by Ed Fortune
The Star Wars High Republic series is a mix of stories set many, many years before the original Skywalker Saga of movies and media. The Books, comics and games all take advantage of the ‘high fantasy, but with space ships’ pulp-vibe that the franchise evokes, as well freeing itself from a lot of overly detailed lore in the process.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Cataclysm is a heady mix of space opera, soap opera and over-the-top, black-and-white Star Wars weirdness. We get theatrical scenes, cinematic action, and a fair bit of romance. The story follows on from the events of the Battle of Jedha and concludes this phase of the High Republic series. This means that, at times, it feels very much like a series finale, with the author throwing as many character cameos as they can into the mix.
However, this just adds to the fun; this series has introduced us to the younger version of Yaddle, the mysterious alien from the prequel movies who is part of the same race as Grogu and Yoda. Author Lydia Kang has a lot of fun with this character, especially as, being a novel, they have an unlimited animation budget for the tiny alien.
This is primarily a war story, and if you’ve been following the series thus far, you may be able to predict the overall outcome of the ending. Unfortunately, not every Star Wars tale has a happy ending; violence, tragedy, and corruption have been the core themes of both the movies and The High Republic books. It’s a dense read, but in a compelling way.
Kang handles all this drama splendidly well, keeping the large and complicated plotlines relevant throughout. More than any of the other High Republic books, Cataclysm has us very excited for the forthcoming TV show, The Acolyte. If you have the time, dive into the entire High Republic range; it’s well worth the investment of time.
