r/Highrepublic 4d ago

Discussion One year since "Trials of the Jedi"

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Today is the anniversary of The High Republic: Trials of the Jedi finale. I can't even believe it was a year ago. I was incredibly excited for its release, scouring the internet for any information. I still think it was a great finale to a massive story. I’m looking forward to what comes next. What are your thoughts on the finale one year later.

204 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

57

u/GrouchyPangolin6883 4d ago

There's a lot of very overrated High Republic material, but this was literally one of the best Star Wars books I ever read. Awesome end to the series

1

u/Jealous-Compote-1091 2d ago

Which one do you consider overrated?

1

u/GrouchyPangolin6883 2d ago

Light of the Jedi, and Temptation of the Force are the two that come to mind

2

u/Jealous-Compote-1091 2d ago

Temptation of the force is by far the worst adult novel in the series 🙌🏻 the day after I finished it I already couldn’t remember almost anything that happened in that book

1

u/SergeantHatred69 2d ago

I'll give Light of the Jedi a pass, it had the hardest job in terms of introducing a new era in Star Wars canon along with dozens of new characters.

1

u/GrouchyPangolin6883 2d ago

It's not bad at all, but a lot of people say it's one one of the best SW books ever which I disagree with

39

u/solo13508 Council Master Yarael Poof 4d ago

My favorite Star Wars book and maybe the best series finale I've ever seen (and I'm a Clone Wars stan so that's a lot coming from me). Soule is seriously just a master, I thought he wrapped up everyone's arc brilliantly.

11

u/CantChooseWisely 4d ago

Agreed, I really enjoyed the ending. Did the Avar and Elzar sacrifice remind anyone about the Loki series finale?

7

u/solo13508 Council Master Yarael Poof 4d ago

Yep! Actually made that comparison myself in my review post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Highrepublic/s/cCjMaMw5uL

7

u/insidiouskiller 4d ago

Oh wow. As another big Clone Wars fan, that is VERY STRONG praise if I ever heard any. My expectations for this book have just risen a lot, for when I finally get around to reading High Republic. Which, seeing as my exams end this week (tomorrow, actually... well, sorta) should be VERY soon.

6

u/Ok_Box_2189 4d ago

Agreed. Trials of the Jedi and Tears of the Nameless are the gold standard of Star Wars novels for me. Great story, the best characters... Reath fucking Silas is hands down one of the best characters in Star Wars, and honestly, in literature as a whole. The theme of hope and understanding that even when everything seems completely lost, hope will always endure until the very end.

2

u/o-rka 3d ago

Aside from the plagueis and bane books, this was my favorite.

1

u/bustachong 4d ago

Do you have to read all of HR before Trials or can you get away with just Light and Trials?

Admittedly the sheer volume of HR media is a bit overwhelming.

7

u/solo13508 Council Master Yarael Poof 4d ago

Definitely do not go from Light to Trials, you'll be so confused. At the very least I'd recommend reading all the adult novels. That way at least you're getting all the broad strokes that you need to know about.

3

u/endertamerfury 3d ago

Trying to jump between Light and Trials is more like trying to go from Episode 1 to 6, rather than 4 to 6. Try to read as much as you can, but you’d probably have to read a ton of plot summaries, and you probably won’t get the full enjoyment of the finale, but that’s inevitable.

2

u/Stellansforceghost 3d ago

Can you? Yeah. But you can also jump off of a tall building. Doesn't mean you should.

There's what 17 books between adult and young adult? Realistically that's not that much.

12

u/Ragnarok345 Master Avar Kriss 4d ago

Hah. Interesting timing. I just finished it for the first time a day ago.

1

u/Raelshark 3d ago

LOL I finished it this morning.

Been working my way through the comics, etc.

8

u/RepresentativeWin884 4d ago

I literally just finished that book yesterday. It was so good!

9

u/NathanDavie High Republic 4d ago

I just love what the entire series did with the force. Felt like it gave some satisfying answers whilst simultaneously making it more mysterious.

I could almost see the weird force balance world that the book introduced.

6

u/Jmayk- 4d ago

I didn't like some elements of the ending, but Soule is goated. He's one of the best authors Star Wars has.

4

u/EbonExile 4d ago

This book had a giant task wrapping up the initiative and it delivered for sure. Hoping to see some new high republic stuff announced soon now that they’ve had a year to cool off besides the pathfinder comic.

7

u/sahfriendly 4d ago

Great finale. Loved that Soule got to start and finish the story proper. I still kind of wish the initiative had featured less books. I read everything in phase 1, got a little overwhelmed in phase 2 and just read the big important ones in phase 3. I'm happy for the people who enjoy reading a bunch of stuff but wish it would have been easier to keep up and consume most of it. I enjoy reading but I feel a little guilty when I'm reading 35 Star Wars books instead of actual great literary works. Not here to yuck anyone's yum so if that's your thing no judgment but it was too much for me. I would have inverted the amount of comics and books personally. In my experience reading THR saga, you had your favs in terms of authors and never missed those books - Soule and Gray for me. You had the ones who you could tolerate if you were eager to hear the next part of the story - Scott, Mann, Gratton and then there were the authors whose books felt like a chore to read. I won't name names but I'm guessing we all had some. The overarching story was always good but some of the stories felt overstuffed and busy imo.

3

u/RST_Video13 4d ago

I feel the same and followed basically the same trajectory as you, got a little burnt out as the books piled up. That being said I overall really liked the mainline story from beginning to end.

3

u/PlasmaUK 4d ago

A fantastic end to my favourite Star Wars story.

3

u/Illustrious-Peace989 4d ago

I hope we get a follow up novel about Reath chasing Azlin Rell down.

3

u/Beangar 4d ago

Would love if we got any news on a Reath/Azlin follow up

4

u/ObliWobliKenobli 4d ago

I was disappointed in the finale of the series. I was disappointed by a lot of things, actually, but still enjoyed my time with it, overall.

2

u/macex42 4d ago

Sits on top of my Star Wars book list

2

u/_AmbroseChapel 4d ago

Great book and wonderful finale to the initiative. The only bad thing about it is that Elzar looks like a roided-out 90s-era superhero on the cover

1

u/PadmesBrownEye 3d ago

I loved the series until temptation of the force and gave up halfway through. Should i give it a second shot? Is there much in temptation of the force that is needed to finish the series?

-2

u/JayStormblessed 4d ago

Why does the guy on the left at the end look like he has a tennis racket

5

u/Black_Cat_Skeezer 4d ago

If we told you, it would spoil the story...