A little background
The Fallen Star is the 3rd main book in The High
Republic series after the opener The Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm.
There are of course other books and comics in the series, but Fallen Star is
like the feature films, in that it’s part of the main storyline, where all the
important stuff happens (well, sort of!). For sub-plot though, I really
recommend all the other books and comics to help you get up to speed. As with
all things book wise, I’m consuming my Star Wars via Audible. This book is by
Claudia Gray and narrated by the awesomely talented Marc Thompson who does all
the various voices, adding emotion and drama, along with some good background
sound effects. The total length of the audible book is 13 hours and 31 minutes,
although that’s including the intro and credits. Although technically there are
35 chapters (of about 20 minutes each), there is also a prologue and epilogue.
The Story
As I was listening to the story, I tweeted out summaries of
each chapter. This way I felt I could capture the most important plot points in
small concise chunks. Some chapters were combined because mostly the same thing
was happening, and some chapters had a couple tweets to capture the slightly
busier moments.
So, what the heck happened? Well, the main characters that
get the bulk of the time in this book were Jedi’s Elzar Mann, Stellen Gios,
Bell/Burry, The Crew of the Vessell and the antagonist’s Nan/Chancy. Marchion
Ro is of course lurking, but the story here focuses almost exclusively on
Starlight Beacon and everyone who is on it during the dramatic events that
entail. Think of this book as Star Wars Meets ‘The Possidon Adventure’ or ‘The
Titanic’, and you’ll understand quickly what you’re likely to get as Starlight
Beacon’s light is well and truly turned off.
The official summary for the book is:
Time and again, the vicious raiders known as the Nihil
have sought to bring the golden age of the High Republic to a fiery end. Time
and again, the High Republic has emerged battered and weary, but victorious
thank to its Jedi protectors - and there is no monument to their cause grander
than the Starlight Beacon.
Hanging like a jewel in the Outer Rim, the Beacon
embodies the High Republic at the apex of its aspirations: a hub of culture and
knowledge, a bright torch against the darkness of the unknown, and an extended
hand of welcome to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. As survivors and
refugees flee the Nihil's attacks, the Beacon and its crew stand ready to
shelter and heal.
The grateful Knights and Padawans of the Jedi Order
stationed there finally have a chance to recover - from the pain of their
injuries and the grief of their losses. But the storm they thought had passed
still rages; they are simply caught in its eye. Marchion Ro, the true
mastermind of the Nihil, is preparing his most daring attack yet - one designed
to snuff out the light of the Jedi.
The crawl to the book pretty much goes through that summary
and introduces another fact that Avir Kriss is still pursing Lorna Dee. There
are a few interesting wordings at the end when it refers to 'an old enemy'
being unleashed on the Jedi by Marchion Ro. Sith? Or is this just referring to
the leveller in some way? This isn’t much clearer by the end of the book
really. However, let’s get a snapshot now of each chapter.
Chapter 1 - We get to see several different Jedi parties
chasing down Nihil across the outer rim and having success. These Nihil seem to
be mostly Lorna Dee ships though. Meanwhile, someone is running an errand for
Marchion Ro on his ship, the Gaze Electric.
Chapter 2 - Jedi, with Starlight Beacon towed into orbit, are
helping a planet recovering from the Nihil. Nihil also begin an attack on
multiple worlds elsewhere designed to get the Jedi's attention. Stellan is
gifted a droid, nicknamed “45” (who is an absolute blast thanks to Marc’s voice).
And Nan, former Nihil, who readers will know if they have read the other
secondary novels, arrives on Starlight as a prisoner.
Chapter 3 - Elzar Mann is away on another planet meditating
in water. Orla Jareni is his guide. They finish their away time on this distant
planet, meet up with the crew of The Vessell (there’s a one of many brilliant
Geode moment here). Marchion Ro dispatches a handful of loyal nihil to perform
a secret mission.
