The Great Jedi Rescue

Star Wars: The High Republic

by Cavan Scott, Pétur Antonsson (Illustrator)

Meet the Jedi of the High Republic! When a disaster in hyperspace puts the people of Hetzal Prime in danger, only the brave Jedi—the guardians of peace and justice— can save the day.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fantasy

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2021

About the author

is a freelance comic writer and author. He is best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from both Doctor Who and Star Wars, as well as comics and novels for Vikings, Pacific Rim, Sherlock Holmes, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Cavan Scott, along with Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, and Charles Soule are crafting a new era in the Star Wars publishing world called Star Wars: The High Republic. Cavan's contribution to the era is a comic book series released through Marvel Comics titled Star Wars: The High Republic.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great visual companion to the first High Repiblic book. Yes it is aimed at younger readers but it manages to get across the Part 1 of the book in 22 pages but tge book takes 128 pages. Obviously it does not cover everything but enough to get the story across. Great art work as well. If I was going to find something to complain about it is that it us only 22 pages but I have bought comics with the same amount of pages for the same amount if money.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cliff Notes version of the cold open that begins Light of the Jedi. It's a pretty basic recap of events for children. It does make a great companion piece to Light of the Jedi though just for the gorgeous illustrations of the many Jedi in the story. If you enjoyed Light of the Jedi, it's worth it to search this out from your local library and breeze through this.

[LordTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great kids version of Part 1 of Light of the Jedi, COMPLETE WITH STICKERS OMGGGGGGGG
If I’m being honest, I would’ve bought this even if I didn’t have a child 🤣

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this while reading Light of the Jedi because I thought it was another story in the High Republic era, but it turns out it’s just an abridged version of that novel. I think it was still good, and obviously it’s for kids so it’s toned down a lot, but it was still enjoyable. I wish LotJ had pictures in it like this did because it definitely helped with the characters. Also the stickers included are cool, but the collector in me will not let me actually use them lol

[Eva B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but cute intro to the High Republic era starring a Wookiee Jedi! Obviously geared towards kids, but it summed up the Great Disaster in a simple way and had interesting characters, even if we didn't get to know them that well.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the pictures, but thought the plot was a bit weak, even for a kids’ book. Still, it was great meeting Burryaga, a wookie Padawan.

[Brett Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jedi being heroic in the events of The Light of the Jedi. Nice artwork. 5 stars.

[Books & Vodka Sodas · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I have this OCD habit, I can't read series or collections out of order-- even if they don't matter. Hence why I read the childrens book version of the first high republic book. Lol

It was totally cute, and I hope they do this for all of them for the kiddos.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is meant for kids. It’s only worth reading for the artwork as a companion to the rest of the High Republic novels.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, fun, and really pretty! Although the story doesn't give us anything new and only focuses on the first part of the destaster (the Nihil aren't even mentioned), this little illustrated book provides a nice start into the High Republic for young readers and has a lot of stunning illustrations. Plus, it has stickers! Who doesn't love stickers?

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

that was cute

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute kid’s adaption of the beginning of Light of the Jedi. I love that they told the story visually from the POV of a familiar species for kids. I loved the opening spread because it dropped you right in the action. I felt that terrified look, since I knew what was coming!

[Renn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish someone would’ve told me this is a rehashing of Light of the Jedi part one. Even so, I like that it makes the story accessible to more people. And the illustrations are very handy for reference.

Bonus: it comes with stickers! My favorites include ones of Avar Kriss, Bell Zettifar, Burryaga, Loden Greatstorm, and Te’Ami.

[Jenbebookish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read 08/09/2021

Ok so I was looking to start getting into the High Republic series, & was sort of lost as to where to start. I love Star Wars, have of course seen the movies a million times but when it comes to all the other star wars stuff, the comics, graphic novels, books, etc, I’ve never even tried to dip my toe in that massive ocean. But my inner nerd has been on the outskirts of this fandom for too long, peeking in, wondering what it’s all about, & so finally I am preparing to make the jump. And while doing my due diligence before taking that leap, I browsed the Internet/Goodreads to get an idea of where I should start, & of everything I would need to tackle, & I somehow came to this. It was the first work listed in the High Republic, I saw some reviews saying it was a little history, and so I picked this up, despite being surprised that it was a little picture book in the children’s section.

And! It was a little 24 page picture book for kids, so for what it was it was fine! I thought the writing was a little basic, like flatly informative, but hey. It had a particularly beautiful Jedi, a Wookie Jedi, & pirates so that’s pretty much a win. It was too short, but now I’ll be reading an actual book book & I’m curious to see if any of the teeny tiny bit of info from this book will be useful or relevant as I make my way through the series. Either way, it was a cute little dose of Star Wars to get me in the mood for more!

[megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up when I went to Barnes & Noble and read the entire thing in one sitting. It was a great illustration of the first part of Light of the Jedi, and if I had kids I would love to share this with them. The illustrations are adorable and it actually helped me picture the characters I read about much easier.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

GUYS THE FIREBRANDS ARE ALL TOGETHER

[Christian Wermeskerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute overview of The Great Disaster - highlights include art of most of the Jedi from the crisis, helping readers get a better sense of who everyone is in a text-heavy story.

[jasmine m. · Rating 4 out of 5]

was a good place to start with the high republic. Very simple introduction to some of the characters and the basic plot of this new era. Was very cute and actually was a bit exciting. It was definitely written for a much younger reader but it still put a smile on my face

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely children's book that retells the events of part 1 of Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. There is certainly a challenge in adapting this material for young readers, as it is quite dark. However, Cavan Scott's adaptation focuses on the heroism of the Jedi and how their teamwork and hope allowed them to succeed.

The real standout of this small edition is the art (and by extension the stickers...who can say no to stickers!! The art really brings the characters and setting to live with a friendly style. Overall, this was an enjoyable short read and I would share it with the kiddos in my life who love Star Wars!

[Lance Shadow]

And now it's finally official: I have finally read everything in the high republic! Sure, I was already caught up on the narratives following my completion of Into the Dark, as this book doesn't tell any new stories. But I was interested in acquiring it, primarily because of STICKERS!!!! :D

THE STORY: This is essentially a condensed retelling of the Hetzal Prime sequence in Light of the Jedi for junior audiences. Something crashes into the starship "Legacy Run" while it is traveling through hyperspace, and the pieces are flying towards the Hetzal System. It is up to the heroic jedi knights to save the people of the Hetzal system from the impending massacre that they face with the Legacy Run's fragments.

THE BAD: The only error worth complaining about is that Light of the Jedi describes Te'Ami having green skin, while this book presents her as having blue skin. It doesn't affect the story or the character in either entry, but those who are uptight about every detail lining up perfectly exact will probably be annoyed. Anything else that could be considered a "negative" isn't really worth criticizing this book for, but I may as well point out a caveat for certain readers.
People who are lore nuts looking for a new story, new characters, or new insights are definitely not going to get that here- there's not even one mention of the nihil, the main villains that the jedi are up against in this era. But it's not worth calling this out as a negative on this book's part because it wasn't Cavan Scott's intent. He wanted to write a cool story for young children about the jedi being heroes and saving the day. That's exactly what is delivered here. This is perfectly fine as a window into the High Republic for kids who would be deemed by their parents as too young to handle the darkest and most intense moments in Light of the Jedi. This is also a bare bones, surface level retelling, but again, I give this book a pass for it because its intended to be accessible version of the story to the youngest of star wars fans- Light of the Jedi almost had to much for me, a 25 year old adult, to follow for kriff's sake.

THE GOOD: Outside of the [STICKERS!!!!] I was mainly happy to pick this up because of the appealing pictures. The artwork is really nice to look at and helps to provide me as a reader of the High Republic project a visual representation of the pivotal events taking place during Light of the Jedi and beyond. As well written as Charles Soule's action sequences were, was hard to visualize everything in my mind without going to StarWars.com and sifting through the concept art for the High Republic- and even that only has a few character models. No artwork for ships and locations, so it was difficult to remember what everything is supposed to look like. The High Republic is still a brand new era in Star Wars after all, so I don't have much in terms of good visual references like I would have with stories told in the time period of the Skywalker Saga or the Old Republic era if I was reading a legends novel from that time frame. Heck, even the jedi and their lightsabers have a different aesthetic to them, so I couldn't even use the jedi of the prequels or the old republic as a reference there. With The Great Jedi Rescue, I have a much clearer, better picture as to what Light of the Jedi was trying to present. Now when I go back to revisit Light of the Jedi I can have a greater appreciation for what is going on during the Hetzal sequence because now I have the pictures in this book to serve as a reference. And other stories down the line are going to be using these characters and ship models.
As a bonus for astute lore nuts who have read and remembered all the details from Light of the Jedi, Peter Antonssenn's illustrations have subtle changes reflecting what happened to characters like Loden Greatstorm and Te'Ami who were present during the Hetzal crisis but not during other sequences. So even though there was a mistake with Te'Ami's skin color, good on Cavan Scott and Peter Antonsenn for paying attention to continuity otherwise.

