Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage – A Disney Nerds Book Club Review
It’s time to venture back to that galaxy far, far away Disney Nerds! This month we’re reading “Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage” by Justina Ireland. This is the next release after “Star Wars: Light of the Jedi” for this High Republic series. One thing to note is that so far in my reading, none of these books are intertwined with the other enough that you must read them in order. I’ve decided to read them in order that they were published just because it made the most sense to me.
Spoiler Alert
“A Test of Courage” is technically a middle school age level book but I thought it was worth reading as we dive more into this new time period in Star Wars cannon. The book follows 16 year old Vernestra Rwoh, who has newly been appointed the title of Jedi Knight. Her first task is watching over 12 year old Avon Starros, daughter of Galactic Republic senator Ghirra Starros. Avon tends to get herself in a little trouble because she’s an aspiring inventor so Vernestra (who Avon nicknames “Vern”) has her hands full.
Vern and Avon board a cruiser headed to Starlight Beacon for it’s dedication and they will live there once it’s open. But before they can arrive to Starlight Beacon, their cruiser explodes. The adults on board try to save the ship but send Vern, Avon, Avon’s droid J-6, and some other kids on a shuttle to escape. The other kids are Padawan Imri Cantaros and Honesty Weft, the 12 year old son of the Dalnan ambassador.
The shuttle lands on a near by planet and they must figure out how to survive until help arrives. This sounds like an easy task but they run into acid rain and other elements of the planet that seem to harm their survival. If that wasn’t enough, it turns out they are not alone on the planet. Another ship is there and they discover the members of this ship are Nihil who are the ones who planted bombs on the cruiser and caused the explosion. So now Vern and the rest of these young survivors are tasked with figuring out how to avoid being killed by not only the planet but these Nihil pirates.
What happens next? You’ll have to read it to find out!
After the complexity of “Light of a Jedi,” I thought this was a great book to keep my interest in The High Republic story line. It was a lighter read since it is a middle school level book but still a great story. It shows how even the teenagers of the Jedi and the galaxy can fare against their enemies.
I would definitely recommend this book to any Star Wars fan, especially one who are interested in The High Republic series. I would also recommend this to any young reader who wants to get into reading stories from the Star Wars cannon, this is a perfect book for that.
Have you read “A Taste of Courage” yet? What did you think? And as always stay tuned next month for our next Disney Nerds Book Club Review!
