The Fallen Star

Star Wars: The High Republic

by Claudia Gray

In this gripping sequel to Star Wars: The Rising Storm, the light of the Jedi faces its darkest hour.

Time and again, the vicious raiders known as the Nihil have sought to bring the golden age of the High Republic to a fiery end. Time and again, the High Republic has emerged battered and weary but victorious thanks to its Jedi protectors—and there is no monument to their cause grander than the Starlight Beacon.

Hanging like a jewel in the Outer Rim, the Beacon embodies the High Republic at the apex of its aspirations: a hub of culture and knowledge, a bright torch against the darkness of the unknown, and an extended hand of welcome to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As survivors and refugees flee the Nihil’s attacks, the Beacon and its crew stand ready to shelter and heal.

The grateful Knights and Padawans of the Jedi Order stationed there finally have a chance to recover—from the pain of their injuries and the grief of their losses. But the storm they thought had passed still rages; they are simply caught in its eye. Marchion Ro, the true mastermind of the Nihil, is preparing his most daring attack yet—one designed to snuff out the light of the Jedi.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Space Opera, Novels

345 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2022

About the author

Claudia Gray is not my real name. I didn't choose a pseudonym because my real name is unpleasant (it isn't), because I'd always dreamed of calling myself this (I haven't) or even because I'm hiding from the remnants of that international diamond-smuggling cartel I smashed in 2003 (Interpol has taken care of them). In short, I took a pseudonym for no real reason whatsoever. Sometimes this is actually the best reason to do things.

I live in New Orleans. So far, in life, I've been a disc jockey, a lawyer, a journalist and an extremely bad waitress, just to name a few. I especially like to spend time traveling, hiking, reading and listening to music. More than anything else, I enjoy writing.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts upon my second read: I enjoyed this marginally more the second time. Might even give this a 3 star now, though the disappointment from last year still lingers and this is unfortunately still my least favourite THR work. I have to say that the audiobook did a LOT for the atmosphere and gave me a much better reading experience, so if you can, make sure to listen to this book.

-------------------
2.5 stars

The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray was undoubtedly my most anticipated The High Republic work yet. An author who showed us the effects of the galactic war on two best friends turned lovers (Lost Stars) and who delivered a stunningly accurate characterization of Leia across multiple books, now working on an adult novel in my favorite era of Star Wars … what could possibly go wrong?
Well, sadly, quite a few things. The Fallen Star is not a bad book. It is, quite honestly, one of the most intriguing page-turners I’ve read in my life. All I wanted was to keep going, and going, and going and every page left me yearning for more of the story. Which is, ironically, exactly what led to the book’s downfall in the end.

Characters to die for

Before we get into the things I felt like I was missing, let’s talk about how great this book was at times, though. The first 5-6 chapters, maybe even the first third of this story, were truly fantastic. Gray sets up interesting character constellations that I never would have seen coming, but they work surprisingly well. If there’s one thing the author excels at, it’s characterization. These first chapters had everything I wanted the entire book to have – emotional depth, fast-paced battles, a hint of romance, touching dialogue and just the right amount of humor. Some of these things Claudia Gray manages to keep going throughout the entire novel. Without spoilers, I can only mention how amazing Stellan Gios’ internal journey in this book was. The way Stellan interacts with other characters, one of them bravely facing his own problems and being on a beautiful journey himself, felt true to character and thoughtfully written.
Gray also manages to create a few quite iconic moments in The Fallen Star that I already know lots of readers are going to love. Oddly, all of these involve the same character, and yet they work every time.
Generally, this novel offers you an absolutely incredible time while reading it, making you go through pretty much every base emotion there is, but it’s when you close the book and put it down that the questions start pouring in …

Hollow at its core

The main issue I have with The Fallen Star is that it feels constructed rather than organic. It feels like the metal beams of Starlight, not the lush Atrium and golden floors we know. The station we’ve gotten to love over the span of an entire year suddenly feels empty, dead before we even board it. What happened to the lively place we’ve come to love? Where are all the people, the staff? Why does the action take place in pretty much only two rooms and one cargo bay? Had there been an explanation as to why we encounter no one in the hallways except for the few dwindling Jedi on board, this issue might have been less of a factor, but the Station is described to be packed with citizens and brimming with people in need. And yet, they rarely come into play, making Starlight feel deserted and doomed already.

Nothing New (Gray’s Version)

Another issue that made this book fall flat is that we aren’t offered anything beyond the obvious. If you’ve seen any of the marketing, you’ve basically experienced the main part of this story already. This isn’t Claudia Gray’s fault – the lead-up to this novel simply focused too much on the fact that Starlight would fall and we’d lose our favorite characters. Which is exactly what happened, and considering the fact we were told what to expect so blatantly, the way it happened didn’t feel unique or satisfying enough. Characters kept repeating mistakes, infuriating the reader as we already knew it would result in death multiple pages before it actually came to be. Solutions seemed too easy or far-fetched. We got what we were promised – and only what we were promised. It ultimately leads to disappointment in the plot, leaving you wondering “Is this all we are getting?”

The problem of self-reference

Much like Starlight Beacon, the story of The Fallen Star floats in hollow space without any literal ties. What we’re missing is a scope. A sense of the galaxy. The hyperfocus of this story robs of us any way of connecting to the downfall of the Beacon through human (or any species’) eyes. The plot is quite literally being broken apart, split so that we only follow certain characters. We do get snippets of the other characters, but not much more than a mention of “dead or alive”. These snippets leave you longing for so much more, the tease of their journeys edging at downright frustration. We only get half of the story in this novel, and you can feel it.
But it’s not just the lack of an actually gripping outside perspective, it’s also the fact that The Fallen Star builds very few bridges to other High Republic works. While there is a neat connection to Trail of Shadows, this book sometimes feels like the larger galaxy doesn’t exist. Gray is phenomenal when it comes to referencing her other works – these hints made me smile, knowing where they originated from felt rewarding as a reader. However, these references mostly include Gray’s own works and characters, and at times I found myself wondering “Why isn’t this character thinking about that one person that means a lot to them, or the struggle they faced only a short while ago? Why is that character not even mentioned? Does no one have a single thought about the events from that previous book?” This creates a disconnect between the round and expansive storytelling we know from other High Republic works, making this book feel like it desperately wants to stand on its own two legs, but can’t manage to keep itself up without the support of its preceding works that it refuses to build upon.

Crash and Burn or Rescue Dawn?

The Fallen Star is a novel that sets off with an incredibly strong start, giving you everything you could hope for. It’s when the plot starts to unfold that a lot of small issues add up to a larger amount of dissatisfaction. What it offers in character development, it lacks in coherency and expansiveness. What it touches upon only reminds you of the opportunities it didn’t use. There is potential in every corner of this story, intrigue on every page of this fast-paced ride you race through – until you reach the ending and you’re left wondering why that potential wasn’t used. In the end, I couldn’t help but feel confused about where the rest of this story was, where the astounding mastery of the first chapters of this book got lost, along with the 100 more pages this plot needed. The Fallen Star is a rollercoaster of emotions, it moves you and makes you root for the characters all of us have come to love in just one year. It is a book that leaves room for discussions and contains interactions I will forever treasure as some of my favorite moments of Star Wars storytelling. But rather than the conclusion of a year-long Phase of intricately interwoven storylines, it builds up to a narrative Great Disaster of unused potential, leading to a novel that feels just mediocre, and I know Claudia Gray can do better than that.

