Author Justina Ireland teases what to expect from Star Wars: The High Republic

With all of its recent novelizations and comics, Star Wars has quickly become a multi-platform franchise, and that’s showing no signs of slowing down. Recently, it was announced that the mysterious “Project Luminous” is actually a publishing initiative driven by Lucasfilm and Disney, and it’s going to introduce readers to a whole new side of the Star Wars universe. Dubbed Star Wars: The High Republic, this new project will see authors and concept artists working to create new canonized stories covering moments in Star Wars history that haven’t previously been brought to the big or small screen.

The first two High Republic stories will arrive this summer, at August’s Star Wars Celebration. These will be Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule and Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland. Both books, as well as the others that will follow, are set 200 years prior to the prequel trilogy films, and they’re said to cover an era during which the High Republic and the Jedi Order were thriving — something fans have only been able to imagine with the films’ focus being primarily on times of political unrest in the galaxy.

As far as what else we can expect, details are sparse at the moment. But speaking with Polygon, Ireland gave fans some insight into what they can anticipate from her story, A Test of Courage, along with what she envisions The High Republic to be. She’s excited by the prospect of the books under this umbrella exploring something entirely new:

"And so it was really exciting for me to explore the past and the history of the stuff we’ve seen the films, what we know to be the lore now. We had the Expanded Universe, and a lot of that has gone away and people have been upset about that, but I do think it’s great to have the opportunity to say, OK, this is new ground, how do we interpret this time period?"

In particular, Ireland was psyched about breaking away from the stories told throughout the Skywalker Saga to explore characters and events that may have led up to those stories — even if these books are completely separate entities. She’s also amped to finally dive into a time period where the Jedi can be painted as genuinely likable characters … something the prequel trilogy didn’t necessarily accomplish.

"I think people are going to be really excited by what they’re seeing, because we haven’t really seen the Jedi as being awesome. We’ve heard a lot about them being awesome, especially in A New Hope, but even in the prequels, Episodes 1 through 3, they’re kind of … a little jerky, right? They’re kind of on their way down. So it’s gonna be exciting to see something that we haven’t seen before."

As far as the specifics of Ireland’s story go, the author revealed that it will follow a 16-year-old girl named Vernestra who’s already a full-blown Jedi. It’s an impressive feat to add to one’s resume, but Vernestra will have to deal with the complications that come with having such an important job so young, and to figure out what her place in the Jedi Order truly is. “[M]ost 16-year-olds in the Jedi Order are padawans still,” Ireland explained. “She took her testing early, so she’s a bit of a prodigy. She doesn’t know anybody else who is as young as she is so she kind of sticks out, and that gives her her own set of sort of challenges to deal with. So how is she a Jedi Knight in this order that is being led by amazing Jedi?”

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

Those are questions we’ll have to wait for the book to answer, though it’s probably a good thing Anakin wasn’t around to witness Vernestra’s early rise to power. Can you imagine the jealousy?

As far as how Vernestra’s journey will relate to the other stories in The High Republic, Ireland described hers as taking place around the same time as Soules’ Light of the Jedi, although it covers a significantly shorter time period than that story. “I can tell you, in book time, my story is only like a couple of weeks,” Ireland said. “But as far as overall story time, it takes place in concert with Charles’ book. Everyone is kind of reeling from an event. We don’t know what that is. So I guess it’s made everyone a little on edge.”

Her comment about “reeling from an event” is interesting, and leaves fans to wonder what kind of terrible event could occur during a time of such prosperity. Could it have something to do with the Sith’s eventual rise to power?

But Ireland’s comments suggest that the focus won’t primarily be on the Sith, if they even appear at all. Instead, she spoke a bit about the Nihil, a group of space pirates, and how the characters will be taking on villains like them — which makes the stakes a bit lower but also allows the narrative to explore new types of obstacles.

"But with the Nihil, who are these Space Pirates, marauders, and are kind of just wreaking havoc in different parts of the galaxy, you do have a chance to encapsulate smaller storytelling. Sometimes the point of the story is just survival. Or sometimes the point of the story is: How is this one character going to react to this very enclosed event? The Nihil obviously are bad. They’re pirates — pirates are bad. Even the Pirates of the Caribbean are not great. So what does that mean? How bad are they? They’re going to be the worst. These are characters who just don’t care."

While there are no official plans to turn any of the High Republic books into series, Ireland sounds interested in the opportunity to continue her deep dive into the Star Wars world. “I know nothing except I’m always ready to write the next Star Wars book,” she said. “I am ready. I have a schedule that I will clear for another Star Wars book. Yeah, there are a few things that I am as excited about as writing Star Wars books.”

And just as Ireland is always ready to write another Star Wars book, most hardcore fans are always ready to read one! Perhaps we’ll see more plans for The High Republic crop up once the first few installments have hit shelves. Right now, there are five books confirmed, with authors Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, and Cavan Scott joining Ireland and Soule.

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