I think these are both a great addition to the Star Wars universe. They expand upon a new time period in the Republic’s past and add some great new protagonists as well as some new existential threats to be confronted. Would recommend for new fans or old.

The excerpts feel fairly short, but they're great teases for the full books. Both books feel new and fresh when held up to other "Star Wars" novels. They both seem to stand on their own fairly well, inviting readers to take the plunge into their depths. I'm particularly excited for Claudia Gray's "Into the Dark" based on this excerpt.

I was intrigued by the characters in A TEST OF COURAGE and would read the whole book based on the interesting ensemble here. Avon was probably my favorite of these few. She’s spunky, bright, and bored – a combination perfect for an adventure. When the action of the story kicks off, she will be a character to watch. While the sampler didn’t get into any of that action, I was intrigued enough by the introduction that I would read the whole book to see what happens and how these new characters interact and develop through the story.

INTO THE DARK had a dry beginning that didn’t really grab my attention. If I had the full book, I would have pushed farther to see if things started clicking when the action amped up. I was also startled toward the end of the first chapter, after Reath had been the POV character for several pages, to have the POV suddenly shift to each of the other characters he is traveling with. That changing POV will be important to understanding the secrets each is keeping, but in the reading it felt abrupt and disorienting. Usually books will insert some sort of page break or change chapters when changing POV characters, but that was not the case in my electronic sampler. This may be clearer in the full, published version of the novel.

I’m not sure that I would go out of my way to read the full novel. The teaser just didn’t grab my attention. I am intrigued by the connections between Reath and the main Jedi character in the middle grade novel, Vernestra, though. They are contemporaries at least, which is interesting. If I enjoy Vernestra’s story enough, that could draw me into reading this one.

The full reviews for the books in this sampler were published as part of a larger Star Wars The High Republic special which can be found here:
https://unaltered.at/2021/01/13/special-reviews-star-wars-the-high-republic/

Star Wars The High Republic: A Test of Courage
Star Wars Leser wissen vermutlich bereits, dass Disney, Del Rey und Co. ihre Bücher in mehrere Kategorien unterteilen, von Romanen für erwachsenes Publikum über Jugendbuch bis hin zu Kinderbuch. Während sich darüber streiten lässt, ob jeder Roman der ersten Kategorie auch für ein jüngeres Zielpublikum geeignet ist, besteht jedoch kein Zweifel daran, dass auch Erwachsene mit den Werken letzteren beiden Kategorien durchaus Spaß haben können – und A Test of Courage beweist dies nur einmal mehr.
Das Jugendbuch von Justina Ireland spielt parallel zu den Ereignissen von Light of the Jedi, folgt jedoch der jungen, gerade zur Jedi-Ritterin ernannten Vernestra Rwoh, dem bloß wenig jüngeren Padawan Imri Cantaros, der mit seinem Temperament kämpft, sowie den beiden Senatorenkindern Avon Starros und Honesty Weft, die nach einem Angriff der Nihil allesamt auf einem fremden, unwirtlichen Planeten stranden und dort bestehen müssen. A Test of Courage fokussiert sich dabei nicht nur auf das Abenteuer selbst, sondern insbesondere auch auf die Versuchungen, denen junge Jedi ausgesetzt sind, und erforscht, welche Gedanken und Handlungen zur dunklen Seite führen und ob einzelne Ereignisse bereits den Weg dorthin beschließen können.
Obwohl das Werk auf Charaktere aus anderen Büchern Bezug nimmt, kann das Buch auch durchaus vor Light of the Jedi gelesen werden – sowohl von Jugendlichen, für die Charles Soules Buch womöglich etwas zu schwere Kost ist, wie auch von Erwachsenen, die mitunter nur auf der Suche nach einem kürzeren Ausflug ins Star Wars Universum sind.

