SPECULATION The High Republic

I have heard of this book. Is that the first extended universe novel?

 

I believe so. It first came out between ANH and TESB was originally written as a possible low budget sequel if Star Wars didn't do well at the box office.

 

Yep! What @ChrisLyne said. But it was largely retconned by later EU stories. It's by Alan Dean Fostrer, who also wrote the Star Wars novelization (albeit under Lucas's name). Splinter is notable as the first appearance of the kaiburr crystal (now kyber crystal in canon). It also features some . . . awkward bits between Luke and Leia, given upcoming revelations.

But I do love the pulpy spirit of those old novels from before the EU was really established. I hope a bit of that ends up in the High Republic. That's what the Light of the Jedi art suggests to me.

 

Ok ok! Back on topic. I believe small craft with hyperdrives goes back to at least Kotor times in Legends.

 

The website administers should rename this section “The High Republic,” as it is apparent the “Project Luminous” heading was just a temporary place-holder.

 

I have used the recent TV hiatus to boost my book game, much of which I've tackled Star Wars, primarily The High Republic, so I'm dusting off some old threads here and hopefully reuniting some discussions... These are just some random standouts throughout this thread that I found fun and worthy of comment. C'mon book nerds, let's do this.

This is a very real sentiment that I feel relates to SW, especially with what we now know the future holds with Dawn of the Jedi. For the most part, you are absolutely correct. Americans have a very stunted understanding of time in the context of history, and they take it for granted. I was very lucky to be able to travel in my youth, and still it wasn't until my early 20s that I fully grasped the difference. I was sitting in a pub that had been a pub 1000 years ago. I had also been to Plymouth Rock and St. Augustine, which are considered "ancient" American settlements.

This all comes around to perception of time, and it is really mind-bending to try and perceive a time 500 years in the past, much less 25,000 years.

^This. I am very glad they have left THR stories, so far, just loosely tied to the Skywalker Saga.

Probably one of the biggest challenges for this initiative, and in my opinion, it was handled beautifully. Of course, this was posted before it was known to be a strictly publishing initiative, but even with the comics, the aesthetic worked.

In hindsight, if this was the objective, I would say it is a big success. History is being told, and not just Jedi history. That broad scope has been my biggest "like" of the books. I was all-in for an "all Jedi, nothing but the Jedi" series, but it has really painted the Galaxy's history with a wide brush.

And I think the lack of such merch shows that LFL is playing the long game with this Era. It's a pretty good strategy. The High Republic presence in Jedi: Survivor was the nudge I needed to pick up the books I had, read them and get the others. Young Jedi Adventures is a nice soft intro, and I believe The Acolyte could be a major push to the books as well.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Again, excellent point here, and to expand on my first comment above, I think the timeline of THR is a great use of "training wheels" for future exploration of Dawn of the Jedi and Old Republic timelines.

In our world, yes. In SW, this all goes back to the I initial shock around the ships we were introduced to in TPM appearing to be more advanced than ships later in the timeline. They came from a time with more emphasis on style than function. That makes sense. We have to suspend our concepts of time in relation to technology in the GFFA.

Nailed it.
The exploration (pun intended) of hyperspace exploration and navigation is one of the coolest parts of phase one. Once I realized this was going to be a focus, my first thoughts were, "oh crap, this is gonna go way deep into the Dork Forest." And in all honesty, it does, but I was enthralled. They took what could have been incredibly tedious and boring details and made them easy to understand and important to the story.

 

I'd agree. The High Republic still has a lot of room to establish itself in Star Wars (especially for casual fans), but stuff like Jedi Survivor show that it can have its own identity and icons within the series that serve to feel established, unique, yet familiar.