The Acolyte: Wayseeker

Star Wars Disney Canon Novel

by Justina Ireland

Brought to you by Penguin.

SET IN THE ERA OF STAR THE HIGH REPUBLIC

Before The Acolyte , Vernestra Rwoh must find her place in the Jedi Order.

Vernestra Rwoh has spent over a decade exploring the Outer Rim as a Wayseeker, answering to no other authority but the Force itself. When a request from the Jedi Council orders her back to Coruscant, Vernestra initially refuses, feeling that her first priority should be to the beings she's already serving.

But after Jedi Master Indara arrives to ask for Vernestra’s aid in person, Vernestra finds herself pulled back into Coruscant’s complicated world of Republic politics and underworld crime. As the two delve further into their investigation, and the lines between Jedi and Republic business blur, and Vernestra must reconsider what it means to serve for Light and Life.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, Audiobook, Space Opera

10 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 6, 2025

About the author

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including Dread Nation and its sequel Deathless Divide, the middle-grade novel Ophie's Ghosts, which won the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction, and a number of Star Wars books including Flight of the Falcon: Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance, A Test of Courage, Out of the Shadows, and Mission to Disaster. She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award. She holds a BA in History from Georgia Southern and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.

Reviews

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work out for me. I didn't enjoy the Acolyte series, but I was really hopeful that the books would add context and good storytelling for the era. Sadly, this book doesn't really fit that bill.

The book is billed as an Acolyte tie-in, but it reads more like a bridge betweeen the High Republic and the Acolyte, almost as a way later epilogue to the HR. Other than Vernestra and Indara, no Acolyte characters really make an appearance.

The book flips back and forth between third-person and first-person, and sometimes a switch like this can work out well (like in Phasma between past tense and present tense). But the first person perspective wasn't really necessary for Vernestra, especially since she hides so much information from Indara and its revealed later in the book. It really should have been 3rd person straight through.

The plotline wasn't necessarily bad...it just wasn't good. It didn't stand out in any way sadly. It'll be very forgettable.

What this book did well was Indara's perspective. I thought she was written fantastically here and should have been more of the POV of the book.

Overall, this book really fell flat for me. Not the worst Canon book, but it really could have been a lot better. 4.5 out of 10.

[Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start this review out by saying I think it’s a little misleading to market this as a tie-in to The Acolyte. In fact, besides featuring Vernestra and Indara, there are very few references to the tv show. Instead I think this should be titled The High Republic: Wayseeker as there are a TON of references to past events from the High Republic novels. Folks who neglected to read that may have trouble understanding some of the references. As much as I’d love an Acolyte novel explaining the fallout between Vernestra and her Padawan-turned-Sith bad boy Qimir, that is not the story we have here. Instead we have a detective story that involves the Jedi Council sending Jedi Knight Indara on a mission to locate Vernestra, who in turn should be able to help them solve a case. The story itself is fine. Author Justina Ireland created Vernestra for the High Republic and she certainly *gets* the character better than anyone. There’s lots of planet hopping, lightsaber action, and character moments any good Star Wars novel should have. I just feel like as a huge fan of the show I wanted more. However, I’m also a High Republic fan so I can appreciate this as an epilogue of sorts to the Nihil conflict rather than an Acolyte prequel. Manage expectations with this one and you should have a pleasant reading experience. At a lean 251 pages, this also won’t take you very long to complete.

My rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. Very barely relates to The Acolyte aside from Indara being a main character. With that aside - I enjoyed this adventure a lot!!! This is the Vern I know and love, and how I always envisioned she’d grow up to be. I loved her relationship with Yaddle and how often she thought about her past (so that I could relive the heartbreak of the high republic hahah). Also loved learning the fates of Ty Yorrick and other characters from the THR books! A very very sweet story overall and I liked it!

[☮ morgan ☮]

Just an FYI apparently this book spoils the end of the High Republic series - if you care about knowing who lives/dies you might want to read this after Trials of the Jedi

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vernestra is by far the best thing to come out of "The High Republic" saga, and her p.o.v. chapters are just amazing. I inhaled this compact, exciting, character building novel in one go, and it's become one of my favourite Lucasverse books. More Vernestra!

[Zettifar · Rating 4 out of 5]

man this book is special

where ever you go and whatever you do you can be the light and let the force be with you
-Vernestra Rwoh

Justina again writing a superb book that brings forward a side storyline from phase 1 of the high republic and a storyline I thought we had a conclusion on. For me this book starts to show the failures of the jedi council and how the order becomes what it is in the prequels.

i really enjoyed having Vernestra and Indara being the main characters of this book starting with them both having spent time hiding from the order in their separate ways but having to work together and work through what both their trauma and their bad experiences are to better work together to save the jedi order. Also acolyte fans i do believe we gets small hints at Qimir from vernestra

One thing i do want to mention is parts of the first half of the book i felt like vernestra isn't the same character i have enjoyed reading about in phase 1 and 3 in the HR. During the second half of the book i realised after multiple different situations that she mentions that she is no longer the jedi knight i remember because of everything she learned from stellan gios but also from Imri her padawan and so her character has evolved because of everything she has taught and everything she has been taught and all her experiences as a jedi.

Also the talk about this book spoiling the end of phase 3 of the high republic is way over estimated. Their are only two characters who appear from phase 3 and one is only mentioned to being alive with no details and one plays a role in the second half of the book but they are only a side character from the comics.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Vernestra Rwoh from Star Wars: The High Republic is aromantic asexual!