[Kels · Rating 5 out of 5]

that was the most stressful and traumatizing thing i’ve ever read *gives it five stars*
claudia, i’m sending you my therapy bill and you will be dealt with

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty exciting book once it got rolling. It's about a sabotaged space station that is falling into a planet's atmosphere. There's a ton of Jedi, pilots and refugees trapped there as everyone tries to come up with new ways to get off the ship. It's like The Poseidon Adventure in that regard. I really liked that the padawans, Bell Zettifar and Burryaga (A wookie Jedi!), got a chance to finally shine.

The problems I had with the book were more editorial decisions from Disney and Lucasfilm. They can't seem to get it in mind that the Nihil are supposed to be pirates, not religious zealots. The whole concept of the Nihil is that they'd never risk their lives on a suicide mission to further Marchion Ro's goals. Pirates look out for themselves, not sacrifice themselves.

Throughout the High Republic books, the Jedi never learn. In every one they become complacent and let the Nihil take advantage of that to great effect. These are the laziest and most naive Jedi in history.

The Star Wars marketing department has done an awful job of marketing these High Republic books. Putting these out as Adult, YA, Middle School, Primer, Audiobook only, and three different comic book lines from three different companies is really confusing. It would lead you to believe that you only need to read one of the lines but that's not the case. You need to read them all. There are characters from the other lines in this book. It's really difficult to find accurate timelines. They don't even include one in this book. The timeline only lists the 3 adult novels and the audiobook. Do they not know any of their readers? Star Wars fans are going to want to read the entire story. Make it easy on us.

[Nate Hipple · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s never a good thing when I spend a book mentally composing its negative review in order to blow off steam. “The only disaster more calamitous than the titular fallen star is the book itself.”

The nicest thing I can say about this book is that so little happens in it that it doesn’t really do much in terms of lasting damage to the larger series. Everything else—characters, plot, writing, and setting—is so poorly executed that the only explanation for how any of this made it beyond the editing stage I can come up with is the tight release schedule. It is such a shame to see the first wave of the High Republic series conclude in such a manner.

Part of the issue is that Claudia Gray is not the right author for this book. Her Young Adult background is inescapable. The writing style does not match a book targeted towards adults and the largely adult cast of previous books has been replaced by the YA cast from Into the Dark to the degree where this book feels like a direct sequel to that book rather than the Rising Storm. It even apes the pacing of Gray’s previous book—broken space station, monsters hidden, 150 pages of talking before anything happens, explore the depths of the station to solve the mystery.

Except the mystery is not solved because, like I said earlier, there is absolutely no plot to this book beyond “the star falls.” I think all of us cracked that code pretty quickly and so the first half of the book is just waiting for the second half to happen. All of the cast reflects on their feelings for 150 pages. Even the adults have been boiled down to angsty YA versions of themselves as Stellan whines about how hard his job is and how he doesn’t know who he is if he’s not the kid who follows the rules and Elzar focuses on how he’s in love with someone but that their love is forbidden.

Yeah. And those are the adults.

And the writing isn’t even up to the task of convincing the reader that these shoe gazing whiners are actually more profound than they come across because everything is written so blandly and bereft of description that the only thing infusing it with anything resembling a personality are a collection of the absolute most cringe-worthy one liners thrown in at the end of every section.

What’s worse, especially considering the genre and universe, is that there’s not even an interesting alien planet to spice things up. The Starlight Beacon is the dullest setting imaginable and despite being told that it is a massive station feels smaller than the average middle school and staffed by about 20 total people. It doesn’t come close to achieving the sweeping feeling of a larger universe that Light of the Jedi managed. There’s 0 sense of scale as characters move between the small handful locations instantaneously and never seem to encounter anyone else outside of the core cast. Why we should care for a station so utterly deserted of life is beyond me.

And that’s really the core problem of this book. It does nothing to make the reader care. The ending is clear from the title with no twists, but numerous holes along the way. The characters you know from previous books are caricatures of themselves. The new characters pulled from the YA and MG novels (and this is the lion’s share of who’s here) are given no real backstory for readers only familiar with the adult books. The station is bland. And the writing does nothing to propel you forward. By the end, you’re rooting for everything to fall apart already so you can move onto something new. What a letdown.

[Alex G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Negative reviews are something I dread to write, yet here I must. To be perfectly frank, I really did not enjoy this book. There are a multitude for reasons. One is how different these characters are from previous books.

This book is the third in this phase, yet it feels so disconnected, disjointed from TRS. Valo is rarely thought about. Multiple characters with huge impacts are never even mentioned or thought about.

It’s also a book that hugely relies on you reading all the books and comics. It is heavily connected to them, yet it rarely uses these connections. LoTJ and TRS informed you what was going on in the comics. TFS does no such thing.

Starlight meanwhile is completely shrunken down. This is a place that can hold a multitude of ships and thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. It is a huge station, yet it only feels like a few rooms. Characters feel like they teleport to each place.

I can’t help but feel like this reads like a YA book. It doesn’t feel like an adult novel, nor does it read like one. The Vessel crew are all very much YA characters, and they very much act like it in this book.

This is a book that I really wanted to love. LoTJ and TRS were amazing books that made this phase better. Yet this brings this phase to a close with a whimper. And that is how the Light of the Jedi goes dark. With a whimper.

[Maggie Lovitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote Jonah Hill in This is the End: “Something not that chill happened.” In a lot of ways, Claudia Gray’s The Fallen Star is the end—at least, the end of the first phase of The High Republic. For the past year, the Project Luminous team has been delivering new novels and comics, creating top-notch stories and compelling characters that we couldn’t help but grow attached to. With the ominous poster that accompanied the release of The Fallen Star, death was anticipated, but the death toll was far higher than any of us could have expected.

The Fallen Star marks a pretty considerable shift in the status quo delivered in the previous adult novels. Where Light of the Jedi set the scene for the glory of the Jedi, and The Rising Storm started to chip away at their perfection, The Fallen Star delivers a pretty devastating blow to not just the Jedi Order as a whole, but to the group of Jedi that have been the central focus of the story. The stakes are significantly higher and the losses—both physically and as a crisis of faith—will undoubtedly have a long-lasting impact on the future of The High Republic. We have passed the point of no return and from this moment forward, the scene has been set.

Gray does quite well with balancing a vast array of characters and their own unique voices; switching seamlessly between world-weary Jedi Masters, victorious Nihil, and the young cast of characters that have been a guiding light throughout this first phase. Gray was tasked with quite the challenge, and she succeeds in wrapping up an entire year of multi-media publishing while setting the scene for the next author to pick up the baton.

