“The Force works in different ways with different people…”
– Maz Kanata
I mean, collecting is something a LOT of Star Wars people should be pretty psyched about right? This book kind of looks at some of the really cool Force wielding history we know but with fresh eyes. We follow a teenager named Karr Nuq Sin who begins searching for relics that can teach him more about the forgotten history of the Jedi. This book doesn’t have much of the usual Star Wars action we are accustomed to. It gives us something much more like a journey for knowledge… as the title implies. It’s a very unique look into watching Karr try to piece together the history of the Jedi after so much knowledge has been lost to the Empire, and now the First Order.
SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Collector
Karr is a teenage boy attending school and dealing with all the hardships that come with that part of our lives. In addition to the usual not fitting in and bullying, he is suffering from strange headaches when coming in contact with certain objects. It’s the beginning of what he will soon learn is his connection to the Force. The story takes place in the time before The Force Awakens where there isn’t very much knowledge of the Jedi, the Force, or the dark side and he doesn’t have many options on learning. With the galaxy not providing many answers, Karr begins to search out relics themselves to learn what he can from them.
Best Friends
Karr has a custom droid buddy RZ-7 who looks like a med droid but is built from everything from protocol droid programming to astromech parts. RZ has helped keep Karr safe when he has suffered from his headaches and eventually helps Karr on his journey. Maize Raynshi is a half-human half-mirialen girl who joins Karr on his journey. She is much more adventurous and helps bring out that spark in Karr himself. She is the total opposite of Karr and his reserved timid nature. Maize is the rule breaker who isn’t scared to drag Karr along on the path that he really wants to be on.
Force Echoes
While Karr’s family tells him his headaches could be caused by illness it soon becomes clear that he possesses the rare ability of psychometry. We’ve seen this power before in Quinlan Vos (see picture above in which I had an excuse to post Quinlan Vos and used it without regret,) and more recently in the Jedi: Fallen Order video game. I love the ability and also how it ‘s used in telling the story to Karr here. By searching out these objects he is able to piece together the truth of the Jedi and witness many key moments and people from the past. It’s fascinating to watch the story we know unravel to Karr as he encounters pieces from the past. It was also really cool how many things were worked in from lots of the stories that we already know. From the saga of the Skywalkers, the Inquisitors, and even the Guardians of the Whills, Karr learns much and eventually starts to uncover his own story.
Across the Stars
Just like the journey here shows Karr familiar pieces and people, it also takes him to familiar places. It probably comes as no surprise that his collecting eventually leads his to Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities on Batuu, but his journey brings him across many more places that I recognized. It was great seeing his destinations and thinking of all that transpired there that he might soon discover.
The Jedi and the Sith
The most interesting about the story is it gets into much of the misinformation and loss of knowledge in the galaxy after the fall of the Empire. Karr has to pick out the pieces of the truths he witnesses against the stories that he has been taught. It’s really sad to see the cost of everything that was lost because of Darth Sidious and his attempts to wipe the Jedi from history.
Bits and Pieces
The story is a fun and interesting exploration into the search for the forgotten history of the Jedi. Karr’s journey is fun to follow and I’m curious to see where the path could eventually go. I also loved seeing a lot of cool moments like Nabrun Leids, ignite the green, the tale of two Skywalkers, Niima Outpost, Takodana, twin suns, Black Spire, the First Order, and Jedi temple guards!
– Sal P.
“I’m the one who holds the memory.”
– Karr Nuq Sin
The Rogue Rebels 