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think this is Justina Ireland at their best. Maybe this is a 5 rounded down to 4.5 , I'm not too sure, but what I do KNOW is that this book makes the Acolyte 10x better. It's also a fantastic bridge between The High Republic series and the Acolyte era. I would love additional stories set in this period following Vern or other characters featured in the Acolyte (especially if we never do get a Season 2)

[Riley Brysch · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Acolyte: Wayseeker" is a book that could have had so much potential, but it ranged from mediocre to disappointing. The title and marketing of this book itself is deceiving since it is marketed as a book connected to "The Acolyte" TV show. This book takes place before the show, and the only characters from the show are Indara and Vernestra. Surpringly, the book seldom ever references any characters or lore that we learn from the show, but has a LOT of references and characters from the High Republic books 100 years before the events of the TV show. So, this is more of a High Republic epilogue marketed as an Acolyte book. Readers who haven't read the High Republic series/ wanted to know Acolyte characters better will be confused and disappointed.The only thing relevant to the show is that it has the two characters on the cover meet each other and go on a mission together. So, that was a wasted opportunity. It is such a generic story that it could have been an adventure with any two Jedi.
Also, this book shifts back and forth from first person to third person. It was a poor and unnecessary writing choice. The plot itself was okay and enjoyable at times, but it was mostly just mediocre, and it had wasted opportunities. One dynamic that I wish would have happened is there are points in the book where the Jedi are forced to fight without using lightsabers because of a certain plot point, and I wish that they would have used that plot point as a bridge to why in the TV show they did more hand to hand combat and were hesitant to use lightsabers. Instead, in this book, characters use lightsabers all the time immediately during a conflict. They could have had an interesting and cool explanation for that aside from the Jedi not being at war, but Justina Ireland was clearly more concerned about taking the character she created (Vernestra) and referencing her other High Republic adventures that she wrote rather than making a faithful tie-in to "The Acolyte" TV show.

[Joser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into Wayseeker as a fan of The Acolyte streaming series, engrossed the galactic melodrama that I loved about Star Wars. The novel takes place several decades before the events of The Acolyte, the plot focusing on two Jedi Knights going on a buddy-cop adventure to hunt down a missing scientist. From the very beginning, Wayseeker is full of action that is clear for the reader to follow. The plot builds very well, with revelations that feel natural to the progression.

Our lead characters, Vernestra and Indara make a very compelling duo. Based on how they are described from the beginning, their interactions go as you would expect. Vanestra is an aloof free-spirit while Indra is the awkward librarian who is a stickler for the rules. What makes Wayseeker a great read is how well they bounce off each other, bringing a lot of personality to a pretty typical action/adventure story. Of course, there’s more to these character than what’s shown on the surface, and it’s dispensed wonderfully.

There isn’t an over reliance on the expanded lore of The High Republic or Star Wars as a whole. As long as you know the main film series and The Acolyte, the plot is fairly easy to follow. There are references to other events, specifies, and planets, but it never felt like I was missing something. While the ending felt very abrupt, I enjoyed the adventure that I was on. I would definitely want to follow the further adventures of Jedi Masters Indara and Vernestra as well as read more in this section of the Star Wars Universe.

[David Booy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean... this was fine. A fun little romp around with interesting protagonists in Vernestra and Indara, resolving a plot thread that was left dangling (abandoned?) early in the High Republic series. It was a relatively enjoyable read.

And yet it was frustrating in a book marketed as an Acolyte tie-in gives literally nothing to expand on the many mysteries of that show. Sure, we see something of how Vernestra got from who we see in the High Republic books to who she is in the show. Sure, we learn plenty of Indara's backstory. But the fact we learn nothing about Vernestra and Qimir/The Stranger/Smilo Ren is genuinely criminal. There were so many opportunities to build on this and give some little nuggets of information, and it is mentioned a couple of times. But we learn nothing. We learn nothing and by the end of the novel we largely return to the status quo present at the start.

The result is a fun but genuinely inconsequential tale, which I feel would have had far more free reign if: 1) it's release had been delayed until after Trials of the Jedi, allowing it to discuss the Nihil conflict more fully (especially as Vernestra was criminally underutilised in Trials), and 2) if Lucasfilm Story Group hadn't tied Justina Ireland's hands behind her back with regards to revealing plot points of future seasons of The Acolyte which we will likely never see (at least on screen).

[Iwi · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't the worst Star Wars book I've read but there was a lot of "this is what a jedi is and if you're not like this you're doing it wrong". I've read plenty of Star Wars books where they have differing ideas on what a jedi's role is, but in this book everyone agreed with Vernestra's ideal which to me seems like the book is also telling me I should. And I don't.

Indara was written so oddly too, I couldn't tell how old she was. Close to 30 to be a jedi knight? But she acts like a 14 year old. I did not like her, even if she had a tragic mining accident. She laughed! at people getting trampled and torn apart by a beast. Like what???

I thought the idea was fun but the writing was oddly clunky. So much was over explained or stiff.

I feel like once again there is a misunderstanding of what happened in the movies. Vernestra and Ty have this talk about corruption in the order and how it's too closely tied to the republic. But that partnership was never an issue. With republic funding the jedi can do so much more for so many more people than without. The problem was Palpatine and his schemes.

The Yarl slander was not needed e -e

And! So odd for Vernestra to think of her master and her first padawan but never Qimir. Like I thought we'd at least get a taste of what happened between them from her side, but nope!

[Jazmin Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprising enough to rate a Justina book this high, even more surprising to have really enjoyed Vernestra here, not surprising though that i loved Indara and i wish we could have way more of her!

[Dog_of_Rizzdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to feel for Indara as much as I did, but it was a pleasant surprise! Seeing more of her in general was nice after watching The Acolyte, and Vernestra, too! I’m honestly more interested to read the High Republic books now. But we’ll see when I get around to those 🫰

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

First thing to point out: the Acolyte subtitle here is purely marketing. This is very much a story deeply in conversation with the High Republic, not at all with the Acolyte.

