Earlier today, we had our first official statement on the Expanded Universe’s place in the light of the new films. Now, we get more on the novels going forward. After John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn (September 2,) we’re getting Tarkin by James Luceno (November 4) and…
Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne (January) was originally announced as part of the loose Empire and Rebellion trilogy pre-Disney… They dropped the subtitle on Honor Among Thieves, but that and Razor’s Edge both fall under Legends with the rest of the old EU, per Lucasfilm editor Jennifer Heddle. In any case, this book is a first-person Luke Skywalker story. (First person? I’m suddenly a lot less excited, but whatever, I’ll read it.)
Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp (March) features Palpatine and Vader “stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely solely on each other, the Force, and their awesome martial skills to prevail.” And Kemp says the book also features “a character who I’m not allowed to name just yet, but who appeared in The Clone Wars animated series.” Subtle!
These are being announced by both Disney Publishing and Random House… Curious, no?
Well I think TARKIN is pretty self-explanatory. LOTS could possibly be an Old Republic book. What has me really curious is HTTJ. I have a feeling this one will be the first new post-ROTJ book and will be our first look at the new continuity.
The Hearne book is probably still what it was originally announced as – a Luke novel between ANH and ESB.
I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything post-ROTJ until after EpVII is on the books.
I was just about to ask if that was the official title of Hearne’s Luke book. I mean, it has to be, right?
Based on a couple tweets from some Del Rey folks, that appears to be the case. It’s the Luke book.
Based on the cover pic, definitely OT.
Heir, huh? Interesting. Very interesting… A new dawn indeed… :-)
My mild dysphoria at the reassigning of the old-EU as a retiring “Legends” is far more than made up for by the crystal-clear confirmation all-around that the new-EU is absolutely, 100% canon from now on across the board. No more guessing on how George or anyone else (*cough* Dave Filoni *cough*) will trample on it and (hopefully) no more bizarre plotting or character decisions (*cough* most anything by Denning *cough*).
And if that Lords of the Sith book is an Old Republic era title, I’ll be 120% on board to the new era without a look behind…
Ah, so to reply to myself, I just saw the updated cover for Lords of the Sith looks to be Palpatine and Vader. A bit disappointing, but it makes sense, and:
1) I’m still, though, always very excited for more more Palpatine anything and…
2) I’m always very excited for Paul Kemp’s writing.
Looking forward to it!
Definitely some interesting choices…
Note that “A New Dawn” isn’t Star Wars: Rebels: A New Dawn… showing that it all ties into one saga. Also:
“These are being announced by both Disney Publishing and Random House… Curious, no?”
I think LucasBooks might become fully integrated with Disney Publishing – we’ll see if the LucasBooks logo survives, or we get a Disney Publishing logo instead on the Del Rey books.
#itsallconnected ;)
So, since all these new books are to be considered canon since they will have been approved by the Lucasfilm story group, will people still apply the EU (or New EU) label to them or not? I’d almost be inclined to just use the EU label now for the Legends line.
I would like to know if in the future they might just say about a certain book, “Yes, we’ve determined it is part of the new canon.”
Yummy, I think I shall have to get the Luke book.
I hope they keep LucasBooks. It plops it into the right Galaxy. But I am biased.
There’s plenty of room for a Disney logo to show up somewhere else.