Wars title and just concentrate on the ones I'm really invested in." But then I would miss out on all the important tiny details I NEED to know, such as the addition of new canon rooms of the Temple, and more light shed on nuances of Jedi philosophy.
There were a lot of other interesting details as well:
• The Kyber Arch: an arch made out of the kyber crystals from the lightsabers of Jedi killed in battle, in one of the Temple's meditation chambers.
• Padawan parties. ("Not technically forbidden" beverages and a BAND lol.)
• Wayseekers are apparently Jedi who "operate independently of the dictates of the Jedi Council." What it sounds like is just a Jedi... wandering out there in the galaxy alone... doing whatever they think is important.
The Wayseeker character in the book apparently became one after realizing she had differences with the Council, but those differences were profoundly skimmed over, which was disappointing to me. It can't JUST be the difference between her instincts and correct hostage-rescuing tactics as taught in the Temple, because that's a ridiculous thing to have a moral crisis over. There are ALWAYS differences between "correct tactics" and practice in the field.
• It was never explicitly stated, but Jedi celibacy was mentioned. There's still room here to argue that the true prohibition was against relationships rather than sex, but it was implied that celibacy itself was a tenet.
• The padawan braid was on the back of the head.
• This seems like it was overall a pretty chill time in the Republic. There's a mission to save two kidnapped planetary rulers and it's said that "very few Jedi ever had" an assignment so significant before. That kind of thing is pretty much a random Tuesday during the Clone Wars.
• Full Jedi levitation!
• A character theorizes that the Dark Side is only so dangerous because the Jedi artificially cut it off from the Light and try to suppress it, instead of embracing the Force as it truly is -- a mix of both. This is all just theorizing and a crisis of faith. It will be interesting to see if the evolving canon actually tries to argue this at any point in the future. I hope not.
• Three kinds of "Force artefacts" are mentioned: holocrons that contain memories/personalities of Force users, Force-enhancing artefacts, and Force-dampening artefacts. The dampeners are the most interesting to me, because I can't recall an example of something like that anywhere else except maybe the ysalamir.
• The Shrine of the Depths. This had technically already been recanonized in Tarkin, but it's still interesting to see this come up again in a completely different era. The shrine it says is "hidden from the Jedi themselves" and "covered by a meditation area." The Jedi characters still seem to know about it, though, so it's up in the air how widely known-about the shrine actually is.
• YET ANOTHER CANON MENTION of the specific padawans' training area. No I will not stop bringing this up.
• "The padawans' dorm" was mentioned as an area of the Temple.
• The Council in this is so chilled out. When a padawan is orphaned, they pretty much just ask him what HE wants to do next. Who does he want as master? What does he feel his path should be? And when three Jedi more or less totally disobey orders, they end up deciding that it was justified and basically saying "well done, but don't do it again."
• A book of Core World fairy tales is mentioned, including such legends as Good Princess Chaia of Alderaan, the Ithorian pirate Bluebrow, and the Amaxine warriors.
• A character does a near-Kylo Ren maneuver, blocking someone's blaster bolt with a direct application of the Force.
• "There is no rightness in slaying an enemy. Killing is never true victory. At best it is the knowledge that you have done what you must."
• The Barash Vow is apparently "an extreme commitment to gaining ultimate communion with the Force." It's pretty much becoming a hermit for years to seek spiritual healing or enlightenment.
Rating: really liked it
As if I wasn't already hyped for the High Republic, the Queen of Star Wars Novels is writing one!
Rating: really liked it
I'm 90% sure I get to say I've read this now and AAAHHHH
Claudia Gray is just.
really good at writing Star Wars. Also I want to hug Reath Silas because boy deserves it--the most relatable Archivist-who-Hates-Adventure Introvert since Bilbo Baggins, he's the perfect lens for a story about a new frontier, about exploring an abandoned space station and learning how to be excited about a new era for the Jedi order. Learning what it means to be part of the High Republic and reach out to the stars. This is the perfect introduction to this new era and I can not say enough delighted, wonderful things about it.
If you're already looking forward the the High Republic, get even more excited. This is Star Wars for you. For new readers and old, for Jedi lovers and smuggler fans, for anyone who loves space adventure at its finest. This is for you.
Rating: really liked it
Reath Silas can do no wrong in my book!
Rating: really liked it
This is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone. It does have a connection with the first novel of this series but not enough that it would affect your reading of this novel. In this novel, a group of Jedi are traveling to a new space station when the disaster mentioned in the previous book affects their journey. They end up on a different station and there is something sinister aboard this station.
