 Hello and welcome. I'm Philip Magnus and I am here to speak with you today about something that is very near and dear my heart. Yes, indeed Star Wars. I know you're shook. Well, I'm not just talking about any old Star Wars thing, I'm talking about the new novel by Charles Saul that came out a few weeks ago on the 2nd of January or was it the 5th? It was the 5th of January and it is quite excellent. It has some issues and some things I did not enjoy necessarily, some of which I overtaught but I have a lot to say and most of it, the vast majority in fact, is very excellent indeed. Take a look. Like many I was hopeful this new High Republic project might do a great deal to divorce this franchise from what has proved to be a bit of a toxic relationship with the Skywalker's. And when I say this, I'm looking squarely at the sequel trilogy, only occasionally eyeing the prequels. Charles Saul pens this opening chapter in the High Republic imprint. When the announcement was made it went a long way towards building my personal excitement. On account of the excellent Darth Vader series Saul penned between 2017 and 2018. While I taught Kiran Gillen did stunning and paralleled work with his 2015 series featuring a post-episode 4 Vader, Saul's take on the eponymous villain proved he could right captivating layered stories in that galaxy far far away. I had fate in Charles Saul. Having now finished Light of the Jedi I must admit that fate has been largely justified. Despite having a few issues here and there with Light of the Jedi this is a splendid addition to the ever-growing canon of the Star Wars universe. Saul has tapped into the magic that is behind this franchise's staying power, has captured so much of what makes this universe feel special to many of us from earliest age. In less than 400 pages he has managed to introduce the fine and fully flesh out a generation of new characters, many of whom I am beyond excited to read and listen and learn more about. I cannot overstate how brilliant a job Saul has done with the characterization of major Jedi such as Ava Chris and Elsa Mann as well as more minor ones like Porter Engle and of course many non-Jedais as well such as the Chancellor of the Republic Lina So. The relationships between Ava and Elsa but also between Jedi such as Logan Greatstorm and his padawan Bel Zetafar for example are multifaceted built on friendship and love and even occasionally hints of resentment. Each relationship represented carries real weight which of course does a wonderful job of investing the reader into each separate character. The first quarter of the novel is the epitome of everything I love about space opera science fiction. Incredibly high stakes, a disaster that strikes suddenly and sets up a cataclysmic event and of course a band of heroes both Jedi and normal folks ready to sacrifice and put everything on the line for the good of all. At once this opening sets up a tone which is far darker than what I expected. It establishes stakes, no one is safe, not a captain, not a techie, not a Jedi master even and it makes a bold, oh well, except for Yoda. And it makes a bold statement about how this higher public is different really the ideal form of that sad shadow that the dark lords of the Sith succeeded in taking over and transforming from the inside 200 years later. It's all enclosed within words repeated again and again. We are the Republic, which might come across as very corny when read or heard out of context, all the more power to solve then for writing a vast majority of scenes in which this line comes across as natural and to Mark Thompson who sells every single utterance of it. The Force is illustrated here much better than just about anywhere else since the original trilogy, at least the light side is. Come to think of it, Soul also is the mind behind the astounding way in which Darth Vader's Force self is presented. So two for two on that score for Child Soul. What the author does here is he offers our POV Jedi's, that is point of view, to visualise the Force in starkly differing ways. For Ava Chris, the Force is a song all surrounding, sad and beautiful and terrifying all at once, for Else a man. It is, as he self-deprecatingly thinks, well, a Force. But in a way that allows him to attempt new and often unsuccessful, occasionally ingenious, applications of the Force. For yet a different Jedi, the Force is an ocean, much of it penetrated by the light, its depths unknowable darkness. The writer's efforts enjoying the Force in so many different metaphorical dimensions bears fruit, really manages to convince the reader of this idea that it is this living energy which manifests in different ways for everyone. Which is, I think, far better than midichlorians, question mark. The Nihil step into the role of antagonists here. They are pirates, perhaps the nastiest variety of pirates we've seen in Star Wars, lacking even a hint of scruples. The name still annoys me a little bit. It comes with all these connotations, both philosophical and in-universe. Nihilists, denial, are not. Though I suppose