SWBC: The High Republic Phase 2 book guide & an excerpt from 'Path of Deceit'
Plus: The first story of The High Republic Phase 2 is already out in the latest Star Wars Insider!
We’re just a week away from new Star Wars book content — specifically, the first novel set in The High Republic Phase 2.
Path of Deceit by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland kicks the new phase into high gear with an excellent, deliciously mysterious young adult book set on the planet Dalna about 150 years before the events of Phase 1.
The launch of Phase 2 brings a whole new slate of books, comics, and short stories featuring all-new Jedi, Republic leaders, Outer Rim explorers, and creepy villains.
I just finished Path of Deceit earlier this week, and my full review will come on the book’s release date — Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Next up I’m reading the middle-grade story, Quest for the Hidden City, then Convergence — of which I now have the digital ARC from Del Rey!
But I also finally have a full guide to all the books of The High Republic Phase 2 — in release and reading order. This guide is where you’ll find the latest cover art, release dates, summaries, and reviews of all seven (7!) books set to release through May 2023.
Here’s a sneak peek at the list:
Path of Deceit
Quest for the Hidden City
Convergence
The Battle of Jedha
Cataclysm
Quest for Planet X
Path of Vengeance
And check out the full guide below.
Excerpt from Path of Deceit
Marketing for the first two Disney Books-published books in The High Republic Phase 2 has been pretty low-key. But this week, we finally got the first excerpt from the young adult novel, Path of Deceit — which is due out next week.
The excerpt is the novel’s prologue, which introduces a scheming treasure hunter who arrives on Dalna to meet with The Mother — the leader of the Force cult the Path of the Open Hand. Radicaz Dobbs, also known as Sunshine, ends up offering to help the Mother and the Path locate more Force artifacts after selling them a strange, large jewel that “sings with the Force.”
“It was grotesque in its size, with roughly the heft of an overweight tooka cat. Too big for jewelry, too gaudy to be a statement piece. More than that, the few people he’d tried to sell it to had been repulsed by the thing, as though it were something foul instead of a luminous purple orb.
But the Mother gasped aloud as she saw it fully revealed from the depths of the knapsack.
“Oh, yes.” She took the object as if it weighed very little, and her face became rapturous as she cradled it to her chest. “It sings with the Force, alive and wondrous! Oh, the Force delights in this liberation. We shall take it, Sunshine. Please, name your price.”
You’ll definitely want to keep an eye on this jewel, Sunshine, and the Mother as you read Path of Deceit.
Read the full prologue over at StarWars.com.
Star Wars Insider’s High Republic short story
While we’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next High Republic books, Star Wars Insider quietly dropped the first short story set in Phase 2. Fans will remember the magazine exclusively shared many of these breakout short stories throughout the tales of Phase 1. Those stories are collected in Starlight Stories, which is due out on Nov. 22, 2022, from Titan Comics.
In Star Wars Insider #213, the October 2022 issue, The High Republic short story takes us to a cantina on Jedha where an adjunct scholar at the Temple of the Kyber coaxes an exciting story out of a stranded hyperspace prospector.
The story is a compelling read right from the get-go, especially since it teases more juicy details about the holy city and the many different followers of the Force.
It’s also an excellent introduction to some of the main elements we’ll see throughout Phase 2 — hyperspace route charting, Pathfinders setting up communications systems, planets filled with monsters, and supremely cool Jedi.
These Tales of Enlightenment in Star Wars Insider are all barstool stories set in the cantina Enlightenment on Jedha. The first, “New Prospects,” is written by George Mann and is available now in Star Wars Insider #213.
Star Wars books and comics out this week
September 27
Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star (trade paperback reprint)
Star Wars: Obi-Wan — Jedi Master: Colortivity with Twist-Up Crayons
September 28
Han Solo & Chewbacca #6
Star Wars #26 (second printing)
The Mandalorian #2 (second printing)