Book Review: Defy the Storm

If George Mann’s Eye of Darkness was our big introduction to the new status quo of the galaxy in The High Republic Phase III, then Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s Defy the Storm is the in-depth exploration we needed. Gone are the power players in the grand scheme of things, the “adultier adults” so to speak whose actions for and against the Nihil have galaxy-wide implications, and in their place are a handful of young adults who don’t have the authority of Jedi Masters, or senior Nihil leadership, but are still doing their best to make a difference in their own way.

Defy the Storm follows Avon Starros, Vernestra Rwoh, Xylan Graff, Jordanna Sparkburn and Sylvestri Yarrow as they cross and work behind the Stormwall each for reasons of their own, working together and separately to achieve their ends. This being Star Wars, and The High Republic no less, things obviously do not go to plan and require some very quick thinking on the parts of our core group.

The truly remarkable thing about the book, and the element of the story that makes it feel both timely and evergreen at the same time, is the portrait it paints of life in dire circumstances. Like Eye of Darkness, Defy the Storm follows the citizens of the galaxy living life in their new normal under Nihil occupation. It’s not constant, all-out brawling, but instead a growing number of inconveniences that make life that much harder to live, but also which the majority of everyday people do not possess the resources or luxury to actively fight against. It’s the same thing that prevents all out revolution in the real world: given the choice between burning it all down and making sure your kids have food to eat, there’s no question that the system you’re living in stays unburnt. 

None of this is to say that the book is an exercise in complacency, far from it. Instead, its a thoughtful, in-depth character piece about how the core cast of characters, the next generation of leadership in the galaxy, choose to make small differences, and small decisions in order to make as big a difference as possible given the circumstances. It is hope, pure and simple, both for the galaxy far, far away, and for the world we currently live in, and the fervent belief that doing the right thing, however small and insignificant it may feel at the time, is never not worth doing, and can absolutely make a difference down the line.

Defy the Storm is out now. Special thank you to Disney Books for the advance copy for review purposes.