The Phantom Menace has been celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, with a whole slew of new merchandise, the re-release of the film and new comics and books set in the era too. While the world of Star Wars books has been dominated by the High Republic, there has been space for two books this year set in and around the era of The Phantom Menace. The Living Force, which has been reviewed already, covers events one year previous to the film, fleshing out the state of the galaxy before, and the next book, Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss is set around one week after The Phantom Menace.
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes covers a period of time that has not been explored much by Star Wars publishing, so it is exciting to see what the era can bring to readers. Barnes takes readers on an 80s sci-fi-esque adventure with Mace Windu as he goes undercover to figure out the mystery of a strange and unusual world. A task given to him by his old, recently departed friend Qui-Gon Jinn.
[Note: This review will be spoiler free outside of the general plot overview. While I am reviewing this book independently and honestly, a copy was provided to me by Random House Worlds to review.]
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss reaches in-depth to a new world
As previously mentioned, The Glass Abyss is set roughly one week after the events of the end of The Phantom Menace, a dark time for the Jedi Order as they come to terms with both the revelation of the Sith’s return and the loss of one of their best Qui-Gon Jinn. This affects none more so than Mace Windu who viewed him as a valued friend.
Mace then receives a holo-message from Qui-Gon to be given on his death. The message gives Mace a new mission to fulfil a promise Qui-Gon made to somebody on the planet Metagos and help free the people from the iron grip of two rival crime lords on the edge of war. Mace ventures to the planet, ditching his Jedi robes and Jedi point of view and engrosses himself within the people of Metagos, becoming a character simply known as “The Solver” who aims to “solve” the planet of Metagos.
The Glass Abyss feels very much like a different kind of Star Wars novel in many ways. A good 90% of the story takes place on the planet of Metagos. With its surface scarred by radiation and powerful solar winds from its sun, Metagos is now home to an enormous underground cave city filled with giant crystals, massive glowing mushrooms and a whole host of strange species that call it home. Steven Barnes does an admirable job at making the planet feel so alive both through the descriptions of the creatures, people and objects found on Metagos, but also the fascination he gives to Mace Windu about the evolution of the planet and how native species have developed. This is a great character trait to give to a normally stoic character.
Throughout the book we are introduced to many different areas of the massive cave city. This can become confusing to readers and definitely takes a lot of getting used to, even with the repeated descriptions of the areas and people of the book. This can sometimes make the book feel a little bogged down with the exposition for the planet, short snappy chapters help, but you may feel like the book doesn’t pick up for a few chapters at a time. But Barnes manages to make Metagos a fully lived in and realized world, which is great to see in any sci-fi novel as it helps the reader immerse themselves into Metagos itself.
The city is split into several levels, each with its own parts to play in the book, from the city itself, to the caves of the Sa’ad. The Sa’ad are an ancient species that Mace spends a lot of time with in the book, who live in harmony with the Hillians, massive spider-worms who provide the silk that the planet uses as its primary export. You get to feel so engrossed with Metagos and with so much of the book spent on the planet, it truly takes us away from the galaxy hopping adventures we are so used to and grounds us in this fully living, breathing world.
New species and vibrant locations feel different even for Star Wars
As well as the city of Metagos feeling so vibrant and alive, so do the characters that Mace Windu meets throughout the book. Barnes introduces us to a wide range of different characters, all unique enough to keep your interest peaked throughout the book. With Mace being “The Solver” for quite a bit of the book, it allows him to do things Jedi don’t normally get to do in the books, such as “join” criminal gangs to get close to their leaders he has come to stop. This causes an interesting dynamic between Mace Windu and the leaders of the rival clans, with plenty of mystery and espionage at the heart of their interactions.
For me, the main villain of the book, the leader of one of the criminal gangs, is one of the most unique and interesting characters we have ever had in Star Wars. Chulok, said villain, is a huge alien that is actually two aliens (A Faraki named Chu and a Rodian named Lok) that are fused together at the shoulders in some twisted mass of bone and muscle. They are a terrifying force and prove to be a formidable adversary in the book. Barnes manages to create plenty of tension between Chulok and Mace, even when they are allies. They are very interesting to me, as we don’t often get a lot of body horror-esque elements in Star Wars, so it makes for a welcome addition to the franchise. They manage to make their presence known in the book despite not appearing much towards the end, which felt a little disappointing.
Droids are an important part of any Star Wars novel and seeing how authors can create amazing new ones are always great to see, none more so than Maya-8 who is a droid that Mace meets quite early on in the book. I am positive she will become a fan favorite due to her unique nature, great characterization and relationship with Mace. Barnes manages to make her as unique as just about every other alien that Mace meets with in the book.
The Glass Abyss works well in giving us a truly alien feeling book. It is refreshing to be greeted with such an alien world where Mace feels like one of the few humans in the story. This book may not be for everyone, especially those who are used to more of a grander scale kind of Star Wars book. Despite the alien feel of the novel, Mace Windu himself helps to keep the book more grounded.
Mace Windu as the main character in this book is very interesting. A lot of what most fans will know about him comes from his appearances (played by Samuel L. Jackson) in the prequels and The Clone Wars series. There, he is for the most part portrayed as this stoic, sometimes brash and blunt leader type. In The Glass Abyss we get to see a whole new side to the character which is a welcome and refreshing take on Mace.
Barnes brings in plenty of aspects of Mace from Legends which add to his character and keeps in line with his characterization but puts his own spin on who Mace is too. He’s definitely still a formidable character, but he is put into many situations where he is forced to act differently, and we get to learn more about him. We learn he has an interest in the biology and evolution of many plants and species across the galaxy, which helps shape his thoughts and ideals. There might not be a huge character defining moment in this for Mace as I feel he doesn’t change too much by the end of the book, however throughout it, we get to see him in vulnerable and emotional moments. Mace definitely becomes a more well-rounded character by the end of the book, even if it doesn’t mean much outside of the book.
My conclusions on Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss won’t be for everyone. If you’re expecting lots of planets, and Easter eggs aplenty, then you may be disappointed. However, what The Glass Abyss does brilliantly allow you to escape and brings you into this underground landscape that fills your mind with wonder in a fully realized and living world. It truly becomes just about Mace Windu and the city of Metagos. Steven Barnes brings us a very different kind of Star Wars adventure that despite feeling bogged down with exposition and descriptions at times. This is a highly recommended adventure about loss and love and hope that ties together beautifully with some exciting Jedi action.
My rating: 8/10
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss By Steven Barnes is available wherever books are sold on October 15th, 2024. There will also be a very cool looking NYCC exclusive edition of the book available to purchase at the con October 17-20. Are you looking forward to this new adventure with Mace Windu? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus!
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