Avar Kriss Fights Back From the Occlusion Zone in New ‘Star Wars: The Eye of Darkness’ Excerpt
A new excerpt for the upcoming kickoff novel for Phase III of the High Republic publishing initiative has been released. George Mann’s The Eye of Darkness hits shelves on November 14 and has a lot to offer for readers far and wide, with this latest excerpt showcasing just that.
Entertainment Weekly has a peak into what’s happening with Jedi Master Avar Kriss in the Occlusion Zone, the space controlled by the Nihil. In our review, as a quick aside, we described the plot with Avar as “Rogue One-adjacent” in that the Jedi Master is willing to go to extreme lengths for a glimmer of hope. During her trials, she brings together a ragtag group of people who feel the same.
Check out a piece of the excerpt below.
“Who are you?”
After jettisoning the escape pod containing the two still-unconscious Nihil, Avar had made her way to the transport ship’s cockpit, where a series of alarms was blaring and the Ugnaught pilot seemed to be in something of a panic. He turned to stare wide-eyed at Avar as she strode purposefully into the small space, leaned over the controls, and silenced the annoying alarms. KC-78 trundled in behind her.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. I’m here to help.”
The Ugnaught — a small, hairy, porcine male with a heavy brow ridge and downturned mouth — looked at her appraisingly. “A pirate? A smuggler?” He caught sight of the holster strapped to Avar’s hip. “Oh no. No. A Jedi!”
Avar narrowed her eyes. “You sound worried.”
“Well of course I’m worried!” spat the Ugnaught. “There’s been a disturbance in the cargo hold, and one of the escape pods has been jettisoned. Now, instead of the two Nihil guards that were supposed to be overseeing this grain shipment, I’ve got you, standing there all uppity with your lightsaber.”
Avar tried to keep her smile to herself but failed. “All uppity?”
“Well, you do seem rather pleased with yourself.”
“Hmmm. Well, I can assure you, my lightsaber is staying right where it is, in its holster.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” said the Ugnaught.
“You’re not Nihil, then?” said Avar. It was thunderingly obvious that the Ugnaught was not affiliated with Marchion Ro’s regime, but Avar thought it might be a way of drawing him out, calming him a little. Her best guess was that he was just a haulage pilot who’d been co-opted into serving the Nihil through coercion and threats.
“Me? I’ve got nothing to do with those mask-wearing fools. I mean, look at me.” He thumped his chest. “Do I look like I go running about threatening folk and daubing blue paint on my face? Well, do I?”
“You don’t,” conceded Avar. “So I’d imagine you’ll be happy to be free of them.”
“Free of them? They’ll probably feed me to a whickersnipe for this! Reptile food! That’s all I’ll be good for. That’s assuming I even survive whatever foolishness it is you have planned.” He shook his head. “Jedi,” he muttered under his breath.
Avar examined the navigation readouts. “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Do I?” replied the Ugnaught.
“I’m redirecting this cargo. To people who need it.” She leaned over the control panel and started inputting a course to Prandril, a small Rodian colony on a moon in the Minos Cluster, which Avar had heard was running close to starvation after the colonists’ regular food supply channels had been disrupted by the Nihil. It was close by. They’d be unloading the grain within a couple of hours. Grain that had been grown on Hetzal, where the Nihil now had their main base of operations, and from where they were controlling all food shipments in the region, starving out the populations that refused to pledge fealty or pay tithes. It was utterly barbaric.
“Are you mad? If the Nihil catch you . . .”
Avar shot the Ugnaught a glance. “They won’t.”
Head over to Entertainment Weekly for the rest of the excerpt, or listen to an audio version in their latest edition of the Dagobah Dispatch podcast.
The Eye of Darkness picks up one year after the fall of Starlight Beacon. The Nihil have put up the Stormwall, which has created a situation where Avar has to go rogue. Will it all come tumbling down when the risks she has to take become too dangerous? Find out on November 14 when the next High Republic book becomes available. You can pre-order it now and read our full non-spoiler review here.
Phase III is officially here. Before reading The Eye of Darkness, next week marks the return of Marvel’s flagship The High Republic series. Issue #1 will come to comic book stores on November 8. The second issue of Charles Soule’s Shadows of Starlight miniseries will also drop on the 8th, along with new episodes of Young Jedi Adventures on Disney Plus. The latest batch will feature the debut of Bell Zettifar and Loden Greatstorm.
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.
