For me it was finally time to read Wayseeker by Justina Ireland. I decided to hold off on this one till after Trials and I’m very glad I did. While the book doesn’t have any really major spoilers regarding what happened in Trials, (aside from revealing one characters fate) it functions as a sort of High Republic epilogue.

Vernestra serves as a great link between the novels and the time period of The Acolyte. She was absolutely the right character for this book. It’s interesting to see how much she’s changed since those novels and there were a lot of moments and references to prior events that had me smiling.

Her relationship with Indara has a very Master and Apprentice vibe to it and even though she claims she’ll never train another padawan, that seems to be almost what happens here.

The only thing that really gave me pause with this book was that I felt the ending was a little abrupt. I had expected more and then it suddenly ended. Then again, maybe that’s just me wanting to spend more time with these characters.

In the end I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who read The High Republic books or watched The Acolyte. It had everything I was looking for in the wake of Trials of the Jedi!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The novel takes place several decades before The Acolyte and long after the events of the High Republic books. Through Vernestra’s eyes, we see how the conflicts from the High Republic era transformed the Jedi Order and its relationship with both the Republic government and its citizens. The Order depicted in Wayseeker is much more in line with the one we see in the prequels. Vernestra is deeply dissatisfied with how the Order functions and, for much of the story, feels powerless to make any significant changes. By the time of “The Acolyte,” she has risen to become a prominent leader within the Order, serving as a key liaison between the Jedi and the Senate, and Wayseeker highlights the journey that led her to that point.

My review was posted on my Substack:

I’ll be honest — Vernestra Rwoh was not one of my favorite High Republic characters. I didn’t dislike her, and I even related to her on many levels, especially those related to the pressure she felt to be the best Jedi at such a young age. My admiration for her faltered with some of the decisions she made and the way she talked to people. I questioned why she took the trials to become a Knight at just 15 and then soon after took on a Padawan. Why did she keep pushing herself to do more? Why didn’t she take time to hone her skills and experience as a Knight before mentoring an apprentice? And then I remembered what I felt as a teenager — among the top students in my class, attending college classes while still in high school, working nearly full time, and tying much of my self-worth to my academic and career accomplishments. I realized I didn’t much like Vernestra because she was too much like me.

Don’t worry, this review isn’t entirely about my self-realizations of the keen reliability of Star Wars characters. But it’s important to note just how much my opinion of this character changed while reading The Acolyte: Wayseeker by Justina Ireland — out today, May 6.

The novel is set a couple of decades before The Acolyte and many more decades after the end of the High Republic books. As a long-lived Mirialan, Vernestra is over a century old in Wayseeker. She fought and survived the years-long Nihil conflict and carries with her even more trauma that we haven’t seen since then. In this era, she’s a Wayseeker — what I like to think is a Jedi with healthy boundaries — but still one of the most powerful and talented Jedi in the entire Order. She’s highly confident and competent, but never arrogant, and still lives by the tenets instilled in her by her master, Stellan Gios.

Ireland created Vernestra, who debuted way back in A Test of Courage, the first middle-grade novel in the High Republic. Throughout the publishing initiative, Vernestra mainly starred in middle-grade and young adult novels. In Wayseeker, Vernestra is very much an adult, and Ireland boldly continued her story in first-person perspective. I was wary at first, especially because the other POV — Indara — was told in third person. But it was absolutely the right move to share Vernestra’s inner monologue and feelings about herself, Indara, and the Order.

Through Vernestra’s perspective, we get a glimpse at how much the conflicts in the High Republic novels changed the Jedi Order and its relationship with the Republic government and citizenry. The Order in Wayseeker is much closer to the organization we see in the prequels. Vernestra is very unhappy with how the Order operates, and for much of the novel, believes there wasn’t anything she alone could do to change things. By the time of The Acolyte, Vernestra is a top leader in the Order who acts as a liaison between the Jedi and the Senate. Wayseeker illustrates the journey she went on to get there.