It is my belief that Claudia Gray has been the best writer for the new canon books in this universe. Sadly, this is her weakest offering for this universe. There were some aspects I did like though. I loved the connection to the previous book as we get one more fallout from the disaster that happened in the hyperspace lanes. I also liked how the author used her characters to question some of the precepts of the Jedi. I did wish that she delved deeper into this. The main plot works for this universe and there are plenty of sub plots to keep readers interested. The flaw with this book is also the same problem I had with the first book which is the characters. These Jedi are not doing much for me. I don't feel any distinction from them and maybe that is the point of this series. Not singular characters but a group. If that is the case I just don't feel any connection. There are also flashbacks interspersed within the main story that really didn't add much to the arc.
I liked this book and I did think it was better than the first offering in this series. The problem is these Jedi are bland and I am not totally invested in what happens to them. My expectations might have been a little high for this particular novel because of all the other author's works in this universe. This ended up being a decent book but this series is just not meeting expectations.
Rating: really liked it
This makes a nice companion piece to Light of the Jedi. You don't need to have read
Light of the Jedi first. It just gives you a different perspective on what happened in that book. It's about 4 Jedi travelling to Starlight when a disaster happens and they have to randomly drop out of hyperspace in the middle of nowhere. They along with some other travelers find themselves on an ancient, abandoned space station to weather solar flares in the area. The book is told in two halves, as if this were two books smooshed into one.
The characters are interesting. The main character is the Padawan, Reath Silas, who wants to be a researcher with the Jedi and gets pushed out of his comfort zone by this adventure. In addition to the Jedi, the 3 person crew of the ship they are on play a large role as well. Affie Hollow is a pilot in training hoping to take over her foster mother's business one day as the head of a transport guild. If you were wondering where the Drengir come from, it's this book. (They kept popping up in other
High Republic media I read without explanation. I hate how Lucas Books has put all these adult, YA, and junior novels along with 3 comic book lines together and just leave you guessing on how to read them.)
Rating: really liked it
Once again, I'm not very impress with Claudia Gray's writing. I think she had an interesting plot going in the beginning of the book, but the original story felt over by 50%, so it ended up feeling like a duology mashed together. Pacing aside, the characters' dialog (in all of her books that've read) comes across like she's trying to hard to be funny and very much like a "hello fellow kids" attempting and sounding "hip and modern", if that makes sense. Like I don't think people really speak like how Claudia writes them.
With that being said, I do think Orla Jareni and Cohmac Vitus were interesting characters, and I would be interesting in following stories by other authors about these characters. I also think the Drengir are an awesome addition to the Star Wars universe, and they were the main reason I decided to pick this up, even knowing how much I don't get along with Gray's writing.
In the hands of another author, I think this could have been a stellar book. I know many people love Claudia Gray's books, both Star Wars and otherwise, but I just can't get into her. I wish Disney would allow more authors to write books because Claudia has done so much for the new canon and, not to beat a dead horse, I just can't be bothered to pick them up knowing she's the author. I would LOVE to see what N. K. Jemisin could do with an adult High Republic book (if she'd be interested in writing one), but I would even settle for more books by Charles Soule and Rae Carson (both of whom I enjoy their Non-SW material more, but still like when they write in the universe).
Overall, if you don't have the issues I do with Claudia Gray, then I would say you might like this book. But I definitely would not recommend this as somebody's first entry into the High Republic.
Rating: really liked it
The reigning doyenne of Star Wars YA novels enters the High Republic era with a stirring adventure/survival story set more or less concurrently to the events of Light of the Jedi that introduces an atypical Padawan in Reath Silas, a young human male who would really rather just hang out in the Jedi Archives thank you very much, and a supporting cast of Force users and everyday Republic citizens alike.
Reath Silas Didn't Sign Up for These Outer Rim ShenanigansAll and sundry find themselves caught up in The Great Disaster and must take refuge in a mysterious ancient abandoned space station overgrown with exotic plant life. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
I was a little surprised that the major antagonists didn't really show up until the final third or less of the book, but ultimately it worked since the first portion was more about establishing who these characters are and also the thrill of survival and discovery in a dangerous Galaxy. Also, the comically-inclined side characters are high quality, an oft-overlooked key ingredient in tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Perhaps less effective for me were the lengthy flashback sequences set in the Padawan days of a couple of mature Jedi showing how they dealt with a difficult hostage situation years before. It felt a little unnecessarily drawn out, and the denouement didn't really tie directly into the main events of the novel beyond just serving as an origin story for the two characters' doubts and feelings about the Jedi Order and the Force.
Excited to see what this gang has in store for us next!
Rating: really liked it
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2021/02/14/...
Into the Dark was my fifth Star Wars book by Claudia Gray, but it’s probably the first one I didn’t love. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it well enough, but I was also lukewarm about a lot of it. Unfortunately, I just don’t do as well with large casts when it comes to media tie-ins with their multitude of subplots and character perspectives.
