Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: THE EYE OF DARKNESS (Spoilers)

It's the... Eye of the Nihil it's the thrill of the fight! Here's the review thread for The Eye of Darkness by George Mann. 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, or else Marchion might show up to your door and blast hard rock at you.

 

Finished this tonight. It was a top-tier Star Wars book, and in terms of High Republic adult novels rivaled and potentially even surpassed Light of the Jedi as my favorite. It had a darker tone overall than Light of the Jedi, which is perhaps fitting in a book titled The Eye of Darkness.

The perspectives behind the Stormwall in the Occlusion Zone were some of my favorite in the novel. In particular, Porter Engle truly shone here, and I became very attached to him. For his plot, there were also some relevant connections to the technology of the Phase II era and to characters introduced in that era. I would also definitely recommend checking out his comic series because I think his backstory there adds extra emotional weight to his plot line in this book. Avar's development also worked well as she rescued with her feelings of failure and to eventually find hope and friendship again. It was super rewarding to see her reunited with Elzar and many of her fellow Jedi at the Temple at the end of the novel.

I also liked the further development and exploration of politics both on Corcuscant and in the Occlusion Zone with the Nihl. With the Nihl in particular it is interesting to see the division in the ranks between those who would embody chaos and brute force (basically anarchy combined with a survival of the strongest mindset) and those like Ghirra who want to institute more of an organized government in Nihl space to try to forestall future revolts among the peoples and planets behind the Stormwall. I think it is just this sort of divided factions and potential uprisings among the populations trapped behind the Stormwall that could lead to the Nihl's downfall as characters as diverse as Yoda, Lina Soh, and Ghirra Starros seem to predict at various points in this novel. The Nihl are dangerous because they can operate like terrorists and saboteurs, but ultimately they cannot establish a credible form of government and order, and that is their undoing once they try to rule over the worlds behind the Stormwall.

The Nameless are also pretty essential to imbuing the early chapters of the book with an aura of menace, though their presence fades into the background as the novel progresses. Though I think we will see them grow in prominence as Phase III continues.

I enjoyed seeing the friendship between Bell and Burryaga, and Bell has gone through so much as a character since Light of the Jedi. It is pretty incredible to think about. The High Republic has given us some amazing character arcs, and we aren't finished with Phase III yet. Also, Ember remains adorable and awesome, and I want a stuffed animal of her so much.

Marchion Ro might also work the best for me as a villain in this book. He really feels like a worthy adversary of the Jedi and the Republic here and has some great lines of dialogue that pack a punch.

I really couldn't recommend this book more highly to fellow Star Wars and High Republic fans.

10 out of 10.

 

So you’ve brought the Republic to its knees and cordoned off a giant area of space all to yourself- what are you going to do next? This is the million credit question Marchion Ro finds himself faced with, as his conflict with the Republic and the Jedi evolves far beyond its humble beginnings.

We don’t actually get a ton of Ro’s perspective in this book. We’re back to following the Jedi of this era, mostly focusing on Elzar Mann but also a bunch on Bell Zettifar and Avar Kriss. Elzar’s world has shattered since the fall of Starlight and Avar remaining behind enemy lines, and to say he’s not handling it well would be an understatement. It’s been a year since the attack and he’s basically a stand-in for the entire order, with a mounting sense of failure and frustration as the Nihil remain in control of the Occlusion Zone and nothing the Republic does seems to help. He’s also still shaken by the loss of Stellan, and just feeling totally inadequate living up to his image. This leads Elzar to make impulsive decisions trying to act as he thinks Stellan would, only for those decisions to result in even more loss, as exemplified by his failed assault on the Stormwall and the loss of several cruisers. Bell at least is trying to focus on minimizing the damage the Nihil are sowing and not much else; he has hope things will improve, but he’s still young and still needs a strong leader to guide him, whether its Elzar or the erstwhile Avar. Speaking of whom, she’s fighting her own battle within the Occlusion Zone both trying to help Republic citizens in need and trying to find a way back to the greater galaxy. Her’s is the more fun story, especially when she joins up with a hardy Ugnaught pilot who becomes a major asset to her on her quest to return to Republic space. We also get a lot of good Lina Soh content in the Elzar sections, really showing off how down-to-earth she is and how while her losses have humbled her, she’s not afraid to stand up against the chaos of the Nihil.

We do get some villain love. Ghirra Starros is fighting a losing battle of trying to have the best of two worlds, enjoying the freedom to do whatever the hell she wants as a Nihil, and remaining a respected leader on the galactic stage. Ro is anything but manageable, so his long-term goals of devastating the Republic and destroying the Jedi are incompatible with Ghirra’s plans, which leaves her with the choice of accepting that and joining in on the carnage, or getting the hell out of Dodge. We also follow General Viess a little, and see her continued conflict with eternal badass Jedi Porter Engle. She might be more battle-savvy than most, but she still perfectly fits the mold of the Nihil with her desire to bring others down so she can gain more and more power.

As the first book of Phase 3 of THR this does a great job of catching up with the main players and setting the stage for things to come. There’s plenty of introspection from the Jedi lamenting the sorry state of the galaxy, there’s a little fresh horror from the Nihil in the form of a Nameless-based holonet execution, and there’s a bit of action as Avar enacts a daring/insane plan to breach the Stormwall. Plenty to make this yet another fun entry in the High Republic series. George Mann does really well getting into the mindsets of the various Jedi involved. Where Elzar’s thoughts are a swirling mess of inadequacy, Avar’s are just filled with frustration that she doesn’t have the resources to be even more helpful to those in need. And then there’s Porter who has more of a “been there done that” attitude about everything, but he’s also well aware of his limits and keeps those in mind in his own endeavors.

I give The Eye of Darkness a 9.2 out of 10 for a great fresh start to the final phase of this epic series.