A big part of that journey is Indara, a young Jedi Knight who is far from the confident and assured Jedi Master we see in The Acolyte. In Wayseeker, Indara is in her mid-20s and has spent the last year holed up in the Jedi Archives after a traumatic event in the field. She’s wary about going on missions out in the galaxy again — a stark, interesting contrast to Vernestra, who firmly believes all Jedi should be spreading the light away from Coruscant.

Even with her ongoing healing journey and insecurities stemming from how her master treated her (constant criticism and little praise), Indara is a smart and talented Jedi. Wayseeker is firmly about these two Jedi and how their differences grow into mutual respect, admiration, and understanding. They both dislike each other right off the bat, but quickly begin to realize how they could benefit from each other’s perspective. Shoutout to Master Yaddle for bringing these two together, even if the diminutive Jedi was far from clear with her intentions.

I also deeply related to Indara, making it that much more frustrating that we saw so little of her in The Acolyte.

Wayseeker is an incredible character study about lost faith and bittersweet hope. There are challenging and intense conversations about what it means to be a Jedi and how that differs around the Order. And like all great Jedi-focused stories, there’s commentary on attachment and how the Order’s views on it have changed and warped over the centuries. It’s important to have stories like this and the High Republic, no matter if we know how it all ends for the Jedi. It’s incredibly important to show the Jedi at their prime and in their waning years — and all the big and small ways they changed for the better and worse.

That’s the core of Wayseeker, and I’d give it five stars solely for the characterizations of Vernestra and Indara, as well as the lovely, juicy callbacks to the High Republic. However, I bumped the book down one star because of the plot.

Wayseeker explores the two Jedi’s investigation into a strange device that can short out lightsabers and blasters. The nullifier isn’t a novel invention, but the Jedi and Republic worry about a new variation being mass-produced and put into criminal hands. The device actually stems from a small plot thread established in The Rising Storm, and gets a tidy but not super satisfying conclusion in Wayseeker. Despite the device’s danger, the story is pretty low-stakes. Instead, the plot serves the purpose of putting the two main characters in situations where they must work and learn together and overcome their insecurities, doubts, and fears.

It’s clear Wayseeker was written with the idea that there would be more seasons of The Acolyte. The novel has many more nods to the High Republic stories and characters than it does to the Disney+ show, which I’m not mad about, but because of that, it reads more like a High Republic epilogue than an Acolyte novel. Vernestra hints at so many experiences that shaped her in the decades after the Nihil conflict, but the book never elaborates (it shouldn’t have to, since those stories would be better told through the show). And, once again, I’m incredibly sad these characters won’t get the ending they deserve.

Still, Wayseeker is an excellent Star Wars book. The novel feels like it was written just for me and everyone else who’s been invested in the High Republic for the last four years. It’s engaging and thought-provoking, and nicely bridges the gap between the High Republic and The Acolyte, still with plenty of room for more stories. As I’ve been saying with every new High Republic book I finish, the ending is satisfying but bittersweet.

I can only hope, desperately, that Wayseeker and The Crystal Crown (July 29) aren’t the last stories we get in the era of The Acolyte.

The Acolyte series on Disney+ introduced Star Wars fans to a number of new characters—Jedi Master Indara; Sol; “The Stranger—the list goes on. But the show also brought a book character to life, introducing wider audiences to a Jedi named Vernestra Rwoh.

Vernestra, of course, originated in The High Republic series, and was much younger than her over-100 years in The Acolyte when first introduced. Even though the series hasn’t ended yet, fans have still had plenty of questions about how the Mirialan went from fighting Nihil pirates to keeping secrets bound to the Temple on Coruscant.

Enter Wayseeker—an adult novel by Justina Ireland that works to fill in at least some of these gaps in story and time. Set many decades after the end of The High Republic, but before the show, the book follows Vernestra and Indara on a dangerous mission to track down the maker and manufacturer of a weapon that could plunge the galaxy into irreversible chaos.

Vernestra Rwoh has been a Wayseeker for 10 years, traveling the galaxy at will, spreading light and saving innocent populations from harm. Indara, after returning to Coruscant following a mission gone wrong, has stayed planetside for over a year, nestled comfortably in the Jedi Archives where it’s safe.

