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A review by billyjepma
The Eye of Darkness by George Mann
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.75
This wasn't the most exciting read, but a welcome one. Its primary focus is on bringing you back into this era of The High Republic and catching you up on where everyone is after the detour the series took in "Phase 2." I've already voiced my complaints with that decision—to hit pause on these characters for a year of prequel books and comics—but I was glad to find how quickly I fell back into the story and characters I got invested in in that initial wave of books that kicked off The High Republic.
Despite this book not hiding any major surprises or moments, I appreciated the space it gave the characters to sit with their failure(s) and wrestle with the path forward. Specifically, I'm glad I got to spend this much time with Avar, one of the characters from the central cast who, despite being the functional "face" of the whole era, is one of the people I felt like I knew the least. So, I enjoyed seeing how she had to figure out who she was without other Jedi around her and reckon with who she thinks she is when no one is watching. That will go a long way in making me care more about her story moving forward, which is very much a good thing.
I also appreciate the patience in setting up new tensions and threads that this concluding phase of books will inevitably pick up and start running with. Mann's writing is solid, too—he's not the most memorable writer to work on the series, but he has a great sense of pacing that keeps the dialogue-centric book moving at a good tempo. If anything, my biggest issue with the book is its overreliance on repetition, both in terms of repeating specific character beats and reminding us of the plot, even stuff that happened previously in the book. That's a relatively minor thing, though, and I'm more eager to get into the next books than I have been in a minute.
Despite this book not hiding any major surprises or moments, I appreciated the space it gave the characters to sit with their failure(s) and wrestle with the path forward. Specifically, I'm glad I got to spend this much time with Avar, one of the characters from the central cast who, despite being the functional "face" of the whole era, is one of the people I felt like I knew the least. So, I enjoyed seeing how she had to figure out who she was without other Jedi around her and reckon with who she thinks she is when no one is watching. That will go a long way in making me care more about her story moving forward, which is very much a good thing.
I also appreciate the patience in setting up new tensions and threads that this concluding phase of books will inevitably pick up and start running with. Mann's writing is solid, too—he's not the most memorable writer to work on the series, but he has a great sense of pacing that keeps the dialogue-centric book moving at a good tempo. If anything, my biggest issue with the book is its overreliance on repetition, both in terms of repeating specific character beats and reminding us of the plot, even stuff that happened previously in the book. That's a relatively minor thing, though, and I'm more eager to get into the next books than I have been in a minute.