As a warning, this review will contain spoilers from this point forward. It is nearly impossible to discuss The Fallen Star without revealing some specific details. However, I have endeavored to paint with broader strokes here and not get too deep into the minutia of the novel. Regardless, read forth at your own peril.

At the start of the novel, we are reintroduced to Elzar Mann who is still actively struggling from his brush with the dark side. While he is in a markedly better headspace thanks to Stellan Gios’ quick thinking and the assistance of Orla Jareni, Mann has not quite found his way back to stable ground. Given how things really spiral out of control for him towards the third act of the novel, including losing one of his main support systems, I’m keen to see how his journey plays out in the next phase. Perhaps we should have listened to the theories that the fallen star wasn’t just about the Starlight Beacon’s destruction, but the death of a pretty stellar Jedi.

Throughout the novel, Claudia Gray utilizes a really clever literary allusion to symbolize the relationship between Elzar Mann, Avar Kriss, and Stellan Gios. Particularly with Stellan, it is said that he saw his connection with Elzar and Avar as a constellation of stars; and in the end, Avar reflects on this by saying that he is now their polestar. It’s a beautiful, and ultimately, bittersweet comparison, given the way things work out. I’m a sucker for any comparison to celestial bodies, but at what cost?

Speaking of Elzar Mann and Avar Kriss, I’m not sure what to make of their relationship anymore. I appreciated how Claudia put to words how the Jedi—in all of their “no attachments” nonsense—have gotten away with having intimate relationships. With the devastating loss of the Starlight Beacon, it will be interesting to see if this duo will lean on each other for support and I hope it will explore where that might lead. We have seen what happens when romantically-inclined Jedi incur painful losses (looking at you Anakin Skywalker) and I really do worry that Elzar is headed down a similar path. These are some of the most engaging themes that have been explored in The High Republic and it’s fun to see these authors approach the Jedi with nuance and expose their infallibility.

Our fallen star of the Jedi is not the only casualty of this terrible attack—in fact, it would almost be easier to list off who survived the ordeal. Some of which were cut down without a lot of character work or backstory, while others, like Stellan, felt just at the beginning of their arc. Stellan in particular had such a beautiful storyline throughout The Fallen Star. He’s grappling with newfound responsibilities, trying to cope with everything he’s been through, and trying to keep it together for Avar and Elzar’s benefit. There’s some great storytelling that Gray employs as she picks at Stellan’s conflict with Avar and, in doing so, exposes some of the issues I personally have with Avar. Her actions feel led by self-righteousness, and she has been acting out both irrationally and vindictively. The wrong Jedi remained on the Starlight Beacon and I do wonder if Avar will show any sign of feeling that way in future stories or if she is too self-absorbed to see it that way.

There are some moments of hope in the final act, at least where Burryaga is concerned. While the Wookiee Jedi appears to be dead, there was no body, and Bell Zetifar is determined to confirm that he is actually one with the Force before mourning his loss. While Burryaga’s fate may be unconfirmed and this cliffhanger could very easily be setting Bell up for another devastating loss, it was written in a far less definitive way than Stellan’s death. With a death toll as high as The Fallen Star’s, it’s nice to at least have one character we can hope for a miraculous survival from.

The Nihil may have a significant presence as the architects in the destruction of the Starlight Beacon, but they don’t actually appear very often in The Fallen Star. Gray makes some interesting choices with the Nihil, including developing Nan further, who she first introduced in her young adult novel Into the Dark. Rather than being an adoring and loyal follower of Marchion Ro, her story takes a new direction as a prisoner of the Republic, where she is forced to work with Chancey Yarrow to get off of the Starlight Beacon and survive the Nihil’s plot to destroy it. Her fealty to Marchion remains, but on a much more subdued level. I really liked Nan when she was first introduced and I hope she gets a chance to really shine in the upcoming novels and phases. I’m not sure if she’ll remain loyal to Marchion Ro, but it feels like she may. Star Wars only has a handful of female characters and even fewer morally grey ones, so Nan makes for a refreshing deviation from the status quo.

Speaking of Marchion Ro, I was rather intrigued by the arrangement that he has with Senator Ghirra Starros, not just because the Nihil having a spy in the Senate is fascinating, but because we get confirmation that it’s not just the Jedi getting action in The High Republic. It’s also rather indicative of where Marchion’s headspace is—he could care less about her, he only cares about power and revenge. We also see much of this relationship (if you’d call it that) through the eyes of Thaya who, in a lot of ways, fills the void left by Nan, however, she doesn’t wax and wane philosophically about Marchion’s hair and skin. I hope Thaya continues to work alongside Marchion Ro, as their dynamic was just as intriguing as his ploy with Starros.

Marchion Ro’s “screen time” in The Fallen Star may be limited in the novel, and certainly, some of his scenes felt a little surface-level in detail, but that’s likely because it’s building to something larger for him and, perhaps, it will be paid off in Charles Soule’s upcoming Eye of the Storm comic book series. This novel gave a great look at how he’s dealing with the ramifications of Lourna Dee’s mutinous actions and how he is spiraling a little to maintain control of the Nihil. Not to get to “I miss Ben Solo” on this review but Marchion Ro has a very similar vibe—he feels like a scared boy in a mask, spinning out of control as he tries to make a name for himself and prove everyone wrong. It would be endearing if he wasn’t the cause of so much death in this book.

I do think that The High Republic has made a few minor missteps, which are perhaps only blatant to readers who spend the majority of their time embedded in the fandom. The era has heralded itself as one of inclusion and representation, but the death toll in The Fallen Star primarily encompasses characters that have been pushed to the forefront because of what they represent. The crew of the Vessel nearly loses their heroic ace pilot—who is literally ace—whose fake-out death is played up for shock value and equally seems improbable. Chancey Yarrow, a triumphant Black woman in STEM is killed pretty horrifically by one of “the good guys.” And finally, we are still uncertain about the fates of Ceret and Terec—two of the three non-binary Jedi in the era—and they’ve been essentially fridged for the time being.

Obviously, a character’s identity shouldn’t be plot armor, and The Fallen Star makes it clear that no one is safe, but it still leaves me a little frustrated that these characters have been paraded in front of fans who were desperately looking to see themselves in the galaxy, only to watch their stories get cut down before they ever go anywhere. None of this feels malicious, but I do hope The High Republic continues to be mindful of these choices.

As the first in the three final installments of Phase I, The Fallen Star sets the stage for more devastation, pretty seamlessly paying off the build-up of the last two waves, and the comics, while delivering heartfelt and heartbreaking storytelling. The High Republic as a whole has been a glorious tapestry of stories, which have now been torn asunder. I look forward to seeing where the Jedi go as they shift into the Jedi Quest phase of Project Luminous, but I’m equally excited to see how Marchion Ro’s newfound power suits him. Will the power go to his head and will he be the next to fall? Ultimately we know the world state of the future of the galaxy, but there are still centuries to go and decades of mayhem to wreak in the meantime.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a wild The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno...in SPACE!



