Review: 'Escape From Valo' is full of delightful, rebellious chaos
Scarlet Skulls 4ever.
Escape From Valo: New High Republic middle-grade book is full of delightful, rebellious chaos
Whoever let Daniel Jose Older and Alyssa Wong team up for a delightfully chaotic middle-grade Star Wars novel — thank you so much.
Escape From Valo, the first middle-grade book in The High Republic Phase 3, arrives Jan. 30 from Disney Books. Like previous middle-grade offerings, Escape From Valo stars Jedi Padawans and younglings, including the loveable Ram Jomaram and a kid pirate with familial ties to The High Republic Adventures Phase 2 comics.
As the title implies, the novel is set on the planet Valo — the site of the Republic Fair and the horrific Nihil attack on the city in The Rising Storm. Just as Lonisa City was cleaning up and recovering from that attack, the Nihil invaded again, establishing anarchic control on the planet annexed by the Stormwall.
Trapped behind enemy lines, Ram tries to make life a living hell for the Nihil occupying his city. In one act of hilarious rebellion, Ram discovers three Jedi younglings barely surviving in the Lonisa City Zoo.
When a young aspiring pirate — from a long line of infamous pirates — comes to Valo to scope out the “score of a lifetime” in a sunken Republic ship, they wind up joining forces with Ram and the younglings to create serious mayhem.
The brightest stars of this novel are Tep Tep, Gavi, and Kildo — the last Jedi (besides Ram) on Valo. Tep Tep is small and sweet, but don’t underestimate her and her ability to commune and befriend the most dangerous of creatures. She is an Alcedian like Kildo, who is slightly older and quite adept at lightsaber wielding.
Gavi is an unofficial leader of the trio and harbors a secret crush on Kildo as well as a load of guilt for what happened when the Nihil invaded.
Pirate Zyle and Nihil newcomer Driggit are also standouts. While Zyle at first acts swaggering and self-serving, they quickly come around to ideas of friendship and being a part of a team. Driggit is new to the Nihil and has mysterious motivations for betraying her friends to join up with the marauders.
Thanks to the authors’ penchants for writing young, queer, and chaotic characters, Escape From Valo shines with hilarity and charm. It’s truly one of the funniest Star Wars books I’ve ever read — while still telling a rich, heartfelt story.
Each character brings their own insights and feelings, offering differing and intimate perspectives on one larger conflict. Escape From Valo also feels very “slice of life” in the way it explores young people’s misadventures amid the aftermath of a galaxy-wide tragedy.
Story creators have long said that readers can start with any book in The High Republic, no matter when it was published or where it appears on the timeline. That’s still the case for Escape From Valo, which features mostly brand new characters beyond Ram’s return.
I’d even say that Ram isn’t the main character of the book, despite his prominent position on the cover and new status as leader and protector. Gavi goes through the most turmoil and character growth throughout Escape From Valo, and I hope to see him, Kildo, and Tep Tep again in future works.
While the book is geared toward a younger audience, it doesn’t shy away from exploring darker elements like grief, death, and psychological trauma. By letting its young characters give space to their conflicting emotions, the novel becomes an inspiring reflection on what it means to have attachments and navigate evolving connections to the Force.
It’s elements like this that set the middle-grade and young adult novels of The High Republic apart and solidify them as must-reads no matter their intended audience.
I’ve been recommending to not skip the middle-grade and young adult Star Wars books for years. Just because they’re made for young audiences, doesn’t mean they don’t contain incredible storytelling and universal themes.
I think if more adults read kids’ books, the world would be a brighter place.
Escape From Valo not only provides charming and hilarious pandemonium, it’s another example of the breadth of The High Republic as some of the freshest and finest storytelling in Star Wars.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Escape From Valo is available now.
How to read The High Republic
With The High Republic churning out books and comics for the last three years, there is a lot to read. One of the most common questions I get is “what’s the reading order for The High Republic?” — among other similar questions.
Fear not, I have a guide for you.
First posted in December 2022 and updated as recently as *checks watch* this week, my guide to reading The High Republic has proved to be the most popular on the Space Wizards Book Club.
It’s full of reading order and timeline guides, FAQs, reviews, and more insights into The High Republic era of Star Wars.
Check it out, bookmark it, and let me know any other questions you have about reading The High Republic.