Star Wars: The Rising Storm (The High Republic)

Written by Cavan Scott

Narrated by Marc Thompson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The heroes of the High Republic era return to face a shattered peace and a fearsome foe, following the dramatic events of Light of the Jedi.

In the wake of the hyperspace disaster and the heroism of the Jedi, the Republic continues to grow, bringing more worlds together under a single unified banner. Under the leadership of Chancellor Lina Soh, the spirit of unity extends throughout the galaxy, with the Jedi and the newly established Starlight Beacon station at the vanguard.

In celebration, the chancellor plans the Republic Fair, a showcase of the possibilities and the peace of the expanding Republic—a peace the Jedi hope to foster. Stellan Gios, Bell Zettifar, Elzar Mann, and others join the event as ambassadors of harmony. But as the eyes of the galaxy turn toward the fair, so too does the fury of the Nihil. Their leader, Marchion Ro, is intent on destroying this unity. His storm descends on the pageantry and celebration, sowing chaos and exacting revenge.

As the Jedi struggle to curb the carnage of the rampaging Nihil, they come face-to-face with the true fear their enemy plans to unleash across the galaxy—the kind of fear from which even the Force cannot shield them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593396827

Cavan Scott

Cavan Scott is a New York Times best-selling author, comic book writer and screenwriter. He created Shadow Service, The Ward, Dead Seas, and Sleep Terrors, and is a lead story architect for Lucasfilm's bestselling multimedia initiative, Star Wars: The High Republic. A former magazine editor, he lives in Bristol, UK, with his family.

Reviews for Star Wars

[othemts · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Picking up where The Light of the Jedi ends, the story centers on the Republic Fair where Chancellor Lina Soh hopes to make a statement on the growing Galactic Republic's unity.  Meanwhile, Marchion Ro, the leader of loose organization of marauders faces dissension within his ranks and organizes an attack of the fair.  The better part of the book is an action-filled depiction of the Jedi fighting the Nihil and hoping to protect the Republic citizens.  The book ends with a startling revelation that hearkens a darker future.

I had a couple of quibbles with this book.  One is that it still feels like there are a  lot of characters and I'm having trouble connecting with all these different Jedi and their allies.  That may be just be a "me thing" though.  I am growing fond of Bell Zettifar, the Jedi apprentice who cuts himself of from the Force when mourning the loss of his Master.  The other problem with this book is that it has a middle-of-a-trilogy feel to it where it's just spinning its wheels until it can get to the revelation that sets up the final book.  But overall it's a fun read.

[the_literary_jedi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite Star Wars books from The High Republic Era.

This finds the Jedi fighting against the Nihil and something that their leader, Marchion Ro unleashed.

Listened to this on audio and the narrator's choice to make Marchion's voice so creepy - loved it.

I do think these stories are a bit flimsy in places and are serving to retcon a few concepts for future endeavors but you know what, I'm still a fan.

Loads of action going on, great battle scenes, and spectacular effects in the audio version to immerse the listener into the story.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

[kinwolf · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

What an awful follow-up to the first book. The amount of useless scenes and repetitions is staggering. How many time can you end a chapter with Bell "dying"? Or how many times can you make the reader lose his time reading about another dispute within the Tempest? I was bored out of my mind. This book is badly written, and it's combined with abysmal pacing. It's like they only had material for 100 pages, but still tried to stretch it to 400.

You've been warned.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cavan Scott’s Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm picks up a year after the events of The Light of the Jedi, with Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh planning a Republic Fair as part of her Great Works to promote the unity of the Republic and demonstrate to the Togruta the value of joining. Meanwhile, enigmatic Jedi Knight Elzar Mann is on Valo following a vision indicating that the survival of the Order depends on his presence at the Fair’s location. Bell Zettifar continues to work as a padawan, now apprenticed to Indeera Stokes following the presumed death of his former master, Loden Bell. Marchion Ro, the Eye of the Nihil, seeks out a Force weapon for his own nefarious purposes. The Jedi elevated Stellan Gios, a friend of Mann and of Avar Kriss, to the rank of Master and installed him for a term on the Council. Meanwhile once-padawan Ty Yorrick now works as a mercenary helping those in the Outer Rim dealing with the Drengir and finds herself drawn to the Jedi despite her efforts to avid them. The Nihil plan to attack the Fair to demonstrate the Republic’s weakness amid its expansion into the Outer Rim, but also face their own infighting as Pan Eyta challenges Ro. The story itself has great character moments, with Scott spending the first half focusing on developing the characters prior to the main conflict that dominates the second half of The Rising Storm. He draws upon story elements from the various High Republic YA novels and the comic book stories from Marvel, making this entry feel like an important snapshot in a larger tale while still hinting at other events – much like the Star Wars episodes themselves. Scott also explores how the Jedi begin to compromise from the idealistic warrior monks that appeared in Light of the Jedi, setting up further conflicts for later books.

[jklugman_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Like the overall High Republic event, this novel is a mixed bag. Like its predecessor, it borrows a page from Game of Thrones with a sprawling narrative with a ton of characters, both heroes and villains, and individuals from both groups experience their own setbacks and challenges, and I liked that. Unfortunately, like its predecessor, the novel centers on a cataclysmic event and it jumps from hero to hero as their faith in the light side is tested. I found this part of the narrative fairly tedious and rote. The big reveal of the ending was underwhelming.

I listened to the audiobook. Marc Thompson is a great narrator and voice actor, but sometimes his voices are grating; in this case, a nasally, gurgling voice for a Sullustan senator made me shut off the book multiple times.