It's a short, fun story. The characters and plot are both fairly direct, as is the writing with only a little literary flourish. The ties to the High Republic are plentiful, and fun for someone who mostly kept up with those books. At times the story seemed to want to emphasize that the stakes were high (a device that can short-out lightsabers), but honestly this was mostly achieved just by telling the reader that. I rarely felt like this were actually dire. But it excelled much more at the smaller, character-centric moments between Vern and Indara.

Justina Ireland continues to be a reliably steady author: never going to be one of my favorites, and probably not a book I'll revisit much, but I enjoy myself while reading her works.

[Yanik · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a hard read. In the end I was glad to finally put it down, since the novel barely at any point gave me a real reason to pick it up again. I have been in a reading rut making barely any progress on my large pile of currently reading books. Having one that doesn’t entice me to keep my focus or engage with its story among them just was another hurdle to get across.

Justina Ireland’s work has been among my favorites in the THR project, I was very sad to see her leave it in what appeared to be exasperation and exhaustion rather than being happy and proud with what she created.
I think those emotions and feelings show in this, her final entry into SW literature.
For most of its short 250 page length my opinion was that it wasn’t a bad book, but not really good either. Most things felt half-hearted, detached, rushed. By the end the flimsy plot was cut off in a few last truly bad chapters, which is why the star was bumped to 2 in what would have been a middling 3. The final chapter saw tender character arc conclusions and moments, but a decent end doesn’t fix a broken road towards it, in my experience.
I usually don’t catch things like this, but I often got the feeling that Ireland was injecting a lot of her frustrations, fears and uncertainties into the two main characters. This could have made for emotional and passionate character development; it is something I often love about her work. But I didn’t feel it that much in the writing here. Both Indara and Vernestra felt emotionally stunted, reserved and often verging on the bitter, cynical and disillusioned side without ever reaching a point of truly making me feel that along with them. It just made me feel disappointed and sadder to see this being Ireland’s last SW work.

Many of these issues I’ve seen leveled at Out of the Shadows, Ireland’s first YA in the THR project. It is one of my favorite novels of the series and have defended it often.
I fully recognize that its plot isn’t very deep, though it ended up being quite important to the Phase 3 plot. It’s its cast of diverse characters that makes me love it.
In Wayseeker we have two POV characters, Vernestra and Indara about 20 years before the events of the Acolyte, another SW entry I absolutely loved and was devastated about its reception, scars of which still run in my interaction with other SW fans.
Indara’s chapters are from a third person narration while for Vern we get inside her head as she narrates her own story in first person. It’s interesting to me that Ireland ended up writing this bridging novel between the end of the THR story and the start of the show. In interviews she has expressed moving on from the character after others took up writing her as well.
Either way, she is the better half of the two characters, though, as stated, far from satisfactory.
We get a lot of reflections, reminiscent and conflict with how the galaxy, the Jedi order and she herself have changed over time. She is detached from the order and traveling around as a Wayseeker when we first find her. It tracks with how her arc trajectory in the THR novels and reading about the fates and feats of characters from that time were some of the highlights. The most fun I had was when Indara was present at a meeting with 3 of those characters, it felt like a slice of High Republic writing in this more muted setting we found ourselves.
Vernestra's visions are a key part and more often and heavy than they used to be. They aren't very interesting most of the time. Showing symbolic objects as plot points isn't very creative.
I did like the nature of the dialogue, reminded me of Holden's visitations in The Expanse.
Indara herself isn’t terribly fleshed out, she is dealing with past trauma, doubt and a certain dogmatic adherence to the orders rules.
This is the crux of the character arcs: Vernestra being a relic of a bygone era, both in thought and age where Indara represents the kind of Jedi this new period was producing, a slope which would lead us to the way we find the Republic and the Jedi Order in the prequels.
The conflict in mindset and interests this brings about between the two characters is what drives most of the book. I think with an additional hundred or more pages, it could have been really well executed too. There are seeds throughout that follow the more political and interwoven thread that of Jedi and Republic that would end in their doom.
As said, the final chapter was very nice and a great way to conclude these two characters, I just don’t think the story nearly got enough time to cook; the way it is al presented is not at all satisfactory.

The plot didn’t hook me so I’ll be brief; it ties off a story thread most had forgotten from The Rising Storm. The 4-7 nullifiers have resurfaced and are about to be mass produced. The antagonists were forgettable and frustrating. We get a handful of chapters from the weaponsdealer in charge but they barely paint an outline of intent and motives though the spice haze his chapters are covered in.
By and large the resolves of their character arcs, like the plot as a whole, are cut short, unimpactful and largely uninteresting.
A thing that stood out was the near constant references to drugs and alcohol. It felt forced and tacked on to cater to a perceived adult novel audience. It highlighted to me, once again, how much of a power-couple(ling) Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton were. Both Path of Deceit and Defy the Storm being YA and in the top of my favorite SW novels period. I am looking forward to reading Star Wars: The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown next.

Like my reading, I have been stuck doing reviews for the books I’ve recently finished.
So, if anything, it is good that Wayseeker made me put these thoughts to words.
The book’s themes of breaking out of old habits and looking forward to what is to come are at least present for me too.
I sincerely hope Justina can look back at her Star Wars work with pride and love. I am very familiar with how hard that can be, but then I can’t hope to ever produce anything as wonderful as she has done during that huge creative project. I’d love to, at some point, hear her thoughts and reflections on that process, if only as a closure to a story.

[Kyle Foley · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5 stars. This was… not good. Putting “The Acolyte” in the title is extremely misleading because it doesn’t tie into the show at all, just features two characters that are in it. The story is entirely forgettable and not really enjoyable at all. Only a handful of decent scenes.

