Phase III
of Star Wars: The High Republic interestingly has focused more than the previous
two phases on the very human relationships between our heroes. Tessa Gratton also has become a rather
prominent writer in this phase cowriting Defy the Storm, a young adult
novel that explores how defiance under occupation takes many forms, and being
the sole writer on Temptation of the Force. Temptation of the Force makes it
easier to see what Gratton’s strengths as a writer are. They are adept at balancing shifting
perspectives and their character work is particularly excellent. Themes of defiance find their way throughout the
novel, the large strokes of the plot are about breaking through the Stormwall
and into the Occlusion Zone through several almost insane schemes. The perspective shifts quite a bit to
essentially every character established by The High Republic on the side
of the Jedi and Marchion Ro and Ghirra Starros on the side of the Nihil. Gratton’s characterization of Ro is what readers
should have come to accept by now: a megalomaniac with a penchant for the trope
of the Xanatos Gambit where even when he loses he still finds a way to
win. While his chapters are entertaining,
it is actually Ghirra Starros on the side of the Nihil that is more interesting
thematically. She has lost her daughter
due to completely avoidable circumstances, her name being rejected and her
motivation being self-preservation and financial self-improvement. Her intelligence is never actually in doubt,
but she is a collaborator of her own volition and for her betterment. There is a complete sense that she underestimates
the lengths Ro is willing to go for power, however, that is not really her
personal flaw. Her big flaw is that
complete selfishness, something that is only shattered by the final words her
daughter says to her in the climax of the novel, best described as a death
knell. She made her choice and poor Avon
sees exactly what her mother has always been.
Avon for her part doesn’t actually play as much of a major role in the novel,
but when Gratton does use her it is for this particular effect.
Also
making choices is the ripped apart romance of Xylan Graf and Cair San Tekka, beginning
the novel separate and building much of the story to their reunion. As with many romances pulled apart early, the
reunion is nothing but bittersweet. The
Nihil have left both of them scarred in their own way, they are only separated
again because that is for the best.
Gratton’s dialogue for the pair is of this unlikely couple that is
somehow married incredibly happily to each other, neither willing to lose the
other but still having to say goodbye.
The dialogue knows how to shoot you directly in the heart. Cair is also a man dealing with a new
disability, losing a hand and yet not wanting to accept help from a prosthetics
specialist. The disability is now a part
of him, something he must accept.
Gratton also just excels at writing this longing. In a way that is the temptation the title Temptation
of the Force is referring to as Graf and Cair aren’t the only romantic
couple of the book. As the cover boasts,
the central relationship of the novel is between Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann.
The Star
Wars prequel trilogy goes into the Jedi code involving the impossibility of
attachment, in the mind of George Lucas conflating attachment with possession
and unhealthy relationships. In theory,
it’s brilliant and what Anakin and Padme represent, though the audience largely
took it towards the view of relationships of the Catholic Church’s priests: celibate
and married to the job of being a Jedi.
Gratton (and other Star Wars novels I have read and reviewed)
does not make them celibate or even dispassionate. Both couples are incredibly passionate, that
passion is really what made me like both Kriss and Mann more in this novel than
any of their previous appearances in The High Republic, but both couples
are struggling with that temptation of attachment. Kriss and Mann as a couple are that perfect
compliment to one another: they push and pull their patience and impatience together
depending on the situation. Action versus
inaction in how to deal with the Nihil and Marchion Ro and the Nameless threat,
how each of them reacts to each trial, and especially how they react to each other. The thrust of the novel is how difficult it
becomes to resist that temptation and give into the selfish, possessive love
that if we’re continuing the Catholic Church metaphor would be more a concept
of lust over love. This means when they
eventually work it out, both couples in their own way, the conclusion of the
novel continues to be that big win.
While
Gratton’s acknowledgements cite being asked to write essentially The Empire
Strikes Back what they exceled at with Temptation of the Force is to
create that multi-layered story to move everything forward. While there are two couples at the center and
plenty of exploration of the Nihil, this review didn’t even have the chance to
really cover Bell or Burry or even some of the scenes of interfacing with the
normal people living under occupation.
Gratton has written something quite close to a masterpiece, very much
the strongest of The High Republic and one of the strongest Star Wars
novels I’ve read. 9/10.
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