Star Wars Path of Deceit Book Review

Phase I of the High Republic multimedia project has already been finished and Path of Deceit is the opening novel of Phase II, let’s see how high (or low) it sets the bar for the upcoming books.

The High Republic is something that many Star Wars fans haven’t explored yet. It is an era that ended in 82 BBY, considered the “golden age of the Jedi Order”. A time of expansion and exploration, mainly in the Outer Rim.

Star Wars The High Republic Path of Deceit Review

Path of Deceit is a young adult novel written by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland. It was released on October 4th, 2022.

This is not an illustrated book but I’ll use as many images as I can to help you visualize scenes and characters. This review contains light spoilers.

Path of Deceit Plot

Padawan Kevmo Zink and Jedi Master Zallah Macri arrive on the planet Dalna, following clues regarding Force Artifacts that have been stolen from different points across the galaxy. Dalna’s a world located in the Outer Rim, while it’s not a vastly populated planet there’s an organized society that does what it can with its limited resources.

There’s also a strange cult living separately from the main town: The Path of the Open Hand. This cult is led by The Mother, a human female that claims to have Force visions. They can be odd, but they co-exist peacefully with the rest of the population and welcome anyone who needs it.

Star Wars The High Republic project Phase II

Two important members of the cult are Marda and Yana Ro; two girls that joined the cult in their early years. They are very different in almost every sense, but they only have each other and this is going to determine their ultimate choice.

Kevmo encounters Marda Ro at the local market, the connection is instantaneous. One could imagine that their opposite views of the Force would be a breaking point, but they discuss and make each other grow.

Yana Ro wants to leave the Path of the Open Hand but the Mother asks for one more job before she’s able to leave. Yana accepts, thinking this is just a regular job but it is going to change her life.

A disaster occurs, and Yana and Kevmo join forces to save the day. This strengthens their connection, their friendship appears to be something that would last forever, but the Jedi’s mission is to recover the stolen artifacts, and everything points to the Mother. Will Yana see the truth or is she too blinded by her faith?

The Mother owns a strange purple jewel that disturbs everyone in its presence. It might not look like much, but it can change the destiny of the entire Jedi Order.

New characters

The Path of the Open Hand

They believe that the Force should be free, and reaching for it is a synonym for abuse, they often send their members to other planets to recruit new followers this has made their ideology fairly known to outsiders, including the Jedi. Their ranks are filled with all kinds of species and everyone has a different task, this allows them to be independent and self-sustainable, but all of them answer to the Mother.

The Mother

Her actual name is Elecia Zeveron but most people know her as the leader of the Path of the Open Hand, a mysterious and deceiving human that obtained her leadership thanks to her force visions. She claims to know what the Force wants, her followers believe this and are willing to do anything to please their beloved Mother.

Like most cult leaders, she uses the blind faith of others to increase her power and influence. Elecia uses his beauty and charisma to deceive anyone that questions her, if this fails she’ll try more “direct” methods to make sure that her wishes are granted.

Zallah Macri

A calm, wise, and dedicated Jedi Master. She always thinks before acting but Zallah Macri isn’t a pushover. The Soikan Jedi is stationed in Port Haileap, along with his apprentice Kevmo. Zallah Macri embodies what Jedi aspire to be.

Kevmo Zink

A Jedi Padawan from Pantora, he’s an outgoing, energetic, and sometimes impulsive apprentice. Jedi Master Macri asked to be her teacher despite the traits that some could consider challenging. Kevmo is eager to learn as much about the Force as he can, his young age allows him to have more open-minded than more seasoned Jedi.

Marda and Yana Ro

Marda is a gentle soul that cares about others and is one of the strongest believers in the Path of the Open Hand’s main objective, to set the Force

free. Marda’s spirit is as strong as her faith, but this means that she’s very easy to deceive and manipulate.

Path of Deceit Review - Marda Ro character

Yana on the other hand doesn’t really care that much about the Force, she’s one of “The Children”; a select group that is often sent off-world to “liberate” Force artifacts and keep them from being used.

Unlike her cousin, Yana knows that few can be trusted. She might not be a faithful believer of the cult but she deeply loves her cousin Marda and Kor, her girlfriend, who turns out to be the daughter of “The Herald”, the Mother’s second in command. She’ll turn a blind eye to the Mother’s shady activities as long as her loved ones are safe. As you might’ve figured, they’re ancestors of Marchion Ro.

A good way to start Phase II

For those who have already read Phase I, Path of Deceit is a perfect way to kick off the second phase of the High Republic. This takes place one hundred and fifty years before the Nihil threat to the galaxy, we learn something about the origins of things like the Nameless or the Gaze Electric.

