A fun introduction of the High Republic for a younger audience. Bringing new readers into the Star Wars universe by giving younger readers new characters to embrace and watch grow is a great way to expand the fanbase. Keeping things light and fun, Race To Crashpoint Tower is an enjoyable read for any age.

This wasn’t bad by any means. I thought it was a lot of fun. But it doesn’t carry the same emotional heft or maturity as Justina Ireland’s A Test of Courage or even the High Republic Adventures comics line by Daniel Jose Older. In places it felt like a good, rip roaring Star Wars story and in places it felt written down to its middle grade audience. And, like all good Star Wars, it has moments of genuine wisdom. It’s a mixed bag with more good than bad, but it’s still a mixed bag.

This felt like too many characters and too many running plots to follow, especially within such a short book. Readers looking for action may like it more, but I tend to read for characters and character dynamics and space out during action and I therefore just couldn’t follow what was happening- again, I think this might have just been a bad fit for me but even with it there were parts I enjoyed.

I received an free eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I am reviewing the audiobook so I will do this in two sections.

Story: the story was great. It was fast paced, entertaining, and the characters were relatable. The beginning was a little slow to start, but picked up about 25% in. I think my only critique is all the talk of the hyperdrive or hyperspace incident. I’m not sure if this is something covered in a different book or if it is just establishing the timeline for future books.

Audio: the narrator and sound effects were pretty much how I expected a Star Wars audiobook to have. I could hear the story well and it had a good pace. I think my only critique would be that the female character voices were a little harder for me to distinguish while the narrators voice and the boy character was close to the narrators own voice. I think for the girls listening to this, it may be nice to either have more of a distinction or have a female narrator for those parts.

I would recommend this book for any kid who loves Star Wars. It has all the action with kid friendly dialogue.

Race to Crashpoint Tower is another fantastic Junior Star Wars novel set in the era of the High Republic; the golden age of the Jedi. The recently released HR books all take place around the time of a galaxy-wide event known as the Great Disaster.

This catastrophic event caused a bit of chaos as ships were launched out of hyperspace, moons were destroyed and great amounts of debris were spread about. To put it in a timeline perspective, these High Republic novels predate all previously released Star Wars Canon materials. This story is set on the planet of Valo, after the Great Disaster, where a Republic Fair is about to take place.

Jedi Padawan, Ram Jamoram, is working diligently in his garage when a security alarm sounds from the communication center known as Crashpoint Tower. Ram sets out with his trusty droid, V-18, to investigate. Once there he discovers the tower has purposefully been tampered with; blocking all communications. Nihil sabotage!

Now Ram must warn the Jedi and seek help as the planet comes under siege. With the galaxy teetering between balance and chaos, can order be restored?

Luckily, another young Jedi Padawan arrives from off-planet, Lula, and she joins Ram as they try to repair the comms, so they can notify the Republic they're under attack. Perhaps Starlight will send reinforcements. The Nihil raiders have also joined forces with other dark force beings from the wider galaxy, raising the stakes and the difficulty level of Ram and Lula's mission significantly.

This was such a fun story. I loved seeing the connections between this and the other stories within the new High Republic materials. There was even character crossover, as one of my favorite characters from A Test of Courage advised on this mission.

As always with the Junior Canon novels, I found this to be easy to follow, fast-paced, funny and an excellent introduction to the belief system of the Jedi and the workings of the galaxy in general. I am really glad I had a chance to read this one. The audiobook is incredible, as the Star Wars audiobooks always include great narration and fun sound effects.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney LucasFilms Press, for providing me with the audiobook of this to read and review. It was a ton of fun and I cannot wait for the next releases in the High Republic content!

The hyperspace disaster behind them, the Republic is ready to move forward with it's belief of peace and unity for a better galaxy. The Republic Fair, meant to be a great celebration and showcase of this message, is about to take place on Valo. The threat of the Nihil is thought to be over but security is upgraded to protect all the guests, including the Chancellor herself, Lina Soh. Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram should be preparing with the others but instead has managed to step out to fix a broken security speeder. It is there droid V-18 finds Ram and informs him that the security alert has been tripped off at the comms tower and the comms themselves are now glitchy preventing him from calling to alert anyone. Ram sets off to investigate Crashpoint Tower where he runs into the dreaded Nihil. Things go from bad to worse when he is mistakenly apprehended by local security trying to warn the Republic of the attempted sabotage. With the help of some new friends investigating the Nihil, will Ram be able to deliver his warning?

