Books The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland

They will really want to avoid that perception. Going to be interesting to see if they are successful.

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/comic-con-home-lucasfilm-publishing-panel-recap

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6. Justina Ireland said her upcoming novel, The High Republic: A Test of Courage, has a connection to Sana Starros! “We know she’s the best scoundrel to ever have scoundreled,” Ireland said, but the timeline of the new publishing initiative takes place hundreds of years before the (maybe) ex-Mrs. Han Solo lived. Her solution? “Who we’re going to meet is her great, great, many times great ancestor.” The book, hitting shelves in January, involves the adventures of one Avon Starros, a 12-year-old girl sent to the edge of the galaxy by her politician mother because she’s curious, experimental and, well, just pure trouble, Ireland said.

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/a-test-of-courage-exclusive-excerpt-and-interview

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As it turns out, the upcoming middle grade novel Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage may just have a secret Force power all its own.

“I think adults tend to get bogged down in our very complex yet somehow mundane daily lives, and one of the best things about kids books is we’re allowed to remember that life was once exciting and a vast, magical mystery. Especially Star Wars books!” says A Test of Courage author Justina Ireland. “Middle grade books are a great way to visit the galaxy for a little while and remember why we all fell in love with Star Wars in the first place. And for kids, it’s a place for them to interact with ideas of character and struggle without the limitations imposed by icky grown-ups.”

Coming January 5, 2021, Ireland’s A Test of Courage is one of the tentpole releases in the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing epic, which will take readers back to the peak of the Jedi Order, centuries prior to the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The novel follows a ragtag group of young adventurers — newly-minted teen Jedi Vernestra Rwoh, a young Padawan, audacious tech-kid Avon Starros, and the son of an ambassador – after a galaxy-wide disaster leaves them stranded on a jungle moon. When it comes to Vernestra, previously revealed in StarWars.com’s “Inside Star Wars: The High Republic” series, the fledgling Jedi may represent all that is good about Jedi of the era.

“I love that Vernestra isn’t prideful, she doesn’t see herself as any kind of hero or anyone special,” Ireland says. “Rather, she believes wholeheartedly in the Order and the Force, and she believes her job in the galaxy to promote the best qualities of both by helping others and being responsible and level headed even under the worst of conditions.” And nothing tests a Jedi quite like an impulsive non-Jedi friend.

One of the stars of A Test of Courage is Avon Starros (whose last name is sure to grab the attention of Star Wars comics fans, as it reveals a relation to Han Solo’s maybe-ex Sana Starros). Avon is no Jedi, and holds a strong if occasionally contentious friendship with Vernestra. “Avon and Vernestra have an almost sisterly bond, with Vernestra being the annoying older sister who always knows the right thing to do and Avon being a little less restrained by convention and silly things like ‘rules.’ Ireland says. “This only becomes more obvious after they are marooned on a wild jungle moon with acid rain, creepy vines, and strange creatures. They really have only each other to rely on. At the end of the day they care about one another and maybe even respect each other more than they think, something that becomes even more apparent when they are forced to work together.”

In StarWars.com’s exclusive excerpt of A Test of Courage, we get a glimpse of the dynamic between Avon and Vernestra, as the latter begins a new chapter in her life. “Vernestra (sometimes Vern, much to her chagrin) is excited about going on her first real Jedi mission after being promoted to Knight a few months ago at the very tender age of 15, and even though it’s really just a glorified babysitting job she’s still excited,” Ireland says. “Because at 16 she understands that doing your best, no matter the assignment, is the most important thing and, honestly, that’s just the kind of cinnamon roll Jedi she is.”

Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage arrives January 5, 2021, and is available for pre-order now.