[Lex Lemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would classify myself as a casual Star Wars fan. I enjoy the movies a ton, but they’re not my favorite things in the world. I like to keep up on some of the newer material, but I can’t keep up with the shows and books that delve into this vast world’s larger lore. That being said, I will do ANYTHING for Carrie-Anne Moss. That included watching The Acolyte just because she was in it last year. While I was bummed at her limited screen time, I personally LOVED the show and wish we got a second season for it. So when I encountered this book on a whim that was focused on her character, I knew things had to change in my Star Wars habits. But while Indara was great in this, everything else was not.

For my first time delving into Star Wars books (especially the High Republic ones), this was pretty disappointing. I think my biggest issue with it was that it was so boring. A majority of the action revolves around Vernestra and Indara merely going to other planets and talking to people about getting information. We barely have any of the action Star Wars is known for. When we do, those scenes last maybe three or four pages total before being brushed under the rug. For crying out loud, this is Star Wars! Where are the lightsaber battles? Where are the blaster shootouts? Where are the tense villain confrontations that keep you on the edge of your seat? That’s what we all come to this series for. We don’t come for static chatter. The comparison I kept making while reading this was to The Phantom Menace. You know how everyone complains that 75% of it is characters talking about tax reform? That was this but in a book.

Another issue I had while reading was Ireland’s writing style. As I said before, this book was a lot of dialogue. However, that doesn’t mean it was bad dialogue. I will say I did feel like Ireland captured every character’s unique voice well. No two characters ever felt the same to me when speaking, and I could tell everyone apart just from the way they spoke to each other. Some of these characters came from books I haven’t read before, but I still feel like I’ve known them all along. Unfortunately, that’s also part of the problem. Ireland’s writing was VERY heavy in tell, don’t show. There’s so much internal monologuing from Vernestra that it takes away from the main story. We didn’t need a rehash of her past adventures even if I wasn’t a new reader. I wanted to learn some of these details through how she acted as a character. Ireland doesn’t give you that chance with Vernestra or any of the other characters. Instead, you’re given paragraph after paragraph of hefty dialogue where characters tell this information to each other. And that’s what takes up most of the book. They always tended to pull me out of the story because I just kept wishing I was being given this information organically.

I can’t say this book was terrible, though. One thing I did like about it was how female-driven it was. That’s something that’s severely lacking in most Star Wars media, and that was part of why I loved The Acolyte in the first place. The fact that this was centered on two female Jedi is already remarkable, and I did pick up on the fact that everyone that helps or joins them is female too. It was honestly really nice to see and was admittedly a saving grace. I can see why Vernestra is such a popular character in this series. She’s so complex and I loved seeing all the different sides to her personality. But I can’t leave this review without talking about my reason for starting it. I’m so happy to see who Indara truly is a character. She was such a mystery in The Acolyte, and we barely had any time to get to know her. So to see her young and nervous here only for her to grow into the strong woman we know her as in the show is remarkable. It’s everything I wanted out of it. I only wish she could have been given a better story for her origins.

A part of me feels like this is supposed to be the Star Wars equivalent of a pulp novel. It’s almost like a noir detective story with the wizened investigator and his humble partner new to the game. Of course, there’s a lot of static action and big dialogues of investigation in those novels too. But at least those stories have a steady balance between digging for clues and gritty action. This didn’t which made it all the more frustrating. That being said, this book WAS successful in making me want to read more Star Wars books. I’d love to learn more about these characters and their worlds now. I might even read Vernestra’s story from the beginning! But until then, I think I’m going to stick with the main Star Wars movies and see what new adventures I encounter there.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[LonelyBanshee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to open this book and see that I was getting a first-person narrative from the perspective of one of my all-time favorite Jedi, Vernestra Rwoh (or "Vern" to me, because we're tight), but then I remembered that DLF hires independent contractors to crank these books out in a couple of months, and that many of these folks think written points of view are interchangeable, thus we regrettably don't experience any of the magical things first-person can do: the intimate closeness to the character, the observations only this character could make, the realism of only seeing the world through one perspective, etc. Instead, we get the usual generic, mechanical writing seasoned with a half-hearted attempt to make Vern sound like Rebecca Henderson's portrayal of the character in THE ACOLYTE, an attempt that basically amounts to never using contractions and over-explaining everything. Where the early High Republic material shows Vern as a plucky-yet-serious wielder of the Force who feels strongly for her loved ones, here she comes off as if a person who hasn't had an orgasm in 80 years is writing you a long email.

I like that Indara gets a nice background and that Vern and (the returning) Ty Yorrick are pretty much "over" the way the Order is becoming closer to the Republic in the wake of the Nihil conflict, which will eventually make them vulnerable for what's coming in the prequels. But other than that, this book is just kinda...there.

Other stuff I feel the need to moan about:

-It's the return of Justina Ireland's seventh-grade method of introducing every character by their "dark brown skin." Oddly, nobody seems to notice Vernestra's "dark green skin." Again, I'm thrilled about the level of inclusiveness in SW as a whole, but y'all really gotta get some copy-editors in the house.

-How many times does the word "eschew" need to appear in one book? It's a mostly superfluous word that sounds like a sneeze. Again, where's the copy editing?

-I realize not every Star Wars villain can be a Palpatine, a Vader, a Tarkin, or even a Marchion Ro, but arms dealer Nilsson Summach is less of a threat than your average stormtrooper. He looks like Bob Marley, he only cares about getting high, his name sounds like a forgotten bronze-medal skier, and his master plan to mass produce a bracelet that nullifies lightsabers is the lowest-stakes scheme since that redheaded turd tried to start a mutiny on Starlight Beacon and then got killed by a sapient pet rock in THE FALLEN STAR (the shart of the High Republic series), which this book can't stop conjuring reminders of via painfully vapid visions of Stellan Gios. Sorry, Nelson Stomach, or whatever your name is, but you were never going to be taken seriously.

