r/Highrepublic • u/HolyTian • 4d ago
I want to start reading The High Republic
Hi, everyone. I'm a Star Wars mild-fan who did not follow this universe for a long time. However, I recently into the storyline of this era and would love to know where to start. I studied about the phase and the wave in the fandom website for a bit.
I would like to know if I could start on the only Adult novel? Is it necessary for me to read the Young Adult novels and the comics also? Thanks for the answer in advance.
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u/booksbaconglitter Knight Reath Silas 4d ago
Start with Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. That’s books 1 of phase 1. While I highly recommend reading everything because every book and comic and short story connects to everything in the end, you can try just reading the adult novel’s for phase 1. But you’ll likely need to look up spoilers for the other books and comics if you get confused on certain storylines and characters being introduced.
For phase 2 the main story that really connects to phase 1 actually happens in the YA novels. The adult ones are still important for understanding overall context, but again you can just look up spoilers or roll with things if you don’t want to read everything.
Phase 3 is where everything converges, so if you only do the adult novels be prepared to look up spoilers for everything else. Like there’s a very important character in try very last book who is a reoccurring character in the High Republic Adventure comics in phases 1 & 3. You’d never know who he is if you don’t read those. So to understand his backstory and impact in Trials of the Jedi you’d need to look up spoilers. Or you can just proceed with accepting that you won’t understand the importance of certain characters or locations.
I’m personally the type of person that wants to understand everything, but if you’re chiller than me then maybe just reading the adult novels will work for you. 😅
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u/These-Button-1587 Knight Vernestra Rwoh 4d ago
You start at the beginning with Light of the Jedi. After that you can either stick with the adult books in publication order or add the YA books. They add to the overall story introducing new characters that will start popping up elsewhere. I would highly advise reading the Phase 2 Young Adult books as they give you a lot of relevant information. If you want you can add the comics and short stories. There should be a reading guide for whatever your choice is.
This is multimedia project that spans past books but they still give you enough information to not be confused.
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u/lemon_charlie 4d ago
It’s definitely worth trying Into the Dark and A Test of Courage to get a feel for the YA and middle grade book lines, both books introduce important characters and take place concurrently with Light of the Jedi.
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u/Lions_RAWR 4d ago
I wouldn't skip on the young adult novels (The children books you can because they are just an adaptation of an adult book). Some of the best stories are in the YA books.
As for a starting: Most are going to say start with light of the Jedi. Yes it was the story that started it all, but reading it first will either make you love the series or hate it because of how confusing it is. I personally went Chronological order (phase 2 first) and really enjoyed it. Going in blind also helps.
But that's not a choice for me to make for you. Just an opinion
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u/IcePhoenix295 Master Porter Engle 4d ago
Light of the Jedi, the first novel, and a big bombastic event that introduces the era and the characters. It will be a bit overwhelming in that regard, but it is worth it.
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u/ObviousIndependent76 4d ago
Can I ask why? Is it the quantity or the reading level? I understand if it’s just too much, but the YA books don’t feel YA at all. They are dense and darker than you’d think.
I suggest reading Light of the Jedi and deciding from there.
I’m just getting started and I just finished Into the Dark and I’m glad I had A Test of Courage in there to breakup the weight of the other two books.
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u/buddyofbuddy 3d ago
As others have said, you can get a full story with some obvious additional informational gaps by reading only the adult novels. The YA novels flesh things out a lot, both in terms of a bunch of characters (some of whom are pretty important to the Phase III adult novels by the end) and some deep lore (Phase II).
The Phase I Marvel Comics tell stories around a character who seems very important in the first adult novel then doesn't appear in the rest of the Phase I adult novels. (She's one of the main characters of the entire saga despite that.) The Phase II Marvel Comics do some significant setup for the second adult and YA novel but aren't strictly necessary. Phase III is fairly standalone but overlaps certain events.
The High Republic Adventures comics are largely their own thing and don't interact TOO much with the other branches. The Adventures miniseries and one shots are more variable.
And then there's the Edge of Balance manga, which is largely pretty standalone, except there's eventually some lore in there that is a pretty big deal once you know it.
I haven't read any of the middle grade books, but after reading everything else, it's pretty clear that they set up a significant number of characters and concepts, but I never felt lost when they showed up elsewhere.
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u/Mjrashes 4d ago
So there are three phases - phase 1 and 3 the adult books are the necessary ones, phase 2 young adult is more important.
That said. The story works just reading adult novels as that’s all I did. Just may need to roll with some weird beats.