Star Wars The High Republic: Into the Dark
Into the Dark war mein persönlicher Favorit unter den bisherigen Werken der High Republic-Ära und wurde von Claudia Gray verfasst, die im Star Wars-Universum bereits für Bücher wie Bloodline oder Lost Stars bekannt ist. Die Story folgt Padawan Reath Silas, Jedi-Meister Cohmac Vitus, Jedi-Ritterin Orla Jareni und der eigenwilligen Crew der Vessel unter dem oben bereits angesprochenen Captain Leox Gyasi, die nach einem Zwischenfall im Hyperraum auf einer verlassenen Raumstation stranden und sich dort gleich mehreren Bedrohungen gegenübersehen – nicht zuletzt einer starken Präsenz der Dunklen Seite der Macht, die in Verbindung mit den legendären Amaxine-Kriegern zu stehen scheint.
Claudia Grays Werk ist weit düsterer als die anderen Einträge in Phase 1 und liest sich wie eine spannende Mischung aus typischem Star Wars-Abenteuer und finster-ominösen Sci-Fi-Werken wie Alien oder Event Horizon. Into the Dark führt auch erstmals das Konzept von Wayseekern ein – Jedi, die sich von den Lehren des Ordens zurückziehen, um ihren eigenen Weg in der Macht zu finden – und zeigt einmal mehr, wie unterschiedliche Jedi ihren eigenen, inneren Kampf gegen die Dunkelheit, ihre persönlichen Zweifel und den Kontrast zwischen ihrer Berufung und ihren Wünschen meistern.
Wie immer gelingt es Claudia Gray dabei, vor allem auch die emotionale Seite der Story und Charaktere wunderbar in den Vordergrund zu rücken, sodass man von Minute eins an mit diesen mitfühlt und -fiebert, von den vorgestellten Jedi bis zu Nebencharakteren wie dem Navigator Geode, der mit seiner interessanten Persönlichkeit zu meinem neuem Lieblings-Star-Wars-Nebencharakter geworden ist.
In der größeren Story der High Republic nimmt Into the Dark – wie bislang alle Werke von Phase 1 – vor allem auf Light auf the Jedi Bezug, weshalb wir raten, dieses Werk zuerst zu lesen. A Test of Courage und die Comic-Bände können auch danach gelesen werden.

This chapter sampler is amazing! It got me extremely excited for the books in their entirety, and I hope that anyone that is skeptical about the High Republic in general or these books specifically will read this and feel compelled to read these books.

Star Wars The High Republic Chapter Sampler
By Justina Ireland and Claudia Gray
I got this as an ARC. thanks#NetGalley
The High Republic is finally here!! Starting from Project Luminous and finally rolled out now, after many delays!
Here is my review.
Things I liked
For part 1(a test of courage)
Full disclosure: I got the A Test of Courage ARC and read it. Then, I just reread that last bit of part 1 of the sampler to have some ida of where the sampler leaves off.
-New villain(We have seen too many dark jedi/Sith)
- J-6, a great droid
-A female young Jedi Knight(if you want one of those, the best place to find them is New Republic and beyond Legends books)
-Starlight Beacon
See my Goodreads review
Things I didn’t like
-The fact that ~200 years before TPM, they are still exploring the outer rim
For Part 2(light of the jedi)
I liked it. Claudia Gray is great.
What I liked
- Jedi Wayfinders, like Orla Jareni, who is nonhuman
-Starlight Beacon
-The Hyperspace disaster
-The fact that there is a Jedi who is more academics then lightsaber missions
-Padawan Reath and Master Jora
- Geode
-Affie
What I didn’t like
-That we end during a flashback
-That it is this short of a sampler
-cliffhanger ending

This gives a great look into the ambitious High Republic upcoming titles. I really enjoyed the world building in The Light of the Jedi sample. And Into the Dark had a very relatable POV that had me wanting to read more. I can’t wait to dive into the full novels and comics.

