Journey to the Force Awakens: Shattered Empire follows new characters

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In an interview with StarWars.com, Shattered Empire writer Greg Rucka reveals a few thing about the series. Mainly, that it stars a pair of married Rebels, Shara and Kes Bey.

“Shara flies, Kes is a ground-pounder, and a very experienced one,” says Rucka. “So, they have spent more time apart than together, and they’re in the Outer Rim world where the Imperial presence is felt, and they’re hoping that they can bring an end to this. But they’re both very tired veterans, and they come out of [the Battle of] Endor with the elation that we see in [Return of the Jedi]. ‘We’ve won. It’s over.’ — only to discover that, no it’s not. The Empire was huge.” Despite the fireworks, despite the funeral pyre of Darth Vader, despite the joy on Endor, the Empire is far from broken.

Luke, Leia Han and company are present in the series, though:

They’re all key figures in the Alliance, and will be represented. Just not in starring roles. “This is important,” Rucka says. “This could never be, as much as I wish I could’ve written, and would’ve loved to have written, the story of, ‘We’re gonna follow Luke for four issues after Return of the Jedi.’ That was never what my mandate here was. But, with that in mind, we see Luke, we see Leia, we see Lando, we see Han, we see Chewie. We see what they are doing, and while the stories are not about them — they’re about Shara Bey — the stories link. Issue 1 sort of stands alone. Issues 2 and 3 follow the same story path; they’re like a two-parter, and they lead into the fourth. As it stands, we meet Shara in [issue] 1 during the Battle of Endor, and we come out of the Battle of Endor, and then we cover about three to six months total in the series following the Battle of Endor. In that time, Shara and her husband find themselves in some situations only incidentally in the path of the principles, and in other situations, working quite closely with them.”

The four-issue series will start in September.

Journey to Episode VII: A new-to-Star-Wars writer is on Aftermath; Blurbs for YA novels

aftermathJedi Bibliothek was first to stop that the Random House online catalog ha slipped an author name onto Del Rey’s Aftermath – the very prolific Chuck Wendig, who expressed an interest in Star Wars last year on Twitter.

Jedi Bibliothek (in English) also spotted some blurbs for the YA components of Journey on Amazon.

Claudia Gray’s Lost Stars:

This thrilling Young Adult novel gives readers a macro view of some of the most important events in the Star Wars universe, from the rise of the Rebellion to the fall of the Empire. Readers will experience these major moments through the eyes of two childhood friends-Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell-who have grown up to become an Imperial officer and a Rebel pilot. Now on opposite sides of the war, will these two star-crossed lovers reunite, or will duty tear them-and the galaxy-apart?


The Weapon of a Jedi
by Jason Fry:

Set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the story finds Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 stranded on a mysterious planet, and explores Luke’s first-ever duel with a lightsaber.

Cecil Castellucci’s Moving Target:

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the story follows the warrior princess as she leads a ragtag group of rebels on a dangerous mission against the evil Galactic Empire.

Greg Rucka’s Smuggler’s Run:

Set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the story follows everyone’s favorite pair of smugglers as they fly the Millennium Falcon on a top-secret mission for the Rebellion.

All four promise “all-new post-Return of the Jedi content, as well as hints and clues” about The Force Awakens.

UPDATE: Our book release schedule has been updated!