Watch Vernestra and Avon defy that storm! Here's the review thread for Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland. Go ahead and give it a score on the 1-10 scale, as long as you have read or listened to the entire book. Reviews are not necessary but are encouraged, but why not? You've got nothing better to do.
Again maybe I should have given myself a month of breathing room after reading all I have read. But this wasn’t doing it for me as much as Eye of darkness did. 7.9 out of ten. Still good enough, but definitely not in the top 30 Star Wars canon novels.
As the months drag on and the Nihil Stormwall shows no signs of going away, things begin to crack at the seams on the various worlds on the wrong side of the wall. With the Republic unable to help them and most Jedi fearful of the dreaded Nameless, the little people trying to get by must rely on themselves to keep afloat, and hold close to whatever connections they still have access to, as Avon Starros discovers when she decides to embark on a quest to retrieve one of her Jedi friends stuck behind the wall. This was a fun and exciting book, with a slow buildup for much of the length that felt like an espionage thriller as the heroes come together and hatch a crazy plan to bypass the Stormwall, and then once they do they go their separate ways and things heat up as each has their own mini adventure. It was fun seeing Avon as an older teen, really coming into her own in spite of her megalomaniac of a mother; her intro here showing up her mother and Marchion Ro was nothing short of badass, quite the leap from the mild-mannered tech whiz she was. She’s adapted to this harsher galaxy filled with nasty Nihils, and has received some guidance from the one friend she has among the Nihil, Deva Lompop, the proverbial scoundrel with a heart of gold, at least where Avon is concerned. We also got a lot more with Xylan Graf, who’s still his pompous self, but at least he sort of acknowledges the detrimental effect the Nihil are having on the galaxy and does what he can to aid Avon, while still of course looking out for his own interests. Along for the ride are Vernestra Rwoh and Jordanna Sparkburn, who are both searching for people important to them behind the wall, and each gets their own crazy adventure dealing with Nihil shenanigans. Like many Jedi, Vernestra was shaken by Starlight Beacon’s destruction, and now she hears about creatures that suck the Force out of people until they turn to dust, so naturally she’s anxious to find her wayward padawan when she discovers he’s on a world targeted by the Nihil. It was a nice light moment in a dark story when she found Imri not only alive, but leading a successful counterstrike against the Nihil, bringing some small measure of peace to some of the people cut off from the Republic. Jordanna on the other hand (heh) finally finds her brother and his family, along with a terrifying blight on their world that is eerily similar to the effect the Nameless have on Force-users. While I appreciated the slow buildup for much of the novel, it wasn’t until Avon, Jordanna, and Vernestra split up that I really got hooked on the story. Avon’s mission to try to bring down the Stormwall was great for the espionage as well as acting as an avenue for her to experience some personal growth as she faced some of her demons, and came to grips with her status as the daughter of a treacherous politician. Which made Xylan the perfect foil for her as another scion of a contentious family, and each accepts the slimy aspects of their heritage but also chooses to rise above some of it to help make the galaxy a better place. Vernestra learns on her mission the right place for the Jedi isn’t seclusion, but being right with the people in need, guiding them towards the path of light, but not to the point where they’re dictating how they should act. Meanwhile Jordanna learned that she can’t just ride out the conflict and make the best of things for herself- there are too many people suddenly in dire straits because of the actions of the Nihil, and as she sees on her brother’s homeworld, if things are left unchecked the situation will only get worse and worse, especially if the Nihil are bent on spreading as much destruction as possible. The blight she encounters is as terrifying as the Nameless, leading to the most tense scene of the novel where she’s forced to amputate her cousin’s hand to save him from succumbing to a horrific death. I give Defy the Storm and 8.75 out of 10. This book is very much a turning point for some of our heroes after almost a year of Nihil rule, and as one of the first books of Phase 3 of The High Republic it does a great job of introducing the new status quo as well as mixing things up for the story to take new and exciting turns as it heads towards its conclusion.
