Star Wars The High Republic:
A Test of Courage
By Justina Ireland
Published by Disney Lucasfilm Press
For over a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.
– Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gen, retd.
A Test of Courage is the highly enjoyable second novel in the Star Wars: High Republic series. Penned by Justina Ireland, Courage is geared towards Young Adult readers and occurs prior to the concluding evens of Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi, the first release in the High Republic series.
Out of the gate, I was taken by Ireland’s well-defined characters. Vernestra, or Vern, a newly christened Jedi Knight, assigned to escort Avon, an independent, too smart for her own good daughter of a Senator, to the dedication of Starlight Beacon, a setting you’ll be hearing a lot about in association with the series, via luxury transport. Vern is highly gifted, earning her Jedi Knighthood faster than most Padawans. This sets up a natural conflict with the older and less confident Padawan Imri, along for the ride with his master teacher.
Rounding out the main characters are Honesty, micro-managed son of an important ambassador and J-6, Avon’s nagging reprogramed protocol droid.
In fact, the characters are so well-defined that I felt somewhat let down when their situation turns dire and the stakes couldn’t be greater. There’s a fine line young adult fiction authors must ride; finding that appropriate level of drama/darkness verses adolescent optimism. Go too far in either direction and risk losing the reader. Here that line is ridden a little too well.
However, I must stress that I enthusiastically enjoyed this novel from start to finish.
The story really gets going when our heroes luxury transport is destroyed via an act of sabotage with Vern, Imri, Avon, Honesty and J-6 being the sole survivors, escaping in a cramped maintenance pod. Imri’s Master Douglas and Honesty’s father perish with the transport. This is the afore mentioned dire situation. Each character brings a unique perspective to the table, as they should, and while smartly written, the character interactions come off a little too “kumbaya” for my taste with characters pulling their punches.
At first.
After finding a moon that barely provides safety, the brewing conflict between Vern and Imri builds exceedingly well towards a very satisfying climax. The conductors of the sabotage and villains of this story are of course the Nihil, another name you’ll be hearing often when exploring The High Republic series.
A Test of Courage is straight forward, efficient and accessible. You definitely don’t need to be well versed in Star Wars lore to enjoy, nor do you need to read Light of the Jedi first. In fact, I myself read Light of the Jedi after A Test of Courage. The theme of taking responsibility for your actions while enduring the growing pains of adolescence help make the characters resonate in the unique way that only Science Fiction allows.
Most importantly though, The High Republic series takes on an unenviable task: humanizing Jedi. Mythic figures that embody an idealistic spirit we all wish to radiate. Making them relatable, in other words flawed, while speaking to that notion inside of all of us; that we’re capable of the greatness that’s built into our DNA as human beings.
A Test of Courage accomplishes this unenviable task and sets a high standard for all volumes of Star Wars: The High Republic volumes that follow.
