Book Review | Star Wars: The High Republic 'Convergence'

“Star Wars: The High Republic Convergence’s clunky plot and mediocre reveal cause it to miss the mark,” says Melissa Villy in her review

Set around 150 years before Light of the Jedi, Star Wars: The High Republic Convergence follows Jedi Knight Gella Nattai on a mission to Eiram and E’ronoh. Eiram and E’ronoh are locked in a never-ending war. And when Princess Xiri of E’ronoh crash lands on Eiram and is rescued by Prince Phan-Tu, it seems peace might finally be on the table. The young royals are willing to sit and listen to the Jedi and Republic officials. But their parents and their advisors are too entrenched in the war to see reason. When Xiri and Phan-Tu decide to marry to unite their people, things go from bad to worse as assassination attempts and bodies begin to pile up. If Gella, Xiri, Phan-Tu, and their companion Axel can’t assuage the people’s fears and cool the growing unrest the war may never end.

CONVERGENCE

So I’ve been sitting on this one a bit trying to gather my thoughts. It sounded like it was going to be a better story than it was. The opening battle was great, and the ending action was great, but the middle? it lagged. It was clunky, and the mystery of who was doing this and why was poorly done. The book opens by introducing the saboteur, and while I initially assumed they were of some political faction on world, it wasn’t long before we learn she is a member of the Path of the Open Hand. So there really wasn’t any mystery to uncover. Just a lot of “when are they going to figure it out!” internal yelling at the book. Not to mention, why does the Path care what happens on these worlds?

While I did like the characters, they were each distinct with their own motivations and voices, which Max went into more in his review. However, Axel’s betrayal near the end was so out of left field that it didn’t make any sense. Yes, he says he doesn’t like the Jedi, but we had no indication of him doing anything nefarious or suspicious at all. Nothing to make us question him. Then after the reveal, it was filled in via his droid’s recordings. It just didn’t work for me.

His character had no motivation for it. Why does he work for the Mother and the Path of the Open Hand? He states it’s not about believing in the Force for him etc. So why? Because she taught him to dwell on his grief and not move on? I’m just not buying it. At least he ended up betraying the Path too by destroying the so-called “poison” instead of handing it over.

VENOMOUS WORDS

Then there’s the whole thing where the characters continually and repeatedly called the scorpions on Eiram poisonous and not venomous. Folks, if it’s injected via a sting or fangs, it’s venom. If it’s absorbed through the skin via touch or through ingesting via food or gas, it’s poisonous. The scorpion’s venom was called poison so many times I began to realize it wasn’t a one-off error. On top of that, venom is used to make a “poison” that must be injected to work. An attempt to aerosolize it was made but failed. Because it’s venom, and venom only works when injected.

The “poison” would be closer to a serum due to the properties described. Phan-tu grew up around these scorpions, he would know the difference. Also, do they not have anti-venom for when someone gets stung? Seems counterproductive for the lab creating the serum to not have it on hand for accidents. While it is a mistake a lot of people make, it should have been caught in editing.

My brain auto-corrected it the first couple of times. Then it began to get increasingly annoying and frustrating. Because it’s misleading and the wrong choice of words can really change the meaning. If they wanted to make poison gas, fine, but use something else in Eiram’s environment like a plant with pollen that when inhaled causes a reaction. That would be poison.

POSITIVES

As for delving into the history of cultures of these two worlds, it was the only thing I really liked. It painted a great picture of a rich ocean world and its polar opposite. A harsh and unforgiving desert landscape. Of two peoples who are basically fighting each other on principle at this point and those that can’t let things go. Of allowing grudges to simmer and burn beneath the surface until they boil over and create extremism.

You could see how these two planets evolved from what we see here, to the tentative allies still at odds during the Eiram-E’ronoh crisis that a young Oral Jareni and Cohmac Vitus. We can even see the lasting impression of Xiri stating they need to invest in the future of their people through the desalination plants that exist in the later High Republic books. And the way people come together during a crisis.

VERDICT

But in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure how this will fit into the overall plot and how the Path of the Open Hand clearly becomes the Nihil. And I can’t see where this is going from here either with Catalyst. Overall, it wasn’t as good as Phase 1. I give this one only three stars for its faulty, clunky plot and mediocre betrayal storyline.

Star Wars: The High Republic Convergence is published by Penguin Random House and is available to buy now!