Our story takes place in the era known as the High Republic, a setting created for a new series of written work launched in early 2021 to expand the Star Wars universe. Thus far there have only been a handful of books published, and Into the Dark is the first YA novel. Although it is intended to be a standalone, this story is also set around the Emergences space disaster featured in other The High Republic books. We are introduced to a padawan named Reath Silas, whose master had volunteered their services at the new Galactic Republic base established in the Outer Rim called Starlight Beacon. Along for the ride are also Jedi Knights Dez Rydan and Orla Jareni, as well as Jedi Master Colmac Vitus. Each of them have their own reasons to go, but all are committed to supporting the cause of their order and the Republic.
But when their transport is forced out of hyperspace by the Emergences, the Jedi must find a way to help bring the crew to safety. They end up at what appears to be an abandoned space station with a mysterious garden zealously protected by an army of droids, and that’s just one of many strange things they encounter. As more starts to go wrong, our characters discover the disturbing origins of the station, which is a remnant of an ancient race of aliens who have left certain safeguards in place to control an aggressive carnivorous plant species that would be a danger to the galaxy if set loose. And despite their best intentions, the Jedi may have inadvertently disrupted the careful balance of the station, putting everything at risk.
While Claudia Gray is still by far my favorite of the new Star Wars canon authors, I thought Into the Dark was probably her weakest. She usually writes great characters, but the attention here was simply spread too thin among too many perspectives, and even though Reath may be the closest thing to a protagonist, I also felt he was the dullest. The main gist of his character appears to be his reluctance to leave the comforts of Coruscant for the wild frontier of the Outer Rim, and he basically spends the entire book trying to broaden his horizons but still doesn’t quite manage it. Compared to Gray’s other novels where her protagonists typically grow a lot by story’s end, Reath’s journey didn’t seem to have much of an impact. It’s like his biggest challenge is still around the corner given the losses he experiences at the end of the book, and everything that occurred up to that point was just the leadup.
Also keep in mind that during this time, the Jedi were still all about eschewing attachments and forming any kind of emotional connection to anyone or anything, so one can’t help but think this might have also limited what Gray could have done with the characters. I therefore actually find it quite interesting and appropriate that this topic was touched upon in Master Colmac’s story arc. He was definitely one of the more compelling POVs, and I especially enjoyed his internal struggle and questioning of the Jedi’s ways (though I wasn’t so keen on the flashbacks to his early life which I felt were more distraction than explanation). Other characters I enjoyed included the pilot team of Affie and the spice-addled Leox who presented opportunities for cultural exchange and information sharing so that readers too can learn about the differences between the peoples of the core worlds and the Outer Rim.
In terms of the story, the plot involving the Amaxine and the Drengir might have come across as a bit convoluted, but what really excited me was when things started linking up to the bigger series arc concerning the Nihil. These are the main villains of The High Republic, after all, and naturally I was intrigued to read more.
That said, in many ways Into the Dark suffered some of the same issues I had with Light of the Jedi, and I believe the main reason has to do with the fact that this era’s timeline and its characters are still so new. We’re essentially starting fresh, and it’s inevitable that readers are going to need some time to get to learn the ropes. I think this is where I am now, but as time goes on, I’m sure it will become easier to feel more invested and connected to all the names, events, and places. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to getting more of The High Republic lore, and this is a series I will continue to stick with as long as I’m enjoying myself.
Rating: really liked it
Rating of 4.25.
The journey into the new era of Star Wars fiction known as The High Republic continues as acclaimed author Claudia Gray presents the next entry into this sub-series with the young adult novel, Star Wars: Into the Dark.
Jedi Padawan Reath Silas is about to have the adventure of his life, whether he wants it or not. Apprenticed to the powerful Jedi Master Jora Malii, Reath is happy with his life on Coruscant where he can pursue his academic and scholarly interests. However, his master has just accepted a dangerous new posting aboard the Starlight Beacon, a gigantic Republic-controlled space station on the frontier of the Outer Rim, far away from everything Reath has ever known.
However, fate has a funny way of changing even the best laid plans. Reath, leaving Coruscant a few weeks after his master’s departure, finds himself caught up in the disaster sweeping through the galaxy. Travelling aboard the unusual spaceship known as the Vessel, Reath and three other Jedi, each of whom have their own reasons for leaving the Jedi Temple and journeying into the wilds, encounter a mysterious disturbance out in hyperspace, as the remnants of the ship know as the Legacy Run, splinter out at lightspeed, destroying everything in their path.
To avoid the high-speed fragments, the Vessel makes an urgent jump out of hyperspace and finds itself trapped in an isolated portion of space with several other ships. Forced to seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned space station, the Jedi and the Vessel’s crew attempt to work with the other ships to find a way to survive until hyperspace can once again be travelled safely. However, great danger lies in wait aboard this station, as the various crews fight for resources and each of the Jedi are forced to fight their own inner demons. But there are things far darker and more ancient aboard this station, and Reath and his colleagues will soon be forced to face off against a deadly foe whose reappearance could change the galaxy forever.