-The galaxy is split into sectors, which it shouldn't be for another 200-ish years.

-All of the villains die the exact same way: that trope where the hero defeats them and lets them live, only for them to immediately be gunned down by one of their associates who happened to be hiding nearby (and it's been done in SW before: see ATTACK OF THE CLONES). It's mostly used as a way to get Indara frustrated about how bad guys constantly escape justice. The problem is that the characters involved in these schemes, such as Grizela and Florinda, are never given *reasons* for any of their actions, so they never reach their potential as characters. They're used as plot devices and then thrown in the junk drawer (kinda like the non-Star-Wars action figures you'd use to fill in the gaps in the enemy army when you were a kid).

-Vern and Indara's "reluctant coworkers to friends" pipeline is too expository to be meaningful. They will literally walk into the same room and one of them will say something like "In order to avoid further conflict, I suggest we get to know one another better." Then they each share one random experience from their past. It feels more like a transaction than character development, and by the time of THE ACOLYTE, there's no real illustration of them ever having been close.

-The book feels a little disingenuously marketed. If you watched THE ACOLYTE and then someone told you, "The prequel novel about Vernestra is coming out," your first thought would be, "Whoa, we're getting Qimir's origin story!" Sadly, Vern's thing with Qimir is only alluded to twice, wherein she thinks of his "death" (which we already know was faked) as her greatest failure. Yet it doesn't affect her personality, her abilities, her feelings on the Order, or anything else in the story, nor does it enhance anything in the show. For contrast, think about everything ANDOR does to enhance ROGUE ONE. As one example, after seeing all of ANDOR, you truly come to understand why Cassian cannot bring himself to gun down Galen Erso in front of his daughter, and it gives the moment a ton of weight. Here, we get no further information about Qimir, nothing about Vern's other apprentices over the last 80+ years (other than the fact that Imri got old and died), and nothing that makes you appreciate the show more, which seems especially cruel now that the show is (supposedly) not getting another season. If it were some great standalone work of sci-fi literature (see Alexander Freed's recent SW book, THE MASK OF FEAR), sure, but as it stands - as much as it hurts me to say this about any work containing Vernestra - there is no reason for this book to exist (besides, y'know, that sweet cash).

So yes, without a proper prequel or second season, we're unlikely to ever find out what happened between Vern and Qimir, nor find out how Darth Plagueis manipulated his way into bringing the Sith back into relevance. THE ACOLYTE was shaping up to be the raw, heartbreaking Jedi tragedy that everyone pretends the prequel films were. Vernestra could have been a timeless Jedi hero on par with Kenobi, and Qimir would have been the next Vader alongside her. But in the days of everything being so corporate, so much content being cranked out in such a hurry, and legions of anonymous trolls disparaging everything in sight using the wifi in their mom's basement, the idea of anything ever again becoming "classic" is as dumb as Nolan Scumbag (or whatever his name is) and his 47 nullifier bracelets.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

In what is becoming a yearly pattern, I finished a book that featured LGBTQ+ characters at the end of May, right before June, which is Pride month begins. Vernestra Rwoh, the bald green alien lady with the purple lightsaber on the cover, is canonically Aroace (Aromantic Asexual.) And this book features another character named Ty Yorrick, who is canonically Bisexual. But rest assured, I do have other Queer-themed books on by To-Read Shelf that I intend to read in June.

The Acolyte is a Star Wars show that aired on Disney+ last year. It set during the time of the High Republic, the era of the Star Wars canon that predates Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. However, the show takes places many years after the events of the High Republic books. That explains why Vernestra Rwoh, a teen during the books, is now an adult in this show. When The Acolyte debuted, it seemed to be quite popular. In fact, at the time, the premiere episode broke a viewership record on Disney+. But then certain factions of the Star Wars fandom reared their ugly heads and tanked the shows reputation. It resulted in The Acolyte being canceled after only one season. In the wake of the show's cancellation, I worried that would put the publication of Star Wars: The Acolyte: Wayseeeker, and another book based on the show, Star Wars: The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown, by Tessa Gratton, in jeopardy. But Wayseeker came out earlier in May. And The Crystal Crown is due to be released in July. That makes me happy. Because I liked the show, no matter what some assholes may have thought. BTW, The Acolyte isn't even the only Star Wars show to take place during The High Republic. There's also Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, a cartoon for pre-schoolers. (That I love, despite being a childless 30-something.) It already has 2 seasons, with a 3rd set to be released in the fall of this year.

Half the chapters in Star Wars: The Acolyte: Wayseeker, are written in the 1st-person POV. They are narrated by Vernestra Rwoh herself. The remaining chapters, which focus on the other characters, are written in the 3rd-person POV. This was confusing at first, and took some getting used. But I believe this is the first time a Star Wars novel has utilized that writing style. (Previously, some stories from the various Star Wars anthology books have done so.) And I thought that was pretty cool. All in all, I really liked this book.

