With today being National Book Lover's Day here in the United States, it is time to take a look at the novels fans are currently reading, and those that are set to be released by Del Rey Publishing in the coming months. In the time between now and the release of the movie in December of this year, Del Rey plans to release an entire line of novels and short stories with the subtitle "Journey to the The Last Jedi."
Express UK reported that while there may not be as much time between "The Force Awakens" and this film, Michael Siglain, creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing said this, "..is just a different journey than last time.
There are still some Easter eggs in a couple of pieces that will make sense after seeing the film. But this one is more thematically tied to "The Last Jedi." Just a few of the books and short stories in this new line up include: "The Legends of Luke Skywalker", "Leia, Princess of Alderaan", and "Phasma".
Novels fans are currently reading
When it comes to "Star Wars" novels that fans are reading on this Book Lover's Day, the two that immediately come to mind are the recently released "Battlefront II: Inferno Squad" by Christie Goldie and the "Aftermath" trilogy by Chuck Wendig. Of the former, Heather Goldman said the following:
So if you're looking for a good read on this National Book Lover's Day, this one is a must-read.
According to the description given by Amazon, it will pick up shortly after the plans to the Death Star has been stolen and the battle station thus destroyed. It will then follow the Inferno Squad as they go to amazing lengths to protect and preserve the Empire.
As for the "Aftermath" trilogy, Adam Daniels on twitter highly recommends it:
If you are interested, the first book in the trilogy, picks up after the defeat of the Empire's Death Star. New character Nora Wexley and her son Termin catch famed Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles's crucial call for help. Without knowing where the enemy is or just how deadly they still are, they race against the clock to save him and the information he gained during his mission.
If you're still looking for a book to read on this National Book Lover's Day, this is definitely a good trilogy to start.
Leia: Princess of Alderaan
Even after National Book Lover's day comes to an end, there will still be plenty of "Star Wars" books for fans to get their hands on. Written by Claudia Grey, the same woman who wrote "Bloodlines" (released in 2016), this novel will focus on Leia's teenage years before she officially joined the growing rebellion. It is set to be released September 1 as part of this year's Force Friday line. This will tell the story of exactly how she came to be the woman we first saw way back in 1977 receiving the stolen Death Star plans.
Specifically, it will be a novel for young adults (YA) which will tell the story of how she defied her parents' wishes and helped the rebellion in secret.
It wasn't that they didn't want her to help, so much as like any good parents, they simply wanted to protect her and keep her as far away from any fighting as possible. Force forbid she get tangled up with her birth father, Darth Vader. It would have been so much better had she continued in school and gotten her PhD.
On the surface, it seems like this will be a rich character-driven story that will give great insight into the strong, kick butt character we all know and love. Will it include nods to anything we have seen or already read? For now, that remains to be seen.
The Legends of Luke Skywalker
In this collection of stories by Ken Liu due out on October 31, they will be presented as tall tales just floating throughout the galaxy.
Was Luke really the one to take down both Death Stars single handed? Did he really defeat Darth Vader in combat? Each tale will be set as a frame story, that is a story within a story. Essentially, each will start out as one character setting up the story before diving into the story itself. There will be some factual parts of each story that readers will likely recognize and others that seem a bit more incredible.
By doing this, Ken Liu is able to tell new stories in the time between the end of "Return of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens" without messing with established canon. More than that, if told in the right way, current legends characters just might find their way back into "canon". The word canon is in quotes because only the opening part of each story will be considered as actually having happened in the established Star Wars timeline.
This means that characters such as Mara Jade and Dash Rendar could make a comeback, if only for these stories.
Overall, seems like it will be a fun read. Definitely interesting to see an average person in the "Star Wars" universe's take on the stories we all know.
Closing
For anyone in the need for a brand new "Star Wars" read on this National Book Lover's Day, Christie Golden's "Battlefront II" is already available for purchase. Even after today, Del Rey Publishing is set to release even more books within the coming months. Just hang in there a bit longer. These stories seem like they will be worth the wait.
Finally, you will get the chance to be one of the many trillions of citizens in the "Star Wars" galaxy and learn as they did about Luke Skywalker's "defeat" of the Death Star.
Did it really happen as you were told? Well only by reading "The Legends of Luke Skywalker" can you know for sure. What about his twin sister Leia? How did she come to be the take charge leader we all came to know and respect? Only by reading "Leia: Princess of Alderaan" can you find out for sure.