Lucasfilm (via EW) has announced a pretty massive endeavor this morning with the reveal that at least 20 “Star Wars” books, ranging from adult and teen-centric novels to storybooks and stickerbooks for young kids, will be published later this year in order to connect Return of the Jedi and this December’s The Force Awakens. The books will fill readers in on what Luke, Leia and Han have all been up to in the 32-year gap while also providing some Easter eggs for the upcoming film.
“The Force Awakens is an extraordinarily, heavily guarded storyline. To track it, a lot of top-secret meetings were happening up in San Francisco as we worked through this program,” says Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “The partnership with the story group and the editorial team always had to be true to the sanctity of the film while making sure that we find these moments to introduce hints, clues, and puzzle pieces. Without revealing what those pieces are, it will just allow readers to speculate about the new film: What could a location mean, or what could a character mean?”
Among the confirmed titles for are Del Rey’s Star Wars: Aftermath, Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens and one story told from the perspective of C-3PO. In addition, new novels retelling the original trilogy from the perspective of supporting characters will also be released alongside young adult novels focusing on Luke, Leia and Han’s stories in the original films.
Other books set to be released include Moving Target, a Princess Leia story from Tin Star author Cecil Castellucci; The Weapon of a Jedi, a Luke-centric book from Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy author Jason Fry; Lost Stars, from “Evernight” writer Claudia Gray; and Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo novel from comic book writer Greg Rucka.
Which book are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to open December 18. It stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Christina Chong and Miltos Yerolemou,