[Beth ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

justina ireland is a pretty good ya author. she is, unfortunately, not so good at adult novels.

this was… anticlimactic, slow, fanservice-y but not in a satisfying way. vernestra read the same as she does as a 17-18 year old during the main events of the high republic, not at all like a century old, wizened jedi master. and indara was insufferable for the whole first half of the book, so petulant and childish i couldn’t believe she was 26, she seemed a decade younger. all this to say, justina ireland is not good at writing adult characters.

i also found the plot quite lacking. this isn’t so much of a spoiler, you find this out early in the book, so i’ll go ahead and talk about it. of all the loose ends to choose to tie up from the main high republic storyline, you choose the nullifier introduced in the rising storm? a tiny tidbit in a busy book most people did not care whatsoever to be resolved? either find a new, unrelated to thr plot or find something bigger and more meaningful to wrap up.

the fanservice in this book was just not it, either. random stray mentions of characters from thr that were clunky and forced, not at all relevant to the storyline, and some of the characters that did appear didn’t make sense. this IS a spoiler btw, this last bit of the paragraph: ty yorrick? really?? of all characters you bring in ty and pretend like she and vern were ever friends? i don’t see those two ever having been friends. ty was chosen to appear purely because everyone else vern associated with during thr was human and therefore dead by this point in the timeline.

not gonna lie, i figured since this was closer to the acolyte timeline that we would get some answers about qimir and what happened between him and vern, and… i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say no. if anything i’m saving you from the misery of expecting something and getting nothing. a dead padawan is mentioned and that’s it. no name, no mentions of circumstances, nothing. maybe that was in hopes that the acolyte would be renewed or continued at some point in time? but idk, i don’t think it’s going to happen so what was the point of avoiding that topic?

overall, this was a bit of a slog to get through and it wasn’t even very long. very hastily wrapped up plot, immature characters and a lame antagonist. i’d suggest to skip this, even if you like vern as a character. this book does her no favours.

[Joe Kessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Star Wars novel is misleadingly labeled, and I suspect I would have given it a pass if it had been correctly identified as a part of the franchise's High Republic line -- which I largely haven't read -- rather than a prequel tie-in to the show The Acolyte. True, the characters Vernestra and Indara from that Disney+ series are the protagonists here, but the former originated as a High Republic creation (from author Justina Ireland, even), and the work as a whole seems aimed more at giving closure to the associated plot arcs there than at engaging with anything shown onscreen.

That's a particularly frustrating turn of events because The Acolyte itself feels so sadly unfinished as a story. I enjoyed watching the title as it aired last year, but its first season ended on a sequence of revelations and cliffhangers that were plainly intended to carry on into another chapter that didn't materialize. Instead the program was canceled, leaving plenty of open questions in its wake. What happens to Osha and Mae next, after their respective shocking changes of circumstance in the finale? What's the full backstory that led the Stranger down his path? These are matters that a wider universe of licensed canon media should be perfect to explore -- and yet this release eschews all that to deliver a wacky adventure of the two warrior women, decades before the show, hunting down the pirates and black market dealers who've discovered a new lightsaber-disabling technology, which the book never really manages to sell as a problem for anyone in the galaxy but the Jedi Order themselves.

I'm sure there's an audience for this, and it's all told competently enough (give or take your opinion on first-person narration in Star Wars) but it's pretty far from the volume it's been marketed as. I'll hand it two-and-a-half stars, rounded up.

[Content warning for gun violence and gore.]

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[Ben Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly low among canon novels for me. A few notes:

-The audiobook narrator was…not good… Not unlistenable but she overacts on almost every line and her voices for Indara and Vernestra are both slightly annoying to listen to. She also mispronounced several things at times (in universe words and normal English words). I know they have editors and teams doing this from the credits, so they should have given her more notes. Also, her Yoda and Yaddle voices are just laughably bad - she should have just read those straight.

-The plot felt inconsequential. This is often the case for Star Wars novels centered around live action properties, but it felt like a slog to get through, even for a short book.

-The first/third person split is just odd. Vernestra is in first person POV but still keeps secrets from the reader (for example, the Nihil conflict ending and Qimir’s history are vaguely noted without detail). Indara is written in a limited third person POV where we still hear a lot of her thoughts. I think this split format could be used well in the right scenario, but it doesn’t make sense here.

-The relationship between the two protagonists is probably the main highlight, but a lot of their dialogue felt clunky to me. I get that it was intended to be awkward at times, but I think the dialogue made it worse than it was supposed to seem.

-There are some minor spoilers for the end of the THR. I felt the talk about this was overblown though. There are a few characters who are probably alive though this isn’t 100% definitive from what is said. A non main-series comics character does show up, so they are confirmed alive, but it was not someone I expect to have a major role in the final act of THR. Any specifics of how the main conflicts are resolved are not specifically described.

-All that said, I don’t regret having read it and I think anyone wishing to get a coda/epilogue to the high republic or gain a little background on these characters from the Acolyte would probably find something to enjoy from this book.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I never was fully invested in the overall plot of this book but I loved all of the character-centric moments. The exploration of Vernestra is great here (I loved that her POV was in first person), especially because one of my biggest complaints of Phase III of the High Republic was that there wasn't enough of her. She's got so many layers that I love and this book reminded me why she's one of my favorite Jedi. I also have always enjoyed the concept of Wayseekers and appreciated this book exploring that part of the Jedi Order in more depth.

While the plot wasn't very memorable, the relationship dynamic between Vernestra and Indara absolutely was (as was their dynamic later in the book with Ty). I really enjoyed how they butted heads and learned from each other in equal measure. It's also great to see Indara pre-The Acolyte. I connected with her quite a bit and I would love to see her involved in other Star Wars stories in the future.

This book works well as a bridge between the High Republic books and The Acolyte, though I will say I think HR readers will get more out of it than people who are solely fans of the show. There are plenty of references (though nothing super spoilery) to the events of the HR books and mentions of many notable HR characters to the extent that this book works well as a sort of High Republic epilogue while setting up the state of the era in The Acolyte.

