Review: Star Wars: Quest for Planet X Is Another Bold High Republic Adventure

While most High Republic fans are reading Cataclysm right now, some may be ready to turn their attention to the other releases this wave of novels offers. As we barrel towards the end of this current phase, Tessa Gratton's Quest for Planet X also hit stores this week, and it might just be the boldest middle-grade novel the High Republic publishing initiative has put out to date.



For a target audience of younglings, these books haven't held back. A Test of Courage dealt heavily with themes of loss and giving in to your darker nature, while Mission to Disaster introduces them to planetary politics and attempted planetary destruction. Meanwhile, Race to Crashpoint Tower and Quest for the Hidden City took the horror route, which is always solid kids' fare.



Quest for Planet X doesn't change the formula. This is Gratton's second venture in the High Republic after her work on Path of Deceit. While some of the plotting isn't as thoroughly vetted and might be a bit convoluted this go around, Gratton still manages to deliver a story full of heart, adventure, and lore in unexpected places.



If you haven't read Cataclysm yet, don't worry about spoilers as I haven't finished it either. The titular Planet X will be the subject of my high praise at some point in this review, so here is your spoiler warning for that.







Quest for Planet X picks up the story of Padawan Rooper Nitani and aspiring hyperspace prospector Dass Leffbruk on Batuu, following their adventures on Gloam in George Mann's Quest for the Hidden City.



On the 'Galaxy's Edge,' we meet Sky Graf, who recruits them into charting a hyperspace route to the infamous, mysterious, and, as far as the galaxy's leading prospector families, the Grafs and San Tekkas are concerned, non-existent Planet X. However, it's not so non-existent to Dass who found a way there with his father, Spence, along with a certain Sunshine Dobbs. Later on though, the father and son were left stranded and left for dead on Gloam on their way back after making the discovery. I am forever thankful for junior novels and their requirement to remind you of every little detail - it's helpful for people like me who forget facts like that from books I don't really vibe with.







For Sky, finding the planet is a chance to find their father. For Dass, it's the opportunity to reclaim the ship he and his father lost during that cursed mission with Dobbs and give his father a smile in his old age. For Rooper, it is a chance for answers. The Battle of Jedha has come and gone, but she has not heard from her master Silandra Sho since. We know she is elsewhere investigating the Path of the Open Hand and reports of their monstrous creatures, but poor Rooper hasn't heard much of a peep.



Without any clue if the one she counts on most is even alive, Rooper is left to honor the kind of Jedi Silandra was and help people in need. Much like The Battle of Jedha was an awakening for the character of Silandra Sho, Quest for Planet X is the true coming-of-age story for Rooper, and it's a joy seeing her grow in her journey as a Jedi. I don't know how some of these phase 2 characters could return in the future, but hopefully there's an avenue. There's still so much tale to be told for many of these people we just met six months ago, and this Padawan rose several spots in my power rankings.







This phase of High Republic storytelling promised readers a glimpse into how the Star Wars galaxy as we know it came to be. I've found that specific element lacking so far, but Quest for Planet X more than makes up for it. Hyperspace isn't a primitive technology, but it doesn't connect the galaxy yet. The Graf and San Tekka families decide to speed this process up with a race to chart as many new hyperspace lanes as possible, with an inherent prize of influencing those sectors. The limits? None. Shoot each other out of the sky for all the heads of the Graf and San Tekkas care. Just don't start a galactic war. It was the wild west out there, man.



Sky Graf uses this race as a ploy to get a head start to Planet X. Things start okay, despite Sky's brother not liking him too much, but things soon get hairy when the team runs into Fel Ix, a member of the Path of the Open Hand. Fel Ix was introduced briefly in Path of Deceit, but he gets more growth here and possibly even steals the book. Fel Ix is that guy who takes his family to a religious gathering on the given day of the week and then goes about his week like nothing happened. He'll fight for the Path, but it does not define his life over his family. He has ulterior motives to be revealed, but how he bounces off Rooper works well to make him different from his peers.



The group of three eventually becomes a group of four, and off they go to Planet X. Or do they? This is where I offer my final spoiler warning for this book's inclusion of the fabled Planet X. Gaze at a picture of it from Charles Soule's Eye of the Storm #2 if you need a reminder of what it is...



The Nihil arrive on Planet X in Charles Soule's The High Republic: Eye of the Storm #2



...because that's all you get. Unless my covid-addled brain missed it while dipping in and out of sleep, the planet remains a mystery to the Republic and the Jedi. The possible homeworld of the Nameless doesn't appear for a second. Bold, and for my money, begins to resolve some of my own incredibly minor nitpicks of High Republic publishing.



I did not expect phase 2 to repeat so many of the same phase 1 patterns with a dangerous Outer Rim faction operating on the Gaze Electric, discovering the Nameless, starting a war, and so on. So looking back on things as they unfolded in the fight against the Nihil, there wasn't anyone in the Jedi Order who studied up on these significant galactic events 150 years prior? Yeah, I know Yoda went on sabbatical to do said research, but my brother in Ashla, you arrived a bit too late. Keeping Planet X from the Jedi databanks closes another of the tiniest plot holes my mind has conjured about an unfinished saga.



Another reason I liked excluding Planet X from this book is a bit selfish. That being it doesn't muddy the waters when we go there next month in Cavan Scott's Marda Ro-centric Path of Vengeance. But let's get back to the book at hand.



Charles Soule's The High Republic: Eye of the Storm #2



So, our heroes take a more heroic path at the end of the day and succeed in finding happiness with their families. There is no one-size-fits-all method to achieve that bliss, but it takes time and patience. Dreams of grandeur, such as finding an unfindable planet, don't compare to what you have at home. That's the big theme of this story, and Gratton delivers it satisfactorily. Her process of getting those ideas across isn't as graceful as it was in Path of Deceit, leading to a few big moments feeling erratic. That might be a standard junior novel handcuff, as the format dictates moving on to the next thing quickly, but it still has to be noted.



Star Wars: Quest for Planet X is another hit for the junior novels of the High Republic. It's not top-tier, but you won't go wrong with the latest adventures of Rooper, Dass, and new friends Sky and Fel Ix. There are plenty of great Jedi vs. Path philosophical conversations to be had, and they remain as compelling as ever. Tons of questions related and unrelated to Planet X are answered, and there are plenty of heartwarming moments to go around. As a goodbye (for now) to these characters, this probably could have been a bit more on the grander side like Mission to Disaster was, but it's still worth your time.


<p style='text-align: center;']RATING: 7/10</p>


Star Wars: The High Republic - Quest for Planet X is available now wherever books are sold. Special thanks to Disney-Lucasfilm Press for the copy used in this review.



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