Star Wars Visions: Ronin
A mysterious former Sith wanders the galaxy in this stunning Star Wars tale. An original novel inspired by the world of The Duel from the Star Wars Visions animated anthology.
The Jedi are the most loyal servants of the Empire.
Two decades ago, Jedi clans clashed in service to feuding lords. Sickened by this endless cycle, a sect of Jedi rebelled, seeking to control their own destiny and claim power in service of no master. They called themselves Sith.
The Sith rebellion failed, succumbing to infighting and betrayal, and the once rival lords unified to create an Empire . . . but even an Empire at peace is not free from violence.
Far on the edge of the Outer Rim, one former Sith wanders, accompanied only by a faithful droid and the ghost of a less civilized age. He carries a lightsaber, but claims lineage to no Jedi clan, and pledges allegiance to no lord. Little is known about him, including his name, for he never speaks of his past, nor his regrets. His history is as guarded as the red blade of destruction he carries sheathed at his side.
As the galaxy’s perpetual cycle of violence continues to interrupt his self-imposed exile, and he is forced to duel an enigmatic bandit claiming the title of Sith, it becomes clear that no amount of wandering will ever let him outpace the specters of his former life.
Author: Emma Mieko Candon
Cover artist: Kotaro Chiba
Release date: October 12, 2021
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780593358665
Today marks the release of Ronin: A Visions Novel, a brand new story from Emma Mieko Candon that expands on the universe of the Visions short film “The Duel.” The novel follows the titular Ronin from the short in his journeys, giving new depth to a character and setting that “The Duel” left largely ambiguous.
I read Ronin for the first time before I watched “The Duel,” and because the first section of the book directly adapts the short it means I experienced the story for the first time here. Something I didn’t realize until seeing the short is how little it establishes about its setting and how much freedom the novel has in building something new from the ground up. A lot of what we take for granted about Star Wars is challenged in a way that can feel a little jarring at first but feels more and more right as the story unfolds.
Beyond the lore of the galaxy being different, the perspective of Ronin doesn’t feel like something we’ve ever seen in Star Wars before, which I think largely owes to the freedom Emma was given into creating a story true to their own personal point of view. The identity of the Ronin himself is only hinted at in the short, which deliberately gives you very little insight into his backstory or what motivates him. The moment at the end of the short that reveals his pouch full of red crystals immediately makes the mind start working to fill in the gaps, and Ronin doesn’t disappoint in the way it delves into those gaps.
Following the adaptation of “The Duel,” the novel quickly moves on to introducing its own original cast. These characters end up fitting nicely next to some of my other favorite Star Wars casts. They’re all broken in their own way and their traumas all intersect, making it difficult not to become invested in their attempts to find resolution through each other. The Traveler was a standout for me, particularly on the second read with already knowing the answers to many of the mysteries, but I very much grew to appreciate all of them by the end.
Emma’s prose is effortlessly engrossing, and some of the ways it illustrates familiar elements of the franchise are going to stick with me through future stories. Normally when I read a Star Wars novel I tend to get through them pretty quickly, whether it’s one of my favorites or not, but both times I read Ronin I ended up taking my time with it as much as I could because it’s the type of book that made me want to sit with it. The poetic style of the prose can take longer to process sometimes but it also sticks with you longer. The scope evokes that of the Original Trilogy; the galaxy-changing events and ideas are present, but the story remains deeply personal. I didn’t see the ending coming when I first read the book, but once it was done I couldn’t see it having gone any other way.
For a book that turns so much of the well-known Star Wars universe on its head, it’s all the more remarkable how much of the heart remains intact. At its core, the identity of Ronin still feels deeply like it belongs in Star Wars. Many of the messages the book is trying to convey are applicable to all forms of the franchise, and key tenets of the saga are revisited and remixed in ways that honor what’s come before while looking at them in a new light. It’s not a secret that the roots of Star Wars have always owed deeply to Eastern storytelling and Ronin strengthens that connection more than ever before. I hope to see future storytellers take cues from the way Ronin approaches the universe, because I think it has a lot to add to Star Wars even if it isn’t a part of the normal timeline.
It’s hard to put into words all of the things that made this book special to me. I expect the differences from what a Star Wars novel normally is will make it a hard sell for a lot of people and that some probably won’t appreciate it as much as I did, but I do think this is a book that everyone should give a chance. Ronin didn’t change my enjoyment of the usual types of Star Wars stories, but it did make me appreciate how the potential there is in pushing the boundaries of what a Star Wars story can be in the way this book does. Ronin is the first of its kind in a lot of ways, but I really hope it isn’t the last.
Guest review by Numidian Prime. Stay tuned for more reviews of Ronin here on the site and on Fantha Tracks radio.
- Hardcover Book
- Candon, Emma Mieko (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 352 Pages - 10/12/2021 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)