If you were hoping this book would give some insight into unanswered parts of the show (particularly re: Vernestra and The Stranger), you will not get any of that here other than vague references. This is understandable from a writing perspective (clearly that was something the show would explore so it wasn't going to get revealed in a book) but frustrating as a reader considering the show's cancellation. Hopefully one day that story will get told in some form (Disney+/Lucasfilm bring back The Acolyte I'm begging you).

[Z Mythos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't initially intending to read this book when I first saw it announced toward the end of last year. While watching "The Acolyte" the previous summer changed my entire life, I knew this book wasn't going to include any of the principal four main characters whom I adore so much. Osha herself is the titular acolyte, so it's a little weird titling it as such when it takes place long before she (and Mae) were a twinkle in their magic space lesbian mommies' eyes. (Not to mention, the term 'acolyte' as I've seen it used in SW generally seems associated with the Sith, none of whom make any sort of appearance in this book that is most assuredly from the perspective of the Jedi.)

I don't want to rag too much on how they decided to title this book, as I'm sure it was a strategy to garner interest in its promotion. I'm happy to have purchased my own copy to read, if its sales do anything to show Big Daddy Mouse Corporation that there's still vested interest in the main show by its fans who desperately want to see it return. (Fingers crossed, Mannyfesting, as I've seen it said lol)

The main draw for me was the writing itself, after I gave the preview chapters a chance and found Justina Ireland's narration engaging & entertaining on its own. Beyond that, I was also interested in how Vernestra would be portrayed, given she's a major player in Qimir's backstory. I will admit to enjoying how silly & irreverent she was allowed to be while on her Wayseeking leave from the stuffy Jedi headquarters on Coruscant. I feel confident in asserting it seems a lot of Qimir's little shitness might derive from his time as Vernestra's padawan.

What I wasn't quite as impressed with is the implication that the events of this book take place after Vernestra's big betrayal, turning murdermom & carving Qimir's back open before leaving him for dead, nominally because of him 'turning to evil'. The whole thing is mentioned rather quickly in passing, the padawan who she failed 10 years prior to the events of the novel, the very reason why she ended up being sent on her whole Wayseeker sabbatical by Master Yaddle. (Which, while we're here, am I allowed to inquire upon how much Little Lady Yoda actually knows about Vernestra's loss? Does she know that Qimir is 'dead'? That Vernestra was the one who actually 'killed' him? It would say quite a lot whether she does or not, mkay.)

The only thing that brief mention seems to inform is the idea of Qimir possibly being immortal/way older than he looks, given Indara is 26 in this book. If the events on Brendok happen when she's in her 30s or even her 40s, that's quite a while after what occurs in Wayseeker, even moreso once we get to the main storyline of the show taking place another 16 years after that. I'm mostly neutral to the idea of Qimir being older than he looks, I only even became aware of it from reading Leslye Headland's BTS commentary about his character being informed by her love of the Coppola "Bram Stoker's Dracula" film & that he was originally meant to say the "I have crossed oceans of time to find you" line to Osha. (A film which I have not seen nor do I have any intention of seeing given the eyesore that Gary Oldman's lobster shell armor has always been to me. I'm not sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

I will take small victories where I can, so I'll at least celebrate that this novel seems to dispel the idea of Qimir being this Imri Cantaros person I keep hearing about. That's a theory some people out there are into, but I really really am not. Given that Leslye said she specifically wrote the role with Manny Jacinto in mind, I find it hard to believe she meant for him to be a preexisting character. While Qimir gets an extremely brief, rather nebulous reference that strongly suggests Vernestra's utter avoidance of confronting her sins, Mr. Cantaros is mentioned several times in a much more fond & nostalgic manner. He definitely seems more the golden boy type, being Vernestra's first padawan, compared to Qimir who I suspect might've been more of a black sheep. Imri Cantaros sounds like he lived well into adulthood & achieved Jedi knighthood and was into some pacifistic philosophical shit, whereas the implication of Qimir diving back under his Cortosis helmet as soon as Vernestra senses him & realizes he's alive in ep.8 seems to be that he was fairly young when murder was attempted on him (generally I don't think he ever made it to knighthood, I honestly skew towards believing it even happened when he was a youngling, whereas most others seem to think he was at least a teenage padawan) and also he's a violent chaos murderman.

I've waffled on about how specific minute details of this book relate to an entire other narrative that isn't exactly the point of this story, so I'll get back on topic. For what this book is, a fun 'buddy cop' type romp between two female characters, I like it just fine. I found it an interesting choice that chapters from Vernestra's POV were in first person while the ones from Indara's POV (and Nilsson's) were in third person .. as a writing decision I understand it was meant to give more interiority to Vernestra's chapters, but it falls a little flat here & there given the aforementioned avoidance of facing her demons. Not that she needs to be fully crashing out like Sol ended up doing in the show, since this is way too early in her personal narrative for that anyway, but there's just this disparity to me between the level of conflicted/emotional Sol as a male character gets to be about his past misdeeds compared to how mellow Vernestra is presented about hers.

I will admit since seeing the cover, I found myself grasping for whatever crumbs of interaction between Vernestra & Indara I could interpret as sapphic. As the plot started progressing more, I think I was doing less of this, but best believe when I say I am still 100% here to promote the #Verndara agenda (they'll always be problematic age gap lesbians in my heart lol).

The strength of the book's prose is really what kept me engaged, because I must admit the resolution of the main conflict was a bit underwhelming for me. The antagonists all kinda just drop one by one like flies, and there's no hint of anything having to do with Vernestra's earlier vision of a battle between Jedi & other people all equipped with the lightsaber nullifiers.

I didn't really have specific expectations when going into this book, so overall I'm mostly content, despite it not being super mindblowing. I can appreciate Vernestra passing on the torch to Indara, promising a recommendation for her to become a Wayseeker now that Vernestra is once again chained back to her duties at the Jedi temple in Coruscant, as a way of coming full circle. A solid 3.5 stars, if GR actually allowed half-star ratings.