Both are seemingly content right where they are. Which is why the Jedi Council immediately steps in, sending Indara alone to retrieve Vernestra from her Wayseeking and bring her back to the Jedi Temple. But along the way, the pair discovers there’s something bigger going on that needs investigating — and despite their differences, they’ll have to work as a team to save the galaxy from certain turmoil.

This book is filled with mysterious hyperspace visions, cameo appearances from High Republic favorites past, and essential lessons about what calling oneself a Jedi — or not — really means. But it’s also a story that can be enjoyed whether you’re familiar with The High Republic and The Acolyte or not. It can stand alone. But as always, if you do have the background those stories provide, this one becomes even better.

One of the most interesting elements of this story is getting to see Vernestra through Indara’s eyes. Many readers will come into this book knowing Vernestra better than Indara does, a sort of “we know more than you know” situation. But it turns out there’s also a lot we don’t know. The most obvious of them all being how Vernestra’s story ends in Trials of the Jedi, because, as of this review and book release, none of us have read the book yet.

Vernestra has lived a long life at this point in the timeline, and the pain of losing so many she loved — because she has outlived them in years and otherwise — bleeds through every page of her chapters. It’s possible that she is the most interesting she’s been yet in this book, and she’s been quite a compelling one to follow throughout The High Republic. After all this time, even she has more room to grow.

And getting to know a younger Indara in this book was a delight. She is so much like Reath Silas, hesitant to embrace adventure despite knowing deep down her true duties as a Jedi Knight. But she also constantly reminds Vernestra of Imri, and if that doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, I’m not sure what will.

Wayseeker is a classic Star Wars adventure with the usual Justina Ireland flair — humorous, thought-provoking, and highly critical of the consequences of letting people in power harness too much of it. But also, deeply emotional — especially for High Republic fans.

This author has added so much greatness to Star Wars as a whole, and to close it all out with a book as profound and captivating as this one feels right, no matter how bittersweet.

Justina Ireland serves up a story that takes one of our favorite Jedi from the young prodigy she was during The High Republic to the Jedi Master we see in The Acolyte.
Wayseeker might seem like a standalone story, but for fans of these characters, this book is so much more. Justina Ireland has given us a fascinating character study of Vernestra and Indara. Vernestra’s chapters are told from a first-person point of view, and the rest of the book is told in a more common third-person storytelling style. It’s a bold choice that does an excellent job of framing Vernestra’s story in a deeply personal way and instantly takes you straight to that headspace when the story shifts over to her.
The story deals with themes of what makes a good mentor. What it can take for a person to willfully take the next step on their journey. What can hold a person back from reaching their potential. What we can learn from each other. Threaded throughout are pieces of the past: masters, mentors, and even padawans. A good Jedi takes heed of all the knowledge imparted, and this story makes a point that learning is a lifelong lesson.

This is a must-read for Vernestra fans and those looking to see the Jedi order change from The High Republic books to The Acolyte show!

Sal P.

Thanks to Random House Worlds for the advanced copy of this book for review.

This dad read Star Wars: The Acolyte – Wayseeker by Justina Ireland, a novel set in the High Republic era, which takes place a few decades before the events of the Disney+ series The Acolyte. Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh has spent years doing her own thing as a Wayseeker in the Outer Rim—a title signifying a Jedi who chooses to operate independently of the Jedi Council and its dictates—ignoring numerous calls from Coruscant to return, deeming her own Force-led work more important. It becomes Jedi Knight Indara’s task to track Rwoh down after a Republic senator requests her by name. The two very different Jedi discover there’s more to the senator’s request than meets the eye. Can they put aside their differences and squash the growing threat to the Republic and the Jedi?