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Rating: really liked it
The third installment in the High Republic universe was: AMAZING.
I absolutely loved this book, from its impeccable writing style (no one does it like Claudia Gray) to its character or storyline. It was the perfect balance between action and reflection.
I’m truly grateful for Gray’s style to take the time: she allows you to know more about the characters, their personalities and motivations through the prism of dangerous stakes (kidnapping, death, fear, doubt, etc). I loved every single characters from this book. The Jedis (especially Cohmac and Orla) were fascinating and interesting in many ways. And of course I LOVED Reath and Dez who have my heart forever.
The choice of keeping the plot trapped between Coruscent and the mysterious lost station was pertinent and made the pace go faster from the middle. It was an easy and fantastic read. In conclusion, the YA and Middle-aged books worked way better on me than Light of the Jedi did. I can’t wait to be reunite with the younglings and I don’t really care about the elders.
tw: death, mourning, explosion, psychological torture.
Rating: really liked it
“So many fragments of the truth. No complete picture. Which of course is more frightening than the whole truth could ever be.”
As the third and last book taking place in the first wave of books of the
High Republic Era and taking place during the harrowing and complicated time of the
great disaster there are a lot of things in play and taking shape through
Into the Dark. We presented with all the threats that the galaxy at large is about to confront and those discoveries may be more terrifying than any before.
While the galaxy is at high alert and in chaos a group of Jedi gets stranded in a mysteriously abandoned space station alongside a few refugees and a very unsettling presence that will set into motion some catastrophic events.
There is quite a lot happening in this book and it took me a good deal of time to make peace with it all and being able to swallow it.
“It takes strength to question your own actions. Just don’t dwell on the past to the point of forgetting the present.”
This was a book with which I just couldn't seem to connect. I'm not even absolutely sure what wasn't working for me. I like the different characters that they all have intriguing personal drama going on and all the revelations were really nice and very informative but the way it all slots together just wasn't doing it for me.
Seriously, I had a very hard time moving through this book as I was both: interested and really bored at the same time most of the time.
There was an impending feeling of doom all around and the tension kept ramping up with everything that kept happening, I could feel that, and yet I was very annoyed that things were happening in such a way and in such a place.
I can readily say the importance of everything they discover here but, well, I think I could have happily skipped the first half of the book and not care about it.
“Cohmac wondered who the Nihil were – where they must have come from – to carry such wrath as their birthright.”
However, I loved the characters. Like,
every single character had something that made them really fun to read. From the Jedi, to the crew that was transporting them to the ship they were using.
Nobody can top
Geode, though, in the way I loved him because I'm still pondering over him.
Their journeys were all really satisfying and I felt proud to see what they all accomplish and how they dealt with the challenges presented to them. They felt very genuine and real and honest even when they were dealing with situations that were more than they could probably handle nicely.
“How can we split the Force in two? How can we justify an act of violence – and it is violence, such a dividing, even the darkness divided from the light.”
I did like, at the end of the day, the way it went more into the ideology of the Jedi at this time and was ready to discuss it more fully.
Sure, we had already gotten the groundwork for understanding it before but I feel like
Gray took a bit more time, and had more of an opportunity, to really get into it. And that is just one of the things I appreciate most of this era.
We know what the overall outcome is going to be. We've seen the future. The only unclear thing is the path to get there. How, exactly, did we get there ideologically and why did it happen. All wonderful questions that we are starting to see more explored and diving deeper into seeing the differences.
The force is such a vast, everchanging, concept that I will never get tired to discuss and see it discussed.
“When you cannot achieve balance within yourself, simply lean toward the light and do your best. There’s no point in reacting to a lack of calm in a way that makes you even less calm.”
Even though I did enjoy the ending, which was pretty intense and informative, overall the book was not what I was expecting - yes expectations are never good - and I could never quite get into it correctly to enjoy it much.
I appreciate, however, as I can recognize the importance it has and all it did for the time period it's set upon.
And if I happen to see the characters again I will be very glad because I do believe that is the strong suit of this book.
“It doesn’t matter how far we run, or in what direction. In the end, we always come back to the beginning.”
__________________
I have many very conflicting emotions over this book. Like, I'm still dizzy over them all. So, naturally, I'll need to think more about them.
As of right now, I think I liked it? Not, like, loved it or anything to rave about but well enough. Though that may change, seeing as how I was sure I was hating it at first.
It was mostly shock and surprise I think.
RTC. __________________
Oh man, I'm so scared of this book after how we left things at the end of
The Light of the Jedi which also means that I'm excited about it, of course.
I'm really loving this
High Republic era and getting more content over it is just making me really happy!
If this book is anything like its predecessor, well, I'll be perfectly content with that.
