Today at New York Comic Con, Del Rey announced two big new upcoming books in the Star Wars universe: one which will reveal a story that’s gone untold for decades, and one which will be helmed by a writer responsible for one of the most acclaimed science fiction books of the past three years.
John Jackson Miller will tackle Kenobi, which details the Jedi’s life right after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In the author’s words:
Kenobi is a sweeping story that’s part epic western, part high-stakes drama, part romance — but it’s all Star Wars, taking place in the early days of Obi-Wan’s exile to Tatooine. I’ve been working on this concept for years and the basics are pretty simple. The greatest hero in the galaxy faces his toughest challenge yet: He must stop being Obi-Wan — and learn to live as Ben.
Kenobi is set for release in late 2013.
The other big announcement was the reveal of a third book in the upcoming “Rebels” standalone novels, all of which focus on the main characters in the original trilogy and which take place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.
The new book, focused on Han Solo, will be written by James S. A. Corey, otherwise known as Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the authors of the well-received space opera Leviathan Wakes (and its recent sequel Caliban’s War).
Other tidbits from the Del Rey Star Wars books panel, gleaned by Aaron Goins:
- Crucible won’t be the final adventure for the big 3 (Leia, Luke, and Han) but it will be a big adventure and will change them forever. A passing of the baton.
- Dan Wallace is 80% done with the new Essential Guide to characters. Won’t retread a lot of characters done before.
- New post-“Fate of the Jedi” series “Sword of the Jedi” is not just a Jaina series. Will heavily feature Jag, Tahiri, Ben, and Allana.
Goins has more details at his Twitter account, linked above.
Stubby the Rocket is the mascot of Tor.com. Stubby the Rocket knows what Obi-Wan was up to all those years and it begins with the word “drink” and ends with the word “ing.”
Sign me up for a Daniel Abraham/Ty Franck Han Solo novel.
Okay, just the COVER of the Obi-Wan book makes me pretty excited. The EU is hit or miss (and to be totally honest, I don’t really like the direction Del Rey has taken with the post-trilogy timelines) with me but some of it I really do enjoy reading, and I love Obi-Wan. The Han book also sounds intriguing :)
Thanks for the article, The new book sounds great… I dont read many of the Star Wars Universe books. But I have to say, the article as nice as it was and a way of promoting some good books in the series, I then went to try and find the “Rebels” Triology you mentioned.
I am now completly lost in trying to find some books… so much so, and it is so confusing as to how to get back into that universe, I’m turned off… too daunting to even dip back in.
Try googling Rebles Triology Star wars… you end up on a wikipedia page after a little searching with hundreds of titles in an order that is daunting….
Guess I’ll stick with the movies and the cartoons.
EU Timeline, if anyone’s interested. It’s still updated occasionally.
I feel like we’ve pretty well covered the era between ANH and ESB with Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. ;)
Oh good, something else they can ruin about Star Wars.
Oh, man, I am SO far behind in my EU reading. I think the last book I read was in the New Jedi Order series, and not even the last one in that. Does starwars.com or the wikia page have an up to date suggested reading order?
Actually, that’s not quite true. I’ve read some of the “gap” novels, but I still have A LOT of catching up to do.
There are certain EU books that are great standalones: Death Troopers was a lot of fun, and you didn’t need to know anything about continuity. (I wonder if there will be Imperial Vomit Zombies in the Corey book?)
Wow, the James S.A. Corey annoucement – I’ve read one Star Wars book in maybe 15 years, but I’ll totally be picking that one up. And Kenobi sounds like it could be way interesting too…
Huh, between those two and Zahn’s upcoming Scoundrels…I may have to return to that galaxy far far away…
Anyone know what the other books in this Rebel series are?
Okay, did some more research…Martha Wells and Kevin Hearne are writing the other two books in the Rebel series (Leia and Luke, respectively). Wow. I am officially intrigued!
http://lightsaberrattling.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-original-trilogy-star-wars-novel.html
Wow, I haven’t read a Star Wars novel since Splinter of the Mind’s Eye in 1978. But these sound really intriguing. Obi-Wan and Han have always been my favorite characters in the saga and James S.A. Corey’s work is sensational. I am also looking forward to Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn and Kevin Hearne’s Luke book (his Iron Druid series is fantastic) and the new Dark Horse comics with covers by Alex Ross.