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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Books The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Todd the Jedi , Jul 23, 2021.

  1. Chris_Fives

    Chris_Fives Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 16, 2015
    I read all the book, and the YA novels as well, but yeah, it can be confusing...
     
  2. Chris_Fives

    Chris_Fives Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 16, 2015
    Orla is dead/husked?! Damn it! They will kill everybody by the end of this book...
     
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  3. PimpBacca

    PimpBacca Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2015
    I finished this the other day.

    So right near the end Burryaga appears to have a noble but gruesome end, and then the final chapters try and give hope that he’s alive when I really can’t see how. Anyone got any ideas?
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2022
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  4. Foreign32567

    Foreign32567 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 2021
    I have a wild theory that he managed to defeat rathtars and somehow left the station, but fainted because of his wounds and
    got stuck in orbit. Later Nan picked him up off screen and delivered him to Marchion as a replacement to Loden.
     
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  5. PimpBacca

    PimpBacca Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2015
    That’s dark, and I like it.
     
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  6. AusStig

    AusStig Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2010
    I think he is dead and the guy looking for him will have to accept he is gone.

    But rule of writing, no body means they are alive and well(ish).
     
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  7. Dawud786

    Dawud786 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 28, 2006
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2022
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  8. PimpBacca

    PimpBacca Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2015
    those children got to grow up at some point. I guess that would be a good way to show what happened afterwards.
     
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  9. EmperorHorus

    EmperorHorus Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2016
    I'm having a lot of trouble with this. Really reads like a kids book a lot of the time, absolutely no nuance in the characters. Only just over half way through but so far the first 2 books were definitely better
     
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  10. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    No, I don't think so. It'd be very much against what the series is about and, after the slaughter in this book, it'd also be overkill.
     
  11. Ginkasa

    Ginkasa Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2002
    Finally finished the book last night. I didn't hate the book or anything; when I was actually reading it I thought it was alright, but the book really didn't grab me in any way or encourage me to keep reading or return to it.

    My main concern with The Fallen Star is that its really just about one thing happening and that one thing is about the only thing that happens. Of course, this is about Starlight Beacon being destroyed. With this event being so prominent in the title and advertising, I thought it might be an inciting event. Something in the beginning of the book that kicks off the rest of it, but really this book is just watching it happen in what felt like slow motion. Nothing else of import really occurred. Sure, some people died, but that felt inevitable so with few exceptions it wasn't necessarily surprising or shocking.

    I might have expected, with the story being told in this way, that character growth and development would be the main focus, but that's not really the case either. Outside of the ones who died, I think every character is in the same place they were at the start of the book. I thought Elzar was seeing some growth, but right at the end they push him right back to the same place he was at the end of The Rising Storm. I thought Bell would have been more impacted by Loden's death in The Rising Storm, but his emotional state really just feels the same as it was during that book when Loden was just presumed dead. All the other characters as well are just themselves throughout this book, so really all that happens is they experience the destruction of Starlight Beacon.

    I'll also echo some concerns I saw above that there are just too many characters coming from too many different books/stories. This really has more to do with the structure of The High Republic than this book in particular, but in short if someone was interested in just the adult novels I'm not sure how satisfying this (or TRS before it) could be satisfying. On the same vein of the way THR is structured, I really hate how obvious the holes are in TRS and TFS where the story is being told somewhere else. When Avar showed up and then was simply ignored for the nearly the rest of the book it became pretty obvious that the top half of Starlight Beacon was going to be the comics half.

     
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  12. AvarandElzarsittininatree

    AvarandElzarsittininatree Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2021
    @Link1130 and in regards to all the different forms of media (be it adult novels, YA, comic...etc) that is being used to tell this story that will simply be something some will be really into while others won't. The amount of connectivity involved in this is something that really hasn't been done before for Star Wars. For some it will probably be more enjoyable to just wait until the whole thing is over where they can consume the story at their own pace and aren't reliant on release schedules.
     
  13. Ginkasa

    Ginkasa Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2002
    While I don't know if I disagree with anything you've said (except for "hasn't been done before for Star Wars"; that's debatable), I'm also not sure what point you're making in relation to my prior post regarding The Fallen Star. Are you talking about this bit:

    I'm not against connectivity, but the way some of it has been done in relation to the adult novels (in particular the most recent two) is, in my opinion, not very effective or satisfying. It is one thing to have references and nods to other stories that pay off to people who have read the other material, but aren't distracting to those who haven't. I think about some of the High Republic references made before phase 1 started or even the project was announced. It was just background lore to us then, but now that we know those terms or characters we can look back and really appreciate it.