Chapter 4 - Bell and "Burry" talk about Loden as Nihil
spies start secretly wrecking starlight comms (they easily arrived on Starlight
in a ship claiming to have Rathtars as cargo which no one bothered or wanted to
check – make note here, as one of numerous Jedi failings), Marchion Ro is ready
for a new crew to arrive, and The Crew of The Vessell run into Nihil on way to
Starlight.
Chapter 5 - Quiet chapter really. The Vessell tangles with
the Nihil briefly by disrupting comms for a few minutes which felt pointless.
On Starlight, well, not a lot happening. A few dealings with ingoing’s and
outgoing.
Chapter 6 - On Starlight, Bell and Burry spar together but
sense something is amiss. In a hanger bay, plenty of wounded are arriving from
the various Nihil attacks on other planets, to which Indeera (Bell’s Jedi
Master) also senses something is wrong but cannot ascertain what. Elzar Mann
questions the prisoners ... Sort of. More Jedi begin to feel something on the
edge of their consciousness that wasn't right, or missing, but do nothing about
it. Nihil spies continue to sabotage Comms.
Chapter 7 - On Starlight, there's more Jedi sensing distant
oddities but doing nothing. A strong hint that the Drengir are coming back
comes via Stellan's dream, who dismisses it. Sigh. Briefly we see Avir pursuing
Lorna Dee
Chapter 8 - Still on Starlight, The Vessell lands in the
hanger bay. Some greetings aside, Leox notices a "rival" of sorts,
which concerns him. Orla and Reginald (another Jedi) briefly investigate the
uncertainly they are feeling but are called away.
Chapter 9 - Still on Starlight, bit of a quiet chapter. Elzar
Mann meets up with Stellan Gios who is quite troubled by his dream which seems
to have started to cripple him. Leox spars verbally with his rival. The Nihil
spies hear about the Nihil prisoners.
Chapter 10 A remote Jedi temple is obliterated by the Nihil.
Starlight Jedi begin tentative investigation into strange feelings. Leox's
rival snoops about The Vessel. Marchion Ro's new crew arrive in the form of illegal
Enforcer droids.
Chapter 11 Orla, Reginald, and Indeera break rules to
investigate force oddities in Starlight. They head down to lower decks, to
cargo hold where they split up. Reginald calls out in pain, Indeera also struggles
against an invisible unknown foe, Orla later finds a dead Reginald.
Chapter 12 and 13. Geode’s flirting is lighter side of
matters as Elzar Mann heads to check out poor Reginald and Indeera. The Nihil
spies break out Chancey (who was captured at same time) and Nan and put them to
work.
Chapter 13 Ro gets all loved up on Gaze Electric, Stellan
Gios is still feeling hopelessly like a failure whilst Bell and Burry look over
an unconscious Indeera.
Chapter 14 - This is when the shit starts to hit the fan!
Not long after Avir Kriss returns to Starlight in the Jedi Cruiser. Explosives
are laid by the Nihil spies on Starlight which explode by the reactor core.
Everyone is startled. At this point Starlight is split into half and we never
get to find out much about the top section where Avir Kriss is. The story
concentrates on the lower section.
Chapter 15 Jedi in multiple locations all realising that
Comms are down and they've no idea what's going on. The Leveller is loose too. I
thought the Drengir were lurking too but turns out not. It’s all a little
confusing here but there seems to be multiple creatures behaving like the
leveller did at the end of The Rising Storm on Loden. Then the news comes that
both sections of Starlight are stuck in gravitational pull.
Chapter 16 Chancey and Nan leave Nihil trio and try to flee
station. All over station everyone starting to realise that docking bay doors,
escape pods and Comms are down. Stellan Gios discovers that station is caught
in gravity pull.
Chapter 17 Bell and Burry use a droid to send a Comms to
nearby medical ship requesting assistance and learn of station’s dire
situation. Leox and crew alert Stellan Gios that Comms aren't blocked as they
thought, and he calls for help. Orla confronts the leveller.
Chapter 18 Bell and Burry use maintenance shafts to get up a
level or two and meet Elzar Mann near the hub. Chaotic scenes in the hanger bay
as panic starts but Geode stands tall.
Chapter 19-21 Chancey and Nan are trying to save their own skins.