There were an awful lot of things to like about Claudia Gray's latest Star Wars foray in the High Republic era. We reconnect with the crew of The Vessel, and get to spend more time with Jedi like Bell Zettifar, Elzar Mann, Stellan Gios, Orla Jareni and many others, as well as frequent check-ins on the diabolical scheming of Marchion Ro. Also, rather than a straight-up blasters blazing War in the Stars this one was much more about crisis management and Our Heroes coming together to save lives and salvage a nearly impossible situation after an attack on the Starlight Beacon space station creates chaos and danger on an unimaginable scale.


And now for the quibbles. Here come spoilers, be warned.

I praise the High Republic initiative with great praise, it's the most exciting thing to happen in Star Wars Publishing since Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy back in the '90s I reckon. Nonetheless, every so often I sense the drawback of having an entire roster of creative authors working on the same project. This time I imagined it represented by the literal splitting of the story in half along with the entirety of the Starlight Beacon station as well as only cursory appearances by Avar Kriss and her ship the Ataraxia. Is what happens on the top half of the station revealed in another novel? A comic? I don't yet know but it felt awkward.

Also, keeping up with the '70s movie theme, the creators seem to be adhering a little too closely to the Jaws formula of 'don't show the monster'.



The sudden death of Loden Greatstorm and the harrowing appearance of his husk-like corpse at the end of Cavan Scott's The Rising Storm was an effective "wow" moment but then stringing us along for an entire novel as these "leveller" monsters are running around what's left of Starlight Beacon without once given us a clear picture of how they move, what they want or how their terrifying ability to confound force users works was a bit much for me, and my image of them remains as murky as ex-Nihil (or is she?) Nan's motivations.

Still, an exhilarating read that reinforces the "no-one is safe" nature of the initiative set so long before the events of the setting of the films, with even longer ago in a Galaxy far, far away stories yet to come. And, of course, one thing remains a constant:


Geode rocks.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.

This is another installment in a huge series from this universe. This series contains novels, short stories, audiobooks, and comics. In this one, the Nihil strike a major blow against the Republic. Really the title of this book could have been The Nihil Strikes Back.

I have been vocal that I have not been the biggest supporter of this series. For me this one might be the best offering so far and I am not really surprised that it came from Claudia Gray. I have said that she has been the best author for the Disney Star Wars. Disaster has happened to Starlight Beacon and how do the people on it survive this disaster. Basically, this is your disaster novel and the fight for survival. Why I liked this book is that I finally connected with the characters. With all the offerings I have read in this series I have not connected with the characters. That changes with this book. Maybe because the drama was more localized or I finally felt that there would be consequences to the action that is happening at the current moment. I really hope it isn't that it took many offerings for me to connect. That being said I am not sure I like what is happening with the Nihil. They seem to be getting stronger and changing while they are being decimated. My theory is that Disney is having success with this series and the antagonist is being drawn out so Disney can keep it going.

This was an enjoyable read from this series. I have not been able to really say that for this series and I am hopeful that maybe this series has finally turned a corner. Once again, Claudia Gray has written an enjoyable book for this universe. If it was up to me I would just have her write everything for this universe and forget about the other authors.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed the characters but the plot really made me struggle to push through the book. the only reason i felt motivated is cus i wanted to know what made everyone cry 😭. ALSO i want to state i keep bringing up how i feel about the characters because even though they’re the same character they’re written by different authors. each author does a pretty good job of keeping the characters the same but some don’t really show their personality as much as others. i really liked claudia gray’s writing in this.

[Siona Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not what I expected but in many ways exactly what I expected.

Anybody who has seen my reviews knows I am not a fan of Claudia Gray, and that still holds true. I don’t know what it is but her writing always seems somehow both try-hard and uninspired, and extremely pretentious and juvenile. I’m sure she’s a nice person, but really I wish Disney/the SW story group has selected someone else to take her spot. If they wanted a femme popular YA author Rae Carson is right there, already having worked for them before, with leagues better writing skills. I know this is harsh and I probably sound like an ass, but really I do love Star Wars, and it just feels like Disney-Lucasfilm are constantly fucking over the books. The previous lack of Jedi/force user content really until the High Republic initiative, and now that they so have it, they’re making (what I feel to be) odd choices.

I feel like I’m rambling, so I won’t go on for much longer lol. But aside from my feelings on the author, I just find the plotting of the entire High Republic lacking. Every book has interesting elements that are just done so piss-poorly I don’t think I really want to continue reading the series. This is the ending of I believe the first of three “waves” and I’m just not sure I can keep doing this to myself. Honestly Star Wars books in general just have not been up to snuff for me. Maybe I need to read some of the legends books again to satisfy my Star Wars itch, idk, but I really hope Disney-Lucasfilm will take the kid gloves off. I heard someone say they create stories by committee to appeal to the widest audience, which I agree with. And commercially I can understand why, but artistically it just so… boring. Like at least if I hated the books/direction the universe was going in I could appreciate that it just wasn’t for me. But instead I hate the books/direction the universe is going in because it’s uninspired and I can see elements in there that should work, but don’t because they aren’t being pushed enough. Disney controlled Star Wars seems too afraid to make art that is divisive, so instead they make bland art.

Truly, these books have been dissatisfying.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping that third time’s a charm, and I had high hopes because I have liked Claudia Gray’s previous Star Wars novels, but “The Fallen Star”, the third novel in the High Republic series, didn’t wow me. It had a few moments, but the book was as mediocre as the last two.

The plot of “The Fallen Star” is, basically, “The Poseidon Adventure” in space. For those out there who aren’t familiar with the reference (and, having been a high school teacher for a brief time, I am sadly cognizant of how woefully unaware children are of any pop cultural reference that is more than five years old), “The Poseidon Adventure” was a 1972 film about a cruise liner that is flipped over by a giant tidal wave. The survivors must figure out a way to reach safety in a boat that is upside down and sinking fast. It was a great movie. (Not to be mistaken for the 2006 remake “Poseidon” starring Kurt Russell, which sucked.)

A disaster movie in the Star Wars universe sounds like a win, and, to be fair, Gray does a great job with the disaster parts of the novel. In this novel, Nihil saboteurs have infiltrated the Starlight Beacon, the giant space station that is both an intergalactic life buoy and a symbol of the Republic, and have set off a bomb which destroys the station’s power source that controls its stability in space and the opening of dock bay doors. The thousands of inhabitants trapped on the station are now floating in space on a dead space station, running out of air and rations, unable to leave, and the station is gradually falling out of orbit on a collision course with the nearest planet.

For a good chunk of the middle part of the book, Gray had me hooked. This was exciting stuff.

What I didn’t think was great was the same problem I have had with the last two books: too many characters, very few stand-out well-developed characters, and a villain that is yawn-inducingly boring. Marchion Ro is no Darth Vader. He’s not even Kylo Ren. At best, he’s a Snoke wanna-be, and that’s pretty dumb.

Also, Gray throws in an added threat: a mysterious presence on board the Starlight Beacon that has the ability to drain the Force. It literally sucks the life out of any Jedi in its path and turns them into mere husks that fall into piles of ash. (Thanos?)

It sounds cool, except one thing: we never find out what the hell it is! Gray ends the book with this part unexplained! I’m assuming that it leads into the next book, but come on!

