Ronin: A Visions Novel Review [Spoilers!]
Ronin: A Visions Novel by Emma Mieko Candon (Del Rey)
Ronin: A Visions novel comes on the heels of the first anime Star Wars series and takes place in the world of The Duel. Star Wars, as we know has a rich influence of japanese culture including the influence of Akira Kurosawa on George Lucas. I thoroughly enjoyed the Visions series and enjoy what little I have experienced of Japanese culture so I was excited to read this novel by Emma Mieko Candon which promised to be a different kind of Star Wars book.
And boy is it different! The story kicks off with the events portrayed in The Duel, adding some internal flavor tho the characters we met there. A big mystery is quickly established with the voice that the Ronin hears, and Candon is superb at drip feeding us hints and clues whilst maintaining the air of mystery throughout, in fact we never learn the Ronin’s real name. With such an air of ambiguity coupled with the fact that Visions is not canon, it is easy to accept a kind of timeless feeling for the events, and a good deal of the story seems to revolve around the formation of the Sith.
The characters in Ronin are fascinating, from the titular brooding lead to the resurrected Sith warrior known as Kouru. But my favorite character was probably The Traveler, or Fox as they were otherwise known. The Traveler is a force user that we learn left the Jedi order, they wear a mask that gives them their nickname and are referred to as they/them throughout, this is the first clear trans character I have encountered in Star Wars. Foxes or Kitsune are important in Japanese folklore, ambiguous but benevolent shapeshifters that are able to appear as either male or female, and I’m happy to say I thought the character really worked for me.
The force itself is treated quite differently here, and I love the description of it as a ‘dark current’, and beings who are strong in it are described as being a ‘bright flare’ within it. In this story the Jedi are portrayed much more as the bad guys, and the Sith are more morally ambiguous, with Ronin having led the breakaway sect until he saw a vision of the future in which the war he started rages for centuries causing suffering across the galaxy, and leads him to turn on the Sith. I am affirmedly a Jedi guy, but this is the first book that has had me understand and be on the side of a dark sider in the shape of the Daughter and Ronin.
There were times during the book where the level of mystery and style did make it difficult for me to be sure what exactly was going on. But having read some Japanese folklore in the past, this was something I had encountered before and it didn’t spoil my enjoyment, and will in fact make re-reading Ronin a rewarding experience as I’m sure I will notice things I hadn’t before and discover new understanding and meanings. Candon’s writing builds on the anime’s feudal Japan meets Star Wars aesthetic in it’s descriptions, and one thing that really stood out to me was the picture painted of a Jedi Star Destroyer with a Japanese style village inside it, complete with a central pagoda and zen garden. The idea of different worlds, just beyond the fabric of ours is one I am very familiar with, and these temporary gateways (or Points of Transition as Emma Mieko Candon has called them) feel very familiar to me, as Haruki Murakami one of my favorite authors, uses this concept a lot.
The manner of story telling in Ronin feels like a folk tale, an oral history, and the position in the timeline doesn’t really matter. There are hints it could place long before the Old Republic and one that could even set it after the Skywalker saga “A knight who let his brother strike him down - who returned to guide the child who would at last bring his brother peace”. As fans we get far too caught up with when things happen, the Star Wars universe can get bogged down in canon and I would love more books like this that are just stories set in the galaxy. I would also love a continuation of this story, especially an animated show in the same style as the Duel, written by Emma Mieko Candon who has created a beautiful world within the galaxy far, far away.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 /5
Jonny O
If you liked this check out my Star Wars Visions Review
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