Path of Deceit Review - The Gaze Electric — The Gaze Electric

This is a time when the galaxy is being investigated by Pathfinder teams, small groups of qualified people designated with exploring and learning about new planets, species, and dangers. Hyperspace routes are still being charted and communication is difficult, which makes everything more dangerous when things go wrong.

Starting Phase II in this timeline is something that I thought was odd, I was very skeptical about it but after reading Path of Deceit it makes perfect sense. The main characters are Kevmo and Marda Ro, two teenagers with opposing beliefs regarding the Force.

Normally, this would mean that the characters would become enemies or something similar, this isn’t the case with Kevmo and Marda. They constantly challenge and tease each other about what the Force is, and their role in it, but always maintain a certain level of respect and openness to listen to all arguments.

Cults of the Force aren’t anything new, but it’s very rare to see an open conversation with opposing parties that don’t end up with the ignition of a lightsaber. Both have very valid points if you try to understand the differences in their concepts about what the Force is.

They might have different points of view, but that doesn’t stop them from becoming very close, very quickly. Both Kevmo and Mara start questioning their own beliefs, it is a good exercise for both of them but in the end, they’re still too young and lack the knowledge and wisdom required to answer such profound questions.

The Path of the Open Hand is filled with many good people that genuinely care and protect each other. But like many cults, they’re brainwashed to do what the mother asks with the argument that it is the will of the Force. That includes Marda Ro, even when there’s evidence that there’s something wrong she refuses to believe it and justifies it by repeating what the Mother has told them for years.

This story felt very isolated due to how almost everything happens in Dalna, that’s something that’s not so common in a Star Wars story, this allowed me to connect with the place and characters on a deeper level, even the secondary ones. Hopefully, this isn’t the last time that it happens in Phase II.

I made the mistake of assuming the story was predictable, it remains stable for the most part, for two hundred and fifty pages I thought that this was a chill story with nothing that would shock me, like a Clone Wars episode from the first seasons, saying that I was wrong would be an understatement.

The last part of the book made such a twist that it didn’t matter that I was reading it at 2 am, I had to know how it all ended. Do you remember how you felt when Order 66 happened? Well, I felt something very similar with Path of Deceit, it hits fast and it hits very hard. It destroyed me but for that reason I love it.

Overall Thoughts

First I’ll talk about the positive points of the book. The master-apprentice relationship between Zallah and Kevmo is great, even if it’s not explored as much as I’d have liked. Her calm and cold-headed approach makes up for his impulsiveness, it reminds me of Obi-Wan and Anakin.

The world-building is so good, the fact that the main characters were in the same place for the entirety of the book allowed me to have a very clear image of the port and the Cult’s whereabouts.

The characters are super-defined and that makes it easier for me to understand their motivations and reasoning behind the things that they do (or not). Kevmo’s bright spirit, Marda’s huge heart, and Yana’s strong make them very memorable characters.

The Mother is so easy to dislike, having well-written protagonists is important to get invested but you know they did a good job when you really want something bad to happen to the villain.

I’m still shocked about the ending of the book, it’s going to be key in the development of the characters that will continue the story. The High Republic has the luxury of being able to create or destroy characters without fans getting too upset, even the simplest mission can turn into a tragedy and that makes it feel like the stakes are higher.

There’s only one thing that I disliked about Path of Deceit. The book is less than three hundred and fifty pages, I don’t expect a young adult novel to be eight hundred pages but it was too brief for me, especially considering how much time the authors spent describing things over characters.

Final Verdict

I had a good time reading Path of Deceit, some books are a roller coaster of emotions, but this one is not. Everything is calm for the first two-thirds of the book but once you get to the plot twist you won’t be able to put it down.

We know that Marchion Ro’s origins can be traced to the Path of the Open Hand, I really want to see how this story continues throughout Phase II and discover how every storyline develops. There are some hints but learning how all the events set up Phase I and even Phase III is so interesting to me. Marda and Yana are going to be key in how everything unfolds.

The small easter eggs and mentions about certain things or characters that have an important role in Phase I reminds you that there’s a bigger picture.

This book can be a good first approach to the High Republic, you won’t miss that much but if you’ve already read Phase I then you’re going to be rewarded. I’m super excited to learn what else the High Republic has prepared for us!

This entire review as well as the summary in the review card below are all based on our own opinions as fans of the franchise. We would love it if you shared your thoughts.

Full Title:

Path of deceit