Review: Beware the Nameless is a Heartwarming Return to The High Republic
Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova is out now.
You may have already seen the love circulating for Churo the Hutt, a new character debuting in Zoraida Córdova’s latest High Republic book Beware the Nameless. I’m here today to tell you that the Hutt is worth the hype.
Churo isn’t like other Hutts. He’s not interested in the “family business.” He’s a scientist, a lover of languages, and an aspiring student at a university somewhere far away from home. But he also wants nothing more than to please his family! So when his sister ropes him into a dangerous mission, he feels he has no choice but to say yes.
When everything goes wrong, he finds himself in the company of some unlikely friends. And speaking of things going terribly wrong …
What do you get when you put together a group of Jedi younglings, a desperate senator’s daughter, and a Jedi Master willing to stop at nothing to protect the innocent? Some might call it disorganized chaos. I’m choosing to call it an adventure.
Can a young Hutt with a secret and a group of Jedi-in-training stick together and keep each other alive? That might depend on how many Nameless are around by the end of their journey.
Zoraida Córdova has written some of my favorite Star Wars books of all time (judging by the fact that Xiri and Phan-tu made it into my wedding vows), so I had a feeling I would enjoy this book. It’s middle-grade, which I also love. It’s simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, and I promise you if we don’t get more of Churo and Zenny after this book, I’m going to be upset. Don’t make me write letters. I mean it.
This book tackles classic Star Wars themes such as family relationships, yearning for adventure, bravery, and self-discovery. This is a spoiler-free review, so I won’t say anything about how it ends. But I have absolutely fallen in love with these characters and how much they learn and grow and change, and I sincerely hope you will do the same.
This book is set around the same time as Temptation of the Force (they are part of the same wave of releases), but it does mostly feature different characters (some you might remember from Escape From Valo). It does have an important tie to the overarching High Republic story that I really do think will pay off by the time we get to Trials of the Jedi next year and as always, I do think these books are worth reading even if plenty of other people disagree with me.
One of many things the author does quite well is pulling on your heartstrings and really making you care about each individual character (and there are a lot of them in this book). This is a common thread throughout her stories, so if you liked her previous work in The High Republic and otherwise, you’ll like this one too.
This book is for you if you love accidental adventuring, rescue missions, unlikely friendships, and stories that remind you to follow your heart, never give up, and do the things even when they’re scary. Yes, this book is technically for kids. But who among us doesn’t need to be reminded that no matter how hard life gets, you’ll be okay as long as you dare to follow the path you know is right for you?
There is less than a month until the next High Republic book, and don’t worry. You’ll be able to read this one pretty quick if you want to have it finished before the next one.
Star Wars The High Republic: Beware the Nameless is available now wherever you get your Star Wars books.
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