My recent Star Wars read was going through the short stories of Tales of Light and Life. I loved them! Each story gave us a window of insight into a character from the High Republic across all phases- some familiar characters, some new (at least to me). I loved getting to fill in some gaps and learn the histories of some of my favorite characters, as well as catching up with some after I last left them, and getting to meet some new faces as well. This is definitely a book worth picking up for any fans of the High Republic, no matter what phases you prefer!
Spoilers ahead for Tales of Light and Life by Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Lydia Kang, George Mann, Daniel José Older, Cavan Scott, Charles Soule and Alyssa Wong!
The first story is "The Queen's Bloom" by Zoraida Córdova, and it's all about Axel Greylark. But he's a very different Axel from the one that we know in Convergence and Cataclysm, though of course still very recognizable. He still has expensive taste, he's still great at faking sick, and he's still a big flirt- but he's much lighter in this story than the Axel we meet later. Inklings of darkness are there, but this is before his father passes away, and Axel is more carefree. His biggest worries are if he's going to get caught sneaking to parties instead of going to class. Things take a bad turn when the very party he snuck to is attacked by a mysterious group lead by Elecia- who Phase II readers know as the Mother of the Path of the Open Hand. I loved this story for both giving us a hint of who Axel used to be, as well as the beginnings of the dark path (no pun intended) he's set down thanks to the Mother.
I think my favorite story in this book is "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" by Tessa Gratton. It's a story told in first-person, which is somewhat rare for Star Wars books, from the perspective of Marda Ro. She's speaking to us, as we the reader assume the role of one of her descendants, somewhere along the line between Marda and Phase I and III's villain, Marchion Ro. Marda explains her history, all the way from her childhood with Yana up to where we leave her, as the leader of the evolving Path after Path of Vengeance. This Marda is so, so different from the sweet girl we first met in Path of Deceit. She rules through fear, she relishes in power and violence, yet there's a melancholy loneliness still hanging over her. She searches for other Evereni, and has varying levels of success with getting along with them, until she finds the one who would presumably be the father of her lineage. We also see the early steps of the Path evolving into the Nihil, from the storm-themed language and the red eye. I think this story is a keystone in the bridge between the phases of the High Republic, and I'm so glad this book let it be told.
I also loved "Shield of the Jedi" by George Mann. This book is about one of my favorite Master-Padawan duos, Silandra Sho and Rooper Nitani. Some time has passed since the end of Phase II, and this story is about Rooper's trial to become a Jedi Knight. It's a simple task- Silandra has simply asked Rooper to find and retrieve her shield, which she has hidden. But of course, it's much more complicated than that. Rooper expects the challenge to be mental- thinking through where her master hid it- or physical- running and climbing to find it. But instead, the real challenge is in some of the most important skills a Jedi must learn- navigating complex conflicts and finding a way to negotiate. Rooper finds the shield in the den of a creature that has been known to terrorize a local village by stealing shiny things, including droids. However, Rooper realizes that the creature is the only thing preventing a nest of giant spiders from invading. So she has to talk the villagers down from attacking the creature. She retrieves a few important things from the den, including Master Sho's shield, and the villagers now know to keep the creature at bay by setting out their unused scraps for it to eat every so often. Rooper completes the trial, and not only becomes a Jedi Knight, but also takes on Master Sho's shield, hoping to pass it on to her own padawan one day. I loved this story a lot, and felt so proud of Rooper, having seen her grow from the padawan we first met into a strong Jedi Knight of her own.
"The Lone Traveler is Home" by Daniel José Older was a very cute story about Ram Jamoram and his friends on Starlight Beacon. Ram can see that Zeen is having a hard time after everything they've gone through, so he decides to throw her a secret surprise party to cheer her up. But at every turn, things seem to go wrong. He wasn't sure if he could find the images to make a simulation of her home planet for her, and all of his friends had a secret training they couldn't miss, exactly when the party was supposed to be. It was a huge mess- until he accepts defeat, goes to meet Zeen and explain everything- only to find a surprise party... for him! Zeen had decided to surprise Ram instead, as she had noticed how he'd been having a hard time since the attack on Valo. Ram is very touched, and the Jedi and their friends all enjoy a fun afternoon together. Considering how dark things are getting as we enter Phase III of the High Republic, this was a much needed light in that darkness.
"After the Fall" by Claudia Gray gave us the chance to catch up with Affie Hollow and how she and her crew (including the illustrious Geode) were helping with clean-up after the fall of Starlight Beacon. Unfortunately, they run into some trouble when old members of Affie's mom's guild (the one she broke up when she got her mom arrested) are giving them a lot of difficulty in their work against the Nihil. So, Affie takes a bold move- she decides to start to reconnect the Byne Guild, so they can rebuild that network and give everyone the benefits of it, without the exploitation that came with how Scover Byne ran it. It was really great to see Affie take on a leadership role bigger than anything she has before. While she isn't always as in the thick of everything as the Jedi in the High Republic, seeing Affie grow so much from when we first met her in Into the Dark is one of the many great joys of these stories.