 

https://nerdist.com/article/star-wa...whip-test-of-courage-justina-ireland-excerpt/

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A new era of Star Wars is nearly upon us. The High Republic launches in January, bringing fans to the galaxy far, far away a couple hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace. This era gives us the chance to explore a different government, foes we haven’t seen before, and the Jedi Order as it used to be. That means plenty of new characters to form totally healthy attachments to, including one Vernestra “Vern” Rwoh. She’s a Jedi Knight, one of the youngest in generations at a mere 16 years old. Vern’s at the heart of Justina Ireland’s A Test of Courage, and we have an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming book to share with you today. And it features a rad twist on a lightsaber: the lightwhip!

But first, let’s learn a little more about Vern. A Mirialan, she’s devoted to the Jedi Order. Obviously. She wouldn’t be a teen Jedi Knight otherwise. And in A Test of Courage, Vern is on her first mission. Ireland tells Nerdist, “Like most overachievers she is both excited and a little trepidatious at having such an important job to do. Vernestra feels a deep attachment to the Order and truly does consider it her calling, so all she ever wants to do is the best job that she can, Force willing. She isn’t proud or self-congratulatory, instead she is just deeply committed to serving the light.”

Things go slightly awry on the mission when a galaxy-wide disaster (which touches all The High Republic stories) kicks the transport ship Vern’s aboard out of hyperspace. She and her charges end up stranded on a jungle moon. And as you can imagine, a jungle moon is full of dangers. To get her group out of trouble, Vern uses her lightsaber—a lightsaber that she has turned into a lightwhip. Yes, a lightwhip is a lightsaber and whip combo. The weapon appeared several times in Legends stories, but in the current storytelling universe has thus far been mentioned only in Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars roleplaying books. So, it’s a little exciting. And as you’ll read in the excerpt below, it makes total sense for Vern.

Ireland shared some insight on why the weapon is right for Vern, too. “Vernestra is deeply conventional for a Jedi. She doesn’t question the wisdom of the Force, and by extension, the Order. She believes in her fellow Jedi and that everything will work out for the best, no matter how the short term may appear. So I wanted her to have a lightsaber that was a little unconventional to show that she truly is a deep and complicated person and not just ‘Mirialan Jedi #1,'” she says. “She feels some bit of conflict over her weapon, and at some point she may have to reconcile the handiness of such a weapon with the expectations of the Order.”

We can’t wait to learn more about that. But for now, let’s dive into this excerpt.

 

Going by released excerpts and the more exclusive expanded previews I got as a bookseller, I have to say I love this book by Justina Ireland the most of the High Republic lot so far but all are good and spiced with lots of lore. Not just because it is a new era to be filled but because lots of nice callbacks to even earlier unknown eras as well as truly interesting characters and a deepdive into the variety of Jedi, their tools, mindsets, and so on.

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/the-makers-of-star-wars-the-high-republic-justina-ireland

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Spoiler warning: The article contains plot details from A Test of Courage.

It all started with an idea back in 2014 from Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain to bring together a group of authors to define a new era in the Star Wars galaxy. In 2019, creative retreats began at Skywalker Ranch with the five authors, Lucasfilm Publishing, and Lucasfilm Story Group. And in 2020, the era of the High Republic was revealed to fans — the center of this “Project Luminous” storytelling initiative — taking place centuries before the prequel trilogy. Now, as we near 2021, excitement for this new era has built exponentially as the first set of books tied to the High Republic are set to publish.

Amongst the lineup of books publishing on January 5, 2021, is Justina Ireland’s survivalist tale A Test of Courage. This adventurous story follows a cast of diverse kids including a young Jedi Knight and a more anxious Jedi Padawan, the quiet son of an ambassador, and a sassy tech-kid and her droid. As they head to the launch of the Republic and Jedi’s incredible Starlight Beacon, disaster strikes and they find themselves stranded on a peculiar jungle moon. In a group full of big personalities and conflicting ideas, the kids must work past their differences in order to survive. StarWars.com sat down with author Justina Ireland to get a sense of her experience breaking ground on this new era known as the High Republic.

StarWars.com: The High Republic is a brand-new era, and your middle-grade novel, A Test of Courage, will be one of the first introductions to it. What was it like writing that first novel and exploring and defining a whole new era of Star Wars?