I’m not asking for much, people. I’m just looking for a few cool characters that I can latch onto. I don’t want 37 characters that I know or care nothing about. And give us a villain worthy of being in the Star Wars pantheon of villains. Vader. Jabba. Palpatine. Thrawn. Maul. The Yuuzhan Vong. Darth Caedus. Giancarlo Esposito.

Marchion Ro? Seriously? Captain Jack Sparrow, minus the humor, and always wearing a gas mask? It’s embarrassing, really.

[vicky. · Rating 1 out of 5]

yeah, I'm done with the high republic. I tried.
I didn't want to give my first book of 2022 one star, but this book felt like a chore.

I didn't care about a single thing that happened in this book. the books should be the main events, the plot shouldn't be happening in books or comics.

starlight beacon station is destroyed. but how can I care when I've never seen it? never explored its supposedly famous halls?
it was introduced in the first book, never appeared on the second and it's attacked in this one. okay.

there's nothing compelling about these jedi or their enemies. if you compared them to canon or even the millions of stories in the legends books, you can see how almost useless these jedi are.
I only cared about elzar and avar, but of course, they haven't been together since book one.

I genuinely don't understand how avar, that is front and center on the cover of the first book and one of the main characters, disappears for the rest of the two books and you have to read some random comic to find out what she's been up to. yeah, no.

I'll stick to novels centering around obi-wan and anakin as I've been doing for years now.

[ares ☽ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray was at the top of my “things I’m excited for in 2022” list. I had begun The High Republic series back in November 2021 and was swept up in the ingenuity and diversity of the whole universe— it was adventurous, heartfelt, and incredibly unique. Most cherished to me by far was the message of hope: no matter how dire the situation, no matter how unfamiliar or insurmountable the odds, there was always a sliver of hope to cling to and follow out of the darkness. Hope, it seemed, was what the Jedi of the High Republic had intertwined in the living force— the concept of hope and the reliability of the Force were one in the same. With the Force, with our strength as one, anything was possible.

The Fallen Star, however, chose to scorch that message, quite literally.

CHARACTERS

While it’s true that I did not like this book overall, I truly found comfort in certain familiar characters. Bell Zettifar was lovely as always: a youthful presence that reminds us all of what it’s like to cherish those around us. Bell’s relationship with his fellow padawan Burryaga is one that I adore— they’re perfectly balanced between Bell’s soulfulness and Burry’s empathetic warmth. Bell’s internal narrative is one that I heavily relate to, and one that I felt Gray nailed down with complete accuracy. Gray allowed you to feel Bell’s pain, but also showed you how Bell began to grow— the ball of grief didn’t go away, but the ball got smaller. It’s a process many of us can relate to, and I want to give many thanks for her incredibly sensitive handling of something so important.

Leox Gyasi was just as eccentric and hilarious as always, and a particular part I loved was how much more we got to know Geode through Leox. Their combined rugged charm was quite enjoyable, and I loved the continued establishment of how protective and loving they are of Affie. Overall, I was thankful that our beloved Vessel crew made another appearance.

PLOT

From this point forward, my review will contain some spoilers. I’ll be focusing on the parts that I disliked… and there was quite a lot of it.

In its entirety, The Fallen Star lacked detail. Gray is an incredibly talented writer— Into the Dark, Master & Apprentice, and Lost Stars are undeniable proof of that— but she fell quite short here, and was unable to break out of the shell of YA romance. Each chapter felt like a box checked: there was a laundry list of things that probably needed to happen, and they were crossed off in the most methodical, predictable, and disappointing ways possible.

Once again, our Hero of Hetzal Avar Kriss is conveniently kept away from all the action like Rapunzel in her tower, longing for her savior… or is she? The stilted romance between Avar and Elzar Mann is even more painful to witness in The Fallen Star; Elzar brings her up in inappropriate moments, Avar thinks of him.. never.. and Gray manages to paint a very bleak view of their “forbidden love” while also managing to make it appear completely one-sided.

Continuing on this point is the issue of Stellan Gios, Elzar’s best friend and the supposed polestar of the great Elzar-Avar-Stellan trio. So why is there no meat to their bond? Avar and Stellan have one interaction full of out-of-character pettiness and vitriol, and their bond is only mentioned in relation to Elzar— we’re always TOLD they were inseparable as padawans, but it’s getting hard to believe. Elzar and Stellan have an established close bond- one that touches the heart of all readers in The Rising Storm- and you can feel it in The Fallen Star, too, but it’s used and abused quite unfortunately. A part that I felt discomforted by in particular:

• “Only one person in the galaxy ever made Elzar feel that way. Avar, he thought, closing his eyes again as he called her telepathically. Avar, please, be with me. Be with me here for just one moment.” (Chapter 24)

It’s clear that Elzar is comforted by Avar; it’s clear that he’s feeling a bit untethered, and he’s reaching out for strength for both himself and for Stellan. It’s clear, even, that Avar’s return of strength is not just for Elzar, but for both of them— so why have the “only one person in the galaxy” line? When Elzar trusted only Stellan in The Rising Storm with the information about his brush with the dark side, when Stellan reached out without hesitation to give Elzar the support he needed— how is it ONLY Avar? And how does this comment at all lend to the inseparable trio idea, particularly when this scene immediately follows Stellan confessing that he’d always felt a bit insecure in relation to Avar and Elzar’s close bond? It discards Stellan, and it’s hardly the beginning of this pattern of using Stellan only for what he can do for other characters, rather than himself.

Stellan’s journey in The Fallen Star is, by far, the most horrifying of them all. From the beginning, the reader becomes aware that Stellan is realizing that he has an issue with his own sense of self: he isn’t sure what he is without the concept of the Force and the Jedi Order. Stellan is our most forefront example of the power of the Leveler, so this insecurity in himself blooms into a nasty, festering wound as his connection to the Force is poisoned. I won’t recount his whole story- we’ve all clearly read it - but I want to focus on his death in particular.

The death of Stellan Gios is a hollow, short-sided and unfortunate decision that discards his character as well as the readers he represents. Stellan is one of us all: he’s the friend who provides support no matter what state he himself is in, he’s the colleague who goes above and beyond in his work, he’s the teacher with a passion to inspire so great that he can hardly contain it. Stellan Gios, the polestar and golden boy of the Republic and the Order, is just as human as the rest of us in his insecurity and his desire to find himself. Stellan has only seen his worth based in what he can do for others- a painful reality that so many of us understand- and instead of deeming his struggle worthy enough of continuation, his story ends there. His death is shallow at best and disrespectful at worst— the jokes cracked by Avar and Elzar about his poor piloting when the reader is aware of his fate come with a venomous sting, particularly when you remember Stellan’s desire to belong with them. His death is only a catalyst for Elzar… in the end, Stellan never got to see himself beyond what he was for others, and his death is a further nail in that point. He is useful for Elzar’s character. It’s a shattering, jagged message (or lack thereof) to the audience— ultimately, we won’t escape our nature. We’ll always have to serve.