Originally, I'd planned to read The Rising Storm first to see where this story tied into it but when presented with the chance to listen to the audiobook I couldn't wait any longer. I'm happy to report Rase to Crashpoint Tower stands well on its own. It was an absolute thrill and pleasure to listen to. Usually not one for audiobooks, I really enjoyed Todd Haberkorn narration and found his voice was perfect for a middlegrade title such as this. The different voices were well done and the intro music added a fun flair to the experience. At about 3 hours and 20 minutes long, it's a title the whole family could enjoy together.

Race To Crashpoint Tower is a fantastic addition to the High Republic and the best middlegrade Star Wars novel I've read in some time. Filled with action, high stakes, menacing villains, comedy, and a great cast of characters, this title brings everything great about The High Republic to the middlegrade audience. Whereas the first High Republic middlegrade title, A Test of Courage, didn't quite get to show us the villains of this era in full force, Crashpoint Tower does. This was a very welcome surprise as was the inclusion of characters from Daniel Jose Olders Star Wars The High Republic Adventures comic series. What I love most about this era of Star Wars is how everyone is able to follow along with novels ranging from middlegrade, teen, and adult, to comics, picture books, and even an upcoming manga title. This makes the series not only accessible to fans of all ages, but very rich in content as characters show up in different titles. Reading every title makes quite the satisfying experience and no title has proved that point better than Race to Crashpoint Tower. I would highly encourage any adult fan to give it a read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy to review.

As one who loves Star Wars and loves listening to audiobooks, this was the perfect way to re"read" "Race to Crashpoint Tower." It was a great compliment to the book and it added a fun, and easy way to catch parts that I missed during my first read. Although the narrator wasn't my favorite, he did a good job with the character voices, and the sound effects really added to the story.

Book Review for the Print Version: "Race to Crashpoint Tower" written by Daniel José Older was written for middle readers, ages 8-12, and it is set in the High Republic Era of the Star Wars Universe following the events of "The Great Disaster" around 200 years before the "The Phantom Menace". This book is preceeded by Justina Ireland's "A Test of Courage" and IDW's "The High Republic Adventures" 1-5. If the readers are avid Star Wars fans who must read everything in an order, it should follow Cavan Scott's "The Rising Storm" (See suggested reading order below).

This book in the series follows Padawan Ram Jomaram and his droid V-18 on the planet Valo as the Valons prepare for the arrival of visitors for the Republic Fair. It has many cameo appearances from the other High Republic publications, and as with all THR stories, there is an attack by the Nihil and even Drengir. Ram seems to be the only one who recognizes the threat, and it becomes his responsibility to notify the Starlight Beacon and call for reinforcements before all chaos ensues.

For middle readers, this is a fantastic story. It is fast-paced and straightforward, the characters are well developed, and the villains are to be feared without causing pre-teen nightmares. For those who have read the other THR stories, they will be pleased by Older's use of known characters and the way he overlaps them into the meta-narrative.

Loved the easy listen to this book. The narrator did an amazing job, and it was fun and easy to listen to. Definitely recommend this audiobook!

This was a wild, enjoyable ride in the High Republic universe. I enjoyed the new characters as well as the action throughout the story. I thought the author did a great job conveying the conflicts the main character went through without too much time spent on tepid introspection. This was perfect for the age group and even fun to read for adults. The author did a great job balancing comedy, action, and dialogue throughout the story. I am very excited for Daniel Jose Older’s continued work in Star Wars,

I loved the narrator and how he perfectly balanced the emotions of the main character with introspection. He provided great voices for the various characters and brought the story to life. Excellent work!

Overall it was fun to listen to this one, especially with the sound effects! I think it fits in well either new universe and the narrator does a great job getting the voices to flow well.