Later they bump into Affie (of The Vessel) who are all looking for escape pods.
There's a minor confrontation before Nan and Chancey flee.
Chapter 19-21 Orla is discovered by Bell and Burry as a dead
husk. Elzar Mann brings back power cells to the docking bay. Stellan Gios
confronts the Leveller.
Chapter 19-21 Starlight is totally split into two by this
point by another explosion. Both sections in gravitational pull although one
section Stellan Gios believes might be able to avoid crashing.
Chapter 22. Stellan Gios evades the Leveller and makes it
back to Elzar Mann but in a much-reduced mental and physical state. More
preparations on planet below for crash of starlight, and Bell and Burry
discover the husk of Burry’s master.
Chapter 23 Elzar Mann is now in charge. Bell and Burry
organise a crew in bay to seal off lower deck with the Leveller in. Senator Starros
(Ro’s lover and spy in the Republic) is uneasy with droids on Gaze Electric. A mutiny
is growing in docking bay as top half of starlight breaks up.
Chapter 24 Elzar Mann works on getting Stellan Gios better.
Avir makes contact through the force. Bell, Burry and Leox and crew continue to
separate off sections of the lower levels.
Chapter 25 Elzar Mann ponders how to get through the
radiation sections of Starlight. Meanwhile, Bell and Burry find themselves
battling a bunch of Rathtars. Yes, one of the Nihil spies ships actually did
have them onboard.
Chapter 25 & 26 Bell uses explosives to separate medical
tower from starlight. Nan & Chancey give up on escape pods and lurk in
cargo bay. Elzar Mann & Burry use obscure system to create path for ships
through starlight.
Chapters 28 and 29 - A mutiny in the main docking bay is
averted bravely by the star of the book, Geode. Elzar Mann and Burry battle Rathtars
as Elzar Mann gets the cargo bay door open to allow smaller ships to escape.
Chapters 30 - Chancey and Nan head to try to fix the
positional thrusters but meet the Nihil gang. Affie devises plan to use
leftover power cores to power the escape pods.
Chapter 31 - Chancey and Nan battle the Nihil trio and
defeat them. Elzar Mann is heading in their direction too. Bell tries to enter
starlight cargo bay but ends up staying outside and giving aide.
Chapter 32 Elzar Mann has a close encounter with the
leveller on route to bottom of station. Bell helps escape pods launch. Lenox
has a plan to open docking bay doors.
Chapter 33 An enraged Elzar Mann takes out Chancey before
Nan escapes. By this time, it's too late to use the thrusters. Ooops. Leox
blows open bay door mechanism allowing ships to escape but gets caught in gust
of wind ...
Chapter 34 Elzar Mann confesses to Stellan Gios. Nan escapes
Starlight. Leox is alive after using a parachute to land on planet below! Stellan
Gios sacrifices himself by staying at the controls to redirect Starlight from
crashing into a populated area.
Chapter 35 Avir and Elzar Mann mourn the loss of Stellan
Gios. The Jedi on the planet help repair Local facilities. The Nihil host a
celebration of the century in deepest space.
Epilogue - Marchion Ro broadcasts his victory speech to the
entire system, boasting bragging rights and that this part of system is his.
My thoughts
Overall, this book is a slow burner. It’s not really until halfway
through that thing really pick up when the first explosions happen. I enjoyed
the book although I kept getting a very strong sense of things being deliberately
kept from us, especially concerning the … what shall we call them … the
anti-force beings or animals that the Nihil brought to Starlight? At the end of
Book 2 we saw one animal of sorts attack Loden, and I also had from memory that
Bell was affected too, but this is not mentioned at all. It’s hard to
understand the threat when it’s not overly clear enough. We know that these
animals essentially turn off the jedi’s connection with the force, or mute it, but
it’s inconceivable that this doesn’t get a proper investigation by the Jedi in
my view. Yes, they’ve been stretched thin by going off to help planets attacked
by Nihil, but there are droids and non-Jedi on Starlight? Later on though we
get Jedi using force abilities and realising it’s a struggle, which is fine
given what little we know, but the huge leaping about stuff with lightsabre doesn’t
really seem like a struggle. All in all, I found the whole threat from the anti-force
animals too vague and cryptic to comprehend. I like having this anti-force
threat and it is delivering serious results but it’s far too vague to have the
true impact.
