By George & Josh Bate
Lucasfilm’s recent push to explore different genres within the Star Wars galaxy has already taken readers in some fascinating directions. The first entry in this new initiative, Eyes Like Stars, embraced romance in a thrilling story that offered tons of unexpected details about the galaxy leading up to the events of The Force Awakens. Now, Star Wars ventures into decidedly darker territory with the first canon “A Star Wars Horror Novel.”
From author Kiersten White, Hiding from the Dark follows Bia, a young girl who lives a normal life with her mother, an Imperial officer, on Coruscant. But when her mother vanishes, Bia finds herself pursued by an ominous figure in black: Darth Vader.
White’s novel lives up to its subtitle as “A Star Wars Horror Novel,” primarily through its approach to Darth Vader. Rather than treat Vader as the recognizable character every Star Wars fan (and probably nearly every person on the planet) knows, White treats the Sith Lord like a classic horror movie villain in the vein of Michael Myers. His name is never mentioned. Instead, he is simply there: an unnatural, relentless, seemingly unstoppable force pursuing Bia wherever she goes. White transforms one of cinema’s most recognizable villains into something genuinely frightening by stripping away much of the familiarity surrounding him.
Bia proves to be a compelling young protagonist through whom to experience this nightmare. There is something inherently more frightening about a horror story with a child at its center than one led by adults, and White effectively taps into that fear throughout her novel. Like many great horror protagonists, Bia does not always make the most logical decisions, and some of her choices only make an already terrifying situation worse, yet she is also remarkably resourceful and inventive, repeatedly finding ways to survive against impossible odds.
Unlike Eyes Like Stars, however, Hiding from the Dark offers relatively little in the way of major new revelations about Star Wars canon. The story unfolds during a fairly ambiguous stretch of the timeline, sometime after A New Hope and before Vader’s death in Return of the Jedi. That ambiguity allows the novel to tell a self-contained story without becoming overly concerned with fitting into the larger mythology. Those looking for significant additions to the broader canon may leave wanting more, but that is clearly not where White’s interests lie.
It is always an accomplishment when a middle grade novel successfully appeals to its intended audience while still offering plenty for adult readers to enjoy, and Hiding from the Dark largely accomplishes exactly that. Younger readers will find a protagonist they can connect with and a genuinely suspenseful story of survival (which may even be a gateway into more horror movies and novels for them), while older Star Wars and horror fans will appreciate the novel’s inventive use of one of the franchise’s most iconic characters.
VERDICT:
Hiding from the Dark lives up to its name as “A Star Wars Horror Novel” by excelling in its treatment of Darth Vader as a classic horror movie villain, akin to Michael Myers. Kiersten White crafts an effective horror story that can appeal to its intended younger audience while still offering plenty of suspense and fun for adult readers. While the novel offers few revelations about the wider Star Wars canon, it works best as a self-contained experiment in genre storytelling and is yet another success story for Lucasfilm’s recent genre initiative of Star Wars stories. and proves that the galaxy far, far away remains fertile ground for stories willing to venture into darker territory.
Star Wars; Hiding from the Dark is available now, courtesy of Random House Children’s Books
