Star Wars: The Acolyte: Wayseeker

3 1/2 stars: Good

Back cover: Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh has spent years exploring the Outer Rim as a Wayseeker, answering to no authority but the Force itself. When the Jedi Council orders her to return to Coruscant, Vernestra ignores the summons, feeling that her priority is the beings she’s already serving.

So the Council dispatches Jedi Knight Indara to track down Vernestra to deliver the urgent message that a Republic senator has formally requested Jedi assistance, asking for Vernestra’s aid by name. Intrigued, Vernestra quickly finds herself pulled back into Coruscant’s complicated world of Republic politics and underworld crime.

The two could not be more different: Vernestra, a Jedi Master who has known conflict and loss show more during her decades in the Order, and Indara, a young Knight just coming into her own as a Jedi in a galaxy at peace. Trust is slow to develop as they clash over their views on serving the Jedi Order, the galaxy, and the Force.

But they must work together to decipher the connection between the senator and a trail of dangerous weapons threatening to wreak havoc on the Republic. As the two delve further into their investigation, the lines between Jedi and Republic business blur, and Vernestra must rediscover what it means to serve for Light and Life.

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I enjoyed this book and getting to know Vernestra Rwoh as a character. I haven't read any of the other High Republic books so my only exposure was her parts in The Acolyte series where she's clearly part of a cover up. In this book she's clearly someone who is dedicated to the Force much more than to the Jedi Order, to which she has little regard. I enjoyed this book but also don't find that it adds much to the canon or to me. It moved quickly and I was driven to learn more about Rwoh's character. show less

Honestly, I just finished listening to this to say I finished it. I didn’t find the story all that compelling, the switch from first person to third person POV didn’t work quite as well as I think the author intended, and there was nothing that I felt moved the overreaching Star Wars High Republic/Acolyte narrative.