That’s another thing, it’s totally unclear how many people
are on Starlight. It’s hinted that lots died from destruction of Starlight but most
of the time we only stay with the same few Jedi, those in docking bay, and
droids in medical wing. It’s hard to fathom who else is there, and what they
were doing as it appears only Stellan and Elzar mostly are running the show. In
previous books it has been hard to keep up with all the Jedi but in this book
when you’re on a station full of people, some text to demonstrate how busy it
is could have really helped in this case. We know a lot were lost, but how
many?
Nan, Nan, Nan … I find her so confusing. She loves the
Nihil, hates them, wants to be with them, doesn’t want to be with them, helps
being reliant on others, wants to be part of a group … she is defiantly complex
but so random in what she’s thinking.
On the plus side, this is an epic story with epic consequences.
Perhaps not made as dramatic as it could and should have been but nevertheless it
was highly significant in the loss of Starlight. I totally buy how Nihil having
the blueprints through their Senate spy could achieve this complex task of sabotage
and the extra burden Marchion Ro places on the Jedi to distract them literally
and through the force. I don’t totally comprehend it did get as much investigation
as it did, but maybe there was more that’ll come out in the comics and
secondary novels.
We get further development of Elzar with his love/hate
relationship with the force and his ability to quickly tap into the dark side without
a blink of the eye. He’s certainly going somewhere. Of course, his confession to
Stellen is now moot given Stellan’s fate and he says he’ll tell others, but I
wonder if he ever will now?
The crew of the Vessell, and Bell/Burry, were the plus
points of the book for me. Geode stole the show so many times with his persona and
actions. Leox is a happy go lucky positive amusing character no matter what the
situation. Bell and Burry are the most Anikan/Obi-Wan Jedi pairing and work so
well together in an enjoyable way.
We lost a few Jedi along the way. Stellen, a pillar of the
Jedi who was very morale and abiding to the jedi Council, sacrifices himself.
In a way, we never really got to know him. He was so stiff and giving out
advice and orders, it doesn’t really feel like a huge loss to me. Reginald was
a great funny character, like a jedi Leox, and I just knew he was doomed to die
when they concentrated so much on him in beginning, however, too soon to mourn
him. Indeera I didn’t feel I knew either. However, the one that affected me the
most was Orla. I just loved her. She was intelligent, comprehensive and knew
lots about the ways of the force. I was somewhat surprised she couldn’t fight
the anti-force animals any better than anyone else. I will miss her. I don’t
count Burry as dead as I reckon he did survive. I would miss him though. What’s
not to like about a Jedi Wookie?????
Pros: The Crew of the Vessel, especially Geode and
Leox are worth the entrance fee alone, the progression of a complex Elzar, the
continuation of a deeply serious anti-force threat to the Jedi, a significant
turn of events in the Nihil’s favour with the destruction of Starlight … and a
big shoutout to an amazingly amusing and sarcastic “45” voice by Marc Thompson.
Cons: Strangely, the anti-force threat, despite being
severe and devastating, it’s unclear what is happening, and that’s not a good
thing for the story in my opinion. It’s a slow-burning first-half of the book,
and somehow, the absolutely drama of the crashing of Starlight is not delivered
in quite the way it could have been, especially as the only tangible danger to
life comes across as limited to those in a medical bay and docking bay.
I don’t really like to rate Star Wars because I’ll watch/read
it and enjoy it no matter what, but it’s always a little fun to try to pinpoint
things in a review. As I never wrote a review for previous High Republic books
I’ve read, I’ll quickly say that I’d give Light of the Jedi an 9/10 and The
Rising Storm 7/10.
Rating
7/10 – An epic story of huge consequences in The High
Republic series which shows the frailties of the Jedi at this time and the canniest
abilities of the Nihil.