THE CONCLUSION: I'm not going to give this a star rating, because I don't think that's helpful in this case. I was glad I picked this up, especially to satisfy the completionist in me, but I fully recognize that for other people it will do nothing for them.
The Great Jedi Rescue gave me exactly what I was expecting to get, and I was perfectly ok with that. It may be a surface level retelling of events I already read, but it was intended to be one that young children could read without needing to worry about following so many characters and subplots like Light of the Jedi requires. Plus, what child wouldn't be on board with cool star wars pictures and [STICKERS!!!!] (again, I'm a 25 year old man and I was left happy).
The biggest takeaway I got from this is the aesthetically pleasing artwork. Until a more comprehensive, official visual dictionary of some sort is released (Lucasfilm, make this happen. And then take my money. Please and thank you), this is probably the best we will have in that regard. Even though both the High Republic comic and the high republic Adventures comic have some good-to-great artwork portraying this era, both of those are presented as side stories (even though so far they have been good side stories), the events in Light of the Jedi are set up as being the main story and more pivotal to the narrative. So the visualizations in The Great Jedi Rescue will likely be more relevant to the High Republic project as a whole, and hence I see them as a more useful visual reference.

If you have young children that you are trying to have get into Star Wars, go ahead and drop 5$ to share this with them. Otherwise, there's no definitive recommendation, or suggestion to skip, that I can make here. Hopefully this review gave you a good sense of whether or not this will have something to offer to you as a Star Wars fan.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Jedi Rescue is a great illustrated version of the The Light of Jedi! While obviously designed for the kids to get on board with things and understand the High Republic it is exceptionally well put together! The illustrtes are brilliant really giving us more of a look at these characters! The script itself is as sharp as the The High Republic and Light of the Jedi and hits the overall ark of the story of the Light of the Jedi as well! It can also serve as a who's who as well for these new characters to boot and really catches the energy of The Light of the Jedi! Cavan Scott put his characters through it!

At the same time there are stickers which are really wel illustrated! You do not need tiny people for this! Brilliant art the at marries up with an epic scrip full of dring do, world building adventure and action! Crisp High Five! Highly Recommended! Get it When You Can!

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today is the day! The High Republic Books have launched! My goal today was to pick up Light of the Jedi at my local Target drive up and my order got canceled twice! They are sold out at all my local shops. It's great to see so much excitement for the series.

I was really happy however to get The Great Jedi Rescue in the mail. The book is young readers adaption of the first view chapters of "Light". It includes the fate of The Republic ship The Legacy Run and the Jedi that come to help the people of Hetzal Prime.

The rest of the story involves many of the Jedi characters we will see in Phase One of the High Republic launch.
And Stickers!! My laptop is already sporting The High Republic logo and now I'm thinking of where I will put my amazing Burryaga sticker!

This is a such a fun read and a nice primer for all the characters that will cross paths in the various books.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is a picture-book version of the first third of the novel The Light of the Jedi. My main thought as I read this: If I could get the main story from a picture book, why did I spend all those hours listening to the full audiobook? Not only is this book much quicker, but the pictures are almost required, since these characters and ships haven't appeared in any other media. I wish the novels of the High Republic would be illustrated; it would be so helpful.

As a standalone children's book, I don't think this works well at all. It's a quick summary of a rather horrific incident in Star Wars—a huge transport ship explodes in hyperspace, hundreds of people die, and the nearby planets and even the whole solar system are nearly destroyed. Not really "kid stuff." But there's a Wookiee Jedi, which is probably what kids will remember most from this book.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this picture book after completing Light of the Jedi, as it is a retelling of that story for a younger audience.

Nice to have images (and stickers) for characters, ships, and the Starlight Beacon.

[Thomas Janssen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little picture book, describing the events of the first part of Light of the Jedi. Obviously not meant for my age demographic, but it's nice to see illustrations of some of the characters, ships, etc. of the High Republic

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really nice visual aide to the beginning of the High Republic series. I liked seeing what the characters looked like because I get them all mixed up otherwise, lol. But a real cute child-friendly edition of the story.

[Zeina (Taylor's Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading this thinking it was another story in the High Republic era, but it was just a kid's version of light of the jedi but I still enjoyed this so much and I loved the illustrations so much.

[katie :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love you bell zettifar <3

[Weston Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick read, a cool narrated version of Light of the Jedi which I read two years ago. I’ll count it cause why not.

[Ellie Rawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish when I'd looked up the High Republic reading order it just said this was a children's version of the first part of the book I've just read 🤣 least I've got a book for the nieces and nephew