Book Review: Wayseeker

Vernestra Rwoh was an instant fave of mine when The High Republic first started, so I was beyond thrilled when she got to be in The Acolyte. But a hundred years and a different medium can change a person a lot, so she does come off quite differently in the show. And here to bridge that gap is Wayseeker, a novel by Justina Ireland, who wrote the first Vernestra book (and many of her appearances). Wayseeker is a really fun book not only giving us a new look at a much older Vernestra, as well as a younger version of The Acolyte's Indara. If you like The High Republic, The Acolyte, or just fun Jedi adventures, then Wayseeker is the book for you!

Pick up your own copy of Wayseeker today!

Light spoilers ahead for Wayseeker by Justina Ireland.

I think something that many of us were looking for going into this novel is bridging the Vernestra we know from The High Republic and the older version of her in The Acolyte. In The Acolyte, Vernestra is much more severe, self-assured and closed off than the younger version of her in other novels. I think this book does a great job showing that progression.

This book takes place decades after The High Republic, but decades before The Acolyte, so she's not exactly like either portrayal, but in the middle of the two. In the book she is certainly more wisened and experienced than her younger self, but still more of a free spirit than the older version. She has to learn how to re-open herself to younger Jedi and their perspectives, while still dealing with the trauma of what happened to Qimir (which the book alludes to without detail).

This version of Vernestra felt like both of her different portrayals, just right in the middle of them- as it should be. I thought Ireland connected the two perfectly in this book, especially with the use of first-person in Vernestra's chapters. It was a bit jarring at first switching between first and third person, but I grew used to it and began to appreciate being inside Vernestra's head so intimately and getting to hear her voice her own opinions. First-person isn't usually preferred for me, but I liked it here and I think it did a lot of the legwork in combining the two iterations we know of Vernestra, which I think was definitely the point!

The co-lead of this book is Indara. I liked Indara in The Acolyte (especially after episode 7), and getting to know her much better was a really fun part of this book. She's much younger here, and while the Brendok incident hasn't happened yet there is still a traumatic event in her past that she is recovering from. Indara in the beginning of the book is a bit fearful of missions- as much as part of her does want that adventure, her trauma leads to her preferring to stay in the Temple as an archivist. It's the Jedi Council that assigns her the job of retrieving Vernestra, a Wayseeker who isn't returning their calls to return home when a senator requests her specifically for a mission, as a way to get her out of their comfort zone.

Her relationship with Vernestra is initially rather combative because of this, as Vernestra sees her trauma-induced fear instead as a lack of care for the wider galaxy. But they both grow to understand each other over the course of the book, as well as ending the reign of a powerful spice-dealer and his lightsaber nullifying weapons.

Indara's arc also made me see her relationship with her padawan in The Acolyte, Torbin, just a bit differently. Torbin is sick of Brendok (even before they find the witches) and wants to go back to the Temple. This book makes me think that Indara likely saw her younger self in Torbin, and was trying to push him a bit out of his comfort zone so he could grow- just like the Council did for her when she was already a Knight.