[Phillip Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: The Acolyte: Wayseeker | Book Review



I was excited to read Star Wars: The Acolyte: Wayseeker, because I love Vernestra Rwoh and want to know more about her.

I loved the High Republic publishing initiative that Star Wars recently completed. I read every novel (adult, young adult, junior), comic (Marvel and Dark Horse), and Manga. I also listened to every audio drama and Audible Original.

With that said, Vernestra Rwoh was absolutely one of the standout characters of the entire thing. An incredibly young Jedi Knight with a Padawan of her own? There’s a lot of possibilities there!

While I didn’t love the end of her story in the initiative (it kind of felt like they forgot her), I knew that there were over a hundred years of stories possible with her surviving until The Acolyte.

I can’t wait to learn more about Vernestra.
When The Acolyte was released, there was a lot of online complaining about how Vernestra felt different from the last time she was seen in the books.

And, I was a little confused. It had been (in canon) over 100 years since we last saw her character. Did they not expect her to change and evolve as a person? A lot can change in one year let alone one hundred of them.

Wayseeker is the first book to dive into that period of time, and it likely won’t be the last. I can’t wait to learn what Vernestra was doing. What adventures did she go on? What happened to get Padawan(s)? What changed her?

I didn’t love the first-person chapters.
If I’m honest, I really struggled for the first third of the book during Vernestra’s first-person chapters. I’m not used to it in Star Wars, so it was a little off-putting.

I did get used to them as the book continued. There were times where I really appreciated them, because it gave us an even deeper insight into Vernestra’s thoughts and feelings.

[Tabitha Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Thank you for showing me what it means to be a good Jedi."

Wayseeker is a novel by Justina Ireland tying together Vernestra Rwoh from the THR initiative and Jedi Knight Indara from the Acolyte. Rather than a tie-in novel for The Acolyte this reads more (to me) as an epilogue for the character of Vernestra Rwoh, who we've been reading about since 2021 (4 years! that's crazy!). It also features several characters and mentions of plots that run through the phases of the High Republic initiative. I don't know how much this would detract for someone who hasn't read these books.

Tasked with finding Vernestra and taking her back to Coruscant, Indara and Vernestra run into trouble and this book chronicles a story of a request by the Jedi Council to find the people responsible for a dangerous weapon, which could cause innumerable damage if produced and put into the wrong hands.

While I detested Vernestra's personality in the Acolyte, the 3rd THR phase and this books helps me come to terms. Justina is incredible at character work, and this shines through Vernestra and Indara. These two are completely different, but the journey they take will force them to set aside their differences and compromise for the greater good. This reinforces the idea that we can always learn something from people with different values and beliefs.

A pretty quick and enjoyable read. I would've loved some more substance, but like mentioned earlier, delving into the history of Vernestra was great and satisfying. I enjoyed her visions with Stellan the most, and her deciding to share the beliefs of her Master and first Padawan with Indara.

3.5/5 stars for The Acolyte: Wayseeker

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched all of The Acolyte series and when it was over I was wondering what I had watched. There was no one to root for: everyone was either evil, hiding something horrible, or was complicit in a horrendous lie. I longed for jedi to be jedi. This book was what I wish the series had been.

Wayseeker Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh has been summoned (repeatedly) to return to Coruscant. This time Jedi Master Yaddle sends young Jedi Indara to get her. However, Indara is drafted in Vernestra's plan to rid a planet of pirates. She does so, but makes a startling discovery: the pirates had a device that could deactivate, "power down", a lightsaber, rendering them useless. The pair take this knowledge back to the High Council and are given the mission to track down where these devices are being manufactured.

That's it. It's a very simple premise but author Justina Ireland makes it absolutely fun and engaging. Each chapter is told from a character's point of view, with a lot of time given to Vernestra and she's fantastic. Indara also gets her time to shine, much more than in her appearance on television, and she too is great. I really liked the villain of the story, who is the first antagonist who is constantly high on spice if I'm not mistaken. There are plenty of creatures and monsters and lots of action, including one from the comic books (though you don't need to know anything about her to enjoy her in this). I really do wish this book could have gone on longer because I was enjoying it so much.

This book will be absolutely enjoyable to Star Wars fans and will satisfy those fans who weren't thrilled with the series. I sincerely hope that Ireland is allowed to return to these characters and this time period.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh has spent years as a Wayseeker, going where the Force guides her and avoiding the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as much as possible. But now she is needed. Jedi Knight Indara has been chosen to retrieve her. Indara has been hiding in the archives and is reluctant to do so. The Force has a way of ensuring that certain paths meet...especially when the fate of the galaxy is at stake.

When I was watching The Acolyte, I thought "this is not Vernestra, not the one from the books", but why would she be the same a century or so later? Still, it was so jarring. Wayseeker fills some of the gaps in her characterisation (although greater gaps are notably left alone, presumably because the show was expected to continue...oops). Vernestra's portrayal makes a little more sense to me now and I admit to enjoying her interactions with Indara (who got such a raw deal on the show - one reason I nearly quit at the first episode).

I'm trying to decide if the shorter length of this book is a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, too many recent Star Wars novels have been unnecessarily bloated - but on the other hand, the plot and the ending don't feel particularly satisfying. Perhaps because the book is more of a glorified epilogue to the High Republic project? An old plot thread. Name dropping. Descendants with familiar surnames. And so on.

Ultimately, I think I'll hang onto this paperback copy (many High Republic books are on my "to donate" pile) because it's an interesting book set in a time that hasn't been covered by lots of other media. For now, anyway.