Justina Ireland’s greatest strength as a writer has always been her character work. Specifically with Vernestra Rwoh, she’s had years to carve out every little personality quirk that makes her who she is. With Wayseeker, Ireland gets to flex her skills even further, as Rwoh is now positioned furthest along in the timeline. As a Mirialan who’s literally decades older than we’ve ever seen her in a book, Rwoh is now at a point where the vast majority of her friends are gone. This perspective puts her in a unique emotional place: how do you continue to live your life’s calling when all your friends are gone? Said Ireland in our recent chat on my podcast:

Vernestra has lived through a lot of things and lost a lot of people she cared about, and what do you still believe after all of that? What does she believe, what does she hold true, and what does she value? And how does that inform her decisions as she makes her way through the story?”

On the flip side, the Master Indara viewers of The Acolyte know is wizened and confident. The Indara of Wayseeker gives me Reath Silas vibes—a Jedi who’s more than happy to stay tucked away in the Archives on Coruscant. Indara’s insecurities are just what Vernestra needs to shake her awake from her Wayseeking ways. The relationship that grows between these two women is probably my favorite part of the book. Two beings, brought together by the Force to—yes—solve a galactic crisis, but even more so to learn and grow from each other.

There has been some early chatter about how Wayseeker could potentially spoil Trials of the Jedi, the forthcoming final entry in The High Republic. To me, this simply isn’t the case. There is one character present in Wayseeker who obviously survives whatever terrors Charles Soule has in store, but to me, they are minor, and their inclusion won’t make Trials any less fun. Technically, this book takes place later in the timeline, so it’s ultimately up to readers to decide how they want to experience the two novels. This dad says you can read Wayseeker and still thoroughly enjoy Trials of the Jedi.

The villains of Wayseeker are honestly somewhat forgettable. The plotline isn’t necessarily weak, but I found myself more drawn to the Vernestra/Indara relationship than to the what’s and how’s of the bad guys. Obviously, we know that both Indara and Vernestra survive whatever threat they face, but I did find this portion of the novel to be the least compelling.

While not technically part of The High Republic publishing initiative, Wayseeker still takes place during this timeline. So, if you’ve been a fan of these stories in the past, are a Vernestra Rwoh fan, and enjoyed The Acolyte, Wayseeker is a definite must-read. I give it 🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢/5—highly recommend!

On some level, I always knew Justina Ireland’s The Acolyte: Wayseeker was going to deliver. Ireland’s writing style applied to a novel that bridges the gap between The High Republic books and The Acolyte TV series, one that manages to do a service to both while telling a standalone story is a winning combination, resulting in a story that is as engaging as it is bittersweet.

Set a couple of decades before The Acolyte and long after the conclusion of Trials of the Jedi — the reveals on how that book goes for a few key characters are few and far between, but if you want to go into Trials completely ignorant of everyone’s fates, best to read this one after — Wayseeker follows Vernestra as she is drawn back into the Jedi Order to deal with a weapon that poses a material threat to the Jedi, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the days of the Nihil. Along for the ride is Indara, a Jedi Knight who, in the proud tradition of Reath Silas, would much, much rather be in the library at all times, though her reluctance comes as a result of some heavy emotional baggage.

Because this is Star Wars publishing, and emotional baggage is what they do best, there is plenty of that to be had, not just from Indara but also from Vernestra. This is a character who has been a part of the Jedi Order for decades by this point, who has devoted her whole life to it and seen loved ones come and go, taken either by the perils of the job or simply the passage of time, and is working through how best to manage it. Like Tessa Gratton’s Temptation of the Force, Wayseeker has a lot of interesting things to say about the nature of attachment for a Jedi, and how avoiding “dangerous” attachment does not mean holding yourself removed from the world, or never forging a close bond with anyone.

I love getting to spend time in a character’s head, and one particular emotional beat where Vernestra is concerned is one I felt was really driven home by and really benefitted from her internal monologue.While I get the sense that this book was written on the assumption that there would be more Acolyte on our screens — and I truly hope that is still the case — I hope this also isn’t the last we see of this world on the page as well, once Crystal Crown comes out later this year.

The Acolyte: Wayseeker is out on May 6. Special thank you to Random House Worlds for the advance copy for review purposes.

