Star Wars Insider: The High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment is a wonderful addition to the second phase of the long-running The High Republic book series. Offering six short stories, author interviews, and a look into the various Phase II books, this collection acts as a celebration of The High Republic’s ‘middle child’.
What is The High Republic?
First announced in 2019, The High Republic has become an immensely successful corner of Star Wars storytelling. Spanning more than twelve books and several comic runs from about nine writers, The High Republic takes place over one hundred years before the Star Wars Prequels and offers stories for all types of Star Wars fans. Cementing the series even more firmly in the franchise, showrunner Leslye Headland announced at Star Wars Celebration: London that at least one beloved character (Mirialan Jedi Knight, Vernestra Rwoh) would make her live-action debut in The Acolyte, set to premiere later this year.
The High Republic consists of three phases — a nod of sorts to the three-part structure of the Skywalker Saga. Phase II acts as a prequel to the events explored in Phases I and III and, as such, stands quite well on its own. The majority of the phase takes place on two planets: Jedha (of Rogue One fame) and the mysterious Outer Rim planet of Dalna. It is the former where Tales of Enlightenment sets its scene.
Enlightening Tales
Writer George Mann authors the six short stories in this collection, the first five of which originally appeared in individual issues of the Star Wars Insider magazine throughout Phase II’s run. Also the author of the phase’s original audio drama, The Battle of Jedha, Mann centers his stories around an important location from his book: Enlightenment, a cantina in the heart of Jedha City.
As the title of the collection suggests, the stories include tales told to some of Enlightenment’s more frequent customers: human Keth Cerepath, Sullustan Piralli, and Twi’lek Moona. Weaving between plot points from Mann’s audio drama and author Cavan Scott’s Phase II comic run, the first five stories offer enlightening new perspectives of familiar events and characters. However, the main pull for even those who have managed to stay up-to-date with Star Wars Insider, is the sixth short story, “Missing Pieces”, which is exclusive to this collection.
Taking place five years after the events of The Battle of Jedha, “Missing Pieces” ties multiple storylines from Phase II in a beautiful and heart-warming exploration of moving on without letting go. It offers fans of Phase II some closure for certain characters and provides a bit of hope that perhaps we haven’t seen the last of them just yet.
Remembering Phase II
Following the stories are previously published interviews with the Phase II authors (including Mann himself alongside Zoraida Cordova, Lydia Kang, and others). Wrapping up the collection are a summary of the phase as a whole and a reading guide to the book series, which is unfortunately already out of date due to Phase III having started earlier this year.
All in all, though, this is a worthy addition to The High Republic. And it will undoubtedly make many fans who missed out on the Star Wars Insider issues very happy to finally have a chance to read the material, too.
However, a final caution.
Though readers don’t necessarily need the context of other Phase II works to enjoy Tales of Enlightenment, the stories do contain spoilers for several important events. This is a collection that is perhaps best enjoyed after finishing all of Phase II. Even if it’s only to return for a brief moment to the characters and places that made The High Republic’s ‘middle child’ so memorable for so many.
Star Wars Insider: The High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment releases April 2nd.
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