"The Force Provides" provides us a key middle piece to the story of my favorite character in the High Republic, Vernestra Rwoh. This story provides the in-between for Vernestra from the fall of Starlight Beacon to where she is in Defy the Storm. Vernestra is lost and haunted, believing most of the people she's closest too were lost in the destruction, so she leaves for a while to find herself. We knew this from Defy the Storm, but to see the beginning of that was really interesting. She steps into a conflict on a public transport to save an old woman, and then the old woman recruits her into a cause- that woman was a folk hero-esque figure, who would fight back against gangs to protect and provide for innocent people. She'd retired, but some of those gangs were rearing their heads again, and she wanted to make one final strike against them to protect her son and his family. Vernestra joins her on this noble cause, through twists and turns. It was really fun to read Vernestra on a mission that was a bit more low stakes than the fate of the entire galaxy, and see her start to find herself and figure out where a Jedi like her fits into the changing galaxy that she's in.
I was over the MOON reading "All Jedi Walk Their Own Path" by Charles Soule. This is about Bell Zettifar, another one of my favorites in the High Republic. Like Vernestra, he feels lost after fall of Starlight Beacon, but he has one thing driving him- the search for Burryaga (yet another one of my favorites- yes, I understand I have a lot). Burryaga, the Wookiee padawan, was lost during the fall, and everyone believes he must be dead- but not Bell. He takes leave from the Order to continue his search. He joins a fishing crew to try and search the ocean where , and learns the ropes (literally) of seafaring on Eiram. Meanwhile, the story periodically flashes back to a mission that Bell once went on with his late master, Loden Greatstorm. The pair were there for a mission, which they completed. Loden, however, insisted on staying on this war-torn planet. The people there are hostile at first, but Loden and Bell do nothing but integrate themselves into the community, helping with repairs and odd jobs in exchange for food. They begin to build relationships with the town, just as Bell builds relationships on the fishing crew. Eventually, the people of the town are inspired by the kindness Loden and Bell show, inspiring them to find peace on their own planet. Bell in the present, finds a strange totem in the ocean, featuring Wookiee fur in it. Because of the relationships he built with the crew, they set him up with everything he needs to find Burryaga, and HE DOES! Almost 3 years since I reviewed The Fallen Star and joined Bell in hope that Burryaga is alive, he's been found! I can't wait to see what Bell and Burryaga do in the rest of Phase III, and how their strong relationship grows.
"Light in the Darkness" by Cavan Scott gives us a new perspective on the Stormwall and its impact on the galaxy. We have a story of a pair of siblings who's lives have changed for the worse since the Nihil's takeover, though the Nihil aren't what they're dealing with. The Hutts have taken the opportunity to advance through Republic space, and they've tormented the poor people. Hoi and Kian's village has been burned, stolen from, and countless people- including their own family, has been killed. They're starving, and Hoi and Kian very bravely go on a mission into a Hutt ship to steal some food to feed the village. Their mission succeeds, though there's still tension in the fear-wracked village. Hoi is angry at the Jedi and the Republic, feeling like they've been abandoned by them, though this makes Kian angry, as she still has hope. Their argument is interrupted though, when Hutt enforces return to get revenge on the village for stealing their food back. Things look dire until the Jedi finally arrive, including Keeve Trennis, who push the Hutts back and promise to keep them out of Republic space. Keeve, as sweet and hilarious as she is, provides some comfort to Hoi and Kian, not just by promising to help, but making them believe in their own light and strength. It was a very Jedi moment, and I always love to see the Jedi from these outside perspectives.
"The Call of Coruscant" by Lydia Kang was another fun story, about padawan Amadeo Azzazzo and his master, Mirro Lox. The pair travel the galaxy on various missions, always jumping for the next chance to help someone. However, Amadeo is beginning to have doubts about this lifestyle, wondering what it would be like to establish roots somewhere. He doesn't get to express this to his master, though, before the pair are called back to Coruscant to help with the Nihil threat. Mirro Lox attends meetings on Coruscant, while Amadeo feels a call to explore the city. He meets a group of people his age and goes on some misadventures, worrying his master when he uncharacteristically goes missing, but I loved the conclusion that he comes to at the end of the story. He realizes that rooting himself in the galaxy doesn't mean literally just living in the same place, with the same people, doing the same things. It can also mean rooting yourself within the Force, and going wherever it takes you. I love that different perspective on a different kind of lifestyle, especially for a Jedi, and I hope to see Amadeo in more stories.
The final story of the book (in the Barnes & Noble edition that I have) is "Rogue Element" by Alyssa Wong. Here, we catch up with Crash Ongwa from Midnight Horizon. She's still running her bodyguard service, though now she, Svi'no and the rest of the crew are making strikes against the growing Nihil threat. They discover a mysterious figure that wields a lightsaber against Nihil, but is obviously filled with more rage than a Jedi is. They discover his identity- he is Ruu, a Jedi padawan who elected with his master to stay on Corellia instead of retreating to Coruscant when the Nihil took over, and after his master was killed and he's let his feelings of resentment towards the Jedi grow for leaving, he no longer considers himself part of the Order. Crash and her team are able to recruit him for their cause, and they're able to blow up a factory where the Nihil are making their scav droids that tear apart ships. They seem like a strong team, and any Nihil that try to establish control of Correlia will have quite the barrier to overcome.
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