Book Review: 'Tears Of The Nameless'

Star Wars

Sep 27

Tears of the Nameless, released September 24th, is the final book in Wave 2 of Phase 3 of The High Republic. With the endgame in distant sight for early summer of next year, and only three more books to go, a lot was riding on this novel, but it absolutely delivered from every vector. CultureSlate is happy to spread this news through a review of the novel, and will avoid spoilers in the process.

To begin, we will give a summary of where the characters are at as the novel opens. Reath Silas, recently made a Jedi Knight, seeks answers about the threat of the Nameless as well as the growing threat of a mysterious blight which spreads across the galaxy. Forced to rely on former Jedi Azlin Rell who fell into darkness decades ago yet has devoted his life to learning about the Nameless, a breakthrough comes to Reath shortly after he strikes up a friendship with Jedi Padawan Amadeo Azzazzo.

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Amadeo may not be familiar to most High Republic fans, as much of his story has been told in short stories released in Star Wars Insider over the past several months. However, after appearing in Temptation of the Force, Amadeo is here again, serving as a fresh face Reath can bounce his ideas off of, and with a strong drive to help Reath find solutions in the wake of facing the growing threat of the blight firsthand. Lastly, there is Cohmac Vitus, Reath’s former Jedi Master who left the Order at the end of Phase 1, though he hasn’t stopped trying to help. Searching for answers about the Nameless, and the new growing blight, Cohmac comes to discover something that brings him back to the Jedi and his former Padawan.

To say anything more would be to reveal the plethora of surprise character appearances, as well as new characters created for the story. However, we will say a Child of the Storm, one of the nefarious Jedi hunters created by Baron Boolan (a Nihil-aligned Ithorian mad scientist) does appear. He is terrifying, and immediately raises the stakes while also underlining the threat the Baron poses. But it isn’t just the writing of these two characters that deserve praise. Each and every one are excellently realized by George Mann and are made immediately endearing or familiar to the reader.

Similarly well written are the myriad of locations, and new elements in architecture or artistry that get mentioned. Again avoiding spoilers, the travels of these characters take them to all sorts of places, and their beauty or in the case of some, destroyed beauty, is described in such detail that a reader will just wish to see it realized in a piece of art, to validate whatever captivating image which has formed in their mind.

Another excellent element of the novel is the way the story unfolds, and how the mysteries and challenges gradually peel back, or are handled skillfully by the characters taking part in them. These are not just around the possible links between the blight and the Nameless, but other issues that emerge and demand creative solutions or thoughtful examination. It all leads to success in the end, and that is the last point on which Tears should be praised.

Tears of the Nameless moves the plot forward enormously. If the prior novel to this one, Beware the Nameless, went right up to the edge and perhaps didn’t give us enough concrete information, Tears of the Nameless leaped a canyon. Its characters succeed despite loss and hardship, and we learn so much because of it. One can only imagine how the developments of this story will impact the final three novels, and we are also greatly excited to explore their immediate impact in the the ongoing Echoes of Fear comic miniseries from Dark Horse which builds off of the reveals in this novel. Tears of the Nameless is a triumph, and we cannot recommend it enough to fans of the High Republic and Star Wars more broadly.

Review: 10/10