Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon | Review

The first Star Wars novel of the New Year takes fans on an underworld adventure that keeps the fun levels at an all time high.

Author Mike Chen dives into the seedy world of Star Wars Outlaws with the latest novel from the galaxy far, far away: Low Red Moon. The novel takes place in the years before the game, offering us a closer look at the duo of Jaylen Vrax and his deadly enforcer droid, ND-5.

By the time of the game, the pair are already major players in the underworld. Low Red Moon, however, shows us how they got started, the unusual events surrounding their meeting, and sets the stage for the people we eventually meet on Kay Vess’ journey. This isn’t a simple fill-in-the-gaps prequel, however. While we get some of that naturally through the story being told, that’s not the main purpose of the book.

Instead, it’s about the characters. Showing a glimpse into their earlier mindsets and the circumstances that changed them into the characters we initially met while telling an original story in the process. And I think that’s what makes tie-ins like this work best; being able to work on its own and be incredibly enjoyable even if you’re relatively new to things; or maybe just have passing knowledge about Star Wars.

And no, you absolutely don’t need to have played Outlaws to get into this book. Sure, there are some other characters who pop up that make for neat connections to those who have played it, but you can go into Low Red Moon without any knowledge of the game and you’ll still get a damn fun Star Wars adventure.

I won’t go into all of the story elements in order to veer away from spoilers, but I’ll give some of the basics. Jaylen was born into a prominent family who supplied integral starship parts to the Republic. When the Empire takes over and Jaylen inherits the title of CEO, he finds his family at the center of a plot to take their entire company out of the picture.

When he ends up being the sole survivor of a mass assassination attempt he becomes obsessed with uncovering answers, even as he’s forced into hiding. The only lead he has is the enigmatic phrase: Low Red Moon. Eeking out a living in the galaxy’s criminal underworld, Jaylen along with the help of ND-5 are trying to snag the “big score” that will put them on the map among the various crime lords.

A successful heist puts him on the right path, but unexpectedly reopens old wounds. Just as he thought he was able to put the past behind him in the years following his family’s demise, his latest score makes it clear he can’t ignore it any more. Along with the help of ND-5 and some other unexpected allies, Jaylen must find a way to satisfy his need to learn the truth, all while surviving Imperials and feuding crime syndicates.

There are plenty of moving parts, like you’d expect from any kind of criminal heist story, but the writing keeps everything in line neatly without being confusing. In general, the writing is one of the things I enjoyed most about the book.

There’s something about Mike Chen’s writing style that just…well, it’s just an insane amount of fun. He manages to keep the pace moving relatively quickly without skipping over the character/emotional beats. He paints a clear picture of the action—important during the more convoluted heists where multiple characters are doing their own thing—without bogging things down with a bunch of exposition.

More so, Chen has a knack for managing to capture the sense of fun and adventure inherent in the franchise. His previous Star Wars novel, Brotherhood, felt like you were watching a Clone Wars style movie with all the giant set pieces and character moments to boot. It made for an incredibly fun read that was, simply put: a hoot.

He brings that same energy to Low Red Moon, even giving it more of a swashbuckling vibe. At times it felt like I was watching a Pirates of the Caribbean movie between all the shady characters, double-crossing, multi-pronged schemes, and action. While the events of the story may be on a slightly smaller scale than other Star Wars stories, the lower stakes don’t detract from the sense of adventure and fun.

Perhaps the best thing I can say about Low Red Moon—or any tie-in book—is that it absolutely made me want to dive back into the game. Even though the stories aren’t really connected, Chen captures that world so well, I felt the need to immerse myself back into it. Not even just to view the story with these new insights (though that aspect is there as well), but simply because these two pieces of media complement each other so perfectly.

Ultimately, there’s a whole lot to love about Star Wars: Outlaws – Low Red Moon. The characters are a blast, the story is intriguing and left me wanting to see further adventures, the action/world are dynamic, and it’s just a whole lot of fun. It’s a pretty great way to kick off the New Year in Star Wars stories.