Anyone who’s been even a semi-regular reader of my Star Wars book and comic reviews over the past three or four years is already aware that I’m a big fan of Cavan Scott’s writing. The first output of his that really caught my attention was the audio drama Star Wars: Dooku – Jedi Lost, and since then he’s been knocking it out of the park on a regular basis via Marvel’s main Star Wars: The High Republic comic book.
In 2021, he penned the novel Star Wars: The High Republic – The Rising Storm, which I thought was well-written but suffered from what I’d consider my only consistent critique of Lucasfilm’s ambitious multi-platform publishing initiative: too many Jedi characters to keep track of. Well, I’m pleased to say that this issue has been more than rectified in Scott’s new young-adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Vengeance.
Instead of following around Jedi after Jedi as they deal with an attack by the villainous marauders known as the Nihil, Path of Vengeance– like the other books in The High Republic’s second phase– rewinds time to give us the Nihil’s origin story, with Scott limiting himself to writing from the perspective of just three protagonists, only one of which is an actual Force-user. These characters are Marda Ro, the “Guide” of the Force cult known as the Path of the Open Hand (which we know from context clues will eventually morph into the Nihil, though we hadn’t yet been told exactly how), her cousin Yana Ro, who isn’t quite as enamored with the Path as Marda is, and Jedi Padawan Matthea “Matty” Cathley, who is a carry-over from Scott’s excellent work on the Marvel comics. Since the bulk of this book is delivered from the point of view of the Path and its members, Cavan Scott has the 500-page narrative overlap with other stories like The High Republic – The Battle of Jedha and The High Republic – Cataclysm to give readers the full truth of the cult’s involvement in those consequential events. There are a few chapters at the beginning of the novel that act as “recaps” of sorts, catching us up on some of the previous books and what happened with Matty and her companions Tey Sirrek and Vildar Mac in the comics. And then Scott dives right in on delivering what happened next for Marda, Yana, and Matty as they travel separately from Jedha to Dalna and even to a mysterious, uncharted location known only as Planet X.
Yes, my frustration with the middle-grade book I reviewed last week (Star Wars: The High Republic – Quest for Planet X) gave way to satisfaction as the clandestine locale was at long last visited by at least one of these protagonists, though I won’t spoil which. But before that, we see Marda barely escape Jedha with her life, Yana trying her best to free the Path’s “Herald” Werth Plouth from captivity at the hands of the Guardians of the Whills, and Matty meeting with her Jedi superiors, ordered to investigate the cult’s compound on Dalna with the aloof Master Oliviah Zeveron, who shares a secretive connection with the Path of the Open Hand herself. And after Jedha, Dalna becomes the central location for the bulk of the novel’s remaining two-thirds– those who have read Cataclysm will know what’s coming there, though in this book we get an entirely different take on that bloody conflagration. I don’t want to spoil too much more of the story of Path of Vengeance, but I will say that it gives a new context to the conversation held between Kylo Ren / Ben Solo and the memory of his deceased father Han Solo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
That tease aside, I would honestly conclude that what Cavan Scott has done here is nothing short of his masterpiece in writing for the Star Wars franchise. The characters are incredibly well fleshed out, and the author has done a wonderful job of following through on the tremendous promise initiated by co-writers Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton back when they released Phase II’s first young-adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Deceit last year. And speaking of the “young adult” label, I’ve heard The High Republic story architect Claudia Gray say in interviews that often the only major differences between these books and the ones given the “adult” brand are the ages of the main characters, and I’d agree that’s definitely the case for Path of Vengeance. In fact, I’d say that both Path of Deceit and Path of Vengeance are two of the strongest, most compelling novels to come out of The High Republic project as a whole– the perfect bookends to begin and end Phase II.
Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Vengeance will be released on Tuesday, May 2nd wherever books are sold, but is available for pre-order right now.