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whocop's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Medical content
parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Murder and Sexual content
Minor: Medical trauma
asexualandriod's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence
joshuas_space's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death
sk_coco's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Murder
billyjepma's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
While probably the weakest entry in the trilogy of High Republic novels, The Fallen Star is still a taut thriller of a read with many satisfying highs and payoffs. The book is essentially the Star Wars version of Titanic in that it's an emotionally operatic disaster story. That setting proves to be the book's best and worst quality, as it leads to thrilling moments of heroism and heartbreak while also feeling more by the numbers than it should.
Gray is one of the best writers working in Star Wars, but some of the sparks she's known for are somewhat lacking here. It almost feels like the requirements of the book muscled out some of the usually incisive characterizations she's known for. That's not to say there are no memorable character moments—Elzar Mann's arc across the trilogy has been a steady highlight for me, and that's never been more true than it is in The Fallen Star. But for a book with multiple and significant deaths, only a few of them actually feel notable. The plot is pretty simple, but there are too many forces at play, muddying the stakes and making the book feel more crowded than it is. Some of the threats introduced here are chilling, to be sure, yet are so thinly developed that the danger they represent never feels as tangible as it should've.
As a piece of spectacle, The Fallen Star is (mostly) successful. It leaves the world and its characters (who I love far more than I would've expected possible, considering how relatively new they are to me) in a fascinating state I'm anxious to see continued. I can't say I'm sold on the idea of Phase 2 of THR going back in time and putting this current story on hiatus, but I'm choosing to remain optimistic, as the minds behind it haven't given me much reason to doubt them yet.
Gray is one of the best writers working in Star Wars, but some of the sparks she's known for are somewhat lacking here. It almost feels like the requirements of the book muscled out some of the usually incisive characterizations she's known for. That's not to say there are no memorable character moments—Elzar Mann's arc across the trilogy has been a steady highlight for me, and that's never been more true than it is in The Fallen Star. But for a book with multiple and significant deaths, only a few of them actually feel notable. The plot is pretty simple, but there are too many forces at play, muddying the stakes and making the book feel more crowded than it is. Some of the threats introduced here are chilling, to be sure, yet are so thinly developed that the danger they represent never feels as tangible as it should've.
As a piece of spectacle, The Fallen Star is (mostly) successful. It leaves the world and its characters (who I love far more than I would've expected possible, considering how relatively new they are to me) in a fascinating state I'm anxious to see continued. I can't say I'm sold on the idea of Phase 2 of THR going back in time and putting this current story on hiatus, but I'm choosing to remain optimistic, as the minds behind it haven't given me much reason to doubt them yet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Grief
e_flah's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Death
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