The ending of The Fallen Star is a horrifying, atrocious message from lead villain Marchion Ro, Eye of the Nihil and pain in our asses. “The galaxy… is mine.” Cut the lights. Close the curtains. The series intends to jump back in time 150 years, so this is how it ends— with our heads in our hands and the hope of the Force crushed, eaten, and desolate. Elzar Mann has made no progress; ultimately, he is back where he started, believing that he is at fault for the death of his best friend and the deaths of hundreds else. His trust in the Force and himself does not feel restored. I felt a bitter truth: we cannot change. We are our nature, nothing else.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Fallen Star was scorched-earth. I can’t find the words to describe my despair at those we lost: Orla Jareni, Nib Assek, Regald Coll, Stellan Gios, Burryaga (unconfirmed), Estala Maru— all Jedi who deserved more than what they got. My respect for Claudia Gray’s writing is strong, but this was nothing short of a disappointing and shallow end to a phase so close to our hearts.

[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

“This is what hope is. It isn’t pretending that nothing will go wrong if only we try hard enough. It’s looking squarely at all the obstacles in the way – knowing the limits of our own power, and the possibility of failure – and moving ahead anyway. That is how we must proceed. With hope.”

The High Republic Era has been nothing if not a treasure trove of good, thrilling stories and this particular series has consistently brought tears to my eyes, sky-rocketed my heart rate, and put me so on edge I could barely bear it. The Fallen Star was no exception.

As it was made abundantly clear in all the marketing and promotional strategies - title, alternative cover, etc. - this is quite the pinnacle of anxiety and a high point to end this first phase of the story. A worthy climax for the bittersweet and melancholic tale of this golden era and its great works.

In short, it completed the story and its arc, made it feel circular and poetic - in just the way that George Lucas would have liked - and brought the personal arcs of the characters we have been following from the beginning - Bell, Avar, Stellan, and Elzar - to an important shifting, deciding point.

Which, all in all, feels just right.

“A constellation of three stars, but two were much closer together. – But you were our polestar. Our guide. Don’t you know that?”

The events happening in The Fallen Star are quite galaxy shifting, though so have been all these books so far, carrying the weight of a thousand suns. Being able to experience them first hand, with all the build-up from previous books and comics, was quite the experience.

Once things started really going it was nigh impossible to put the book down. As the intensity of things kept escalating and imploding.

I would argue that from all its predecessors, this one is the one that hits the harder and has the greater stakes so far, which is saying quite a lot. Which made it all the more emotional to get through.

Seeing all the details that we have been exploring pay off here and now was so satisfying it is difficult to express. Though you can enjoy the book if you have just been reading the main storyline books it is quite a different experience if you have been following all the content as many threads connect here and we can finally start to visualize a tiny part of the full picture. One that I'm sure we won't fully see for a while still.

The emotional payoff was, well, devastating, yes, but rewarding and fulfilling.

“They couldn’t let one pure, good, noble thing stand. They couldn’t endure a symbol of cooperation, friendship, and peace. So they made it ugly.”

One of the biggest satisfactions and rewards of this story was the Nihil in all their nefarious glory. More specifically, Marchion Ro.

We've been following the slow debut of the chaotic and destructive group. Seeing both the inside workings of it, to some degree, and the public opinion. Which has left us with a generally good understanding of just how messed up and corrupt the group is, but we had never gotten to really see the genius plan behind it all.

Though there is still plenty of mystery surrounding The Eye it is safe to say that just how big of bad news he is is starting to become clear to everyone. And just how brilliant as well.

Much to my chagrin, they are a very interesting villain and a chilling enemy.

“Darkness will ever be a part of me, he reminded himself. It will ever be a part of every Jedi, of every living thing. To acknowledge the darkness is to know the darkness. To know the darkness is to be to control it.”

As much as I enjoyed the story in itself I'm afraid that I made a sad discovery. And that is that Gray's writing is not for me.

Much like the first book she wrote in this series, Into the Dark, - and the first book by her I ever read - I struggled tremendously to advance at all and was rather put-off from reading much of it.

It's not even something specific more than her voice really not being my style. But as simple as the problem is I am afraid that it really affected my enjoyment of the book in general.

For the first half of the book, and maybe a little bit more, I battled quite fiercely with doing any progress on it and it wasn't until the later half that I managed to get into a rhythm and fly through. More out of sheer determination to finish it than anything else. And because the story became quite frantic around then.

Transitioning paragraphs, however, seemed to be the ones that gave me the most issue. As they felt unreal and weirdly worded, and like they broke the natural flow of the story sticking out like sore thumbs.

Near the beginning, well, though I knew rationally that what was happening was quite bad and nerve-wracking I'm afraid that I couldn't feel that urgency and dread. It just didn't come off the page. It took me quite a while to be able to feel any panic for these characters or fear on their behalf. The moment I managed to feel what they were feeling felt like an absolute victory to me.

Don't worry, I know just how personal this is, but seeing as how it sapped my enjoyment of the book, it felt worthy to mentioned it.

“My polestar, Elzar thought, and my song. They’re with me now, whether they know it or not.”

Leaving all that behind, I can say wholeheartedly that seeing the dynamic between Elzar, Stellan and Avar made my day every single time.

Their friendship, while wildly complicated was also one of the purest, sweetest, and most heartwarming things to happen. Especially in between all the anxiety of the plot.

Generally, I like seeing strong friendships that span the passage of decades and have tons of memories and history is between its folds. Human connections, deep and twisted and brilliant, are after all the fundament of our lives.

Experiencing the deep care these three have for each other, the different flavors of their care, the various ways their interactions flow and branch kept my heart warm and interested through the book.

It really is a constellation.

“Were not he, Avar Kriss, and Elzar Mann such a constellation? Stellan had always thought so, even in childhood.”

All in all, after the good the bad, and the ugly, I can say sincerely that I enjoyed the book, that I am excited to see what comes next as much as I am nervous.

That this series is some of the best storytelling I've read and some of the best Star Wars out there.

Even if I didn't become a fan of Gray's writing by the end I am more ready than ever to see her further contributions to the plot in general.

I am glad that we don't have to go months upon months without knowing anything, or seeing the characters, as the comics are great sustenance for the time being.

“How quickly glory could pass.”

____________

That ending made me feel a lot of things.

I feel very conflicted with this book. I liked the story but I did not like the writing... We'll see what I decide for its rating later.

RTC.
____________

I'm so excited, and nervous, to see what goes down in this new book.

These Star Wars books have a track record to gut me and enrapture me so I have high hopes.

I'm not sure I'm ready to see whatever is going to happen to go down but, well, I also do not want to miss it so... Here I am.

[JG Carse · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we discovered that Claudia Gray was going to author the last chapter of Phase 1 in the High Republic expectations flew through the roof. How can you blame anyone after the craftsmanship of Lost Stars, Bloodline, Master and Apprentice and even more. It almost set this book up to be a disaster (pun intended) however after reading The Fallen Star there is no question that this is my favorite canon Star Wars novel and that Claudia Gray is currently the best Star Wars Author.

