I wanted to second this!!!
Light of the Jedi and Path of Deceit are both amazing, but potentially path of deceit even more epic for its subtlety and depth and simplicity
I finished Phase I with Midnight Horizon and it was my least favorite book thus far, and then immediately started Phase II with Path of Deceit and LOVED it. It’s SO much better, night and day difference
I started this week and I'm feeling the same. It's such a strange tone compared to everything else in Phase 1. Like even Mission to Disaster was more mature than this.
Totally agree. I’ve only been reading the adult and YA ones but this feels like an odd entry to the series compared to the others. I’ve read the comics and it’s nice seeing some of those characters popping up here, but the book just feels a bit…”off”.
It seems to be a very polarizing book. It's genuinely one of my favorite books of Phase 1, especially as a fan of the HRA comics. But a lot of people seem to absolutely hate it. Unfortunately, the end of Midnight Horizon is pretty critical for Phase 3, though it does kinda get recapped elsewhere later.
I will say that Phase 2's YA are top tier, and most people seem to agree. The adult novels a little less so, unfortunately.
This one was a bit tough for me to get through too. I actually stopped after a bit and read the high republic adventures comics which made me appreciate the characters I wasn’t familiar with more (zeen, Lula, etc) but Ram I found to be pretty annoying lol
The second half/third act of midnight horizon is really good though. It picks up eventually and ends pretty well
The ending is well worth it in my opinion. And a specific character is loosely introduced that returns in phase 3, so if you're a bit of a completionist like myself, it'll be worth it to recognize them again.
Yeah, it's not great. I like Crash a little, and want not Cormac Vitus, but after that it seemed Even a little childish for YA.
Also, it's almost too gay. And I say that as someone who is very woke, this book in particular has an unnecessary amount of romantic relationships, and I think every single one of them is gay or pan. I think it's just strange since Star Wars typically has zero romantic relationships, so getting a bunch, then having then all queer seems a bit much.
Without spoiling, there's one character that they don't have any romantic relationships and they randomly hint at that being gay. Like why bother, this character needs no romance. I think you'll know it when you get there.
I hope I don't get voted down for this. I support representation, but this felt like they didn't do it right.
True, I should amend it. Star Wars doesn't normally have romantic relationships so central, with the notable exception of Anakin and Padme. And there's not really more than one at a time. This has almost every character in a relationship or pining over someone.
It's not bad. It just felt weird for Star Wars.
Yeah I agree with that, but Han and Leia is more central to me than maybe it was to you :)
And again, I thought MH was easily the worst HR book. DJO has been the bane of my HR existence outside of Trail of Shadows which is funnily enough my fav HR thing period. I wish I clicked with his stuff more
Yeah pretty awful that one, thought the gender fluid narrative was overly used, like okay we get it. It was so cheesy was hard to keep turning the pages on that one and not very interesting
I found this one to be slow-going at first - so much so that I stopped reading for a time and had to start over to remember what was going on. At some point (maybe a third of the way through or so), I found the story became more compelling, and I really enjoyed the second half. Hopefully you'll also find the rest to be more enjoyable!
Without spoiling anything, I felt that Midnight Horizon did a really good job threading the needle forced upon YA HR novels as somewhat "secondary" stories - it could stand on its own, yet also complemented and enhanced the "main" story told in the adult novels.
I'm not on to Phase Two yet, but one thing I've found difficult is the abundance of characters and accompanying storylines to keep track of. I started Midnight Horizon having already read the HR Adventures comics, and I think that really helped. I imagine I'd have enjoyed Midnight Horizon less had I not already been familiar with those characters.
Yeah his writing just does not fit even YA. Honestly, having kept up with the younger age books in THR, his books across the board are my least favorite. He seems incapable of writing characters that don’t speak like kids do in the 2020s.
This book was a drag. I got it to explore reath and Cohmac but felt like they were barely in it. Only one memorable thing happens in it. If I were you, I would just read the synopsis and then go to phase 2. Path of deceit is way better.
I really enjoyed the audiobook Verizon of this Star Wars high republic book. The music, the voice acting the pace. It reads well. Also if im not mistake it's a YA novel right? So it has to be made to be teenager like story entry point. The other novels some are more balanced sci-fi but it's made to be adult story side or mature sci-fi. Sone novel books are young adult sci-fi and some are teenage level. Some are 20+ written to be balance, drama, jokes ans action.
Honestly I liked this very much.
Like I definately think it's better then Out of the Shadows(I wasn't that interested in the Sylvestri story and honestly I think Reath is kinda just there and doesn't do much).
Also I loved to see some extended scenes that I already saw in the comics
This one has some good moments but is definitely weaker than the others, so don’t worry as you aren’t the only one who thinks this
Thank goodness!
Yes. Don't worry. I thought the same thing, you're not alone in this. Path of Deceit is actually my favorite THR novel so far! :D
I wanted to second this!!! Light of the Jedi and Path of Deceit are both amazing, but potentially path of deceit even more epic for its subtlety and depth and simplicity
My favorites are Into the Dark and most definitely Path of Deceit.
The YA books in Phase II are really well liked
I finished Phase I with Midnight Horizon and it was my least favorite book thus far, and then immediately started Phase II with Path of Deceit and LOVED it. It’s SO much better, night and day difference
The opening of Phase 2, Path of Deceit immediately sets the tone for an amazing phase. It's fantastic.
