Star Wars: Convergence (The High Republic)

Closer to a 3.5 out of 5. While well-written and interesting, I can't understand why readers interested in the overarching story of the High Republic should care. Path of Deceit made me believe that jumping back 150 years wasn't a bad thing, but now it just feels a little shallow. Almost nothing connects to Phase I, and the "big bad" established in the YA novel seems like an afterthought. The characters are all fine, and one of Gella's youngling stories was amazing to read. But it feels off.

Excellent start to Phase II. A nice new version of the standard Star Wars character lineup, making for a nice and lived-in feel in the early going. The story itself was pretty inventive, I found ... started the heart pumping a little earlier than usual and never really let up, as between action scenes the seeds of future Phase II story threads were frantically dropping, leaving very little room for a mental breather. Which I liked 👍🏻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Two households, both alike in dignity, around the Timekeeper Moon, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to continued mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean." Maybe the most quintessentially Star Wars book so far in the High Republic. Cordova does an excellent job of weaving a multitude of perspectives into a convincing tapestry of adventure, romance, and political intrigue. Each of the main 4 characters (headstrong E'rani Captain and Princess Xiri, thoughtful Earami Prince Phan-tu, soul-searching Jedi Knight Gella and Chancellor's son Axel) are each interesting, with strong individual plots that feed well into their separate goals and thoughts. My only fault is that the three main chunks of the story feel a tad rushed together, with little breathing room between them. While some seem to feel this is a weaker start to the Adult line of the high Republics 2nd phase Convergence ,and Cordova, are gonna be mainstays on my Star Wars shelf! For Life and Light!