This book filled me with so much excitement and joy as it did with dread and pain. Gray handles the characterization so well and there are some moments that make you audibly cheer, yell, or any other noise you could make. The pace starts very calm and picks up speed as you progress through the story. There are plenty of shocks and twists. When you think you know what's going to happen Gray proves you wrong and wrong again.

I want to mention that I listened to the audiobook for this book and my gosh: Marc Thompson gives the performance of his life. With his voice acting coupled with the sound production propelled this to the best audio book experience by a mile. There were moments that I got jump scared. There was plenty of new music but also familiar songs that paired perfectly with key scenes that left me scared, crying, and giddy.

As you can clearly tell, I LOVE THIS BOOK. I could gush on and on but simply enough you have to read (or listen) for yourself. It really rewards those who have followed all the stories from comics to middle grade books and everything else in between. The Fallen Star once again raises the bar for storytelling in Star Wars and solidifies without question that Claudia Gray is the royalty of Star Wars Books.

[Zoraida · Rating 5 out of 5]

ELZARRRRRR

[TheGeeksAttic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star was written by New York Times best-selling author, Claudia Gray. This is the 3rd High Republic novel published by Del Rey. (A big thank you to Del Rey for sending out this copy for me to review.) The Fallen Star is the 3rd and final novel for the first phase of The High Republic.

SUMMARY: Starlight Beacon, the Republic's physical symbol of peace and loyalty, is the next target of the Nihil. Marchion Ro has spread the Nihil across the galaxy to strike at random, to cause discomfort and fear. Many Nihil victims have made their way to Starlight Beacon for medical aid and ship repair as it hangs in space above the planet Eiram.

Soon, chaos will irrupt on Starlight Beacon as Marion Ro sends a crew to sabotage the station and unleash a Jedi killing, force hungry beast. The light of Starlight Beacon… will be snuffed out!

CHARACTERS: I’ve picked two characters to briefly mention.

The controversial Vintian character, Geode, brings in some comic relief. While the rock character does provide a few laughs, this living rock’s abilities alter an important plot point that we spend a lot of time with… by just sweeping the climax of said particular plot under the rug. It was a funny thing, but also a let down.

Bell Zettifar shines in this tale. While he’s still mourning the loss of his master, Loden Greatstorm, he doesn’t hesitate to jump into action when the world is burning around him. He and the wookie padawan, Burryaga, have become great friends and work well together.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: So far with the High Republic, I’ve really enjoyed the Del Rey novels. The era has been pretty hectic as the villains, the Nihil cause disaster throughout the galaxy. The previous novels introduced excellent characters with simple plots but excellent details. This novel, I hoped I wouldn't have had to say it... falls short of my expectations. Here's why...

It truly feels that Claudia Gray could not break the mold of the YA novel structure. The one thing this story lacks more than anything else, would be details. There are no aspects of the story that are heavily detailed, so there are a few situations that happen in the book that are muddled down and slightly confusing, because the details aren’t there! The story is shallow and simple.

The characters did not feel consistent with who they were in previous books, not just original characters created by Gray, but the characters created by the other authors writing in the High Republic Era. Claudia Gray brings in a few characters from her previous YA novel, Into the Dark such as Affie Hollow and her crew.

Some of my favorite characters in the High Republic are Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann. However, sadly, I wasn’t thrilled with either one of them in this book. They lacked the leadership and strength they displayed in past novels. Elzar has disconnected from the force for fear of sinking into the dark side. He comes across as too fearful and weak, I understand that he, as well as all Jedi, are students of the Force; they are always learning and growing. Elzar acts like a first time force user. Stellan Gios is suddenly very prideful and a tad spiteful. He is acting by Marshal of Starlight Beacon, replacing Avar Kriss. He has this childish grudge against Avar that doesn’t feel appropriate to his character in previous stories.

The relationships between the Jedi, as slightly mentioned already (with Stellan & Aver) all seemed out of line, with the exception of Bell & Burryaga. The dialogue wasn’t that bad, but there were many tacky lines and, much like the story structure, shallow. Previously, we’ve had a galactic disaster, billions have lost there lives during the events of Light of the Jedi, thousands more in The Rising Storm… but Chancellor Soh believes that the destruction of Starlight Beacon is the most tragic event in the history of the Republic? Yeah she believes that. I’m bummed out too that what was building up to some very intriguing political happenings in The Rising Storm, was completely absent in this book.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. Even with all the negative things I had to say about it, it is the continuation of a much larger era. This is the final adult novel in the first phase of the High Republic.

RATING: This book receives a C minus.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

C/W:death of a loved one, violence, grief

There are spoilers for Star Wars: The Rising Storm in this review.

I have been anxiously anticipating Star Wars: The Fallen Star since the moment I finished The Rising Storm. Claudia Gray truly outdid herself. The tension and emotional stakes started high and somehow only grew over the course of the story. This was one of those rare reads where I desperately wanted to read it as quickly as possible to find out what was going to happen but kept getting so stressed out by the story that I'd have to put the book down for a bit.

The Fallen Star brings together so many characters I've grown to love over The High Republic phase 1. It was such a delight to see how these characters have grown over this broader story. Two character arcs that I found particularly well done were Elzar's journey to feel comfortable with the Force after drawing on the dark side in The Rising Storm and Bell's journey to make sense of the death of his Master, Loden Greatstorm.

The discussions around the philosophy of the Force and questions of what it truly means to be a Jedi continue to bring me possibly too much enjoyment. The High Republic content has consistently grappled with big themes in the Star Wars universe and I was really impressed that The Fallen Star fit these discussions in naturally in a book that was absolutely jam-packed with action.

I wish we had gotten a bit more of a wrap-up at the end of The Fallen Star but I'm going to hope that I'll find out more about the fates of some of my favorite characters in other wave 3 releases. The Fallen Star is definitely going on the list with my all-time favorite Star Wars content.

[Alec Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

eu não sei o q dizer eu sei que eu quero morrer

[Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The POV whiplash is strong with this one.

Claudia Gray has written some of my favorite Star Wars books ever, which is probably why I rounded this rating up to 3 stars vs the 2 I wanted to give it, and also why my disappointment in this book is especially pronounced.

You can achieve good character depth with a small cast of characters in a short novel or a large cast of characters in a long novel. Both are difficult feats to accomplish, but it's possible.

Achieving it with a large cast of characters in a short novel is practically impossible, and that fact is on full display in The Fallen Star.

At one point I counted 6 POV changes in 6 pages. Six.

POV changes at that kind of frequency masquerade as "good pacing", but are ultimately a disservice to both the characters and the reader. It seemed like we never spent more than a few minutes at a time with any character, and those minutes were spent advancing a contrived plot and little else. We spend a little time in their heads, but not much, and even the moments intended to be human, such as Belle's grief, feel clinical and surface level rather than an actual human experiencing actual human emotions. It's hard to empathize with a character when we're just popping in to say hello for a paragraph or two and then heading elsewhere.

In short, there was no beating heart to this story. It was a whipped-around telling of a pre-determined event and it's hard to look back on the book as offering much else beyond telling us how the event happened.