the lack of morality and the antithesis of the high republics, where all the republic message is translated through the name, denialists are not driven by the need to destroy. But rather a more hedonistic impulse, twinned with every vice you could think of. It's a pet peeve, I'm well aware of this. It likely bothers five other nerds as much as it bothers me, and even then. It doesn't bother me enough not to enjoy the antagonism inherent to the role denial play here. But if Jedi and Sith serve as proof of anything, it is that you can make up group names in this universe and imbue them with whatever meaning you want them to have, and have no issue whatsoever. Rather than recontextualise real-world terms, risking humongous nerds like myself to write 200 words on what is dangerously close to a semiotic discussion. So I guess what I'm trying to say here is, thank you, Ferdinand, the sorcerer. As for in-universe, intertextuality, we've got Darth Nihil from the brilliant narrative work that is nice of the old republic too. He, like most of the old republic stuff, was wiped away from canon as soon as... Disney bought Lucasfilm. But I'm sure I'm not the only one... The only old hand at this, ever hopeful, ever wistful, that the events of that game will be recanonised. I was even worried that the introduction of Bacta in the light of the Jedi implicitly took away the chance that Cot2 the Sith Lords might ever become canon again, because I thought the Jedi XRL woke up in a Bacta tank in the prologue to that game. But I did double check and eventually realised it was actually a coltotank, which is a different, weaker healing agent than Bacta. If none of these words made sense to you, take them as proof of just how nerdy I am. Most fascinating in this organisation is the Eye of the Nihil, Marchion Roe, who has a great deal of menace about him, punctuated by an excellent delivery of his lines by Mark Thompson. Thompson uses this useful voice, almost pleasant, if not for the hints of pain and the way he speaks, almost out of breath. By the end of Light, Marchion Roe is well and truly terrifying. His motives, nature and true goal will be one of the mysteries lingering over this imprint for a long time to come and I am looking forward to learning every morsel of information for him that has been taught out by the team at Lucasfilm. This novel has such a hopeful tone, despite content that was shockingly dark, perhaps rather because of it. The light of the Jedi does shine brightest when the Jedi themselves face against the deepest shadows and if the rest of the writers involved in this event do even half so fine a job with this, the High Republic will be a strong outing across the mediums it has embraced. Mark Thompson's narration continues to be top notch. I have spoken about him previously whenever I have discussed any of the drawn novels in my reviews, but he is the reason I do not buy physical copies of these books anymore. Whenever he narrates one of these novels, I know I'll have a dozen hours or over of pure entertainment ahead of me. It is like a movie in my mind. I do wish we could have gotten another, not even a hundred pages. Perhaps another 70 would have been enough to expand on a few characters, set up a few sacrifices or losses a little better. For what it's worth, Seoul covers a truly spectacular amount of ground in an incredibly short span of pages. It's a difficult task, setting the foundations of a multimedia project which not only has to tell a full story, but it has to introduce a whole swathe of characters, plot threads and conflicts for the other half dozen authors involved in the High Republic to pursue. Oh, and here's my five cents of theory crafting. Is it just me, or is Ava Chris a little too close for comfort to avarice, in a universe in which the brightest Jedi often plunged to the lowest depths of darkness? I'm saying I just figured out who's starring the Acolyte, coming to Disney Plus in 2023, this is not an art, but she totally is the Acolyte, guys. And also, she is just the coolest character. I love a good badass Jedi. I do, I really, really do. And she floats in the air, so I really don't need her hitting more. Back to you, Philip. Did I manage to convince you of giving a shot to the light of the Jedi, because between you and me, it really has a lot going for it. There is one aspect of the book that I did not necessarily enjoy, but if I were to get into it, that would be so spoiler-heavy, and I just don't want to risk anyone spoiling that book for themselves. Probably get into talking about it. Over the next couple of months, certainly, perhaps not on YouTube, but definitely on my blog. And if you're interested in that, why don't you follow my social media? And also like this video, share it with your friends, don't forget to subscribe, and ring that bell button for more notifications. Imagine I've got one of those annoying little click sounds that other YouTubers do, but that I just don't want to. We'll see you again next time. Bye! And now I'm probably not reading the kids' books, just because... I don't...