With the book out and in the wild, thrilling readers worldwide, Justina Ireland talks with the official site about her latest book, some of the plot points within and the wder The High Republic series.
StarWars.com: The opening immediately brings forward the mystery of the novel which is: what is happening in this sector of space? How is this happening? And for those who’ve read Out of the Shadows, we know that Tempest Runner Lourna Dee has facilitated the creation of this superweapon called the “Gravity’s Heart.” Talk readers through Lourna Dee’s mischievousness in this book.
Justina Ireland: Yeah, it’s like plots on plots on plots. [Laughs] Lourna Dee’s not dumb. She’s a survivor. Even though Marchion Ro might be thinking four steps forward, Lourna Dee is thinking 10 steps ahead. If you like Lourna Dee in Out of the Shadows, you really have to pick up Cav [Scott]’s Tempest Runner audio. We talked about the storytelling there — and even when I was writing Out of the Shadows, we were talking back and forth about Lourna Dee and what was going on in The Rising Storm.
I also think it’s really cool to see how families that are very wealthy don’t necessarily have clean hands. That was part of the storytelling. I was like, “Who’s going to fund this superweapon?” When I was a kid watching G.I. Joe, I was like, “Where is Cobra getting all his money from?” They’re always like, “This doomsday device uses lava and ice crystal and deep-sea water, and we’re going to destroy cities and turn them into miniatures!” And I was like, “Cool… Who’s paying those scientists? ‘Cause they gotta eat.” So, that was part of the thing — who does Lourna know? What are her connections? Who is she? I know who she is because Cav and I talked about it, but this is kind of the beginning of, “What is Lourna Dee about?” Because in Light of the Jedi, she’s just kind of there in the background. She’s kind of that chick. And now it’s like, “Oh, Lourna Dee is making moves and that’s really cool.” And I really wanted to have this — it’s not even a prototype, it’s like a proto-prototype — of something we’re going to see later in the storytelling.
