‘The High Republic: For Light and Life’ Cover Revealed, First Excerpt From Claudia Gray
The upcoming High Republic young adult anthology collection has received an official title and cover. Announced back at last year’s New York Comic Con, every High Republic author returns to set the stage for November’s launch of phase 3 of the High Republic publishing initiative.
Entertainment Weekly has revealed Star Wars: The High Republic: For Light and Life, coming September 5. Partnered with this reveal is the first excerpt that takes place after the fall of Starlight Beacon. The collection will feature short stories from all periods in the High Republic, including the aforementioned lame duck period between phases 1 and 3. Check out the official cover below:
There is a slight discrepancy between what Entertainment Weekly refers to the novel as and the title displayed on the cover. This may not be the final cover, but we will update this article when we learn more.
Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain had this to say about the anthology:
“Star Wars: The High Republic: For Light and Life has a little bit of everything. It features all of our High Republic authors in one novel and includes stories from every Phase of the initiative. We’ll get glimpses of stories yet to come, see events that happened in between our novels and comics, shine a spotlight on certain characters, and even learn the fate of others. I think fans will find it both exciting and unexpected.”
The High Republic authors with a hand in the collection include Zoraida Córdova (Convergence), Tessa Gratton (Path of Deceit, Quest for Planet X), Claudia Gray (Into the Dark, The Fallen Star), Justina Ireland (A Test of Courage, Out of the Shadows), Lydia Kang (Cataclysm), George Mann (The Battle of Jedha, The Nameless Terror), Daniel José Older (Midnight Horizon, The High Republic Adventures), Cavan Scott (The Rising Storm, Marvel’s The High Republic), and Charles Soule (Light of the Jedi, The Blade).
The excerpt shared with the announcement comes from Claudia Gray. Her short story is titled After the Fall, set one day after the Nihil’s grand victory over the Republic. Here is a brief piece of the excerpt:
Affie Hollow was only seventeen years old, but she had known true danger. Darkness. Even desperation.
Yet she had never experienced a day as bleak as the one that followed the fall of Starlight Beacon.
She stood on the surface of the planet Eiram early that morning, a cool day on which no sun seemed to shine from the pale sky. Her damaged ship, the Vessel, remained not far from where she had originally landed after their last-minute escape from the plummeting space station. Nobody was allowed to leave yet—hyperspace lanes were being patrolled, and all of Eiram was surrounded by the thousands of ships that had come to help the dying station. All those pilots were probably still waiting for something to do. Some way to feel as though they hadn’t completely let everyone down.
Or maybe that’s just me, Affie thought.
Once again, for what felt like the hundredth time, Affie’s mind flooded with the image of her pilot and best friend, Leox Gyasi, manually prying open the station doors so the last ships trapped on board might escape—then losing his grip and flying backward into bright blinding light—
“Hey,” Leox said, startling Affie back into the present. Thanks to an old-fashioned parachute, the only sign of his brush with death was a long scrape along one cheekbone. “You heard anything about—uff.” He laughed as best he could with Affie hugging the breath out of him. “It’s okay, Little Bit. You can stop hugging me every time you see me. We’re all okay.”
Affie nodded as she reluctantly let go. “But so many people aren’t. The dead—on Starlight, on this planet, from the Nihil attacks—did we lose thousands? Tens of thousands? And there’s nothing we can do.”
At the Vessel hatch stood their navigator and comrade, Geode, whose wordless sorrow seemed more eloquent than anything Affie could say. Leox’s crooked smile faded as the three of them took in the scene of devastation that stretched out before them.
Head over to Entertainment Weekly for the rest of the excerpt. It’s short, but if I may editorialize briefly… man, is it good to be back with these characters. Pile on what we are learning about Eiram’s history in phase 2, and this is a great time to be a fan of this rich era. We are guaranteed to get more news about all of the High Republic during Star Wars Celebration. You can read more about the High Republic panel on Saturday, April 8, and everything else announced here.
Star Wars: The High Republic: For Light and Life is available for pre-order now.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
