Tempest Breaker Is an Emotional, Thrilling High Republic Adventure
A spoiler-free review of Tempest Breaker by Cavan Scott.
Star Wars stories come in many forms. The fictional universe began in the form of a film, and has since expanded into books and comics, radio dramas, TV shows, and more. The audio dramas of the past five years have only gotten better and better, and the trend continues with Cavan Scott’s Tempest Breaker, out today.
In this story, Lourna Dee is finally telling the story of how she came to aid the Galactic Republic during the war against Marchion Ro and the Nihil. She’s not a Tempest Runner anymore — she’s after much bigger things. But maybe taking down her former leader, at least for the moment, isn’t one of them.
As usual, Scott crafts an elaborate Star Wars adventure that weaves together storylines and characters from different points in time to bring readers a thrilling, emotional tale about sacrifice, resilience, and doing whatever it takes to emerge from a fight victorious. It has all the usual flavors of a Cavan Scott winner, except this one’s in audio form.
I’m sure many are also looking for a comparison between this story and Tempest Runner. I will say without spoilers that this one had a much more satisfying ending, and was also easier to follow in terms of differentiating between past and present. If you have already read the mainline High Republic comic from Phase 3, I think you will enjoy this story even more.
When I read Tempest Runner, which is one of the previous High Republic audio dramas, the first one that came out, I hadn’t kept up with the mainline High Republic comics. So I was very lost, and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had. This time, coming into Tempest Breaker, I HAD kept up with the mainline comics. And that proved to be a very wise decision.
Tempest Breaker does not require you to have read the comic before going into it. But I, personally, am really glad I did. I think it helped me approach the story with more of an emotional connection to the main characters, helped me better follow what was happening, and actually made me want to go back and read the comic all over again. High Republic stories are at their best when reading one makes you want to immediately dive back into the other.
If you did not enjoy Tempest Runner, it’s possible that you will find the same issues in this story that you did with the previous installment. This is an audio production, not an audiobook, so it’s voiced with a full cast rather than narrated. It’s fast-paced and jumps quickly from scene to scene, so it’s one of those stories where if you lose focus for a minute you might get lost.
Which does lead me to mention that if you generally prefer to read your Star Wars stories over listening to them, there is a script book releasing physically in May. It’s a bit of a wait, but I hope it’s worth it for you.
The High Republic is coming to an end sooner than we’d like, but I love that we got this story now to make the wait for the next book in the spring feel a little shorter. All hyperspace lanes are leading to one final confrontation, and even if you didn’t love every story along the way, I think you’ll be glad you stuck with it to the grand finale.
Star Wars The High Republic: Tempest Breaker is available in audiobook form now, with a physical version coming next year.
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