Nothing actively wrong with this one, just very bland. Bland characters, bland adventure. Quite disappointing, because this is my first Claudia Gray book and I had high expectations because she is often recommended among the best Star Wars novel writers. ( )

Claudia Gray has been established as the best SW writer in my opinion since Bloodline came out. The trademarks of a Claudia Gray SW novel are thought-provoking storylines, complex characters that break out of their molds, and a diverse and populated SW universe that builds on and adds to the films. I was so excited to hear that her book, Into the Dark, was one of the new novels to begin establishing the High Republic era.

Part of the appeal of starting fresh in a new era is that the familiar dramas in the Jedi Order and the Senate don’t have to be adhered to. This is a new era that does not have the problems for the future one, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have it’s own problems. This novel introduces two of the main villains for the High Republic era: the Drengir and the Nihil. But just because we have some big-bads doesn’t mean that the general drama inside the Jedi order goes away.

There are multiple POVs, but the main characters seem to be two Jedi, a padawan, and a young member of a shipping guild. I enjoyed each character’s personal journey, but they never really managed to come together as a team for me, so when one of them starts referring to the others as their friends it just doesn’t feel earned. That could be because most of the characters are jedi and they’re really not good at sharing their own feelings or making deep connections. I’m not gonna lie, I much prefer stories that focus on the non-jedi in the SW universe, but I know each fan has their own faction they prefer focusing on. I believe fans who loved Master and Apprentice will continue to enjoy Gray’s portrayal of the Jedi in this novel.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
( )

Claudia Gray’s YA novel “Into the Dark” is a part of the Star Wars: The High Republic series. Set between Charles Soule’s “Light of the Jedi” and Cavan Scott’s “The Rising Storm”, “Into the Dark” introduces us to yet another group of characters that aren’t given enough time or story to develop. What we get is a decent enough Star Wars adventure, but one that we would expect better from a talented writer like Gray.

It must also be said that there isn’t anything in this novel that hasn’t been done before, or better, in other series.

The novel opens with a spaceship carrying several Jedi Knights to the Outer Rim caught in the Great Hyperspace Disaster (see “Light of the Jedi”), and they are forced to find shelter in an ancient space station. While exploring the ancient station, the Jedi discover an ancient evil strong in the Dark Side of the Force. It appears to be linked to four artifacts, which they deduce was put there by an ancient race to keep the evil at bay. When they take the four artifacts back to the Jedi Council, they realize, too late, that they have deduced wrong.

I liked “Into the Dark”, but, I’ll be honest: parts of it dragged. The side-story involving the background of the two Jedi Masters probably could have been removed entirely with no serious detriment to the main story. And the introduction to the Drengir—-an enemy that I find infinitely more interesting than the Nihil—-was somewhat anti-climactic. They also kind of reminded me of the Daleks from Doctor Who.

So far, I have read four of the novels in the High Republic series, and I have not been overly impressed by any of them. Still, I’m not giving up hope. Because rebellions are built on hope… which doesn’t really apply, but whatever… ( )

3.75★
“It takes strength to question your own actions. Just don’t dwell on the past to the point of forgetting the present.”

I would say Claudia Gray is easily the best author in the current Star Wars pantheon, so it was quite a surprise for me when I just... kinda liked this book. It's still good, but definitely the weakest one she has given in the universe so far.

Gray remains a master in crafting characters, and they're without a doubt the highlight of the book. They're funny, and flawed, and each fear and self-doubt seem extremely realistic.

The Jedi, specially, engage in philosophical discussions of morals, duty, the Order and the light and dark sides of the Force; and that's always great to see! Even then, I would've hoped it was made clear that a lot of it was, in fact, a crisis of faith and the characters' own flawed view, as I believe an unreliable narration would only enhance the experience story-wise and that wouldn't be a path I'd love to see canon take as a hard-fact.

The plot suffers with unnecessary flashbacks that affect the main story very little, but the book wasn't as much about the plot as it was about the characters journey, and as said before: each of them was a protagonist in it's own right. ( )

Listened to an audiobook mostly while doing chores over a 3-week period. Serviceable Star Wars. I kind of preferred this more low-key story to Charles Soule's sprawling "Light of the Jedi" which just had too many characters (including boring farmers). A lot of plot beats, character arcs, and conflicts are not-too-subtly telegraphed. To be honest the narrator blew a lot of life into the heroes and made their chemistry enjoyable--I am not sure how much I would enjoy actually reading the book. This novel and Soule's introduce the two big villains in the "High Republic" setting and I don't find either terribly interesting, although the personalities in the Nihil seem to have more potential than the "Drengir"--carnivorous sentient plants that for reasons I do not understand appear to pose a challenge for the Jedi (not sure what is the role of the Dark Side). I note that Marc Thompson, the audiobook narrator for Light of the Jedi, and Dan Bittner, the audiobook narrator for this novel, appeared to have coordinated and decided to voice big baddie Marchion Ro with a soft, nerdy kind of voice. ( )