Category: books and comics

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Post-Rogue One novel Inferno Squad coming in July from Christie Golden

The Star Wars book schedule is rounding out with a new post-Rogue One/A New Hope novel from Christie Golden. Inferno Squad features an elite Imperial squad that’s tasked to take on what remains of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. Here’s the blurb:

The Rebellion may have heroes like Jyn Erso and Luke Skywalker. But the Empire has Inferno Squad. After the humiliating theft of the Death Star plans and the resulting destruction of the battle station, the Empire is on the defensive. In response to this stunning defeat, the Imperial Navy has authorized the formation of an elite team of soldiers, known as Inferno Squad. Their mission: infiltrate and eliminate the remnants of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. Following the death of their leader, the Partisans have carried on his extremist legacy, determined to thwart the Empire — no matter what the cost. Now, Inferno Squad must prove their status as the best of the best and take down the Partisans from within. But as the danger intensifies and the threat of discovery grows, how far will Inferno Squad go to ensure the safety of the Empire?

The book will be out in hardcover and eBook on July 25. I can’t say this one appeals to me, and Golden seems like an odd choice for it – we last heard from her with 2015’s Dark Disciple – but seems like this is a continuation of the new EU’s tendency to focus on brand-new characters.

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A Legends-to-new-canon cheat sheet

io9 rounds up some (most?) of the new canon’s Legends imports, or at least those that came up since the old Expanded Universe actually became Legends. I can’t really tell if this is complete, since most of them are fairly minor.

I would say Thrawn is about the most major, since the concepts of things like a “New Republic” and “Leia and Han’s kid going dark” are fairly broad. And in any case, this list is likely to grow with Aftermath: Empire’s End coming out in a matter of weeks.

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Star Wars out this week: Bloodline in PB

Tuesday brings Claudia Gray’s Bloodline in paperback. The book gives us some insight into the state of the galaxy not so long before The Force Awakens and was one of the best-reviewed Star Wars novels in years. (I gave it an A-.) Wel worth reading, if you haven’t already.

On Wednesday the comic shops will have Star Wars #28 and Darth Maul #1, the start of Marvel’s latest mini-series.

Our next novel is Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End, out on February 21. Star Wars Books has recently been sharing images of the jacket and finished hardcover. Check out the full schedule on our book release calendar.

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Rogue One’s Baze and Chirrut take center stage in Rucka’s Guardians of the Whills

StarWars.com now has the details for Beth Revis’ Jyn Erso YA novel Rebel Rising and Greg Rucka’s middle-grade Guardians of the Whills, which will be about Baze Malbus and Chirrut Imwe. Here’s the blurb:

Baze and Chirrut used to be Guardians of the Whills, who looked after the Kyber Temple on Jedha and all those who worshipped there. Then the Empire came and took over the planet. The temple was destroyed and the people scattered. Now Baze and Chirrut do what they can to resist the Empire and protect the people of Jedha, but it never seems to be enough. When a man named Saw Gerrera arrives with grand plans to take down the Empire, it seems like the perfect way for Baze and Chirrut to make a real difference and help the people of Jedha. But will it come at too great a cost?

Both novels will be avaliable in hardcover and eBook on May 2.

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Rebel Rising: Cover, blurb for Jyn Erso YA novel spotted

A cover and summary for Beth Revis’ young adult Rogue One tie-in was briefly live on a Disney Publishing site Wednesday, with the title Rebel Rising. Here’s the summary as posted, thanks to Making Star Wars. (UPDATE: Now live on StarWars.com!)

When Jyn Erso was five years old, her mother was murdered and her father taken from her to serve the Empire. But despite the loss of her parents she is not completely alone—Saw Gerrera, a man willing to go to any extremes necessary in order to resist Imperial tyranny, takes her in as his own, and gives her not only a home but all the abilities and resources she needs to become a rebel herself.

Jyn dedicates herself to the cause—and the man. But fighting alongside Saw and his people brings with it danger and the question of just how far Jyn is willing to go as one of Saw’s soldiers. When she faces an unthinkable betrayal that shatters her world, Jyn will have to pull the pieces of herself back together and figure out what she truly believes in…and who she can really trust.

It could be that the blurb wasn’t proofread or approved yet – the Jyn we see in the first Rogue One flashback on Lah’mu was 8, not 5 – which may be why it vanished. An excerpt (PDF link) remains live.

The book is currently due out in hardcover on May 2. (Updated 1/26 with a better quality cover image via Jedi Bibliothek.)