Defy the Storm Asks Us to Think Deeper About the Meaning of Home
A spoiler-free review of The High Republic: Defy the Storm.
Luminous duo Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland have teamed up once again in the latest installment in the ongoing High Republic series, Defy the Storm — out today! The book takes place after the events of The Eye of Darkness, so it’s definitely recommended you read that book before this one — the ending of George Mann’s book will be spoiled for you if you read Defy the Storm first.
However, this being a spoiler-free review, you can safely read the remainder of this review without Defy the Storm spoilers.
Avon Starros is done playing nice with the Nihil. And now that the Stormwall has literally divided the galaxy around her, she’s determined to make sure things change — with the help of her friend Vernestra Rwoh, of course. The fact that Vernestra has left Coruscant and hasn’t been heard from since isn’t going to make things any easier, though.
Jordanna Sparkburn and Sylvestri Yarrow aren’t faring much better. The galaxy is getting harder to navigate every day, and even though being together is worth every struggle, it seems like their work is becoming more dangerous with each new job.
It turns out there might be a way to take down the Stormwall from the inside … but there’s a big mystery waiting to be uncovered along the way. Sometimes, looking for answers uncovers truths you never wanted to know.
You’ll love this book if you enjoyed the characters from Out of the Shadows, even more if you’ve been enjoying THR Phase III so far. The truths these characters are struggling to grasp are real and raw, and the final page actually made me yell out loud.
To call this book a page-turner is a huge understatement — it’s 450 pages (that’s in the standard Disney Books YA size), but I flew through the first few hundred in a day. The action does not stop. The mysteries just keep unraveling. The stakes are high the entire time — to the point where you can’t help but wonder if all these characters are actually going to make it out alive. (It is The High Republic, after all … okay, just one spoiler: True to the nature of the series so far, the dog remains safe.)
What struck me most about Defy the Storm was the motif of “hone” running through each character’s story. Avon begins the book telling her mother she wants to leave for Coruscant. Vernestra is off somewhere else having left Coruscant a while ago without telling anyone where she was going. Jordanna leaves her family’s ship behind — temporarily — knowing that even if she never sees it again, she will always remember it as the place that kept her comforted and safe.
What is home for a Jedi? For a prospector? The daughter of a Nihil supporter? Is home a specific place? A community? A feeling? When home ceases to provide the safety and comfort we expect it to provide, what is the appropriate response? Is home something you can take with you wherever you go? Does one’s definition of “home” change as life’s seasons shift?
Perhaps home, for these characters, is malleable — in times of war, uncertainty, and pain, safety can be temporary. Comfort can become a luxury. People can let you down. Change. Leave.
As you become someone new, the meaning of home might too.
Sometimes we value ourselves just enough, and care about our futures so much, that we choose to risk everything and leave the place we call home.
It’s in doing that we realize that home is so much more than an address (do addresses exist in Star Wars?) or four walls and a door.
Home is something to search for. To strive for. It becomes something to fight for, to long for, to stay alive for.
To save the ones you love for.
The promise of home is what we all keep living for.
The High Republic is many things. But first and foremost, it is about overcoming the barriers we set for ourselves, the ones that are preventing us from finding the security, happiness, and lasting hope we deserve.
It is so universal, to just want to go home, even when, presumably, you’re already there.
Thank you, Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland, for reminding us all that it’s okay to want to feel okay, even when things are far from it.
Star Wars The High Republic: Defy the Storm is available now wherever you get your Star Wars books.
Now This Is Lit is a podcast (and newsletter!) about Star Wars books, the people who make them, and the readers who just can’t get enough of them. You can find the show wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to the Substack for more deep dives, guides, interview transcripts, and book love.