For my second foray into the Star Wars expanded
universe, while Light of the Jedi did not entirely work for me, the setting
of the High Republic was intriguing enough to continue in that era. Into the Dark is the second novel
released for the setting in the first phase, though the first to be aimed at the
young adult audience from writer Claudia Gray, a veteran of the Star Wars
novels according to Wikipedia. Gray
being a veteran novelist actually greatly assists in bringing Into the Dark
into focus as a novel, focusing on a small group of characters in the aftermath
of the Great Disaster, at least after a few chapters of introduction. Now Gray does fall into the trap of including
a prologue that isn’t actually a prologue but a first chapter in disguise which
gave me a slight pause for continuing the book, but outside of this misstep and
the odd placement of flashback interludes as part of chapters instead of their
own little side story in between chapters, Into the Dark moves along at
a wonderful pace. Gray is clearly interested
in expanding on the general themes of light and dark with Star Wars and
the true potential for at least some sort of a shade of gray (or at least to
appropriate a Terry Pratchett idea, white that’s got a bit grubby). Speaking of Pratchett, Gray feels largely
inspired by Pratchett for the way some of the aliens are treated in this book, on
a ship that becomes the protagonist’s primary transportation (at least
initially) there is a rock called Geode that purports to be sentient which is
just treated as this thing that might be certifiably insane which just adds
this little layer of limits to the universe that has telepathic space wizards
as protagonists.
Reath Silas is the protagonist of Into the Dark
and he is kind of the perfect young adult protagonist for a novel. He’s a Padawan with at least some training
under Jedi Master Jora Malli, so there is a sense of understanding of the basics
of the Force, and is set up as more of an introverted person. While Reath is ready to commit himself to
becoming a Jedi and learning, his introverted personality allows an exploration
of other functions Jedi can fill in the world, Reath being suited to archival
work. There is this metaphor throughout
the book of asking why a Jedi wouldn’t cross the Kyber crystal alone, while one
of the things that makes this clearly a young adult novel with the obvious
answer that the Jedi are all different and need one another revealed at the resolution
of the book, but it’s a fitting metaphor to set Reath on his journey. The setting for thee large part of the novel
is an abandoned space station where refugees from the Great Disaster have found
themselves, a space station inhabited by gardening droids that take quite the
drastic action to those that would destroy the plants. Reath’s journey is essentially learning to
lead and react to situations using his own wits and training for his own. Sure it’s another play on the hero’s journey
which is part and parcel for Star Wars, but it’s done quite well. Eventually the Nihil get involved, setup in Light
of the Jedi as the larger antagonists of this High Republic period, as well
as the plant-like Drengir escaping from their prison on the station and torturing
the Jedi who was originally Padawan to Jora, Dez Rydan.
Gray does a surprisingly nuanced job at depicting the
torture and its after effects quite well.
Dez’s stance in the light is directly challenged due to the torture, he
ends the novel as needing to recover which will take a long time. Now this is also represented partially
through applicability of the Force as a concept representing one’s mental
state, but it’s a nice metaphor to tackle a subject like this. Gray spends quite a bit of time in the novel
questioning the Jedi tenants of not making connections of love and not allowing
yourself to mourn, actively contradicting the inherent connections of a
master/apprentice relationship. Reath
has to deal with the death of his master, something that shakes his person to
his very foundations. Dez, Jora’s first
apprentice, also has to undergo this after being tortured. The Jedi Council’s reaction to Reath’s
decisions are surprisingly measured and allow him to realize the correct path
to take in the end, still being in the light but perhaps understanding some of
the actual flaws. These are the clear
themes that were present in The Last Jedi that for whatever reason didn’t
connect well with people, so Gray writes them to perhaps be more obvious than
Johnson’s film. The interlude sequences
pop up throughout the novel to further bolster this theme, though they are slightly
choppy due to the formatting being in the middle of chapters and not as their
own interludes. Cohmac and Orla who are
the main characters of the interludes are great characters, especially with how
they dovetail into the main events of the novel, which ends with some different
threads for future stories.
Overall, Into the Dark tells a story archetype
that everybody has experienced before, but it does it quite well. Claudia Gray’s prose is light and the
characterization is especially strong in reveling in the universe of Star
Wars (though at times it expects you to know more of the lore of different
species in place of descriptors for potential newcomers). Some of the twists are perhaps a touch too
obvious and there are those small formatting things that feel more like publisher’s
requests, but it’s a book that I had a lot of fun with and hope Gray gets the
chance to continue with many of these characters in particular. 7.5/10.
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