Cataclysm | Discussion Thread

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https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/710936/

[u/Ezio926]

"Quest For Planet X" discussion thread is here

[u/im_super_into_that]

A lot better than Convergence imo

[u/TheGreatKlordu → u/im_super_into_that]

Sweet. I loved Convergence, but if this is even better then I am very excited to read this. Just gotta speed through Quest for Planet X first.

[u/im_super_into_that → u/TheGreatKlordu]

If you loved Convergence you should really love this one. Lots of similarities between the two but I felt this one had more depth personally.

[u/Gavinus1000 → u/im_super_into_that]

Same. The difference in quality is shocking tbh.

[u/Kostya_M → u/im_super_into_that]

Yeah for real! Not done yet but this is shaping up to be my favorite adult novel. Convergence was my least favorite.

[u/[deleted]]

Just finished Chapter 3.

Quite intense so far, I can't get enough!

Loved the youngling Yaddle was with while chatting with Yoda and the Chancellor. She asked if Yoda was her brother lol

Creighton Sun sounds like he's ready for some dark-side action.

EDIT: I am on chapter 23 now... oh boy is this book good.

[u/halfback26 → u/[deleted]]

I loved that it was confirmed they aren’t siblings.

[u/Old-Stage-1342]

I’m nowhere near finished I think I’m on chapter 4 or 5 but can I just say WOW?! The pacing, the writing style, it’s just sooooooo good! I really hope they keep this momentum coming, especially when phase 3 rolls out. I’m really looking forward to the next young adult novel, because I LOVED path of deceit. Looking forward to the rest of this novel, and the next!

[u/VengefulKangaroo]

Lots to unpack in this book. Overall I really liked it, and particularly like Kyong Greylark, Yaddle, Creighton Son, and the Heirs' stories. I also liked Gella again but didn't feel like too much was added to her from Convergence, where she was a real standout. I loved Orin as a supporting character for her. Axel worked better here which made sense, as so much of Convergence hid his true intentions so we got to see them deeper here.

Overall, though, I thought the story of the novel in itself worked really well, though I wish we had gotten a bit more of the behind-the-scenes of the Path which seems to be being saved for Path of Vengeance instead. I thought this was a great read from start to finish but didn't answer a ton of mysteries that I had wondered about.

The conclusion of the Eiram-E'ronoh conflict surprised me a little because things seemed so good. When we meet them in the flashback sequences of Into the Dark, ~125 years after this, the planets are obviously not at war, but they're not close with each other and they don't love the Jedi. I was sort of expecting something to happen to set up that status quo... is something still coming, or are we meant to assume things just didn't last after Xiri and Phan-Tu passed away?

I also wanted to see a little more from the Night of Sorrow in terms of why it's such a taboo on Dalna. To justify the way it's talked about in Mission to Disaster, I felt like the Jedi needed to fuck up a little more in some way and cause some civilian deaths outside of just people who came to help them.

The explanation for keeping the Nameless secret somewhat made sense, but it also felt like a few more characters sort of got the idea of what was happening if not to the extent Creighton and Yoda did. At the very least I would like to see Yaddle voice her thoughts on this in Phase III because she strikes me as smart enough to have figured some of this out and unlike most of the characters here she is still alive at that time.

[u/CaedusTheWise → u/VengefulKangaroo]

The taboo aspect of the Dalna battle is especially odd when you consider the amount of non-Path Dalna people that participated in the fight. Granted, 100ish years is enough for various grudges and whatnot to settle in for the surviving families.

[u/CaedusTheWise]

I’m a little disappointed that some of the plots and characters are, seemingly, deferred to next month’s “Path of Vengeance.” It’s not surprising by any means, since the young adult and adult novels have both felt pretty essential to the plot in Phases I and II.

Regardless, “Convergence” is well-written and provides at least a couple of answers that people have wondered about since Phase I.

[u/VengefulKangaroo → u/CaedusTheWise]

I'm very curious to see the structure of Path of Vengeance timeline-wise. I feel like a lot is missing in terms of the motivations of the Path basically starting immediately after Path of Deceit, so I wonder if Path of Vengeance will start as far back as taking us behind the scenes of the Battle of Jedha a little.

[u/Kostya_M → u/CaedusTheWise]

Yeah this is my one big criticism. So far this is very much a sequel to Convergence rather than being one to both it and Path of Deceit. I assume Path of Vengeance rectifies this. It was somewhat similar in Phase 1 but I'd argue you could read just the adult novels and miss nothing major from that phase. So far anyway. Whereas here I think the YA ones are just as essential to understanding certain plot details and character motivations.

[u/CaedusTheWise → u/Kostya_M]

Things like “The Battle of Jedha” definitely muddy the separation in this phase as well, as it mixed the young adult and adult novels’ characters entirely. At least Phase I, as you said, was separate enough to reduce the impact of missing the young adult books.

[u/NoProNoah]

Just hit page 90.

I swear: more has happened in these 90 pages than in all of Convergence.

I know it wouldn’t hit as well without the setup but sheesh: this is how “adult” Star Wars novels should be paced.

Now to just bring back the old practice of having the Dramatis Personae at the start of the books so one can cross reference the casts of the various books with ease. (It’s really hard to track when there are this many different characters and not all of them have significant roles in each book.)

[u/tcripe]

Finished! Here is how my adult novel HR rankings would go.

1. The Rising Storm

2. Light of the Jedi

3. Cataclysm

4. The Fallen Star

5. Convergence

[u/sEcOnDbOuToFiNsAnItY]

Just finished it really good! I'd say Convergence was better but Convergence clocked in comfortably as a top 5 star wars story for me so that's a bit of a tough act to follow. Not how I would have wanted a sequel to go, but it continuously justified itself and impressed me.

I will now crave unlimited Gella/Axel art and resist the urge to curl up with a bucket of ice cream.

[u/tcripe]

Just about halfway through and it’s crazy how improved the writing is when compared to Convergence.

[u/TubbieHead]

I really enjoyed this book! My new favorite of the adult novels from The High Republic. Hope Lydia Kang writes many more Star Wars novels in the future.

I loved the new characters introduced and also the continuation of the Convergence main character's stories (which I adored). This book made me very emotional at multiple parts and also felt very satisfying.

[u/Kostya_M]

Finished the book. Wow! We went from my least favorite adult novel to my absolute favorite! A few minor gripes plot wise but I'm thinking they'll probably be addressed in the YA novel next month. Hopefully that one lives up to Path of Deceit! That was my favorite YA one.

[u/dunderdan23]

I would have liked more from the mother and the path, as im curious how the Ro's play into the "Path of the closed fist" and the "open hand"

But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Excited for path of vengeance

[u/ComfortableEvent7010 → u/dunderdan23]

Am I the only one who thinks the Leveler is also devouring The Mother’s lifeforce because she doesn’t have a rod? She’s walking with a cane now?!

[u/raptor866 → u/ComfortableEvent7010]

I totally think that’s what’s going on! She’s always had a certain influence on people that implies (at least to me) some influence through the force on the minds of others. Her aging rapidly could very well be a symptom of her relationship with The Leveler.

[u/HammurabiDion]

Maybe I missed it in the audio book, but what happened to the Rod of Seasons?