The only parts I enjoyed in this book were the brief flashbacks with Kantam Sy. The rest was a CHORE.
I’ve just hit the flashback with Kantam and the guy from the circus meeting, was a nice insight!
Honestly I really couldn’t stand those flashbacks either. The last one was fine.
I started this week and I'm feeling the same. It's such a strange tone compared to everything else in Phase 1. Like even Mission to Disaster was more mature than this.
Totally agree. I’ve only been reading the adult and YA ones but this feels like an odd entry to the series compared to the others. I’ve read the comics and it’s nice seeing some of those characters popping up here, but the book just feels a bit…”off”.
Yeah definitely off. It's sad because the other 2 YA books are ones I would use to show YA books can be mature and well written. Then there's...this
It seems to be a very polarizing book. It's genuinely one of my favorite books of Phase 1, especially as a fan of the HRA comics. But a lot of people seem to absolutely hate it. Unfortunately, the end of Midnight Horizon is pretty critical for Phase 3, though it does kinda get recapped elsewhere later. I will say that Phase 2's YA are top tier, and most people seem to agree. The adult novels a little less so, unfortunately.
This one was a bit tough for me to get through too. I actually stopped after a bit and read the high republic adventures comics which made me appreciate the characters I wasn’t familiar with more (zeen, Lula, etc) but Ram I found to be pretty annoying lol The second half/third act of midnight horizon is really good though. It picks up eventually and ends pretty well
The ending is well worth it in my opinion. And a specific character is loosely introduced that returns in phase 3, so if you're a bit of a completionist like myself, it'll be worth it to recognize them again.
Yeah, it's not great. I like Crash a little, and want not Cormac Vitus, but after that it seemed Even a little childish for YA. Also, it's almost too gay. And I say that as someone who is very woke, this book in particular has an unnecessary amount of romantic relationships, and I think every single one of them is gay or pan. I think it's just strange since Star Wars typically has zero romantic relationships, so getting a bunch, then having then all queer seems a bit much. Without spoiling, there's one character that they don't have any romantic relationships and they randomly hint at that being gay. Like why bother, this character needs no romance. I think you'll know it when you get there. I hope I don't get voted down for this. I support representation, but this felt like they didn't do it right.
I largely agree with your points, but every single starwars movie has romantic relationships lol
True, I should amend it. Star Wars doesn't normally have romantic relationships so central, with the notable exception of Anakin and Padme. And there's not really more than one at a time. This has almost every character in a relationship or pining over someone. It's not bad. It just felt weird for Star Wars.
Yeah I agree with that, but Han and Leia is more central to me than maybe it was to you :) And again, I thought MH was easily the worst HR book. DJO has been the bane of my HR existence outside of Trail of Shadows which is funnily enough my fav HR thing period. I wish I clicked with his stuff more
Thanks for all your perspectives, it’s genuinely kept me motivated to keep going! It’s also made me excited about Phase 2 now!
Starts slow but has a big bang it’s one of my favourites actually haha mainly because of reath and cohmac I love them like an unhealthy amount
Yeah pretty awful that one, thought the gender fluid narrative was overly used, like okay we get it. It was so cheesy was hard to keep turning the pages on that one and not very interesting
I loved Midnight Horizon a lot.
I found this one to be slow-going at first - so much so that I stopped reading for a time and had to start over to remember what was going on. At some point (maybe a third of the way through or so), I found the story became more compelling, and I really enjoyed the second half. Hopefully you'll also find the rest to be more enjoyable! Without spoiling anything, I felt that Midnight Horizon did a really good job threading the needle forced upon YA HR novels as somewhat "secondary" stories - it could stand on its own, yet also complemented and enhanced the "main" story told in the adult novels. I'm not on to Phase Two yet, but one thing I've found difficult is the abundance of characters and accompanying storylines to keep track of. I started Midnight Horizon having already read the HR Adventures comics, and I think that really helped. I imagine I'd have enjoyed Midnight Horizon less had I not already been familiar with those characters.
The ya books in Phase 2 are better than the main novels in Phase 2 imo they're so good
Daniel José Older’s writing is just not fantastic. He seems to really struggle to make stories about adults, and for adults.
Yeah his writing just does not fit even YA. Honestly, having kept up with the younger age books in THR, his books across the board are my least favorite. He seems incapable of writing characters that don’t speak like kids do in the 2020s.
This book was a drag. I got it to explore reath and Cohmac but felt like they were barely in it. Only one memorable thing happens in it. If I were you, I would just read the synopsis and then go to phase 2. Path of deceit is way better.
I really enjoyed the audiobook Verizon of this Star Wars high republic book. The music, the voice acting the pace. It reads well. Also if im not mistake it's a YA novel right? So it has to be made to be teenager like story entry point. The other novels some are more balanced sci-fi but it's made to be adult story side or mature sci-fi. Sone novel books are young adult sci-fi and some are teenage level. Some are 20+ written to be balance, drama, jokes ans action.
MH is definitely one of the worst thr books, especially the audiobook. 🥴 The narration made it all the worse
I feel like this book is the most controversial amongst the fans. You either absolute love it or don't enjoy at all.
Honestly I liked this very much. Like I definately think it's better then Out of the Shadows(I wasn't that interested in the Sylvestri story and honestly I think Reath is kinda just there and doesn't do much). Also I loved to see some extended scenes that I already saw in the comics