Justina Ireland: It was pretty amazing, honestly! Imagine getting a chance to create the characters you want to see and putting them in a galaxy full of space wizards and the like? One that you’ve spent your entire life dreaming about? Yeah, amazing is the perfect way to describe it but also falls so far from the actual depth of emotion involved. All I’m saying is that if there’s ever a Vernestra Rwoh Funko Pop!, I’ll be unbearable to live with.

StarWars.com: This initiative is fairly unique in that it’s a team of authors, including yourself, who are writing the story of the High Republic from various different points of view that all intersect and play off of each other. Can you talk about the process of collaborating and writing with that team?

Justina Ireland: I could, but honestly it’s less exciting than you’re imagining. Imagine five Star Wars nerds getting together and hashing out things like hyperspace physics and who wore it better, Yoda or Yaddle. Although, Cav [Scott] did lose a finger in our last death match, but I regret nothing. That’s what he gets for being careless with my lightwhip.

StarWars.com: A Test of Courage has such an amazing cast of characters, but let’s talk about Avon Starros first. Fans may be familiar with the name Starros if they’ve read the Doctor Aphra comic series, which leads me to my question: What was it like writing a character that you know is (distantly) related to an existing character, but in a completely different era? Will Avon have a bit of Sana in her? Or rather, will we see the roots of Sana in Avon since this is set before Sana’s time?

Justina Ireland: That’s the question, isn’t it? I would say that readers looking for hints of Sana in Avon may be disappointed, because when A Test of Courage opens Avon is only 12 and so not at all the person she will one day become. But! For those wondering how the Starros go from this fairly affluent clan of politicians and scientists to scum and villainy, there is a story arc for that!

StarWars.com: Vernestra Rwoh is our main Jedi character in A Test of Courage and she is all kinds of incredible. At just 15, she’s knighted! How do you balance such a young character with the weight and responsibility of being a Jedi Knight?

Justina Ireland: That’s the crux of Vernestra’s character arc: How do you balance being so good at things with the very real problem of having very little real world (galaxy!) experience? It’s a bit of a Doogie Howser, MD problem: You can be really good at your job even if you are still very young, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to doubt your abilities. For Vernestra, these judgements don’t bother her very much because she is very in tune with the Force and devoted to being a Jedi, but they do give her things to ponder and consider as she grows into herself.

StarWars.com: Let’s get into the larger story of A Test of Courage. This is the first middle-grade novel for the High Republic. Can you talk about crafting the story for this book? How does it relate to the other books coming out alongside it, including Light of the Jedi and Into the Dark?

Justina Ireland: They are all awesome and exciting, and help to show just how big and vast and varied the galaxy is! One of the things I love about Star Wars is how intimate the storytelling always feels, even if it takes place against this massive backdrop. With these initial books and comics, you’ll get a sense of that vastness of the storytelling we’re undertaking here while also getting the personal connection to some really awesome and fun characters. It’s everything anyone could want, plus Wookiees!

StarWars.com: One of the cool things about the High Republic initiative is that fans can pick up their preferred mode of reading — novels, comics, storybooks, etc. — and still get the macro storyline of the High Republic era. What are the challenges of writing to ensure everyone’s getting a unique perspective but also still understanding the larger story being told?

Justina Ireland: See earlier comment about the nerdery death matches. So many lost fingers! It’s also incredibly difficult to make sure we’re all telling stories that feel and are different instead of just repeating the same story beats every single time, and includes all of the other iconic storytelling that already exists (although I will have a lava river lightsaber battle, I already called dibs). But luckily everyone is good at looking at a challenge or any kind of storytelling tangle and coming together to solve it. That is what makes this different from just about any other piece of Star Wars storytelling, and also what makes it awesome.

StarWars.com: It’s been a long time coming but this coming January, fans will finally get to step into the High Republic era. What can you tell us about the era to get everyone excited for its debut — if they’re not already?