Set in the years prior to the start of the TV show, The Acolyte: Wayseeker from Justina Ireland provides an entertaining ride and timely themes, with enough to satisfy long-time The High Republic readers and fans of the show on multiple fronts, alongside pitch-perfect renditions of Vernestra Rwoh and Indara.

Twenty years before the start of The Acolyte, Justina Ireland’s The Acolyte: Wayseeker is set at a time where the Jedi Order’s conflict with the Nihil seems like a distant memory, as the Order and the Republic’s expansion into the Outer Rim has been dwindling and their focus returns to the Core Worlds and Republic’s demands. Vernestra Rwoh, a Mirialan with a long life-span, remains a Wayseeker despite her status among the Order, eager to help the galaxy when and where the Force wills it, not at the Council’s, and increasingly the Republic’s, whims to guide her. Indara, withdrawn to the Archives after a recent incident on a mission with her Master, is a young yet determined and resourceful Jedi Knight, recruited by Master Yaddle and the council to bring Vernestra back from the fringes for an important mission requested by a Republic Senator. For fans of The Acolyte, Wayseeker does an excellent job expanding some of the missing context for the larger galaxy, exploring how the Order and the Republic are slowly cozying up, general sentiments about the Order, and what the Order and Republic’s crawling withdrawal to the Core has done to the citizens they leave behind. There’s some strong parallels to the United States’ political turmoil and far-right lean via the places nefarious beings have wiggled their way into the cracks the withdrawals to the Core Worlds have opened up, like Wayseeker’s charismatic and unpredictable main antagonist. For fans of The High Republic era, while Ireland stays vague enough it won’t spoil how it wraps up (which, when this book publishes, will only be a month away in June), there’s so much of what we know and love about Vernestra in Ireland’s characterization and fans will be grinning in delight by familiar High Republic names (and appearances!) throughout, which bridges the gap between Rebecca Henderson’s performance from the show and what we read in a very organic way that makes me appreciate Vernestra in The Acolyte even more.

Given the gulf of differences between Vernestra and Indara, one a younger human dealing with a recent trauma and the other a studied Jedi Master viewed by the Order as a bit of a celebrity, Ireland employs a conceit to drive the differences home to the reader: Vernestra’s sections are in first-person and Indara’s are in third-person point-of-view. At the start, I didn’t like the choice, but as Wayseeker picks up, my appreciation grew for Ireland’s choice. Vernestra as she’s seen in the show, a confident force of nature revered by the Order, could come off the page as such in third-person, but the clipped and focused way first-person reads only helps build into the assuredness and self-confidence of the character at this time in her life. Long-time fans of the character will be able to see the bridge between the younger Vernestra in the High Republic books with Henderson’s performance in Acolyte thanks to this choice. Ireland’s voice for Indara works even better due to the contrast, as it accentuates Indara’s uncertainty about getting back out in the field, and it fits well with Carrie-Anne Moss’s performance of the character too. Despite this conceit being used to differentiate the two, when the two continue working together, it makes their growing understanding of one another, of the shared personal problems they face, Indara with her previous Master and Vernestra her previous apprentice (the book never touches on the specifics, leaving those details of her and Qimir’s past for another day), all the more surprising and deep, as us readers see two very different Jedi come together despite what separates them. The growth in respect and appreciate for one another is a hallmark part of Wayseeker, as it grounds readers in the galaxy-hopping adventure and its powerful characters by making them so accessible given how it can mirror the relationships and friendships one encounters as they mature.

As I mentioned earlier, Wayseeker’s antagonist, Nilsson, is not only a joy to hate (though I still think The Living Force’s Zilastra is my personal favorite in recent opportunistic-crook-with-big-aspirations characters), but it’s also where Ireland centers and spirals out of to provide pointed political commentary. It’s rather staggering as the full scope of what Ireland’s touching on with Nilsson becomes clear and touches on frustrations many have regarding how sheltered the rich and powerful can become despite a legal system in place to stop such injustices. Seeing heroes like the Jedi Order and the supposed do-gooder government the Republic faltering in the face of what’s arrayed around Nilsson, as well as all those who have capitulated to allow him to continue, is a pretty stark reminder it’s going to take individuals and their actions to overcome such institutionalized corruption and abuses of power, like the current administration perpetrates on the daily. As is well known, the Star Wars saga has always been political and some of its most recent work has done an exceptional job rising to the moment, be it in live-action like with Andor, in another novel out this year, Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear, as well as the comics with The High Republic Adventures – Phase III, and Wayseeker is another strong showing of this legacy.