My advice to canon junkies who are going to read it no matter what: go with the audiobook. The sound effects, score, and the brilliant Marc Thompson combine for a movie-like experience, which can make the incessant POV switching slightly more tolerable as it feels more like a movie switching scenes every few minutes.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhhh. This is the first of the High Republic books that fell a little flat for me. I still enjoyed it...but I found myself frustrated with it a lot of the time too. It just jumped all over the place and I never really felt connected to any of the characters the way I did in the other books leading up to this one.

[ShamNoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has caused me unbelievable pain

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point, any Star Wars book written by Claudia Gray comes with a set of assumptions that it’s going to be absolutely amazing, and all of her books have lived up to this expectation. The Fallen Star far exceeded her precedent of excellence, which I didn’t think was possible. This book has a unique tone: it feels like the closest thing we’ve ever gotten to the horror genre in Star Wars, yet the story is still incredibly emotional. Somehow, Gray wrote a satisfying ending to the first phase of The High Republic publishing initiative, yet still left us wanting more out of the era. The impact that this story will have on the era is something I predict we will be talking about for quite some time.

[Meredith England · Rating 5 out of 5]

claudia gray i am going to FIGHT YOU

literal screaming sobs w this one

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE:
initially read this in 2022 (hated it) & 2024 (hated it less), but during this re-read I found myself appreciating the story more. Moved from 2 stars to 3 stars.

MAY 2022 REVIEW:
yeah, I'm done with the high republic. I tried. Though the last 6 chapters and epilogue were decent, most of this book felt mediocre and played out. IDK if it was Claudia's writing style, but I just didn't feel as hopeless as I should have with the imminent destruction of Starlight Beacon. I didn't feel anxiety or pressure. I wasn't excited and I felt that even the sacrifice in the end was moving. It didn't punch me in the gut... This was all quite bland until we neared the end. *SIGHS HEAVILY*

I had so much hope for the High Republic...but I keep getting let down.

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this a 4 out of 5; I think this is the lowest rated Claudia Gray book I’ve reviewed!

I’ll be honest, I was a little let down by this - this was not the best Claudia Gray Star Wars book (but let’s get this straight, even the worst Claudia Gray is better than most others). If I had to hazard a guess, Gray likely shines as an independent author than fitting into an existing narrative.

This was by no means a bad book, it was great, but it was definitely the worst of the three adult Phase 1 High Republic books.

This book is the (adult) conclusion to the first phase of the High Republic series. The near entirety of the book takes place on Starlight Beacon station. We get an appearance (or mention) of almost all of our main POV characters from both the adult and young adult book series, including: Bell Zettifar, Indeera Stokes, Elzar Mann, Stellan Gios, Avar Kriss, Affie Hollow, Marchion Ro, and Nan and includes other appearances by characters like Burry, Orla Jareni, Geode, Nib Assek, and even some information from Reath Silas. This is an avengers level team up of characters from this series.

The title of the book kind of gives away the major plot line: the “Fallen Star” refers to the Starlight beacon quite literally falling. The Jedi protectors spend the entirety of the book keeping the citizens of Starlight safe, trying to recover from a Nihil attack, and deal with a predator that is seemingly only targeting Force-users (after being used to kill a main character in the Rising Storm).

The thing that stunned me the most about this book is that Claudia Gray nearly turned into George R.R. Martin in that NO character was safe from death, dismemberment, or destruction. The only spoiler that I will provide in regards to this: keep an eye on the cover art.

I think Star Wars at its core has always been campy. That’s not a bad thing - I love campy. But, parts of this felt like a campy horror movie where, one by one, different characters go off on their own looking for a missing person and this is when they get killed off or hurt. And, I’ll be honest, a lot of these deaths were written very underwhelming. Reading them, I wanted more.

The first half of this book felt very slow and hard to get into. This is the book that definitely had the slowest burn of the three adult books in this series. For a conclusion novel, I almost hated that slow burn; I wanted a little quicker pace.

Another thing I hate is the treatment of Avar Kriss. She is such a powerhouse in Light of the Jedi, and is both an in-universe hero and the cover child from the first book. I felt like after Light of the Jedi, all of her performances fell very flat. I wish they would’ve treated her better.

Something this novel did really well is handling the completion of both the character arcs of Bell and Elzar. This novel is really a coming of age for Bell after all the trauma he has experienced and continues to experience. For Elzar, we see him kind of break free of his vices. I always saw Elzar in the Anakin Skywalker or Rael Averross character-archetype of incredible Jedi who flirts with rules and in this book we see Elzar break that mold and come into his own in a positive way.

Outside of these two, many characters have satisfying plot wrap ups whether through their fateful ends or through actual resolve. There are not a whole lot of loose ends in this novel which is great because Phase II of High Republic takes the Skywalker saga approach and is a series of prequels where Phase III will serve as the direct sequel to Phase I. I think they wrapped things up smartly in Phase I to leave you wanting to see more of what happens with specifically Bell, Avar, Elzar and Ro/the Nihil, but doesn’t leave too many plot lines open to try and remember after reading Phase II.

This is a definite necessary read for fans of the High Republic. Be prepared for a long and painful ride as this is probably the darkest book in the series, but the pain and the slowness are worth it.

[caty g · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow. I finished this book in two days because I needed to know just what would happen. I mixed together listening to the audiobook and reading the hard copy, which made the experience a little bit inconsistent, but Claudia Gray's writing truly conveyed the panic of the situation and I enjoyed that it was very character-driven. Elzar and Stellan's relationship, along with Orla added into the mix, was so fun to explore, and Burryaga and Bell's friendship was also a nice surprise. Seeing the crew of the Vessel again was such a treat, especially Leox, who was focused on in this book a lot more that I thought he would be. The Leveler is so creepy, I got chills while listening to those parts. I've seen complaints about the small scale of the novel (with it just taking place on Starlight Beacon) and that it won't have lasting effects, but I think it's clear that the Luminous authors are gearing up for another great High Republic phase soon. So excited to see what comes next!

[☆lindsay☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

'my polestar and my song'

wow the pain this book has caused me

☆☆☆☆☆

some thoughts:
- I love the friendship (star constellation) between avar, elzar and stellan so so so much but the avar erasure once again was killing me like why would you make her such a big character in the first book and then forget about her for the rest of phase 1 ?!
- this is a orla jareni stan account (I'm coming for you claudia grey)
- please protect nan at all costs, same as the vessel crew
- kinda wished we could have seen a perspective from the upper half of the station and why did starlight suddenly feel so small and uncomfortable compared to the other books??
- give my boy bell a day off pls
- the writing was kinda off compared to 'the rising storm'

=> overall a stressful, tragical but beautiful book♡ and I'm sending my therapy bills to you claudia

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve tried to write this review a hundred times, but I still can’t quite put my feelings into words besides “beautiful” and “tragic”. This book broke my heart, but I also couldn’t get enough of it. I have some CRAZY theories for the future of The High Republic and I can’t wait to see what Phases 2 and 3 have in store.

(also stellan gios elzar mann avar kriss i love u forever and ever)

[Shannon King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this is one sitting it was everything. Choosing a favourite out the three adult high republic books is too hard