Out of the Shadows Part 1

[colls]

Welcome to our first of four check-in and discussion posts for our Book of the Month.

This month’s book is Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland
Chapters 1-10

Out of the Shadows

1. Vernestra Rwoh is depicted as a Jedi prodigy. Do you think her youth and inexperience will become an obstacle?

2. Do you think the partnership between Sylvestri Yarrow and Xlyan Graf will be successful or will they find themselves at cross purposes?

3. What do you make of Vernestra Rwoh's hyperspace vision about the Ugnaughts and the puzzle box and how does it tie in with the puzzle box Marchion Ro sent along with the Oracle?

4. How are you liking it so far?




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. :)
All I ask is that you try to avoid spoilers for things past Part I of the book.

Comments

[colls]

With several of these High Republic books, I'm forgetting who the characters we encountered before are and getting them mixed up a bit. (this is a 'me' problem, I know).

That said, I did manage to sort it out after a couple of chapters and found I like Vernestra, despite her youth. I suspect her inexperience will play a factor in some conflict coming up (or at least it should, considering she's 17 years old!)

I also found I like Syl and am hoping she runs into her old girlfriend at some point. I mean, why mention her if we weren't going to meet her, right?

The puzzle box is obviously connected, but I don't know how. Also, it seems rather creepy. Ro gave it to Nan to keep the Oracle occupied - but Ro also has the Oracle tortured sometimes, so I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about this puzzle box.

[brokenmnemonic]

I'm having the same problem with getting characters mixed up in these books. It's a bit easier with the comics, although as I read the comics through Marvel Unlimited I'm always several months behind, and I keep forgetting whcih new stories have come out.

I think that on the one hand, there are trillions of people in the Republic, but on the other hand, this is Star Wars... so I'd be amazed if Syl doesn't run into her ex somehow in this book.

I'm wondering if the puzzle box is perhaps the last of the Oracle's possessions from before she became Ro's prisoner...

[brokenmnemonic]

1. I'm finding it really surprising that Vernestra's been made responsible for another padawan already - for all that she's a prodigy, I'd be amazed if she has the life experience to help someone close to her own age work through their problems with Jedi training. I think I would've expected the Jedi order to instead be sending her around to study with all the various Jedi knights and masters who're deep specialists in various aspects of the Force to broaden her training first. I know the adage about how you can only learn so much about a topic through practise and study before you reach a point where the only way to keep growing is to train someone else, but this setup feels like a good way to overwhelm Verne/.

2. I'm rather intrigued by what's going on with Syl and the Grafs. I'm sure that they want different things, and it definitely doesn't feel like they're equals. I doubt this is a case of genderswapped Han and Leia, although the idea did cross my mind at one point! I think the Grafs are likely to view Syl as useful but... disposable isn't the right word, but maybe like a contract worker?

3. I want to find out more about the force visions that Verne's having, but I feel a bit like Johnny 5 - "need input!".

4. I'm enjoying it so far; I'm appreciating that there are fewer characters involved than the last High Republic novel we read, as that felt a bit overwhelming in terms of the sheer number of characters I had to try and keep track of, which was even more complicated for my brain given I was listening to the audionovel. This book was one of those in the Humble Bundle offer recently, so although I've had to install kobo on my phone and learn how to use it, I'm finding it a quick and fairly easy read.

[colls]

1. Right?!?! I know the book is classified as YA, but it feels like she's really young to be "officially" in charge of anyone's training.

2. I read something on wiki that the original idea was a love triangle involving Syl, but the author abandoned it when she decided Syl and Graf don't actually like each other. So now I'm rather curious about what I might find in the subtext between them.


I'm glad the bundle thing worked out! I checked out the eBook from my library, which means I need to be sure to read it before it is automatically returned in case someone else checks it out. That happened one month and I was scrambling to get my hands on a copy for week 4. :(

[brokenmnemonic]

I do wonder why the Order thinks that Vernestra's ready to have a padawan, particularly as she's only just been promoted. Why not let her get some more experience of being a Knight without immediately making her responsible for training a Padawan?

2. I think I'm relieved to hear there's not going to be a love triangle, because that gives me much more hope that Syl with rob Graf blind before vanishing back into the Outer Rim...

Good luck with your library - if your loan for this book runs out before you've finished, let me know and I'll see if I can work out how to send you a copy of mine :)