New Star Wars books announced: Enter The High Republic

It’s a good time to be a Star Wars fan. While the movies have captured the hearts and minds of people the world over, there’s plenty more Star Wars out there for the avid fan — games, books, comics and television (both animated and live action), just for a start.

Last night, the long-teased Project Luminous was finally unveiled for what it was: a huge new series of Star Wars stories set 200 years before Episode I, titled Star Wars: The High Republic. This new story will take place over the course of multiple books and comics, in a time where the Jedi “really are galactic guardians, stewards of peace and justice.” Sound pretty cool, right? Check out the official announcement trailer below:

Am I the only one who loved that inside look at the writers room for this series? The fact that The High Republic is being tackled by a bunch of writers who have already worked in the Star Wars print universe is enough to set any nerves at ease. There seems to be a very clear vision in this reveal video about what The High Republic is all about, and that bodes really well for how cohesive this huge, overarching tale could be.

In terms of the genesis for this massive new project, it all leads back to one line that Sir Alec Guiness dropped back in Star Wars: A New Hope. “For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice.”

Michael Siglain, Creative Director for Lucasfilm Publishing, mused on that classic nugget. “[It’s] a line that we’ve been hearing since 1977, and we thought…what does that look like?”

The announcement trailer describes the Jedi of this time period as more rangers than cloistered monks, patrolling the far reaches of the Republic in order to keep the peace. The main enemy of the series is the Nihil — “space Vikings” who have Hyperspace travel and are able to perform raids on the burgeoning Republic. The Nihil were designed by artist Ian McCaig…the very same man who created the iconic look of Darth Maul.

In fact, I’m going to put myself out there and say that just about all of the artwork that has been revealed thus far for The High Republic is pretty top notch. Check out the cover for the first book of the series, Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Star Wars: Darth Vader), which is slated to land on shelves on August 5:

Photo: Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi – Book Cover.. Image Courtesy Disney Publishing Worldwide

I just love how this cover hearkens back to not only a more classic time period for the Jedi, but also an earlier era of science fiction and fantasy cover artwork. Plus, Wookie Jedi? How has it taken this long for that to be a thing?

Apparently Star Wars is taking a cue from Marvel for the release of this new overarching series, as they’ve already announced all “Phase 1” of The High Republic. While there are no firm release dates yet for the works following Light of the Jedi, we do have a release order, at the least. Next to release will be A Test of Courage, a middle-grade book by Justina Ireland (Star Wars: Lando’s Luck):

Photo: Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage – Book Cover.. Image Courtesy Disney Publishing Worldwide

After that is a comic series done through Marvel and written by Cavan Scott (Star Wars Adventures). The variant cover art below gives us one of our first really good looks at the Nihil:

Photo: Star Wars: The High Republic – Variant Cover.. Image Courtesy Disney Publishing Worldwide

From there, the series moves back into the realm of adult novels, with Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (Star Wars: Master & Apprentice):

Photo: Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark – Book Cover.. Image Courtesy Disney Publishing Worldwide

And closing out Phase 1 is another comic series, this one by IDW: The High Republic Adventures, penned by Daniel Jose Older (Star Wars: Last Shot):

Photo: Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Variant Cover.. Image Courtesy Disney Publishing Worldwide

According to James Waugh, Lucasfilm’s vice president of franchise content and strategy, “This was a golden age for the Jedi, and also a time of galactic expansion in the Outer Rim. So expect there to be rich tales of exploration; charting out the galaxy, meeting new cultures, and discovering what pioneer life in the Outer Rim was like. This is an incredible sandbox for our storytellers to play in, both within publishing and beyond, and we can’t wait to see the great fiction they build within it.”

That makes two of us, James.

We’ll likely find out more about the release run for The High Republic at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in August 2020, where Light of the Jedi will be making its debut.

Looking at this explosion of content, we can’t help but think of how it might relate back to the Star Wars movies, which are on a hiatus at the moment.

Now, a hiatus for Star Wars movies is still pretty active, as various reports have it that people like Kevin Feige, Taika Waititi, and Sleight director J.D. Dillard are all circling movies set in that galaxy far, far away. Then there were the reports that Game of Thrones showrunners were originally signed up to create a trilogy of films set in the past of the Star Wars universe before they left the project. Were those films originally going to be set during this period? Is Disney repurposing the resources it was going to put into new movies, or is The High Republic laying the groundwork for another cinematic push, or is this just something entirely new?

Stay tuned.

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h/t The A.V. Club