Daniel José Older and Tomio Ogata’s Star Wars: The High Republic – The Edge of Balance: Precedent alternates between events shortly after the fall of Starlight Beacon in 230 BBY and preceding events on Dalna one hundred fifty years before that. In the distant past, Jedi Knights Arkoff and Azlin Rell travel with their master Ravna and the droid ZZ-10 to investigate a disturbance. They fight members of the Path of the Open Hand and Nameless creatures of the Shrii-ka-rai, resulting in the loss of Master Ravna and Jedi Knight Rell succumbing to insanity. One hundred fifty years later, bounty hunter Vol Garat leads the Nihil to the site of the encounter in hopes of finding a weapon to use against the Jedi. Instead, he finds the much-modified ZZ-10, leading to a culmination with the aged Jedi Master Arkoff. The result is a fun story that adds to the tapestry of the High Republic Era, though it feels like a drop in a larger pond. Perhaps reading the other Edge of Balance manga volumes will make it a more complete narrative. ( )