Between Books - Star Wars: The HIgh Republic Beware the Nameless

I promise I am not trying to hate read the High Republic!

Star Wars: The High Republic Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova is a book for ages 8 to 12, which brings me to some questions about the architecture of the High Republic blueprint. These questions range from who is the intended audience and when and how you reveal important plot points.

Star Wars: The High Republic Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova is a straightforward mid-reader adventure tale. Padawan Ram Jomaram, who we’ve met before, is given the mission to capture some of the Nihil’s Nameless. It appears he has been successful enough in the past to get an important mission but not enough to be promoted to Knight. His mission team is a group of young padawans and the daughter of the senator. Boom, we get a switch-up and the youngsters of this group are separated from Ram and go on their own adventure where they meet a young inquisitive Hutt, fight the Nameless, and attempt to save survivors of a Nihil attack.

Overall, the story is meant for high elementary and middle school readers, and the action revolves around them in a story that has plenty of adventure targeted to that age range. So I won’t hate review this! I did leave the book wondering about what the kids are reading and the line between adolescent and adult. When I was in Middle School, I tended to read adventure stories, so I think Córdova’s story is mostly appropriate to the age range. But it also felt like it was right on the line as a tense and brutal story. We’ve seen the Nameless in adult-aged books kill Jedi and it is harsh. This harshness does return here, spoiler not everyone you meet will make it. So I did question if the level of violence was a good fit for the intended audience. But this is from someone who was this age before books like The Hunger Games with it’s fill of even more horrific violence. When I place it in that light, it does seem like something one would find for this reading group. I will say as an older reader, it felt more straightforward without twists and turns than the stories targeted for older readers.

Let’s focus on the book for just one more moment. I do think that one of the hardest things to do in the High Republic is introduce new characters. Córdova is really successful with the introduction of Churo the Hutt. Churo has a name every Disney fan will love. He also is a character that is one of the easiest aliens to imagine in your mind. He is highly likable and easy to cheer for, he has a lot of anxiety, more than a Hutt should have. Córdova in this story provides Churo a complete arc that tells a whole chapter of his life here, while also making us want to turn the page and see what the next chapter of his book is titled. For a project that overall has failed to make me like more than a character or two, it was refreshing to have one new entry stand out.

Yoda takes a seat and chats with the kids.

Let’s get away from the book for a second. I learned a lot about the Nameless in this book. I feel like there were aspects of what the Jedi know about the Nameless, the impacts of the Nameless attacks, and even how the Jedi see the Nameless that while hinted at in the adult High Republic books were clarified more strongly in this text. I found myself wondering if this text, outside of the main adult story line, was the place where readers should be looking for these clarifications. Are there going to be adults who never read this book due to the listed age range? Maybe Córdova hoped to give clarity to a youth reader, but I kept thinking shouldn’t Avar Kriss be discovering this? Even the fact there was a Nameless hunt felt like it should have been placed in the main story. And then the newest High Republic threat the Blight showed up, and I felt yet again I was getting more information than I got in the adult books where we watched heroes study the infection. Good on you Córdova, but the architects may have missed some of their strongest impact points.

Star Wars: The High Republic Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova is a fine youth adventure story. I think the younger you are the better you will enjoy it. Córdova does give us a young new hero that I think is easy for readers of all ages to understand and enjoy. But I did walk away with more questions about how the High Republic is designed and more clarity on the Nameless. 

 

This post contains affiliate links, which means that Between Disney receives a percentage of sales purchased through links on this site.