Light of the Jedi Part 4 of 4

[colls]

Welcome to our last check-in and discussion post for our Book of the Month.

This month’s book is Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
Part III The Storm (chapters 37-44 + epilogue)

Light of the Jedi Part 4 of 4

1. Jora Malli, the Jedi who was to have been in charge of Starlight Beacon, had a white saber. How has saber colors shifted over the years in Star Wars canon and/or have you ever paid attention to the meanings before?

2. Bell Zettifar seems to be the only one considering that his master isn't actually dead. Do you have any predictions on how this will play out in the next installment? (assuming the next installment is a) chronologically set after this one and b) focuses on the same events/characters)

3. Has your opinion about the leaders Chancellor Lina Soh or Marchion Ro changed over the course of the book?

4. The ending of this book was not the ending of the story for many of the characters. For which character(s) are you most interested in finding out what happens next?

5. Other thoughts?



FYI - There's no need to answer all (or any) of the questions above - they're just talking points to get us started. Informal chatter is more than welcome! In-person book clubs often veer off topic, it's okay if we do as well. :)

Comments

[colls]

1. This tidbit reminded me of the the white sabers Ahsoka Tano has in Rebels and the different reasons given (via the book "Ahsoka" by E. K. Johnston and via season 7 of The Clone Wars) so I was kind of curious if it brought up anything similar for others about why lightsabers are what color they are.

2. Part of me is thinking he's just too stunned and hasn't spoken up yet, but also I don't understand why the other Jedi are assuming Loden is dead and not possibly captured.

3. Marchion Ro has become more vile and more interesting as the book went along, particularly chilling in the end there.

4. Loden for the most part - and I want Bell to help rescue him in some way.

[starlady]

I was never super into the color divisions that they invented for lightsabers in the old EU, and I like that the High Republic has jettisoned it. But otoh it actually matters that Ahsoka has white sabers after TCW, and that was explicitly meant to be meaningful by the people in charge, so I'm a little annoyed at the apparent decision here to disregard it.

Agreed about Marchion Ro becoming more interesting as time has gone on. I'm also confused about the Bell and Loden situation--if Bell is basically a Knight now, shouldn't people be listening to him when he says that Loden isn't dead?

I'm excited to see more Avar, and her bff who just made Master. I've been reading the High Republic comics so I knew that she wound up in charge of the Beacon, but I'm glad that I finally read this book and got the full backstory. I'm definitely going to continue reading the main novels.

[colls]

For Ahsoka's white sabers --- in TCW, they're just white because Anakin gave them to her that way so the Council would okay it? Unless I'm misremembering. In the Ahoska book, they're white because she leeched the darkness out of kyber from a Sith, much like what was briefly described in this book. I read the book before season 7 came out, so kinda preferred that story myself.
Star Wars "canon" is such a fluid thing, especially with light saber colors. :)

if Bell is basically a Knight now, shouldn't people be listening to him when he says that Loden isn't dead?
Right?!!?

I'm looking forward to more Avar and her BFF, too. :)

[starlady]

Her sabers in S7 are blue (heavily implied that Anakin changed the color because he prefers blue), but in Rebels they were white because she wasn't a Jedi. My impression is that crystals can be retuned to whatever color, but since it's never been discussed onscreen, who knows.

I like Bell, I hope he can rescue Loden!

[colls]

Obviously I need to rewatch season 7 (LOL) - I probably had them white in my mind because of Rebels and the novel.

[brokenmnemonic]

I did a little bit of reading about the different colours of lightsaber on wookipedia, because I was curious about all the colours, and it seems to be a real mish-mash of things imported from computer games, and Samuel L. Jackson being Samuel L. Jackson, and ... chaos? It does look like there was a time where the fashion was to colour-code lightsabres based on the nature of the Jedi who wields them, but I'm not sure if that period is this period. Frankly, I'd like each Jedi to tell me why their lightsabre is the colour it is, just to stop the brain itch :P

I'd hope that Bell either gets to track down Greatstorm, or persuade others to do so...

Marchion Ro seems like a fairly stereotypical villain, but I'm not sure about Lina Soh yet. I'm wondering if Soh's meant to be in more books, to give us more time to learn about her?

I think I'm most interested to find out what happens next in Greatstorm's plotline, but I'm also very curious about Porter, who gives me the impression he may be rethinking some of his life choices.

The ending for this book feels... abrupt? I was disappointed with where we were left hanging, but having taken a quick look on goodreads, it looks like there are several YA novels tied into the Beacon plus a direct sequel to this novel, so I'm wondering how much each book is viewed as part of a larger story rather than as a story in its own right.

[colls]

Yeah, Samuel L. Jackson said he wanted purple, so.... purple.
*hands*

Porter seems like he could be a very interesting character. So many possible interesting characters - I'm a little sad we didn't get too deep with any of them. On the other hand, it was a good kickoff for a new era of stories.

I looked at goodreads, too and it doesn't seem linear (which drives me nuts!) and you're right - it seems like a combination of YA and adult novels that sort of leap-frog over each other.
*sigh

[kittywhite]

I just did some googling because I’m not wanting to start “The Rising Storm” and missing something plot relevant and it looks like I’m supposed to read the first comic volume then “A test of courage” and “Into the dark” then some more comics before I can even start.
I get wanting to make the universe feel bigger by adding side stories etc but this actually seems required reading because I’ve come across a spoiler in my research that happens in a younger audience novel that I can’t believe they put there instead of leaving it for the 3rd adult novel.
I have read the 19 volume New Jedi Order so I don’t care about length but at least that was consecutive.

[colls]

I gather it's meant to be read in publication order?
But yes, somewhat frustrating with the different mediums mixed together that way.

[topaz119]

I am so far behind in the book, but my actor kid got several auditions/callbacks for the light saber building ‘experience’ at Disney World (so I still remember his lines from running them with him) and at the time, blue was active/physical with the Force, green was more internal Force usage (but still able to fight), red was power and purple was a very in-your-face internal and external Force user. They ended up going with a different set of lines for the colors (emphasizing noted Force users for each color) but I thought it was kinda cool at the time (spring 2019).

[colls]

Oh - congrats to the actor kid :D :D

I didn't know purple was for anything other than Samuel L. Jackson - (LOL).

In the KOTOR game ("old"? canon), the colors were the types of Jedi you were going to be, like majoring in college or something. So blue = guardian, yellow = sentinel, and green = consular. Then "new" canon said the color had something to do with the type of Force a Jedi used.
Then other people and other "official" content has other theories on it?

I think ultimately it's meant to be mysterious - like the Force. (meaning the answer is always shifting).
:D

[kittywhite]

Everyone has already covered the colours but as someone who is more Sith aligned I’ll add that Red was originally a man-made synthetic colour because the Jedi controlled Ilum where the crystals were mined so you couldn’t just wander in there easily if you were darksided.
I dislike the new version that says you need to harm the crystal to get a Red one, seems less interesting and makes me wonder why we don’t have individual Sith colours now then because I doubt unless instructed by their Master to do so that every Sith (especially one who has just started down the dark path) will instantly conclude that the crystal must bleed.

[colls]

Interesting! I didn't know that about the red sabers. It honestly sounds like it's just as inconsistent as the light side of things - which is oddly comforting (LOL). :D