Star Wars: Convergence (The High Republic)

Written by Zoraida Córdova

Narrated by Marc Thompson

The next adventure in the High Republic begins expanding the new era of Star Wars, with a story set generations before Light of the Jedi.

It is an age of exploration. Jedi travel the galaxy, expanding their understanding of the Force and all the worlds and beings connected by it. Meanwhile, the Republic, led by its two chancellors, works to unite worlds in an ever-growing community among near and distant stars.

On the close-orbiting planets of Eiram and E’ronoh, the growing pains of a galaxy with limited resources but unlimited ambition are felt keenly. The two worlds’ hatred for each other has fueled half a decade of escalating conflict and now threatens to consume surrounding systems. The last hope for peace emerges when heirs from the planets’ royal families plan to marry.

Before lasting peace can be established, an assassination attempt targeting the couple tilts Eiram and E’ronoh back into all-out war. To save both worlds, Jedi Knight Gella Nattai volunteers to uncover the culprit, while Chancellor Kyong appoints her own son, Axel Greylark, to represent the Republic’s interests in the investigation.

But Axel’s deep distrust of the Jedi sparks against Gella’s faith in the Force. She’s never met such a puffed-up, privileged party boy, and he’s never met a more self-serious, relentless do-gooder. The harder they work to untangle the shadowy web of the investigation, the more complicated the conspiracy appears to be. With accusations flying and potential enemies in every shadow, the pair will have to work together to have any hope of bringing the truth to light and saving both worlds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9780593632970

Zoraida Córdova

Zoraida Córdova is the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels and short stories, including The Fall of Rebel Angels, the Brooklyn Brujas series, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate, and The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina. In addition to writing novels, she serves on the board of We Need Diverse Books, is the coeditor of the bestselling anthology Vampires Never Get Old, and is the cohost of the writing podcast Deadline City. She writes romance novels as Zoey Castile. Zoraida was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and calls New York City home. When she’s not working, she’s roaming the world in search of magical stories. For more information, visit her at ZoraidaCordova.com.

Reviews for Star Wars

[jwilker-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not for me. I don't know what it is but these High Republic books just don't engage me. I finish and have no interest in any characters. Certainly don't care to read more about them. Don't feel connected to them.

Mix that with little to no action and yeah. I'm glad these have an audience. It just isn't me.

[jklugman_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Probably the best of the "adult" High Republic novels thus far. It eschews the usual "Airport" type plot where some massive disaster/attack brings together an unwieldly number of boring Jedi characters. Instead, Cordova brings together a small group of interesting characters (only 1 boring Jedi) who often work together (sometimes against each other) and have interesting dynamics.

[tapestry100 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Following the patterns set forth with the films, Phase II of The High Republic jumps back in time, becoming the prequel to Phase I. Zoraida Córdova’s Convergence is the first adult book in this Phase, following the events of Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s Path of Deceit and George Mann’s Quest for the Hidden City.

I'm having a harder time getting into the swing of this Phase. Maybe it's because it is an apparently shortened schedule of books compared to Phase I (there are only 2 rounds of books with Phase II, as opposed to the 3 in Phase I), so I feel we are being rushed in the introductions to these characters and events. This book tackles the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh, as the Jedi and the Republic try to help resolve the conflict and broker a peace between to the two planets.

There are a lot of characters introduced very quickly, and I found myself becoming confused as to which planet, either Eiram and E'ronoh, we were dealing with at any point. Everything coalesced fairly well at the end, but i don't think it should have taken over 2/3 of the book to finally feel like the action was finally happening.

I'll be sticking with these, because Star Wars, but I'm hoping that the followup novel, Cataclysm, is a little more engaging.