Wayseeker’s High Republic connections are plentiful, from big ones to small little nods, and were a highlight of the novel for me. There are a lot of planets mentioned and names dropped by Vernestra and Indara, even appearances via holograms or visions to long-dead characters which warmed this fan’s heart, but Ireland does a great job both not spelling out what happened to characters (even in cases where we know how they died), leaving the option for curiosity to learn more, while those who’ve never read much or all of the era’s works won’t feel left out. In fact, while you won’t need to have read it to appreciate how it’s brought in, an aspect from The Rising Storm is central to Wayseeker, and it’s something I forgot about since the era seemed to have discarded it to some degree, but the way it’s brought back, and who it brings into the story as well (someone whose time in the comics has been excellent!), proves no good idea goes to waste. Another particular joy for me was learning the legacy of another favorite THR character of mine and how they are responsible for the Collective, a group we first learned about in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Resistance Reborn, which ties back to a thread first teased in Ireland’s Sana Starros comic miniseries. It’s possible a few of these things I’ve teased above are part of The High Republic: A Valiant Vow, also by Ireland and also releasing on May 6, the same day as Wayseeker, but I won’t know until I start reading that in May!

The Acolyte: Wayseeker by Justina Ireland is an excellent novel in its own right and also does a brilliant job bridging the gap between The High Republic initiative and The Acolyte, but what Ireland achieves with her conceit for the two different characters makes this such a memorable character study and expansion on fan favorites new and old.

Around eighty years after the end of the Nihil attack against the Republic and the Jedi, Master Vernestra Rwoh now spreads the light of the Jedi as a Wayseeker, following where the Force would lead her. Helping those in need without constant oversight by the Jedi Order and High Council. Jedi Knight Indara, an archivist on the Jedi Temple since an incident on the planet Seswenna made her question her abilities out in the field, is sent out to bring the Jedi Master back to Coruscant to help with an urgent matter. One that reached back to the early days of the Nihil conflict.

Justina Ireland did a great job in telling a story that feels relevant to what came before without the need to have read any of the previous High Republic books, It will increase your enjoyment if you've read some of the High Republic stories and watched The Acolyte, but none of that is required to appreciate Star Wars: The Wayseeker.

We've seen Vernestra's journey from the youngest Jedi Knight ever to now a full fledged Jedi Master. Standing up against orders from the High Council and focusing her drive on what she believed was the purpose of being a Jedi. For Vernestra, Jedi should be out in the galaxy, helping people, taking action. Not locked behind temple doors, focusing on diplomacy, and their studies. Vernestra and Indara had a tense relationship to start as Vernestra viewed Indara as a “babysitter” sent by the Jedi Council to keep tabs on her. That she didn’t knew or see the real world the way Vernestra did since the Mirialan had grown up during a time of conflict and constant action. Indara didn’t like the way Vernestra thought about her, the looks she gave her, and wanted to prove the Jedi Master wrong.

Of the new characters and villains, spicehead Nilsson Summach is the most interesting. His new weapon might even the odds between the Jedi and those in the underworld that might want to stand up to them.

Justina Ireland continues her streak of writing compelling Star Wars stories with plenty of emotions to go along with it. It expands on Vernestra's journey and sets up Indara for the character we'll meet in The Acolyte. One twist and turn too many towards the end keeps the book from getting a higher rating from me.

It is the perfect story for fans of The Acolyte who might not be familiar with all that happened in the High Republic but were fans of Indara and Vernestra in the Disney+ series. Reading all the events from the past might peak their interest into picking up a few The High Republic books.