This was a fun Star Wars sampler and very intriguing of plot lines to come. I loved being able to read both samples at once and get a peek at how the two stories will overlap. I did like one (Into the Dark) a little bit more than the other, but they were both uniquely different. One characteristic that I really enjoyed was getting to really see the strong different characteristics in Jedi. Not all Jedi are fighters. They have individual interests; strengths and weaknesses. So I thought that was pretty neat.

I am so excited for the world of Star Wars to continue. but I will be honest, these chapter previews were quite boring. I really hate Claudia Gray's writing. I find it contrived.

The chapter sampler for these two upcoming Star Wars novels were exciting. They started off the story quickly and though it takes place well before the films we know and love, it still felt like visiting a familiar place. I’m excited to read the books when they come out!

The Star Wars High Republic Chapter Sampler was a pleasant introduction to these next installments in the Disney Star Wars collection.

Two hundred years before the events of The Skywalker Saga, in the era of the glorious High Republic, the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy…. Young readers will appreciate these plots and characters. The writing immerses fans in the adventures set in this era.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had already read the first book sampled here, and I plan on reading the second. The connection between the two-the ships with problems in hyperspace-is clear, even just in the sample chapters. Looking forward to see what happens in the second book.

These were very intriguing samplers for A Test of Courage and Into the Dark! I think they will be very well received by Star Wars fans. Though the previews are short, it seems like a very solid start into the series! I’m definitely curious to know where the story is going in both books, especially Into the Dark. I know that the Star Wars fans in my life will absolutely be picking up these two books for their collection! Thank you to Disney Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to view chapter samplers for A Test of Courage and Into the Dark.

Tantalizing preview of new series set in a previously unexplored era of the Star Wars universe. The dedication of a new space station to further the Republic's influence provides a setting for interesting new characters and scenarios. The timeline at the beginning of each book is especially helpful to set the various movies and tv shows in context.

This sampler was great! Though I do feel like I am missing something when it comes to how a padawan takes trials and what is canon. I am excited to read the full book and see how the series turns out.

A fantastic start to the new pre-prequel cannon.

These two snippets are brilliant, especially Claudia's work. I can't wait to fully explore the new cannon (despite loving the previous Legends work).

This sampler has already hooked me in and I'm ready for more. In just the first few chapters we get a glimpse at what it was like to be a Jedi in the age of The High Republic and how much we still have to learn.

Excellent taster hope the books become available for review soon, an exciting first dip into uncharted territory of Star Wars

Set 200 years prior to ‘The Phantom Menace’, ‘The High Republic’ Publishing Initiative finally kicks off after COVID delays.

We have been lucky enough to get some samples from the books. Charles Soule released the first 8 chapters from his book ‘Light of the Jedi’ online recently, and this sampler of the other two books that start the series, ‘Test of Courage’, the middle grade novel from Justina Ireland and ‘Into the Dark’ a Young Adult novel by Star Wars literary MVP Claudia Grey both help establish the quality of both upcoming books as well as giving us a taste of the stories.

As someone who has been excited for this series since it was announced in 2019, to finally get to read the first three chapters of these two books was amazing, they are written for their targeted age groups but as a Star Wats fan it’s about the story for me and what I read got me excited.

Whilst I don’t want to go into story details, what I will say is that the sampler has whet my appetite even more. It’s a great way for fans to get a look at what’s to come and also anyone on the fence about the series to test the waters.

These samplers by Justina and Claudia are a great way to dip your toes into the new world that is the High Republic era. I didn't know what to expect from this new phase of the Star Wars franchise, but I'm even more excited than I was before. What stood out the most to me is these aren't your ordinary cookie-cutter Jedi Knights, but, rather, they are very morally conflicted characters trying to find their way in the world despite the "peaceful" times they're living in. It's very evident that the doomed "Great Disaster" (the pinnacle event which launches us into this new era of storytelling) is a cataclysmic event that will test our heroes and force them to make choices they had never thought, and that excites me to no end.

For more of my thoughts on the High Republic books by Justina Ireland and Claudia Gray, check out our coverage on the Friends of the Force podcast after the January 5th launch.