    Contrast that to The Rising Storm and Race to Crashpoint Tower where each book had gaping holes where the other fit in. Events would be referenced from the other book, but these events wouldn't be set up properly or summarized properly, so, for me at least, it just felt like I was missing something I shouldn't be missing. There are ways to do this in a way that can satisfy both someone who just wants to enjoy one book and someone who wants to enjoy both, but what TSR and TFS did is not that. They're basically just short of having an editor's note saying "Who is this Ram Jomaram and what is he doing? Find out in Race to Crashpoint Tower on sale NOW!". And its not a release date issue, either. Again looking to TRS, that and Crashpoint Tower came out the same day, but I can only read a book at a time. Whichever I read first was going to be unsatisfying to me. I can't get the whole story from just one.
     
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  14. AvarandElzarsittininatree

    AvarandElzarsittininatree Jedi Master star 4

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    Nov 13, 2021
    Yeah I was referring to how you said we only got one part of the story in the book and the other part is being left to the comics (which won't be complete until the end of next month). And that is a release schedule issue that will be frustrating to some. As if you had access to both at the same you could just finish one part and then jump to the other part of the story whenever you wished.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2022
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  15. Ginkasa

    Ginkasa Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2002
    Yeah, maybe that's what it is for some, but for me its just those parts of the story being in separate mediums. I would rather that each segment of The High Republic be its own story that exists in the same space and time rather than everything flowing through each other arbitrarily. I'm hoping the final pieces of Phase One will do something to change my mind/win me over in this respect, but if they don't (and at least for now) I'm thinking I would have preferred that:

    - The adult novels be their own (maybe the "main") story with a core cast of characters.
    - The young adult novels have their own story with a separate core cast of characters
    - Same with middle grade
    - Comics
    - Picture books

    Characters and events from one segment could appear (like, cameo) or be referenced in another segment, but not like as has happened where a character is introduced in one then stars in another or you need have to read young adult book X to understand where a threat in the comics came from. I think this would have been more successful, at least in my opinion.
     
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  16. Chris_Fives

    Chris_Fives Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 16, 2015
    Finished it last night! I enjoyed it! Maybe not as much as other High Republic content but overall I really dig this era and the characters.. my main problem is what was stated several times already with this one.. the action happens in one place...
    And yeah, I am shocked with the death count.. I was not expecting that!
    Mission to Disaster is next, starting today, and then Midnight Horizon!! :D
     
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  17. Soontir-Fel

    Soontir-Fel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2001
    I liked how the first third was basically a horror novel, where you could feel the noose tightening with every step
     
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  18. Darth Megatronus

    Darth Megatronus Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2020
    Just finished. I liked it, though I was hoping to get more info on the Leveler(s). My theory is that they are some kind of ancient Sith weapon, created to cut off Jedi from the Force. I was pretty shocked how many characters died. I’m still not completely sold on the High Republic story, but I’m kinda interested to see where it goes next.
     
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  19. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Alright, alright, alright
    Lol, Claudia you mad lass.
    HE BETTER MAKE IT OUT ALIVE. Poor Geode taking a blaster bolt like a champ was bad enough.
    I'm only halfway through but I've gotten distinct Titanic vibes. Minus, y'know, the romance.
    Unless of course Avar and Elzar have an "I'll never let you go" moment.
     
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  20. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I'm in about the same spot as Todd. Not bad so far..
     
  21. Darth Megatronus

    Darth Megatronus Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2020
    if you’re curious, I believe the plot thread of someone in the republic government working with the Nihil is first set up in the Trail of Shadows comics.
     
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  22. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

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    Oct 16, 2008
    Way earlier than that, I'm pretty sure Light of the Jedi established the Nihil had a mole.
     
  23. Ginkasa

    Ginkasa Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 13, 2002
    I do plan to do a re-readthrough when all is said and done so some of that stuff might work better second time through.
     
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  24. Dawud786

    Dawud786 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 28, 2006
    That was senator Noor's assistant

    Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
     
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  25. Darth Megatronus

    Darth Megatronus Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2020
    If you enjoyed this novel, make sure to check out the most recent issue of the High Republic comic. It deals with Avar’s part of the story in the top section of the station.
     
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