#lotj

Final thoughts: definitely a good story with a hell of a villain (really creeped out by Marchion Ro and his devious plans), and so many fantastic characters! I think Keven Tarr might be my #1 fave (he's a precious ace baby and you can't convince me otherwise). Loden Greatstorm is absolutely #JediMasterGoals (I would really like to read a fic where Anakin goes back in time and meets Loden; the two would totally bond). I like how this version of the Republic has none of the corruption we see in the prequel films and really seems to be a shining utopia; makes it all the more tragic knowing how far it will fall.

All in all, a very enjoyable read.

!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry I missed this! I'm glad you stuck with it, I know Disney-era is very hit or miss but I really enjoyed the vibe they were going for in LotJ and it makes me a bit more exited/hopeful for what comes next.

Oh yes - Marchion Ro was excellent. I think good villains are really tricky, but Star Wars always seems to do a good job with them, more or less. I also really enjoyed Keven Tarr! Maybe this weekend I'll do some sketches of how I visualized the characters. Actually, if you haven't seen them yet, Disney put out some neat videos introducing a handful of the High Republic characters and I found them more fun to watch after I knew more about everything. It just added a neat visual which might be worth checking out on youtube if you haven't seen them yet (just ignore all the weird Gina Carano comments below the video lmao).

And I really enjoyed Greatstorm as well!

Yeah, we're definitely seeing a few cracks in the Republic here and there, but overall it really is such a neat contrast to see "what could have been" or, I suppose "what was" and it absolutely adds to the weight that is the eventual collapse of the Republic - which, really, is what a good prequel should do (in my opinion).

Final fight

Like the first half of the book is jumping from one group of characters you don't know to like four other groups of characters you don't know. You stick with each group for a chapter at a time and it takes too many rotations to feel like you're beginning to understand or care for them at all. It literally took half the book to feel like the groups were starting to form the same narrative and then more groups of characters you don't know get added. At the end, you understand the plot that happened, but I don't think each "main" character you follow got more than 3 or 4 chapters each. That doesn't count the many characters that only got one chapter. Some of the "main" characters seemed super interesting but you barely get time with them. Overall I think you can get the same info from Wookiepedia which is a bummer.