Justina Ireland: Look. 2020 was just awful, stressful and disappointing and pretty damn sad making. We have all earned something nice for ourselves. Start your 2021 off right and jump in early. If you’ve never read a Star Wars book before, this is the perfect time to start. It’s all new and fresh and unspoiled! Come join us, we have lightwhips!

A Test of Courage arrives January 5, 2021, and is available for pre-order now.

 

It's a pretty good book, I quite enjoyed it. A little more character-focused than Light of the Jedi, but fun. I liked Vernestra.

 

This is on its way to me, it seems. I'm really looking forward to it as I'm 1/3 through LOTJ and I am really enjoying sinking into it with my laptop handy to cross-reference the characters and fully absorb the worldbuilding on hand, but at the same time I'm looking forward to more contained character pieces once I feel like I know my way around the High Republic in general.

 

I'm excited to get the character driven stuff...That always feel more up my alley then big world building stories myself.

 

Might be a while before some of us look at this, Amazon UK says 18 Feb release date, same as Into the Dark

 

From page 71:

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Vernestra Rwoh knows what's up.

I don't generally do fan-casting, but between the spunkiness and the whole child-genius thing, I couldn't help but picture Avon as Erica from Stranger Things.

Spoiler: Spoiler for Image size

 

Had to change my CC details on Amazon due to my card expiring and they gave me $10. I picked this up for $0.75.

Looking forward to reading it even if it is a shorter story.

 

I finished it.

was ok, some neat stuff with everyone using their different skills.

Some cool action scenes, but a bit predictable.

 

I thought it was very unpredictable!

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I figured once they landed on Wevo they were going to run into the Nihil much sooner then they did, and then they would fight each other and then eventually begrudgingly work together to get back to civilization, and then the good guys would be double-crossed by the Nihil but then manage to subdue them. I'm sure any half-decent writer could write something like that in their sleep. Lazy and safe. Instead, we get Imri's slow descent into the dark side and the Nihil are barely in the story at all. I really wasn't expecting the book to go where it did.

 

Ok I never thought that would happen.

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I remembering wondering "How will they get ride of the master?" and then the doors come down.

The Nihil were really evil so I never thought they would work with the heroes. I wasn't surprised that the Padawan went off the deep end, he got messed up by his master dying so I didn't find it suprising.

 

I really liked the book.

 

Got my copy yesterday, going to balance reading it with Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark.

 

My copy has just despatched.

 

Wow, this is another excellently designed little volume. I'm going to need to get all of these now, fortunately it's been pre-ordered.

 

If nothing else this book should bury the idea that a story shouldn't matter because of the audience it is targeted (but not limited exclusively) to.

I really enjoyed this. It's a smart, compact story that doesn't waste time but knows when to vary its pacing for best effect. It also has, in Vern, a lead who is a breath of fresh air, especially when set against the crapbag female characters of Maize and Zhorii in Force Collector and Poe Dameron: Free Fall. Vern has what those character lack - awareness. She's aware that, in itself, being blunt is of no value and demonstrates nothing. She'll fight if she needs to but won't go looking for one either and, when she ends up in the position of leading the group of survivors, doesn't shirk from it either.

Changing tack, the opening act of this book is pretty damn chilling. A terrorist bombing of a space liner killing hundreds, with every means of escape sabotaged ahead of the explosion to ensure no survivors! This is pretty ****ing sick - and hey, this is a kids book, remember? As acts of villainy go, this one is way up in the league table of bastards.

And then there is the crapbag moon that is Wevo. A moon with acid rain no less. What is interesting here is that Ireland spends time showing how the local ecology has adapted to it. There is a memorable sequence of plants burning amid a flood due to the acidity, so there's both water and fire at the same time.

There's also some rather neat coordination going on here, as Vern and Imri are mentioned in LotJ, I'm fairly certain Douglas had a mention earlier on in that book but not his fate here. Keeve and Skeer also cameo - which means I'm really hoping Marvel have the confidence to issue the comics in OHC format.

Really looking forward to Ireland's next story in this series that is due August.